Stories, fairy tales and myths often have lessons or messages that can give us insight and direction in our lives. The characters are symbols that can guide us and share information that can be useful in our growth as humans. In this article, I share thoughts around the Prince or Knight in Shining Armour.

As a self-proclaimed feminist, the stories of maidens being recused by princes and knights-in-shining-armour have always grated on me but this morning I began to perceive these archetypal myths and fairy tales in a new way. What if the Prince that saves the Maiden is an analogy of something within us, not some external hot bloke who’s got it going on but about an aspect of ourselves coming into its power?

In many fables, a young woman is brought up in difficult circumstances. She goes from being an Innocent to becoming a Victim, for example, Snow White and Cinderella. In life all of us have our innocence stripped by acculturation, by a young age we become aware of what we need to do and who we need to be to fit in and be a part of culture and society, we lose our intuitive individual selves in favour of survival. Perhaps we could call this aspect the Wicked Step Mother who for a time steps in; even though we survive our soul self becomes a victim to expectations from others.

In archetypal stories such as these, there is a lesson woven beneath the text, the Knight in Shining Armour or the Prince may be an aspect of ourselves or may also point to a shift in the collective consciousness. Maybe we are not waiting for an actual man to rescue us as is often the presumption of the conventional narrative but for the part within us represented by the Prince. The Prince is a leader and someone who recognises their privilege. It’s about learning to manage our power, to take it and wield it like a sword for the good of all subjects but mostly for ourselves. It’s about learning to be gracious, fair, kind and strong in our convictions and root out evil from the system – To fight the good fight with authority. First, we must do this work internally and then in the world at large.

In the fairy tales, there are encounters with the prince before union happens. We need to get to know our potential before we can fully step into it. We need to rise above adversity to love the powerful aspect of our nature. We need to dispel illusion to fully move into our true ruling power where we have challenged our darkness to rule ourselves with clarity, compassion and full heart – love ourselves and those around us.

Falling in love with the Prince is about embracing our own sovereignty. Stepping up and taking responsibility for our thoughts, choices and actions.

The moral of the story is: We are not weak, feeble, victims of life we are all going through a process, whether we are men or women, to face our challenges, find our healing and fall in love with the sovereign, empowered aspect of ourselves and take responsibility for ourselves and our lives with heart.

If you would like support in finding your inner Prince or are interested in working archetypally in therapy contact Gaby below.