Meeting Your Inner Council
There are many voices inside us.
Some carry ancient truths, others hold our wounds. Some whisper wisdom, while others wait silently for us to notice. We spend much of our lives trying to make sense of this inner complexity—and often, we reduce it. Many coaches are trained to use tools like saboteurs or future selves or captain and crew. We also tend to use trendy, new age terms like “inner child” or “higher self”— but these don’t even begin to touch the depth of our psyche.
But beyond those useful tools lies something deeper, something I use with my clients to harness lived experience and projected life experiences. These are essentially Soul Selves—the core aspects of who we’ve been, who we are, and who we are becoming. Each of these selves emerges during a distinct phase of life, and each leaves behind not just memories, but a living presence within us.
Together they make up the Inner Council—eight parts of ourselves that live within you, each holding their own wisdom and wound.
These are wounded sides differ from saboteurs in that saboteurs are distorted protectors, whereas these Soul Selves carry both wisdom and pain that have not yet been integrated. They are not there to disrupt your dreams or your plans—but to reawaken wounds to the surface to be healed.
The interesting thing is that we don’t just grow through time—we travel it internally, again and again. We are constantly time-traveling; we revisit who we were and we imagine who we might become.
Let me now introduce you to the eight soul selves of the inner council.
1. The Soul
The Before-Self | Pre-Birth Essence | The Threshold of Incarnation
Light Archetype: The Spirit – Intuitive, luminous, whole. Remembers why you came.
Shadow Archetype: The Ghost – Ungrounded, unmoored, disconnected. Carries disorientation or longing for return.
This is the part of you that came before words. It speaks through dreams, synchronicity, and deep knowing. When out of reach, you may feel disconnected from meaning or your sense of belonging on earth.
To engage this self, ask: What did I come here knowing? What part of me still remembers?
2. The Inner Child
The Beginning-Self | Ages 0–10 | The Era of Wonder
Light: The Magical Child – Innocent, creative, unguarded.
Shadow: The Orphan – Lonely, guarded, mistrustful. Still waiting to be chosen.
The Child holds your joy and your early heartbreaks. They are still with you, still watching to see if it’s safe to play, speak, or feel. Their voice gets louder when safety is uncertain or joy feels distant.
To engage this self, ask: What part of me still longs for tenderness? Where have I confused magic with danger?
3. The Inner Teenager
The Awakening-Self | Adolescence | The Era of Defiance and Discovery
Light: The Seeker – Independent, questioning, bold.
Shadow: The Rebel – Reactive, isolating, impulsive. Confuses resistance with freedom.
This self yearns to know who they are outside of others’ expectations. When stuck, they reject connection to feel free—but in doing so, lose belonging.
To engage this self, ask: What am I yearning for? Where have I rejected what I secretly desire to receive?
4. The Young Adult
The Building-Self | 20s–30s | The Era of Formation and Approval
Light: The Architect – Visionary, driven, purposeful.
Shadow: The Conformist – Performs for belonging. Confuses productivity with worth.
This self builds foundations—careers, relationships, roles. They want to create a meaningful life, but when over-identified, they forget their ‘why’ in favor of external validation.
To engage this self, ask: Am I building something true, or something expected? What have I sacrificed for approval?
5. The Midlifer
The Alchemical-Self | 40s–50s | The Era of Reckoning and Revision
Light: The Magician – Integrative, transformative, wise.
Shadow: The Illusionist – Superficially spiritual, bypassing, performative.
This is where transformation begins in earnest. You may begin to deconstruct what no longer serves, or reckon with what you’ve created. This self is often misunderstood—it isn’t a crisis, it’s a calling.
To engage this self, ask: What truths am I ready to live, even if they disrupt everything I’ve built?
6. The Graying One
The Integrating-Self | 60s–70s | The Era of Reflection and Legacy
Light: The Weaver – Discerning, spacious, wise.
Shadow: The Unraveler – Bitter, stuck in the past, resentful.
This self steps back to see the whole arc of your life. They want peace, not perfection or performance. But if they feel unheard, they may spiral into regret or diminish their impact.
To engage this self, ask: What am I ready to integrate? What part of my legacy still wants to be expressed?
7. The Elder
The Eternal-Self | 80s–90s | The Era of Stillness and Stewardship
Light: The Seer – Rooted, expansive, patient.
Shadow: The Blind – Forgotten, unexpressed, disengaged.
This self remembers the forest—not just the trees. They are not loud, but they are clear. When ignored, they may turn inward and disengage, believing no one is listening.
To engage this self, ask: What wisdom do I carry that has not yet been shared?
8. The Dead
The Returning-Self | The End | The Era of Completion
Light: Peace – Reconciled, expansive, ready.
Shadow: Regret – Clinging, unfinished, grieving the unlived.
This self teaches us to live while we’re still alive. When we feel regret, it’s often this part of us speaking from the future, asking: Will this matter at the end?
To engage this self, ask: If today were the end, what would I want to have truly lived?
How to Work With the Council
You don’t need to wait for age, crisis, or loss to access these parts of yourself. Each of these inner archetypes is available to you now—not as abstract ideas, but as living energies stored in memory, imagination, emotion, and embodied experience.
You call them forward by paying attention.
When you feel a pang of perfectionism or find yourself over-performing, the Conformist may be trying to protect your worth through achievement.
When you collapse into exhaustion but resist rest, the Ghost may be surfacing—unmoored, still unsure whether it’s safe to land.
When you're on the edge of change but can’t move forward, the Seeker and the Rebel may be in conflict—one longing for meaning, the other afraid of repeating old betrayals.
Begin by getting to know them. Speak to them. Ask what they need. Let their wisdom guide you.
[Coming Soon: The Inner Council Workbook]
A guided companion for dialoguing with your Soul Selves and aligning your life through archetypal inquiry.
The Inner Council Wisdom Calls
You are not a single self. You are a constellation—made of many moments, memories, and eras.
These Soul Selves aren’t metaphors. They are active participants in your healing and evolution. Each one holds a thread of wisdom that speaks directly to your purpose, your patterns, your longing for meaning. They are not in conflict with each other—they are waiting to be reintroduced, reintegrated, and returned to the table.
This isn’t about choosing which version of you is “right” or most evolved. This is about allowing all of them to be known, heard, and guided forward with care.
The path of your personal evolution is not linear—it is inward, through, and across time.