Welcome to the Archetypal Table!
- Lorie Gehrke
- Mar 27
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 2
A place for story, soul, and nourishment
There’s something sacred about a table. Especially the kind that holds more than meals. The kind that catches morning light and evening shadows. That remembers conversations, confessions, the scribble of a grocery list next to a journal entry (whether on paper or your iPad). The kind of table where life happens—in all its sweet, salty, bitter, and bright moments.
This space—these posts—are my way of setting that kind of table. I’m calling it The Archetypal Table.
It’s not a new offering (at least not yet), and it’s not tied to a particular program. It’s more of a signal—a shift in tone. When you see a post labeled Archetypal Table, you’ll know it’s coming from a place of deeper reflection—about food, grief, memory, ritual, healing, and the ways our daily lives mirror something older, wiser, and archetypal.
And nestled within this larger space is a particular corner I call the Archetypal Kitchen—where we explore food and nutrition not just as fuel but as metaphor, medicine, and myth.
So, let’s begin there.
Lemons & Olives: Bittersweet Medicine
What these two flavor-packed foods teach us about resilience, brightness, and sacred bitterness—From the ancient Mediterranean to your modern nervous system.
Archetypal + Astrological Energies
Lemon — The Trickster / The Purifier
Zesty and sharp, lemon is your wake-up call in edible form. It’s the Trickster of the kitchen—cleansing, energizing, and impossible to ignore. Lemon cuts through stagnation and brings clarity wherever it goes.
In astrology, a lemon vibrates with the quicksilver energy of Mercury in Gemini —clever, curious, and clear-cut. It doesn’t linger. It wakes you up and moves you forward.
Olive — The Peacemaker / The Visionary
Earthy, grounding, and rich with ancient symbolism, the olive is our Peacemaker. It’s the one who’s seen generations come and go and still offers its fruit with grace.
Astrologically, olive evokes the enduring presence of Saturn in Pisces or a Taurus Moon—rooted, wise, and quietly resilient. There’s also Venus here, in her most contemplative, earthy form—loving what lasts.
Together, lemon and olive offer a polarity:
Air and Earth.
Sharp and Smooth.
Now and Enduring.
One wakes you up. The other reminds you to stay.
Insight
“Bittersweet” is often sacred.
It’s the flavor, the feeling, the threshold. The taste left behind when joy and sorrow share the same breath. Like lemon on the tongue—sharp, cleansing, unforgettable. Like olive on the vine—aged, enduring, quietly wise. Bittersweet is what remains when love outlives the moment. It’s the ache of memory wrapped in gratitude. The part of healing that doesn’t erase the pain but holds it with care. It’s where the heart breaks open and stays tender enough to receive light.
Lemon’s sourness can sting—but it also awakens. Olive's bitterness might repel—but it offers richness to those who stay.
Together, they remind us that healing isn’t always sweet but is always layered.
This is emotional resilience on a plate.
Nourishment
Lemon Benefits:
High in vitamin C
Supports digestion and liver health
Alkalizes the body
Boosts immune resilience
Olives / Olive Oil Benefits:
Rich in monounsaturated fats
Supports heart and brain health
Loaded with polyphenols and antioxidants
Foundational to Mediterranean longevity
Functional Support
If you’d like to embody the energies of lemon and olive in a daily ritual, here are two favorites:
A sparkling, tangy vitamin C blend with added minerals and bioflavonoids—refreshing, revitalizing, and packed with purification power.
A potent omega-3 formula that mirrors the olive’s gift: depth, calm, and long-term clarity.
🛍️ Browse more in my Designs for Health store
Real-Life Application
Try this in your kitchen—or your inner landscape:
Start the day with warm lemon water or a glass of C+ BioFizz™.
Keep a small bowl of citrus (I love a combo of lemons, limes, and clementines) and olives nearby—not just as a snack but as a symbol of resilience.
Blend chopped olives and lemon zest to create a tapenade with garlic, herbs, and a touch of olive oil.
Pause. Taste. Let it remind you that healing has flavor.
When life is too sticky, add lemon. When life feels sharp, reach for olives.
This is the work of the Archetypal Kitchen.
This is the voice of the Archetypal Table.
And this is just the beginning.
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