Posts Tagged ‘Archetypes’

Although Carl Jung is not the first to study dream psychology, he serves as one of the pioneers in the field. He is a Swiss psychiatrist and the founder of analytical psychology. Similar to Freud, Jung believed that the human psyche is made up of the conscious and unconscious. However, Carl Jung considered the Self as the center of the human psyche, containing the conscious decisions, actions, and thoughts.

The unconscious mind contains the two distinctions, namely the personal and collective. The personal distinction holds the individual experiences of a person, while the collective distinction grasps the dream symbols that appear, having the same sequences in all human beings.

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The subconscious mind indeed works in mysterious ways. Sometimes it expresses itself by creating images possible only in dreams. It may pick up things from your waking hours, things that are easy enough to recognize, but there are also times when it only uses symbols and archetypal imagery to convey or form a statement. With that said, it’s only normal for us to be interested with archetypes and how the subconscious mind uses them in our dreams.

Dream interpretation has been an important factor in getting to know ourselves better. In psychology, patients who seek help are encouraged to slip in a sleep-like state to bring out what the subconscious mind holds. Dreams, as well as the subconscious mind, have always been the “keepers” of one’s uninhibited desires and emotions that are best kept hidden.

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Upon closer look to his very wide collection of literary works, it is easy to see how Shakespeare was drawn to dreams and supernatural occurrences, enough to influence his masterpieces. It is common for a Shakespeare character to dream of an impending doom or for it to adapt an archetype even if the word itself wasn’t even born yet. Many scholars who studied his literary works even thought that Shakespeare’s characters may even be the basis of all psychoanalytic studies later on—particularly that of Freud’s.

Critics believed that Shakespeare had unwittingly introduced the concept of dream theories most psychoanalysts use today and eventually, changed the way we see dreams in general. Shakespeare had been vocal eversince about his belief that dreams are portent of the future as evident in his dream quotes as well. Some of his most popular pieces are marked by dreams prior to major turn of events but what really embodied his belief are the dream-like settings he so fondly used for most of his masterpieces, one of which being the play “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” where the absurd, magical world of faeries was brought to life. Moreover, dreams and visions played a big part in the play Macbeth as almost every action made by its characters was based on their perception while asleep.

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Collective unconscious is a term developed by the famous psychologist Carl Jung which pertains to the independent unconscious part of the human mind containing the concepts of humanity. These, as Carl Jung firmly believed, are concepts deeply instilled in our minds since birth. They are referred to as archetypes or models in which a person would likely take after. Furthermore, the respected psychologists believed that collective unconscious has been around since the beginning of man. His conclusion found evidence through Greek mythology where archetypes are very apparent in each and every character. He explained that Greek mythology is purely based on archetypes and this is the key to learning more about human behavior.

According to Carl Jung, mythology has been the perfect model on how people react and behave when faced in uncertain situations. It reflects clearly what kind of people we are and every story in Greek mythology harbors truth and justification albeit hidden in words. Dreams, on the other hand, are our gateways to the collective unconscious part of our minds since dreaming knows no boundaries and possibilities are limitless. In dreams, the collective unconscious can be heard without being judged unlike when in reality.

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Demons are the exact opposite of angels and they are usually present in religion, folklore and mythology. They are supernatural beings and they are generally described as deceiving, malevolent spirits.

In Greek mythology, demons are used and applied referring to a God or Goddess but generally, it was referred to as a force or spirit that comes between gods and human. Overtime, it gathered negative connotations and therefore settled to becoming associated with devils and the likes. Both demons and devils are considered as evil spirits and fallen angels of God and they are usually mistaken for one another although they are quite different in meaning and definition.

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The hero is an archetype of a person who despite trials and tribulations perseveres and triumph through them.  They display courage and self-sacrifice for a greater good.  In Greek Mythology, heroes like Heracles, Achilles and Perseus played an important part of Greek religion.

The hero symbolizes in us the need for triumph and glory in the face of life’s challenges and difficulties.  Most often, these trials and difficulties are problems which seem insurmountable or too overwhelming.  This archetype inspires us to continue and to persist.

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The trickster is an example of a Jungian archetype.  This archetype is characterized by his wit and charm as his main defense in getting out of situations.  The trickster in mythology, religion and folklore can be a god, animal, human who plays tricks and ignores rules.

The trickster breaks the rules, sometimes unconsciously but with ultimately positive effects.  When they break the rules it is usually in the form of tricks or thievery.  They are cunning or foolish and sometimes both.

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This archetype was described as Carl Jung as a person with great judgment and wisdom.  The wise old man is sometimes referred to as the Sage.

This archetype is characterized by being old, bearded, father-figure type who uses his great personal knowledge of the world and offer guidance through stories and may impress upon his “student” who he could become, thereby taking the role of “mentor”.

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Carl Jung defines the Great Mother as a significant archetype of an energy-laden image we hold in our psyche, as our mother being our first experience in this world when we were in her womb.  It was through her that we experienced or first sounds, it was her breasts where we first got nourishment, her arms that first held us, and her voice that sung us to sleep.

Jung said our experiences with our mothers are our first formative ones.  Later on these experiences will manifest itself on how we treat other women, other people in general, life as a whole and to some extent, our own bodies.

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The Child is an archetype in Jungian psychology.  It is refered to as a childish or childlike longing for the innocent, regardless of age.  There are several recognizable child archetypes such as the “Abandoned Child”, “The Wounded Child” and “The Divine Child” to name a few.

This archetype is present in all of us.  We were all children once and probably wish, once or twice, for the innocent and care-free days of our childhood as opposed to the complicated and chaotic world of adults.

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