The Psychology Book (34 page)

impressions ever made” by a man

human experience. The Latin word

The nature of an archetype is

or woman, so they necessarily

archetypum
translates as “first-

such that we recognize it instantly

reflect the traditional ideas of

molded,” and Jung believed that

and are able to attach to it a specific,

masculine and feminine. ❯❯

archetypes are memories from the

emotional meaning. Archetypes

experiences of our first ancestors.

can be associated with many kinds

They act as templates within the

of behavioral and emotional

psyche that we use unconsciously

patterns, but there are certain

to organize and understand our own

prominent ones that are highly

experience. We may fill out the gaps

recognizable, such as The Wise Old

with details from our individual

Man, The Goddess, The Madonna,

lives, but it is this preexisting

the Great Mother, and The Hero.

substructure in the unconscious

The Persona is one of the most

that is the framework that allows

important archetypes described by

us to make sense of our experience.

Jung. He recognized early in his

Archetypes can be thought of as

own life that he had a tendency to

inherited emotional or behavioral

share only a certain part of his

patterns. They allow us to recognize

personality with the outside world.

a particular set of behaviors or

He also recognized this trait in

emotional expressions as a unified

other people, and noted that human

pattern that has meaning. It seems

beings divide their personalities

that we do this instinctively, but

into components, selectively

Jung says that what seems to be

sharing only certain components

instinct is actually the unconscious

of their selves according to the

Eve is one representation
of the

use of archetypes.

environment and situation. The self

Anima, the female part of a man’s

Jung suggests that the psyche

that we present to the world—our

unconscious. Jung says she is “full

is composed of three components:

public image—is an archetype,

of snares and traps, in order that man

the ego, the personal unconscious,

which Jung calls the “Persona.”

should fall… and life should be lived.”

106 CARL JUNG

moods and reactions, and can

True Self. When fully realized, this

manifest themselves as prophetic

archetype is the source of wisdom

statements (Anima) or unbending

and truth, and is able to connect

rationality (Animus).

the self to the spiritual. Jung

Jung defines one archetype as

stressed that self-realization does

representing the part of ourselves

not happen automatically, it must

All the most powerful

we do not want the world to see. He

be consciously sought.

ideas in history go back

calls it the Shadow, and it is the

to archetypes.

opposite of the Persona, representing

Archetypes in dreams

Carl Jung

all our secret or repressed thoughts

The archetypes are of significant

and the shameful aspects of our

importance in the interpretation

character. It appears in the Bible

of dreams. Jung believed that

as the devil, and in literature as

dreams are a dialogue between the

Dr. Jekyll’s Mr. Hyde. The Shadow is

conscious self and the eternal (the

the “bad” side of ourselves that we

ego and the collective unconscious),

project onto others, and yet it is not

and that the archetypes operate

The Animus is represented in our

entirely negative; it may represent

as symbols within the dream,

culture as the “real man;” he is the

aspects that we choose to suppress

facilitating the dialogue.

muscle man, the commander of

only because they are unacceptable

The archetypes have specific

soldiers, the cool logician, and

in a particular situation.

meanings in the context of dreams.

the romantic seducer. The Anima

Of all the archetypes, the most

For instance, the archetype of The

appears as a wood nymph, a virgin,

important is the True Self. This is a

Wise Old Man or Woman may be

a seductress. She can be close to

central, organizing archetype that

represented in a dream by a

nature, intuitive, and spontaneous.

attempts to harmonize all other

spiritual leader, parent, teacher, or

She appears in paintings and

aspects into a unified, whole self.

doctor—it indicates those who offer

stories as Eve, or Helen of Troy,

According to Jung, the real goal of

guidance, direction, and wisdom.

or a personality such as Marilyn

human existence is to achieve an

The Great Mother, an archetype

Monroe, bewitching men or

advanced, enlightened psychological

who might appear as the dreamer’s

sucking the life from them. As

state of being that he refers to as

own mother or grandmother,

these archetypes exist in our

“self-realization,” and the route to

represents the nurturer. She

unconscious, they can affect our

this lies in the archetype of the

provides reassurance, comfort, and

validation. The Divine Child, the

archetype that represents your True

Self in its purest form, symbolizing

innocence or vulnerability, would

appear as a baby or child in

dreams, suggesting openness or

potential. And lest the ego grow

too large, it is kept in check by the

appearance of the Trickster, a

playful archetype that exposes the

dreamer’s vulnerabilities and plays

jokes, preventing the individual

from taking himself and his desires

too seriously. The Trickster also

Dr. Jekyll transforms
into the evil

Mr. Hyde in a story by Robert Louis

Stevenson that explores the idea of the

“darker self,” through a character that

embodies Jung’s Shadow archetype.

PSYCHOTHERAPY 107

Carl Jung

Carl Gustav Jung was born

in a small Swiss village to an

educated family with a fair

share of eccentrics. He was

close to his mother, though she

suffered from bouts of

appears as the Norse half-god Loki,

The tale of Snow White
can be

depression. A talented

the Greek god Pan, the African

found all over the world with minor

linguist, Jung mastered many

spider god Anansi, or simply a

variations. Jung attributed the universal

European languages as well

popularity of fairy tales and myths

magician or clown.

as several ancient ones,

to their use of archetypal characters.

including Sanskrit. He married

Using the archetypes

Emma Rauschenbach in 1903

The archetypes exist in our minds

collective unconscious and its

and they had five children.

before conscious thought, and can

contents affect the conscious state.

Jung trained in psychiatry,

therefore have an immensely

According to Jung, much of what

but after meeting Sigmund

powerful impact on our perception

we generally attribute to deliberate,

Freud in 1907, he became a

of experience. Whatever we may

reasoned, conscious thinking is

psychoanalyst and Freud’s

heir apparent. However, the

consciously think is happening,

actually already being guided by

pair grew estranged over

what we choose to perceive—and

unconscious activity, especially the

theoretical differences and

therefore experience—is governed

organizing forms of the archetypes.

never met again. In the years

by these preformed ideas within

In addition to his ideas of the

following World War I, Jung

the unconscious. In this way, the

collective unconscious and the

traveled widely through Africa,

archetypes, Jung was the first to

America, and India, studying

explore the practice of word

native people and taking

association, and he also introduced

part in anthropological and

the concepts of the extrovert and

archaeological expeditions.

introvert personality types. These

He became a professor at the

ultimately inspired widely used

University of Zurich in 1935,

By understanding the

personality tests such as the

but gave up teaching to

unconscious we free ourselves Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).

concentrate on research.

from its domination.

Jung’s work was influential in the

Key works

Carl Jung

fields of psychology, anthropology,

and spirituality, and his archetypes

1912
Symbols of Transformation

are so widespread that they can

1934
The Archetypes and the

easily be identified in film, literature,

Collective Unconscious

and other cultural forms that attempt

1945
On the Nature of Dreams

to portray universal characters. ■

108

THE STRUGGLE

BETWEEN THE LIFE AND

DEATH INSTINCTS PERSISTS

THROUGHOUT LIFE

MELANIE KLEIN (1882–1960)

IN CONTEXT

APPROACH

T
he theme of opposing

forces has always intrigued

writers, philosophers, and

scientists. Literature, religion, and

Psychoanalysis

art are filled with tales of good and

BEFORE

evil, of friend and foe. Newtonian

physics states that stability or

1818
German philosopher

balance is achieved through one

Arthur Schopenhauer states

force being countered by an equal

that existence is driven by the

and opposite force. Such opposing

will to live, which is constantly

forces appear to be an essential

being opposed by an equally

part of existence, and perhaps

forceful death drive.

the most powerful of them are