There are 7 ego states
Actually, we have many parts in us we identify with, many... A whole zoo of parts.
For example, you probably have the "badass" you. The one before you go out in a leather jacket, looking in the mirror and saying, "No one can fuck with me."
On the other hand, you probably have the "good boy/nice girl" part – when you visit your grandma, this part takes over and shows your grandma what a perfect grandchild you are.
Maybe you have the "new guy/gal" part of you – the one that comes up when you meet a new group of friends at a social event. You feel this part step in and play the role.
Is it not you? It is. But this part is different because it built up over the years from similar situations (maybe when meeting new crowds of people). This system of identifications – thoughts, stories, beliefs, rules you made, body language, etc. – around this part of you is almost tangible now, like a different you.
The 7 Ego States are kind of like these clusters of identifications around certain parts of you that create a tangible state of being.
One easy example is the child state. We all know that part – when we’re tired and just want to cuddle, or when we’re hungry and stressed. And really, all the stuck feelings from the past – the emotions – are part of that state because they got stuck when we were kids. So, when we have an emotion – who feels it? The child part of us. So yeah, we can say, "I’m in the child ego state now."
These 7 ego states aren’t just parts – they sit on some kind of highway of connection in your psyche. People who hear about them usually recognize them immediately. You could say they’re archetypal states, showing up everywhere in our culture as reflections of how we identify as humans.
Here, we dive into the 7 main states – the ones that show up the most when doing transformation work.
This isn’t "the truth" (if there even is such a thing). It’s not something to believe in or adopt as a life philosophy – it’s just a tool, like a glass prism that creates a certain reflection of light. Maybe it’s useful for you to examine things with.
Each one of these Ego states deserve its own page. But actually its more clear to experience this in an exercise than reading about is so.... I am going to add a little description for each one, and if its has a page for it. Click the symbol and it will open up.
The demon ego state
The child
The being/ The Adult
The Archetypal
The Child - The Child
Your Child Ego state is the collection of experiences you had in your past that are still alive with you now, where you experience them as your child self.
Maybe as a kid you used to love a certain ice cream—eating it now takes you back to your child enjoying it. Maybe if that ice cream made you uncontrollably enjoy it as a child and now the joy lasts more than 3 minutes, it's an emotion of joy that really got stuck in the past. The Child Ego state contains the emotions and feelings from the past.
The Box- Your box is a collection of identifications, belief systems, opinions, agendas, positions, stories about yourself and the world, etc..
It is designed to make you survive by keeping you in the line of what you already know.
Your box has already been made, so it’s kind of an old and rigid structure. Some people, however, identify with their box so strongly that it becomes like stone, leaving them stuck in the ground as a testament to who they are.
You are not your box, despite maybe forgetting it or being narrowly surrounded by it—especially on the occasion of needing to survive.
The shadow guide - your Shadow Guide is part of you that keep you from what your not ready to take responsibility for. It protects your box, your survival mechanism, that keep you safe.
How does it protect ? Distracting you, keep you small, keep you big, whatever active strategy it developed over the years to be at your side and protect you.
Yes it is your Ally ego State. despite the messes it creates in your life, and your lack of control over it up to when you initiate a conscious relation to it.
This is the map
Explanation about the 7 ego state map.
How it may serve you to use this map
If you can see which part of you take action,
you can have more clarity and love more conscious life.
Being aware of the 7 ego states offer possibility to have higher responsibility for your action.
If your not Conscious of your purpose you have an unconscious purpose. For example If you don't know what is the purpose of answering to your partner, It might be that your being reactive as your child ego state, or actually serve you shadow guide purpose- a dark purpose.
Maybe your doing things because they were with you from your parents or other authority figure voices. Your not acting,. your reacting to your parents fears of you not making it life. so the voice of " you should be clean" " You should do your homework" become your own voice "I should get a job" "I should clean my room".
How does it look like when people skip between ego states in a split of a second.
