Introduction to Archetypes Lesson 1

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Introduction to ArchetypesLesson 1
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• What do all people have in common?
• Why do people share these things?
• What are you afraid of?

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All people share

• the same fears.

Darkness
Death
The Unknown
Snakes
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All people share

• the same taboos.

Cannibalism
Incest
Murder
Child Abuse
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All people share

• the same dreams.

Falling
Teeth Falling Out
Being Lost
Being Chased
Flying
Being Unprepared
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All people share

• the same stories.

The Creation of the World
The Flood
The Heros Quest
These stories are archetypes.
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What are archetypes?

• Pronounced AR-kuh-types
• Patterns, templates, or prototypes of human
  behavior and experience
• inherent dispositions - stuff were born with
• deposits of the constantly repeated experiences
  of humanity - Carl Jung
• In each of these images there is a little piece
  of human psychology and human fate, a remnant of
  the joys and sorrows that have been repeated
  countless times in our ancestral history. . . .
  - Carl Jung

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Characteristics of Archetypes

• They are not individual, but shared with all
  humans.
• They are the inherited part of being human -
  connects us to all other humans who ever have or
  ever will live.
• They are not directly knowable, but express
  themselves in forms.
• They are universal across all human cultures,
  regardless of historical time or geographical
  location.
• They keep showing up in all forms of human
  experience and expression.

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Whos this Jung guy?

• Jung - pronounced young
• 1875-1961
• Swiss psychologist who worked with Sigmund Freud
• Came up with the idea of the collective
  unconscious
• An important guy to know if youre studying
  archetypes!

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Tabula Rasa (Blank Slate)

• All of reality is contained in the time and
  space box.
• The box is locked up tight. The Unknown has no
  influence.
• We start our lives as blank slates.Everything
  we know is learned within our lifetime.

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The Collective Unconscious

• Instead of the unknown, the time and space
  box is surrounded by the collective
  unconscious.
• Archetypes hang out outside of the time and
  space box and generally effect us through our
  unconscious minds.
• We are not blank slates.

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Where do archetypes show up?

• Myths
• Legends
• Dreams
• Literature
• Art
• Music
• Movies
• Anywhere humans have expressed their feelings,
  thoughts, emotions, and ideas

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Types of Archetypes

1. Character Archetypes
2. Situational Archetypes
3. Symbolic Archetypes

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What does this have to do with me?

• You are human, arent you?
• The repeating patterns we call archetypes are a
  built-in part of your everyday life - you just
  havent noticed yet
• Carl Jung believed that archetypes are so
  important to humans that if we lose touch with
  them, well go crazy!
• Becoming aware of archetypes can help you feel
  connected to the rest of humanity. You may even
  come to see how your own life is shaped by these
  ancient patterns of human experience.

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Character Archetypes

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