Ever get the feeling that you have to put on a mask every time you go outside? When you are back home, you tend to finally feel free and tend to be a different person overall. Sometimes, you feel like there is just a side of you no one has seen or experienced. Well, Jung used the term archetypes to help describe and explain these feelings.
What Are the Archetypes?
“Archetypes are universal, inborn models of people, behaviors, or personalities that play a role in influencing human behavior.” They were introduced by Carl Jung, who suggested that archetypes were passed down from our ancestors and are an archaic form of innate human knowledge. In Jungian Psychology, archetypes are inherited just like any pattern of behavior may be inherited. They are a universal pattern and images that represent the collective unconscious. The collective unconscious is one of the three components of the human psyche suggested by Jung, the other parts being the ego and the personal unconscious. More specifically, the collective unconscious contains all the knowledge and experiences that we share as human beings. The collective unconscious allows us to branch out to the topics of mythology, but for we will focus on that for another time.
The Four Main Archetypes
The four main archetypes are the persona, the anima/animus, the shadow, and the self. There are various other types of archetypes, as well such as the sage, the explorer, the magician, etc. For this specific article, we will brush over the four main archetypes.
- The Persona
The persona, in simple terms, is the mask that an individual presents to the world. This mask acts as a conformity and is a role that is presented to others than what an individual actually is.
- The Anima/Animus
The anima or animus is the opposite of the biological sex of an individual. The psyche of a woman consists of masculine aspects (animus), and the psyche of a man consists of feminine aspects (anima).
- The Shadow
The shadow reflects the source of our creative and destructive types of energies.
- The Self
The self is the ultimate objective of an individual used to achieve a selfhood. This is very similar the self-actualization.
Overall, the archetypes dive deep into the collective unconscious as suggested by Jung. This collective unconscious also branches into topics like evolution as well. To understand what the collective unconscious is truly may be a difficult task, but Jung was always one to take a risk into the paranormal world. It is fascinating to think how complex the human mind is – being divided into the conscious and unconscious, each of those being so influential in our lives. It is amazing to think of the possibility and history of the collective unconscious and all future research being conducted around this topic.