Archetype

From The Book of THoTH (Leaves of Wisdom)

An archetype is an idealized model of a person, object, or concept from which similar instances are derived, copied, patterned, or emulated. In psychology, an archetype is a model of a person, personality or behaviour. This article is about archetypes in psychology.

The term archetype is sometimes broadly and misleadingly used to refer to a prototype, a stereotype or an epitome. It may thus indicate a type of person, e.g. a mother, a father, a hero, a warrior or a martyr.

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Literature

Archetypes often appear in literature. William Shakespeare, for example, is known for popularizing many archetypal characters. Although he based many of his characters on existing archetypes from fables and myths, Shakespeare's characters stand out as original by their contrast against a complex, social literary landscape.

A pastiche is an imitation of an archetype or prototype in order to pay homage to the original creator.

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Jungian archetypes

In the psychological framework of Carl Jung, archetypes are innate, universal prototypes for ideas and may be used to interpret observations. A group of memories and interpretations associated with an archetype are a complex, e.g. a mother complex associated with the mother archetype. Jung treated the archetypes as psychological organs, analogous to physical ones in that both are morphological givens that arose through evolution.[1]

Jung listed four main forms of archetypes:

  • The Self
  • The Shadow
  • The Anima
  • The Animus

Symbols of the unconscious abound in Jungian psychology:

  • The Syzygy ("Divine Couple"), e.g. Aeons
  • The Child, e.g. Linus van Pelt
  • The Übermensch ("Superman", the Omnipotent) e.g. The Joker, Iago
  • The Hero, e.g. Siegfried, Batman, Beowulf, Doc Savage, Luke Skywalker and Matrix's Neo.
  • The Great Mother, either good or terrible, e.g. Devi (MahaDevi), the Great Goddess, Glinda the Good Witch of the North
  • The Wise Old Man, e.g. Obi-Wan Kenobi, Gandalf, Albus Dumbledore, and Mr. Miyagi
  • The Trickster or Ape, e.g. Reynard, Robin Goodfellow, Brer Rabbit, Bart Simpson, Bugs Bunny, and Loki
  • The Puer Aeternus (Latin for "eternal boy"), e.g. Peter Pan
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Enneagram characters

Proponents of Enneagram typology claim that the Enneagram characters can help people understand how archetypes affect personal interactions.

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See also

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References

  • *Jung, C. G., (1934–1954). The Archetypes and The Collective Unconscious. (1981 2nd ed. Collected Works Vol.9 Part 1), Princeton, N.J.: Bollingen. ISBN 0691018332


--Angel 14:24, 31 May 2006 (CDT)

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