Among the most compelling ideas in the Western mystical tradition is the understanding that the universe is patterned by perennial, universal motifs. The depth psychologist C.G. Jung, drawing inspiration from the work of the Greek philosopher Plato, called these patterning motifs “archetypes.” Simultaneously the divine powers represented by ancient gods and goddesses and the uniquely personal ensemble of figures which comprise our own “inner cast of characters,” archetypes are the paradigms by which we make sense of human experience. That said, while we often personify archetypes in our effort to relate to them, they are more accurately understood as elemental and foundational patterns of energy. Indeed, Jung considered archetypes to be the universal energy patterns inherent in both the human psyche and the cosmos.
Jung first came to recognize the existence of archetypes in the course of his work with his own dreams and fantasies as well as those of his patients. Jung’s wide knowledge of mythology, anthropology, religion, and ancient art permitted him to recognize strong parallels between the themes and symbols that appear in our dreams and those we find repeatedly in myths and religions from all over the world. Initially at a loss to explain these connections, Jung conceived of the concept of the collective unconscious as a way of explaining the universality of these themes and symbols. According to this groundbreaking idea, all humans collectively share a primordial and perennial stratum of consciousness containing, in symbolic form, all of the wisdom of the human species. Since the collective unconscious expresses itself through archetypal motifs, the concept of the collective unconscious is inseparable from that of archetype.
Whether we know it or not, all of us have some experience of archetypes. For example, there are familiar archetypes associated with the process of human development, such the Mother, the Father, the Child, the Youth, and the Old One. Another source through which we typically encounter archetypes is cultural, including fairy tales, literature, drama, cinema, and other manifestations of human creativity. The King or Queen, the Fool, the Trickster, the Sage, and the Warrior are but a few of the archetypes commonly seen in both high and popular cultural forms. Perhaps the most commonly encountered archetype in human culture is that of the Hero, an archetype so universal and perennial that Joseph Campbell built his model for human transformation, the Hero’s Journey, upon it.
Though we often think about archetypes as personified figures such as the Hero, archetypes are not limited to human-like characters. In addition, there are also a wide variety of archetypes based on either real or mythological animals, creatures such as the Dragon, the Spider, the Lion, and the Butterfly. Others are connected with non-animate motifs, such as geographical archetypes like the Forest, the Sea, the Desert, and the Mountain. Archetypal energy can also manifest as a wide range of human experiences and principles, such as Liberty, Courage, Evil, and Death. Indeed, there are an infinite array of archetypes, some known, many others yet to be recognized.
An essential distinction regarding archetypes concerns the relationship between their common underlying energetic patterns and the many forms they take in our lived experience of them. For example, the Mother as an archetype can never reduced to the person who literally birthed us. Instead, the Mother as an archetype represents the symbolic font of life and sustenance regardless of its biological source, which is why we frequently refer to the planet we live on as “Mother Earth.”
Another critical feature of archetypes is their light-and-shadow nature, dual modes of manifesting which are commonly referred to as their “positive” and “negative” dimensions. Referring again to the example of the Mother, we might describe the most positive aspect of this archetype as the source of unconditional and boundless love and nurturance, indeed as the womb of life itself. In contrast, the negative dimension of the Mother archetype – sometimes called the “Dark Mother” or the “Terrible Mother” – is that which symbolically withholds and devours life, the tomb which takes life back at the end of our time on earth.
Perhaps the most important aspect of archetypes is their inherently numinous nature. This combination of profound wonder and overpowering awe lies at the root of their intensely spiritual significance. The numinous nature of archetypes explains why so many immigrants arriving in New York during the past century spoke of their first glimpse of the Statue of Liberty with a deep reverence usually associated with religious experience. It may be hard to fully imagine the degree of both wonder and awe which these people felt in the presence of this colossal image of a woman holding a beacon – a statue whose nickname is the “Mother of Exiles” — welcoming them to our shores. Without this monument’s capacity to symbolically evoke both Liberty and the Mother as archetypes, it would not have the power to inspire such a profound response in millions of people around the world, both then and now.