The interest with which the first psychoanalysts tried to portray the mechanisms by which the unconscious affects our way of thinking and acting is well known. These explanations usually focused on individuals and, in the case of Sigmund Freud’s theory, served to explain the nature of certain mental pathologies.

However, there was one researcher who made an effort to go far beyond the physiological functions that explain the individual’s behavior. Carl Gustav Jung transported psychoanalysis to a plane in which the ancestral phenomena that occur at a collective level in different cultures and societies shape our way of being. And he did so through a concept called ” archetype “.

How did the idea originate?

Jung believed that in order to understand the unconscious one must take his theorization to a terrain that transcends the functions of an organism (in this case, the human body). Therefore, from Carl Jung’s theory, “the unconscious” that inhabits us is understood as a composition of individual and collective aspects . This secret part of our mind has, so to speak, a culturally inherited component, a mental matrix that shapes our way of perceiving and interpreting the experiences that occur to us as individuals.

Archetypes and the collective unconscious

Archetypes are the form given to some experiences and memories of our early ancestors, according to Jung. This implies that we do not develop in isolation from the rest of society, but that the cultural context influences us in our innermost selves , transmitting to us schemes of thought and experimentation of reality that are inherited.

However, if we focus on the individual, the archetypes become emotional and behavioural patterns that carve our way of processing sensations, images and perceptions as a meaningful whole. Somehow, for Jung, archetypes accumulate in the depths of our collective unconscious to form a mold that gives meaning to what happens to us.

The symbols and myths that seem to be in all known cultures are for Carl Gustav Jung a sign that all human societies think and act on a cognitive and emotional basis that does not depend on each person’s own experiences and individual differences that come from birth. In this way, the very existence of archetypes would be evidence that there is a collective unconscious that acts on individuals at the same time as the part of the unconscious that is personal.

How do archetypes express themselves?

Jungian archetypes are, in a way, patterns of recurring images and symbols that appear in different forms in all cultures and that have an aspect that is inherited from generation to generation. An archetype is a piece that gives shape to a part of this collective unconscious that is partially inherited.

By definition, says Jung, these images are universal and can be recognized both in cultural manifestations of different societies and in the speech, behavior of people and, of course, in their dreams. This means that they can be located and isolated in all kinds of products of the human being, since culture affects everything we do even without realizing it.

Jungian archetypes are, for some psychoanalysts, what makes certain roles and functions appear in such different cultural products as The Odyssey and the film Matrix . Of course, the existence of archetypes goes far beyond art criticism and is usually used by some therapists to detect internal conflicts between the unconscious and the conscious part of the mind.

Are there types of archetypes?

Yes, there are certain ways to classify the different archetypes . For example, there are archetypal events such as birth or death, archetypal themes such as creation or revenge, and archetypal figures such as the old sage, the virgin, etc.

Some examples of archetypes

Some of the main archetypes are listed below:

1. Animus and Anima

The Animus is the male side of the female personality, and the Anima is the archetype of the feminine in the male mind. Both are related to the ideas that are associated with gender roles.

2. The Mother

For Jung, the archetype of the Mother allows us to detect behaviours and images related to motherhood as experienced by our ancestors.

3. The Father

The archetype of the Father represents for Jung an authority figure who offers a guide on how to live life based on his example.

4. The Person

The archetype of the Person represents the side of ourselves that we want to share with others, that is, our public image.

5. The Shadow

Unlike the Person, the Shadow represents everything about ourselves that we want to remain secret, because it is morally reprehensible or because it is too intimate.

6. The Hero

The Hero is a figure of power that is characterized by its fight against the Shadow, that is, it keeps at bay everything that should not invade the social sphere so that the whole is not harmed. Moreover, the Hero is ignorant, since his determination leads him not to stop and reflect continuously on the nature of what he is fighting.

7. The Wise Man

Your role is to reveal the collective unconscious to the Hero. Somehow, the archetype named after the Wise sheds light on the Hero’s path.

8. The Trickster

The archetype of the Trickster , or the trickster, is the one who introduces jokes and the violation of pre-established rules to show how vulnerable the laws that explain things are. He puts traps and paradoxes in the path of the Hero.

Bibliographic references:

  • Dunne, C. (2012). Carl Jung. Pioneering psychiatrist, craftsman of the soul. Illustrated biography with fragments of his writings, letters and paintings. 272 pages, hardcover. Barcelona: Editorial Blume.
  • Jaffé, A. (2009). Memories, dreams, thoughts. Barcelona: Seix Barral.
  • Kerényi, K. (2009). The Greek Heroes. Prologue Jaume Pórtulas. Translation Cristina Serna. Imaginatio Vera Collection. Vilaür: Ediciones Atalanta.
  • Wehr, G. (1991). Carl Gustav Jung. His life, his work, his influence. Buenos Aires: Ediciones Paidós.