Archetype of the Prostitute

Sexual activity is not just an urge or need, it is also a transaction. We all know, certainly unconsciously, that we can manipulate, stimulate, bargain with another person because of their need for sex or warm human contact. Or we can be on the receiving end because of our own needs. The female tendency to wear clothes that reveal and enhance their sexual characteristics is a direct expression of this. In the music videos that now run alongside a singer’s performance there is an obvious use of women’s sexual attractiveness and displayed pelvis in a commercial way. The male film star or singer of course also uses this wherever there is a commercial advantage.

Dreaming of a prostitute, female or male, may be an expression of personal needs or feelings. In which case see the prostitute entry. But also, the prostitute archetype is a very powerful influence in most of us. Caroline Myss has made this very clear in her book Sacred Contracts. She points out that it influences the way we use our personal power, sexuality, or public influence to do business for financial or personal advantage. It shows in the way you use someone else’s need for or dependence on you – whether you are male or female – to manipulate, extract money from, or abuse them. It is actively involved when you sell yourself out. In other words when you go against your inner feelings or standards because money or acclaim is involved. You thereby prostitute yourself for gain. The question is, can you be bought? Will you betray another because money or fame is involved?

Selling out also means going along with the materialistic view so predominant in our times. Life only leads to death, so what the hell does it matter what I do, who I hurt or maim, so long as my own interests are served – type of attitude. What will it cost me to stand up for what I believe in or love?

The positive side of this archetype is that as you become aware of it you develop a sure sense of what is going down in the transactions you have with people. Your red light comes on when you get near to compromising yourself. See: the female choice under archetypes.

Useful questions are:

Am I constantly living with a sense of missing my own deepest satisfactions?

What is it I am selling myself for?

Do I have that ready guide to how others are, or I myself am, doing a shady deal?