The Chameleon or Shapeshifter archetype relates directly to the Jungian archetypes of anima and animus. Anima is the feminine aspect all men hold and animus is the masculine aspect every female carries in her psyche.
Anima and animus reside in the archetypal unconscious that belies the individual unconscious layered by shadow. Anima and animus speak to the residual memories of past lives, ancestral histories.
On a more practical level, anima and animus relate to male nurturing, and the ability to hold and protect, where as for women it connects to female ability to penetrate and slay.
One symbol of the male anima is that of The Hanged Man in the 12th card in the Major Arcana of the Tarot. Another symbol can be that of Christ who sacrificed his life on the cross that humanity might live and more abundantly.
Conversely, the Hindu goddess, Ma Kali, wife of Siva, the Lord of Death and Rebirth, symbolizes the contra-sexual energies of female animus.
With her dark face an fangs dripping with blood, Kali urges all who look into her eyes to see their deepest ugliness, and in so doing embrace their humanity, what links every human to all others.
By raising doubts and fueling instability both within the situation of the story and inside the central character, the Shapeshifter/Chameleon archetype urges to the protagonist to examine illusions, those held about life, and others as well as those concerning her or himself.
By assuming many disguises, the Shapeshifter dispels long held beliefs and shines a light on the central character’s motives. Examination of one’s manipulations, deceptions, and acts of sabotage towards both others and self fall under the microscopic vision of the Shapeshifter/Chameleon.
How has self-deception and sabotage played a role in the stories you have read and those you have written?
What are some of the beliefs you hold about writing stories and the purpose and meaning they bring to your life?