Up: [[Compulsion]] Created: 2024-08-29 Updated: 2025-11-17 One of the archetypal energies at work in the psyche of someone with a compulsion is that of the Moneylender. When we experience the rush of energy from sugar, or the surge of pleasure from relentless creative work, we want that feeling to be repeated again and again. The Moneylender [[archetypal character]] is soulless. It has us believing that it's possible to achieve perfection so we justify whatever costs have to be paid, present or future, incurring a debt that puts us in bondage to instant gratification of our desires. We feel guilty that we're under the thumb of the MoneyLender, but that lets us escape the real guilt that comes from being imperfect in an imperfect world. > [!User] Linda Leonard in *Witness to the Fire: Creativity and the Veil of Addiction*