Donald Trump is either loved or hated intensely. But what is certain is that he has an exceptional impact on minds and our times. What archetype might he embody? What spiritual role might he play?
All those who adore him and those who hate him are blinded by their idealization and miss his true spiritual role. Unpredictable and divisive, revealing the shadows of the system, accelerating history, a master of chaos: he wonderfully embodies metahistorical trends.
Archetypes are universal images present in the collective unconscious, symbols influencing us on both a collective and individual level. According to Carl Gustav Jung, they are empty preforms that organize instinctive and spiritual life, structuring mental images. Among the Lakota Native American people, the Heyoka/Haokah is the archetype of the sacred clown. He is a contrarian, a jester, and a satirist who speaks, moves, and reacts in a way that is the opposite of those around him. They represent the unpredictable side of life. The heyoka has a very special and sacred role. He reveals contradictions and shadows. He is a kind of reflecting mirror, staging his atypical behaviors to reflect others and force them to doubt and reveal themselves. He fully embraces his role. Donald Trump embodies this archetype, which has its place in a society. Trying to eliminate him only gives him more energy and power; it’s an energetic law. All archetypes have a place and a role in every society; only their expressions can change. Jesus said, “I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” The sword cuts brutally and violently separates. Revelation 3:16 “Because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” Divine crises force us to choose. And never has a politician been so divisive: between those afflicted with “Trump derangement syndrome” and those with “Trump worship syndrome,” he separates and polarizes.
As always, the truth is more subtle. Political ideologies blind our perception of reality. With Trump, political lukewarmness is not an option. A clear separation has emerged between those who love him and those who hate him. Like a metapolitical sword, he provokes great polarization and sharply divides consciences.
Moreover, Trump’s personality and his negotiating style encourage disclosure. He pushes people to take a stand and reveal themselves. This logic brings him immense success because he rides the wave of apocalypse and revelation of our time.
At the end of a cycle, everything accelerates: it is not chronological time, but the cyclical time that traditional societies used. Time then took the form of a spiral. Trump is accelerating political and societal trends.
Whether one loves or hates Trump, no one can deny his impact on people and history. He accompanies (perhaps unwittingly) greater phenomena; he perfectly embodies (for better or for worse) a time of revelations, chaos, and apocalypse.