Well-known Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung was Freud’s student, but he developed his own theories. This versatile scientist was interested in some other areas as well, including sociology, astrology and philosophy. He introduced the concepts of extroverted and introverted personalities, among other things. He was mainly interested in unlocking human personalities, and here are four major archetypes Jung introduced.
Although Jung recognized great number of archetypes, the main ones are called The Shadow, The Self, The Anima or Animus and The Persona. No person is determined with only one of them, and all other types are often overlapped and linked to this major ones. Take for example Animal archetypes. When it comes to, for example The Horse, this archetype describes hard and steady work without rest.
The Self represents the coherent whole that unifies consciousness and unconsciousness. It stands for self and god at the same time. This stage exists in the moment of birth, for example, when people still didn’t start to change and split into different parts. This really is the real harmony. Similar elements can be found in Nirvana principles.
The Shadow represents deeper elements of the psyche, the ones people usually are aware of at some point, but rarely want to admit, even to themselves. It embodies dark, mysterious, wild and chaotic. You can also describe them as dark elements of someone’s nature. These elements may appear in dreams, in hallucinations or in some specific life situations, when they can even take over.
The Animus and the Anima represent male and female, or masculine and feminine sides of human personalities. They also stand as a mean for communicate with collective unconscious. Every person has feminine and masculine side, both men and women. Also, men usually have only one dominant female figure in their life, while women are usually more complex.
The perfect unity between The Anima and The Animus is called Syzygy. This term is used to denote the planets alignment as well. Everyone wants to be whole again. That’s why people are trying to find their perfect soul-mate, just because they want to achieve the perfect wholeness. Only very few people are lucky enough to actually succeed in this quest.
The Persona represents the way people want to be seen by other people. Derived from a Latin word that means mask, this archetype acts as a shield from negative influences. Your mask is usually there to protect you. This is actually the way you want other people to see you in different situations, and that’s why people wear different masks in different situations.
There are also very popular family archetypes, and it is quite easy to guess their meanings. Father, for example, is authoritative figure, and represents control and power. On the other side is Mother, standing for soothing and comforting elements. Another Family archetype, the Child, represents all sorts of beginnings, birth and innocence.
Some others, like story archetypes, are also quite popular. The Hero represents power, strength, fighting for greater good, pride, while The Maiden stands for purity, for someone who needs protection, who is fragile and innocent. Another well known archetype is The Earth Mother, and it represents the Nature, with all her characteristics.
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