This blog expounds on the philosophy and psychology behind my screen name. Some have asked what it is, or why I chose it, so this should be more than enough insight for those that are curious…
Archetypes also relate, in some ways, to another blog I posted about Jungian personality types. It delves in to My Personality Analysis, along with the link to take the test yourself. ^^^Click Underlined Link to View...
My favorite song… 46 & 2 by Tool. It speaks of transcending ‘the shadow self’ archetype and moving closer to evolving, or the ultimate growth… much akin to achieving enlightenment. When I chose the name a few years back, it wasn't because of any one particular definition, but rather an amalgamation of them all... to represent a vast symbolic meaning. I've used it on Stickam and various other sites prior to this. Here on Fubar, I have not used it before, only my name & Marqus Arealist (Paronomasia on the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, obviously ;) Archetype was never intended to be precieved arrogantly. In my Zen approach to life, I believe we can influence ourselves for greater good or ills. A positive mind frame and this title would ensure that I strive, myself, to live up to the bar in which I set. I think it, therefore I am (or aspire to be) Manifest destiny, if you will. With that said, lets explore the meanings and reason I have taken it as my screen name...
Archetype Defined: 1.An original model or type after which other similar things are patterned; a prototype: 2. An ideal example of a type; quintessence: "The perfect example of." 3. In Jungian psychology, an inherited pattern of thought or symbolic imagery derived from the past collective experience and present in the individual subconscious.
Usage Note: The ch in archetype, and in other English words of Greek origin such as architect and chorus, represents a transliteration of Greek X (chi), and is usually pronounced like (k).
Jungian Archetypes The term "archetype" applies only indirectly to the "representations collectives," [universal, primordial symbols] since it designates only those psychic contents which have not yet been submitted to conscious elaboration and are therefore an immediate datum of psychic experience. ... Especially on the higher levels of esoteric teaching the archetypes appear in a form that reveals quite unmistakably the critical and evaluating influence of conscious elaboration. Their immediate manifestation, as we encounter it in dreams and visions, is much more individual, less understandable, and more naive than in myths, for example. The archetype is essentially an unconscious content that is altered by becoming conscious and by being perceived, and manifests from the individual consciousness in which it happens to appear.
The concept of psychological archetypes was advanced by the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, c. 1919. In Jung's psychological framework archetypes are innate, universal prototypes for ideas and may be used to interpret observations. A group of memories and interpretations associated with an archetype is a complex,. Jung treated the archetypes as psychological organs, analogous to physical ones in that both are morphological constructs that arose through evolution. The origins of the archetypal hypothesis date back as far as Plato. Jung himself compared archetypes to Platonic ideas. Plato's ideas were pure mental forms that were imprinted in the ‘soul’ before it was born into the world. They were collective in the sense that they embodied the fundamental characteristics of a thing rather than its specific peculiarities. Jung outlined four main archetypes
The Self The regulating center of the psyche and facilitator of individuation
The ultimate pattern is the Self. For Jung this is the God image. Human self and divine self are incapable of distinction. All is Spirit. Images of Spirit abound. Wind and breath being two very common ones. This is an archetypal drama of the Self. Galahad achieving the Grail and ascending with it to Heaven is an archetypal drama of Self. Lancelot's failure to achieve the Grail speaks of his failure to achieve the final discovery of Self. Chariots and cars point in this direction. Enoch is taken up in a chariot of fire.
‘Consider a symphony orchestra performance; the Self can be thought of as the conductor and the musicians coming together in an effort to extract the best music from the best talents; whereas the ego is the orchestra's manager who makes the humble but necessary decisions about bookings and tickets, hotels and transportation and meals. The manager is obviously not the music, and it would be catastrophic to confuse the manager's role with that of the conductor, but without the manager's services, the orchestra doesn't play.’ ~Jungian analyst Irene Gad~
The Shadow The opposite of the egocentric image, often containing qualities that the ego does not identify with but possesses nonetheless
The Shadow is the personification of that part of humans, psychic possibility that we deny in ourselves and project onto others. The goal of personality integration is to integrate the rejected, inferior side of our life into our total experience and to take responsibility for it.
This is the potential of experiencing the unconscious side of our unique personalities. As we move deeper into the dark side of our personality personal, identity begins to dissolve into "latent dispositions" common to all men. We experience the chaos which indicates that we are drawing close to the material structure of psychic life. This "Other Side" may be manifested in a wealth of images.
The Shadow is the easiest of the archetypes for most persons to experience. We tend to see it in "others." That is to say, we project our dark side onto others and thus interpret them as "enemies" or as "exotic" presences that fascinate. We see the Shadow everywhere in popular culture. He is Batman.. We see it in popular prejudice as well. We "imagine" that the Black Man is our enemy; that Communists are devils. We incline towards Hawaii as the "land of paradise." We accept people uncritically if we perceive them as "Fair Haired." Of course, Satan is the great Shadow image of popular religion.
Jung on the feminine archetype or Anima
The Anima The feminine image in a man's psyche or: The Animus The masculine image in a woman's psyche.
The most prevalent potential patterning is that of the Soul (Anima is the male name for soul; Animus is the female name for soul). Here we meet our inner opposite. Males meet their Anima; females their Animus. The Anima may appear as an exotic dancing girl or a weathered old hag--the form generally reflects either the condition or the needs of our soul presently. Remember the wicked witch encountered by Hansel and Gretel. The Animus may appear as an exotic, sensual, young man or as an old grouch.
A part of our persona is the role of male or female we must play. For most people that role is determined by their physical gender. But Jung, like Freud and Adler and others, felt that we are all really bisexual in nature. When we begin our lives as fetuses, we have undifferentiated sex organs that only gradually, under the influence of hormones, become male or female. Likewise, when we begin our social lives as infants, we are neither male nor female in the social sense. Almost immediately -- as soon as those pink or blue booties go on -- we come under the influence of society, which gradually molds us into men and women.
In all societies, the expectations placed on men and women differ, usually based on our different roles in reproduction, but often involving many details that are purely traditional. In our society today, we still have many remnants of these traditional expectations. Women are still expected to be more nurturing and less aggressive; men are still expected to be strong and to ignore the emotional side of life. But Jung felt these expectations meant that we had developed only half of our potential.
The anima is the female aspect present in the collective unconscious of men, and the animus is the male aspect present in the collective unconscious of women. Together, they are referred to as Syzygy. The anima may be personified as a young girl, very spontaneous and intuitive, or as a witch, or as the earth mother. It is likely to be associated with deep emotionality and the force of life itself. The animus may be personified as a wise old man, a sorcerer, or often a number of males, and tends to be logical, often rationalistic, even argumentative.
The anima or animus is the archetype through which you communicate with the collective unconscious generally, and it is important to get into touch with it. It is also the archetype that is responsible for much of our love life: We are, as an ancient Greek myth suggests, always looking for our other half, the half that the Gods took from us, in members of the opposite sex. When we fall in love at first sight, then we have found someone that "fills" our anima or animus archetype particularly well!
The Persona How we present to the world, usually protects the Ego from negative images.
The persona represents your public image. The word is, obviously, related to the word person and personality, and comes from a Latin word for mask. So the persona is the mask you put on before you show yourself to the outside world. Although it begins as an archetype, by the time we are finished realizing it, it is the part of us most distant from the collective unconscious.
At its best, it is just the "good impression" we all wish to present as we fill the roles society requires of us. But, of course, it can also be the "false impression" we use to manipulate people's opinions and behaviors. And, at its worst, it can be mistaken, even by ourselves, for our true nature: Sometimes we believe we really are what we pretend to be. Related Videos:
Professor explains the philosophy and psychology behind archetypes.
Part 2 of a Jung documentary, begins with archetype examples, etc.
Although the number of archetypes is limitless, there are a few particularly notable, recurring archetypal images, E.g.:
Sky father - Earth mother Angel - Savior Demon - The Trickster The Maiden - The Great Mother – The Crone The Virgin - The Temptress - The Witch The Young Boy – The Man - The Wise Old Man Knight - Warrior - Hero - The Lover – Seeker Sage – Monk – Mentor – Wizard/Magician Professor - Psychiatrist - Mad Scientist The Outcast - Jester - Fool
Consider in your mind the vision you have when you think of any of the words above. I.e. Merlin would be an archetype for a Wizard, wise man, etc.
Or, there are even archetypal ideals, e.g.:
Initiation - Rites of passage The Journey - The Quest The Origin - Death/Rebirth The Cosmic Tree/ Tree of life - The Garden The Seasons - Winds - Elements The Pit - The Tower The Underworld - ‘Heaven’ Damnation - Eternal Afterlife
This was merely a breif overview of the basics pretaining to The Jungian Psychology and philosophies. If you care to research further, here are the best... Relative Links Jung.Org The Washington Society for Jungian Psychology Capt.Org Center for Applications of Psychological Types *Click Underlined Links Above*
Thank You for your time and interest, Love & Light; MarQ
D.J.VVV ~ ORAC...
