Archetype

An archetypal image is the symbolized or pictorial representation in the unconscious of a pattern of human behaviour derived, according to CG Jung, from the life experience of all the progenitors of the person considered. Thus the collective experience of humanity, its typical ideas, modes of thought and patterns of reaction, are present in each individual psyche. They are by definition unconscious; their presence can only be intuited in the powerful motifs and symbols that give definite form to psychic contents. Archetypes are actualized both externally and in inner consciousness; they provide a system from which to act while at the same time comprising the images and emotions. They may be expressed in the profoundest human experience and arise in religious thought and in great literature; they are also apparent in psychotic thinking when the ego system is overwhelmed by the archetypes of the collective unconscious. Archetypes give rise to images in primitive tribal lore, in myths and fairy tales, and in contemporary media. Evidence of archetypal images common to all individuals is found in the appearance of the same motifs in totally different cultures and in the "mythicization" of historic personages. Myth can be said to be the "acting out" of archetypal images and gods the images of archetypal behaviour. Particularly similar archetypes are associated with basic and universal experiences - birth, marriage, death. In dreams and psychic experience in general, archetypal images have a numinous quality. It is the presence of the archetypes in dreams which can indicate to a psychotherapist how the individual is progressing towards individuation.

Although the number of archetypes is without limit, a basic four major classes are particularly significant from the viewpoint of human development. First there are the masks through which the persona is experienced or projected – the collection of images the person consciously or unconsciously projects in particular circumstances or situations. Then there is the shadow, the scapegoat representing the focus of blame or attack when the individual feels it necessary to vindicate himself or justify his own behaviour. It is not normally recognized as part of the self and thus the blame or attack is usually received by someone else who has sparked off the disquieting view. Thirdly there are the images representing the qualities of the opposite sex within the psyche of the individual, the anima in men and the animus in women. These are first projected on the mother or the father respectively and subsequently relate to the type of person with whom the individual falls in love. Finally there are the central archetypal images relating to the very self of the person. More than the ego which comprises only the conscious, this is that which brings together the conscious and unconscious levels and which is aware of the universe of which it is part. This is the self whose realization is the aim of mystic paths of east and west.

The term derives from the Greek and can mean the mould common to all, whether making the creation as a copy of reality or making man in the image of God. In traditional cultures, archetypes have a supernatural or transcendent origin as a sacred reality revealed to mankind; they provide models for social institutions and norms for behaviour categories. In modern terms the archetype is the pattern or paradigm that determines human experience.