Exploring the Voyager Grief Archetype

This is part four of a four-part series on the grief archetypes. Read part one, Exploring the Villager Archetype, part two, Exploring the Pilgrim Archetype, and part three, Exploring the Pioneer Archetype. I created the grief archetype quiz as a tool to help my grieving clientele take their first steps into what I call the wilderness of grief. This vast landscape demands our entrance once loss pushes its way into our world. But the footpaths of those who have gone before can prove to be very helpful in our journey. It’s these footpaths that we’re exploring in this series.

The Voyager Archetype

Voyagers are willing to go right into the darkness of grief to search for the light. For most voyagers, their present grief is usually not their first descent into the dark night. Voyagers often realize that grief is somewhat of a developmental process — an incubation of sorts that forces them to fall apart so that they can regrow themselves in a new form. Voyagers sink deeply into their pain, because they have learned that it is only in the belly of the whale that they will meet both their darkest fears as well as the brightest light that they may ever know. Voyagers are independent and do not usually seek traditional models of grief therapy, which is why they often find their way to my grief therapy practice. Typical modes of treatment that I might use with a Voyager include exploring the continuing bonds school of thought, altered states of consciousness work so that they can begin to understand the differences between the mind and the brain, psycho-education on the near-death experience, after-death communications, and the phenomenon known as death bed visions.

For Voyagers, the way through their grief is to explore the mysteries of death and what may come next. Recently, I had a wonderful meeting with a Voyager. Lisa had experienced three significant losses in a very short period of time and was really searching for insight into how she could connect with her loved ones. Although I had never met her before and our first and only meeting was occurring virtually, we settled into a comfortable and very warm conversation. She had booked her session with me in hopes that a message from her beloved grandmother might come through. 

I have spent most of my life being a reluctant medium. A medium is someone who is able to communicate with those on the other side. The reasons for my reluctance are many, but suffice it to say that as I get older and learn more about how this world works, I have far less reluctance about interacting with those in the next. We covered a lot of ground together, touching on important tenets of traditional grief therapy and dipping our toes into that next place that we go. Lisa’s grandmother did not disappoint. She sent a variety of messages through but one of them was so specific and evidential, I want to share it with you. I explained to Lisa that her grandmother was showing me a very specific teacup. It was white and it had a line down the middle of the handle. She was also showing me a doll that I described as looking like a Strawberry Shortcake. After our session, Lisa sent me these photos.

This is a teacup and doll that her grandmother had given her. The cup had a line down the handle and the doll held an uncanny resemblance to  Strawberry Shortcake. Both the cup and the doll were sitting exactly as pictured in a corner of Lisa’s home – which was nowhere near where our session had taken place. So for any skeptics out there, I had no way of seeing these items during our virtual session.

I am just as mystified by these other-worldy encounters as others tend to be, and although I cannot explain them, I have learned to honor the healing they can bring to those who grieve. I owe so much to the many Voyagers that have walked through my office door over the last 25 years. They have given so much to me by trusting my services and allowing me to bear witness to their journeys.  

Click here to learn more about my grief kit.