Rules and safety
Archetype 4 is the family guard. 4 is realistic and practical. 4 is about foundations and basic needs. 4 does not care what your dream is. It only cares if you are having roof over your head, or food on your table. Their job is to put food on your table, shoes on your feet, clothes on your body. Not only that, but they would also do anything to protect you from harm. They would put in extra security systems, set rules regarding who is allowed to enter the house, to what is not allowed inside the house, and what the consequences would be if those rules are broken.
When we were children, we had to live by the rules of the family, of our school. In the old days, the consequence of breaking the rules was the number of stick marks on your body, based on the severity of your mistake. If I was caught sneakily eating food for dinner before everyone else, I would get a smack on my hand. If I was late for school, I would have my behavior points deducted. Bad students would be named and shamed in front of the whole school. The rules are tough, harsh, but they are there to make sure you will become a good citizen for society in the future. Well, at least in 4’s future.
Responsibilities
4’s love is like the hard shell of the seed, and you are the embryo inside, being bound by it. Your job is to grow strong enough to break through that shell and grow. Until then, the shell is there to protect you from thunder and rain and anything that can harm you.
4 parents are the strictest type of parents. They may feel emotionless, stoic, and never tell you that they love you. They want you to grow up to be a tough adult, they think having emotions will not help you get where you want to. They express love by being responsible, by setting rules and safety for you to live in and punish you if you break those rules. 4’s love is tough love. It is not the romantic, rosy love of 2, not the nurturing, caring love of 6. 4 is a protective kind of love, but in a much tougher way which when overdone may cause more harm than good.
As for a 4 child, many children will abide by those rules. They may not even be aware that there are rules that do not serve them. However, many strong 4 children will also try to break them, especially the ones with strong 1 energy, if they think they can achieve better outcomes outside those rules.
Family and Societal expectations
Someone with a strong 4 may have lofty expectations from family and society. For example, if your family has owned a baking business for a century, then you are supposed to continue that tradition and become a baker, not a politician. Or in the case of Arnold Schwarzenegger (31/4), he was told that could not become a Hollywood actor because of his accent, he could only stay in Austria for the rest of his life.
If you were to put in those circumstances and your heart told you otherwise, what would you do? What if you decide to follow your dream? Are you willing to go against the expectations of your family and society? Are you willing to break the rules and bear the consequences? Arnold did, and in return, he had become one of the greatest actors of Hollywood, a successful businessman and politician in the USA and was able to earn respect from his homeland later.
Hardwork, Persistence, Goal oriented
Of course, in order to success, dreaming is not enough. There must be sweat and tears, or even blood. That is where you need to call on your 4. 4 is the number of hard works. 4 would ask if your dream is possible. If it is, 4 will jump in and do the demanding work to turn it into reality for you.
4 is persistent and goal oriented. Once 4 sets a goal, 4 will work their sweat off to reach that goal. 4 will not give up just because it was raining that day, or if you were too emotional to work that day. 4 finishes when the job is done, not when it is tired! You can depend on 4 for its hard work and persistence.
4 is not the fast and furious energy like 1, 4 is slow and steady. It is what holds you in place when the adrenaline, the excitement is gone. 4 will get you into the habit of putting your effort into your work, whether it is waking up at 4am, or reading for 1 hour a day. 4 understands that Rome wasn’t built in one day, and that every bit of work counts.
Foundations
4 is about foundations. If you are walking a 4 life path, a part of what you need to learn is to build a solid foundation in everything you do, education, career, life. Think about an oak tree, or rosewood, walnut tree, any hardwood trees. Do you notice how strong they stand against the weather extremities? It takes 35 to 40 years for an oak tree to fully mature, and you can expect it to start producing acorns only after about 20 years.
On the surface, it may seem the tree is growing so slowly because it spends most part of that time doing 4’s work: slowly and steadily building a root system along with growing the trunk and branches, making sure that every tiny part is strong and durable. Once that foundation is built, the tree’s lifespan can reach up to 1000 years.
The same would apply to us. The stronger your foundation, the more preparation you do, the more you can withstand the challenges in your life. And in order to build that foundation, you will need persistence, endurance, as well as healthy habits, which are all 4’s words.
How is your relationship with 4? It is not an easy energy to get along with, but it will give you the strength and grounding needed in time of crisis. Plus, once we can come to the right relationship with 4, 5 will feel less like an overwhelming energy for us. Instead, we will be able to do 5’s job of adapting, expanding, and charging into the future!
