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Archetypes As Defined By Carl Jung

The Archetypal Patterns

The Nature of the ArchetypesDreams and myths are constellations of archetypal images. They are not freecompositions by an artist who plans them for artistic or informational effects.

Dreams and myths happen to human beings. The archetype speaks through us.It is a presence and a possibility of "significance." The ancients called them

"gods" and "goddesses."

What then is an archetype? ung disco!ered that humans ha!e a "preconscious

psychic disposition that enables a man# to react in a human manner." Thesepotentials for creation are actuali$ed when they enter consciousness as

images. There is a !ery important distinction between the "unconscious% pre&

e'istent disposition" and the "archetypal image." The archetype may emergeinto consciousness in myriads of !ariations. To put it another way% there are a!ery few basic archetypes or patterns which e'ist at the unconscious le!el% but

there are an infinite !ariety of specific images which point back to these fewpatterns. (ince thesepotentials for significanceare not under conscious

control% we may tend to fear them and deny their e'istence through repression.This has been a marked tendency in )odern )an% the man created by the

*rench +e!olution% the man who seeks to lead a life that is totally rational and

under conscious control.

Where do the archetypes come from? In his earlier work% ung tried to link thearchetypes to heredity and regarded them as instinctual. We are born with

these patterns which structure our imagination and make it distinctly human.Archetypes are thus !ery closely linked to our bodies. In his later work% ung

was con!inced that the archetypes arepsychoid% that is% "they shape matternature# as well as mind psyche#" ,ouston (mith% Forgotten Truth% -#. In

other words% archetypes are elemental forces which play a !ital role in thecreation of the world and of the human mind itself. The ancients called them

elemental spirits,ow do archetypes operate? ung found the archetypalpatterns and images in e!ery culture and in e!ery time period of human

history. They beha!ed according to the same laws in all cases. ,e postulatedtheUniversal Unconsciousto account for this fact. We humans do not ha!e

separate% personal unconscious minds. We share a single /ni!ersal/nconscious. )ind is rooted in the /nconscious 0ust as a tree is rooted in the

ground. Imagine the /ni!ersal /nconscious as a cosmic computer. 1ur minds

are subdirectories of the root directory. If we look in our personal "workareas%" we find much material that is uni2ue to our historical e'perience&&couldonly ha!e happened to us&&but it is shaped according to uni!ersal patterns. If

we humans ha!e the courage to seek the source to which our "account"belongs% we begin to disco!er e!er more impersonal and uni!ersal patterns.

The directories of the cosmic computer to which we can gain access are filled

with the myths of the human species.

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)odern man fancies that he has escaped the myths through his consciousrepudiation of revealed religionin fa!or of a purely rational natural religion

read3 4atural (cience#. 5ut consider his theories of human origin. In thebeginning% there was a 5ig 5ang% a cosmic e'plosion. This is an image from

which reason may begin to work% but it is not itself a rational statement. It is amythical construct. 6onsider the theory of biological e!olution. )an7s ancestors

emerge from the seas% and they in turn emerged from a cosmic soup of D4A.The ma0ority of creation myths also begin with the same image of manemerging from primordial oceans. (ee 8enesis 9 or the 5abylonian creation

epic. 6onsider the )odern tendency to call oursel!es persons from the :atin

persona. The term deri!es from the "mask" of Dionysus. )oderns are thewearers of masks; The reality is concealed in the darkness of mystery. This too

is a mythical construct.

The Archetypes

The Shadow

The most basic potential for patterning is the (hadow Archetype. This is thepotential of e'periencing the unconscious side of our uni2ue personalities. As

we mo!e deeper into the dark side of our personality personal% identity beginsto dissol!e into "latent dispositions" common to all men. We e'perience the

chaos which indicates that we are drawing close to the material structure ofpsychic life. This "1ther (ide" may be manifested in a wealth of images. The

image of "wilderness" is fundamental. +emember that ,an$el and 8retel were

led "into the woods" and were trapped.

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The second most pre!alent potential patterning is that of the (oul Anima isthe male name for soul= Animus is the female name for soul#. ,ere we meet our

inner opposite. )ales meet their Anima= females their Animus. The Anima mayappear as an e'otic dancing girl or a weathered old hag&&the form generally

reflects either the condition or the needs of our soul presently. +emember thewicked witch encountered by ,an$el and 8retel. The Animus may appear as an

e'otic% sensual% young man or as an old grouch. +emember the 8reat 1$ whoran the merald 6ity? There is always (imon :egree who took in :ittle !a.6onsider (uper )an and :ois :ane. 6lark