Archetype (psychology)

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As archetype or common archetype , plural archetypes , analytical psychology describes the basic structures of human imagination and action patterns assumed to belong to the collective unconscious . The word comes from the Greek archē , “origin”, with the associated prefix archi- , “Ur-, Ober-, Haupt”, and typos , “Schlag, Abdruck” (after typein = “hit”) and literally means something like “Ur - or basic character ". Often the archetype is translated imprecisely with the original image, since it is also shown in symbolic images. The term “archetype” is more appropriate.

Archetypes are defined as psychological (also psychophysical) structural dominants which, as unconscious factors, influence human behavior and consciousness . Cultural history also shows archetypal images of consciousness itself and its development , such as the lights of the heavens, especially the sun as a daytime star (also in connection with ideas of light-bringing , i.e. , symbolically understood, consciousness-bringing deities ). Some archetypes correspond to central collective primal experiences of mankind such as B. female / male , birth , childhood , puberty , change and death . The diversity of religious experience can also be viewed as structured according to archetypal patterns, which can be found interreligiously (across religions). The depth psychological concept of archetypes goes back to the Swiss psychiatrist and psychologist Carl Gustav Jung , who invented analytical psychology. It is an open concept that does not contain exclusive definitions of archetypes or a specific number of them.

An archetype as such is unintelligible and unconscious , but its effect is u. a. Can be experienced in symbolic images, such as dreams , visions , psychoses , artistic works, fairy tales and myths . Carl Gustav Jung derived the existence of archetypes mainly from the comparison of motifs from dreams, especially in children, fairy tales, legends and astrological ideas as well as comparative religious studies and mythology . The motifs of alchemy also provided him with a lot of material for comparison. This is an inductive concept , whereby general statements or theses are derived from common features of interpreted empirical findings.

The “archetypes” in CG Jung's psychology

Development of the concept

Angel as an archetypal symbol of the mediator to the highest spiritual value

The origins of Jung's theory of “archetypes” can be traced back to his dissertation from 1902 on the psychology and pathology of so-called occult phenomena . As a fully developed theory, Jung first spoke of “archetypes of the collective unconscious” in 1934 at a lecture at the Eranos conference in Ascona in southern Switzerland . Jung had the term "archetype" in knowledge of its use in the 1st and 2nd centuries. Century in the transition from Hellenism to the Church Fathers as well as in spiritual alchemy in Europe of the 17th century. Jung explicitly referred to concepts of anthropology and “ ethnic psychology ” of the 19th and early 20th centuries in his early works . For the development of the concept of the “archetype”, comparisons of motifs from various sources were crucial. Jung observed "typical mythologemes " in dreams and fantasies of people , about which the persons concerned would never have heard from their environment. Archetypal motifs would also appear intercultural independently of the possibility of tradition and migration . In particular, that "certain archetypal motifs that are familiar to alchemy also appear in the dreams of modern people who have no knowledge of alchemy," Jung had convinced of the existence of general basic forms of inner images.

Jung emphasized the superpersonal nature of archetypes: "The contents of the personal unconscious are acquisitions of individual life, whereas those of the collective unconscious are always and a priori existing archetypes."

Archetype and archetypal image

At first, CG Jung made little distinction, then later it made a clear distinction between the non-illustrative “archetype” as an assumed structural principle on the one hand and archetypal images and ideas on the other: as concrete realizations of archetypes, for example in the dreams of an individual. “The archetypal ideas that the unconscious conveys to us shouldn't be confused with the archetype itself.” The “archetype” is not a concrete idea, but rather “a tendency to generate ideas that are very variable without having to adhere to their basic pattern to lose."

To clarify the difference between the non-visual archetype and its vivid realizations, Jung used the metaphor of crystal mother liquor versus individual crystal . The archetype can be seen as analogous to the fact that “the crystal formation in the mother liquor is, so to speak, preformed without having a material existence itself. The latter appears only in the way in which the ions are connected and then the molecules . ... Such as the mother archetype in each case empirically appears is never derive from it alone, but based on other factors. "

The archetypal quality of an inner idea also includes its emotional charge, its “energy”: In the practical experience of the archetypes it becomes apparent: “… they [the archetypes] are images and at the same time emotions. One can only speak of an archetype if these two aspects are present at the same time. "

Archetypal symbols

An archetypal symbol is characterized by the fact that it brings human consciousness into contact with the collective unconscious when it is currently "alive" or "alive" in a person. is functional. Symbol meanings are mostly ambiguous and complex and also depend on the specific context of a person or a culture. Symbols also trigger associations with spiritual ideas . Examples of archetypal symbols can be: a child, a warrior, a wanderer, a protector, a savior; Fruits, house building, fire and conflagration, a river, lake or sea. General human and culture-specific meanings can be distinguished here on the basis of supra-personal meanings (and corresponding associations). There are basic associations that are very similar in many cultures .

For example: everyone knows perfect circles from the shape of the sun and moon as well as from the orbits of the stars in the course of the day. In connection with these general human perceptions, the circle became in most cultures a symbol for the heavenly sphere and its temporal cycles (its infinite movement). Rings , crowns and halos or, in Daoism, the circle with the symbols of Yin and Yang are examples of concrete shapes of the circle with symbolic meanings of infinity and dignity with a comprehensive whole. An even cross is z. B. associated with four cardinal points, four seasons or four moon phases (weeks in the month), which mean spatial and temporal orientation as well as the arrangement of opposites around a center. The earthly dwellings (houses) and fields of the people are usually designed in rectangular spatial forms. The symbolism of the circle and differentiated cross structures are often combined in the mandala group of symbols that occurs worldwide ; for example in China , India , Tibet , in various Neolithic cultures, with the Platonists and in alchemy . An example of an archetypal symbol in animal form is the snake . It occurs as a religious symbol in Hinduism and Christianity, for example, and appears in dreams to be terrible or beneficial to Central Europeans, even if snakes do not appear in their living environment and they do not consciously deal with them.

Similar archetypes in all cultural areas

The mythologies or religious systems of different cultural areas show many similar or identical structures, patterns and symbolic images. This can be interpreted as evidence of a common background of archetypal structures in the human psyche. One example is the worldwide occurrence of myths of a "great goddess" or "mother" (so-called mother archetype ). Already Paleolithic Venus figurines can be an indication of this. Well-known figures in the history of religion such as the Sumerian Inanna , the Egyptian Nut and Hathor , the Indian Shakti , the Germanic Freya and the Japanese Amaterasu represent a "great goddess" - although this often appears fanned out into different aspects (goddess images): z. B. as Demeter , Kore and Persephone in the ancient Greek religion. In Christianity, the image of Mary has grown from the archetype of a “great mother”. A recent example of the realization of this archetypal structure of imagination in religious movements may also be Wiccan paganism.

Another example is the archetype of the hero and his (sometimes divine) adversaries. Examples of the archetype of the hero are the Sumerian Gilgamesh , the Egyptian Re (in his "incarnation" in the Pharaoh), the Germanic Donar / Thor , the Greek Perseus and Heracles . In Christianity this archetype is represented especially by the dragon slayers Saint Michael and Saint George as well as in the Old Testament in the “ heavenly host ” and integrated into religious ideas. Hero figures in fairy tales (here this figure also appears more often female than heroine) can represent archetypal foundations of a self-consciousness that asserts itself, as well as their adversaries on a personal level ( shadow aspects of personality).

The tree is also a very well-known archetypal motif in cultural and religious history as well as in people's dream lives. Examples of this are ideas of a world tree or tree of life (in Kabbalah , as trees of life and knowledge in the Old Testament , then the crucifixion of Christ in Christian iconography and mysticism ). Other examples are the world tree Yggdrasil in Germanic mythology , the Yaxche tree of the Maya , the tree with the fruits of immortality in China, or sacred trees such as the oak of Zeus or Donar or in druidic cult activities , the sycamore as a place of Goddess Hathor among the Egyptians and the Bodhi tree in Buddhism .

C. G. Jung has researched the following archetypal motifs intensively and developed his theories based on them: The archetypal foundations of the " anima" and the "animus " and the " self " as areas of the soul; the archetype of the child, the girl (the kore), the mother, the mandala , the figure of the trickster , the wotan , archetypal aspects in the Christian dogma of the Trinity , the tree, opposites and their union (e.g. in the symbolism of " Sun "and" Moon "as well as" King "and" Queen "). According to analytical psychology , the totality of archetypes makes up the structure of the collective unconscious .

Archetype, drive and instinct

From a biological point of view, archetypes are based on instincts , without being identical to it. “Despite or precisely because of the relationship to the instinct, the archetype represents the real element of the spirit”. In Jung's metaphorical spectrum of colors in the spectrum of the psychic, the drive dynamics are, so to speak, at the infrared end, the archetypal images and their dynamics at the ultraviolet end, and these opposites touch each other in the typical, instinctive behavioral patterns of humans. Understood in its biological aspect, to archetype, drive and instinct have evolutionarily developed as a "precipitate all human experience" which also influenced the culture and spiritual development of man. Examples of such instinctive behavior are different phases of life such as childhood and adolescence or interpersonal relationships such as the mother-child relationship or the choice of partner, but also exploring the environment, learning the language, participating in economic life, relating to religion and adopting social relationships Responsibility.

Archetypal foundations of the structure of the human psyche

Jung recognized in dreams and myths some main categories of archetypal symbols related to the structure of the human psyche, including:

  • According to Jung, the ( I -) consciousness itself has an archetypal basis in a tendency of the self to produce consciousness. An archetypal symbol of consciousness is the "sun" and the various sun hero myths, such as Jung z. B. in Mysterium Coniunctionis wrote: "King Sol wanders as the archetype of consciousness through the world of the unconscious as one [world] of those many shapes that are perhaps also capable of consciousness." An example of a symbolic "sun" as an archetypal image too of human consciousness is the Egyptian sun god Re (and his nocturnal renewal journey through the underworld ); Accordingly, Christ was referred to as “Sol Novus”, who, as the new Bringer of Light, brought a new consciousness into the world. Other stars, especially the moon and the planets, became archetypal symbols for manifestations and aspects of consciousness in man.
  • The shadow contains unconscious or partially conscious parts of the personality that are often suppressed or denied because they conflict with the image of the self-consciousness of oneself . This ranges from the motivations that are close to the self-awareness, but which are not readily made conscious due to moral considerations, to the entire wealth of "natural man" including his animal behavior. Archetypal symbols of the shadow are, for example, “dark doppelgangers” or “evil adversaries of the hero”. Unconscious shadow projections onto the other person are typical elements of personal as well as collective (e.g. national) conflicts. Awareness of these involuntary shadow projections can therefore massively improve the possibilities for conflict resolution.
  • The anima and the animus designate areas of the soul of a person that appear opposite sex. Archetypal symbols of the anima can e.g. B. Siren and Loreley , the romantic (strange) beauty, unreachable spiritual lover or Sophia . The anima can appear positive or negative and work in both ways in personal development. Typical symbols of the animus can e.g. B. be the seductive magician , the strong hero, the magical artist or the spiritual guide. The animus can appear positive or negative and can also work in both ways in personality development. Both archetypes are mostly involuntarily projected into people of the opposite sex and thus contribute to their sometimes overwhelming fascination.
  • The archetype of the self encompasses both the self-consciousness and the unconscious and represents the center and totality of the human psyche, of which it is the central control and developmental entity. Typical symbols of the self are the “divine child”, the “old sage”, the “ philosopher's stone ”, the “ mandala ” and various images of God in their appearance in the soul. Referring to symbols of the self, Jung wrote: “Unity and wholeness are at the highest level of the objective scale of values, because their symbols can be derived from the imago Dei [d. H. the image of God] no longer differentiate. ”The self can appear not only obviously beneficial, but also“ dark ”and as“ adversary ”to the ego. The self is more often involuntarily projected into political or religious leaders, including ideologies or mass social movements.
  • Shadow, anima / animus and self are special cases in Jung's theory of archetypes, basically “super-categories” of the same: These terms describe large areas of mental content and at the same time the psychology of personality, which in turn contain various groups of motifs that Jung described under the name of specific archetypes. The concepts associated with these terms have evolved over time so that not all definitions given in the meantime are consistent with one another.

If archetypal behavior is suppressed, this can lead to the formation of neuroses , but it also manifests itself in activities of the personal shadow : “Even tendencies that can exert a highly beneficial influence turn into true demons when they are suppressed. That is why many well-meaning people are very rightly afraid of the unconscious and, incidentally, also of psychology. "With reference to this further:" [...] the more they are suppressed, the more they penetrate the entire personality in the form of a neurosis. "

The archetype as not purely psychic

CG Jung increasingly developed his concept of the “archetype” in such a way as not to see it limited to the realm of the psychic. There is a “certain probability that matter and psyche are two different aspects of the same thing” and thus the archetype is basically “determined beyond the psychic sphere”, even if it manifests itself psychically. “Archetypes therefore have a nature that cannot be called psychic with certainty.” They also have a “non-psychic aspect”. Jung maintained a long-term exchange with the physicist Wolfgang Pauli about the questions of the “psychoid archetype” and the relationship between psyche and matter .

Archetypes as the subject of various fields of science

Research has now been carried out in many scientific disciplines to determine to what extent the human species is shaped by subconscious structures typical of the species. Such structures have been postulated in ethology , anthropology , linguistics , brain research , sociobiology , psychiatry , cognitive psychology , evolutionary psychology, and experimental dream research , among others . In these areas, expressions such as “ innate trigger mechanisms ”, “behavioral systems”, “ deep structures ”, “psychobiological reaction patterns” , “deeply homologous neural structures”, “ epigenetic rules ” and “ Darwinian algorithms ” emerged for archetypal structures .

The archetype in dramaturgy

In film and theater, archetypes offer themselves to characterize the individual roles and their respective functions. Archetypes can be used to create a consensus between performers and audience, as the viewer can assume that the templates used are known. Most of the archetypal representations developed from the mythologies, which in turn were and are dependent on dramaturgical means for dissemination. The most important archetypes are the hero (and, developed from this, the antihero ) and, on the other hand, the adversary. In romances as well as love dramas, the classic interplay of animus and anima can often be seen, often also associated with the archetype of the hero or heroine.

See also

literature

Web links

Wiktionary: Archetype  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Carl Gustav Jung: On the psychology and pathology of so-called occult phenomena. A psychiatric study . Diss. Univ. Zurich (Faculty of Medicine). Mutze Verlag, Leipzig 1902. Newly published in: Carl Gustav Jung: Psychiatrische Studien . In: Carl Gustav Jung: Collected Works Volume 1 , § 1–150.
  2. ↑ Lilly Jung-Merker and Elisabeth Rüf: Foreword to vol. 1 by CG Jung: Gesammelte Werke Vol. 9/1 , Walter Verlag, Solothurn, Düsseldorf 1995, p. 10.
  3. ↑ Carl Gustav Jung: About the archetypes of the collective unconscious . Eranos-Jahrbuch 1934, Rhein-Verlag, Zurich 1935, pp. 179–229. In a revised version published in 1954 as From the roots of consciousness. Studies on the Archetype . In: Carl Gustav Jung: Collected Works Volume 9/1 , Rascher Verlag, Zurich 1954, § 1–86.
  4. ↑ Carl Gustav Jung: The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious. Collected Works Volume 9/1 , § 5.
  5. ↑ Carl Gustav Jung: On the psychology of the child archetype . In: Gesammelte Werke Volume 9/1 , § 259 (written 1940, revised 1951).
  6. ↑ Carl Gustav Jung: The structure of the soul . In: Collected Works Volume 8 , § 317-325 (written 1931, revised 1959).
  7. ↑ Carl Gustav Jung: Symbols and Interpretation of Dreams . In: Collected Works Volume 18/1 , § 531 (written 1961).
  8. ↑ Carl Gustav Jung: The psychological aspects of the mother archetype . In: Collected Works Volume 9/1 , § 153 (first publication 1939, revised 1954).
  9. ^ Carl Gustav Jung (1948/50): Aion. Contributions to the symbolism of the self . In: Gesammelte Werke 9/2 , § 13 (published 1951).
  10. ↑ Carl Gustav Jung: From the roots of consciousness. Studies on the Archetype . In: Collected Works Volume 9/1 , § 5f. (Jung partially revised first publication on archetypes from 1935 with footnote 8 added later to clearly distinguish between archetypes and archetypal ideas.)
  11. ↑ Carl Gustav Jung: Theoretical considerations on the essence of the psychic . In: Collected Works Volume 8 , § 417 (first published in 1946, revised in 1954).
  12. ↑ Carl Gustav Jung: Symbols and Interpretation of Dreams . In: Collected Works Volume 18/1 , § 523 (written 1961).
  13. ^ Carl Gustav Jung: The psychological foundations of belief in spirits . In: Collected Works Volume 8 , § 589 (first published in 1920, revised in 1948).
  14. ↑ CG Jung (1938, rev. 1954): The psychological aspects of the mother archetype. GW 9/1: § 148-198, cit. § 155.
  15. ↑ Carl Gustav Jung: Symbols and Interpretation of Dreams . In: Collected Works Volume 18/1 , § 589 (written 1961).
  16. ^ Marie-Louise von Franz: Psychological fairy tale interpretation. An introduction . Kösel, Munich 1986. ISBN 3-466-34147-7 . Revised new edition by the Foundation for Jungian Psychology Küsnacht, 2012. ISBN 978-3-908116-72-1 .
  17. ↑ E.g. Carl Gustag Jung: Aion. Contributions to the symbolism of the self . In: Gesammelte Werke 9/2 (publication 1951).
  18. ↑ ZB Carl Gustav Jung: On the psychology of the child archetype . In: Gesammelte Werke 9/1 , §259–305 (Written 1940, revised 1951).
  19. ↑ For example, Carl Gustav Jung to psychological aspect of Kore . In: Collected Works 9/1 , §306–383 (first publication 1941, revised 1951).
  20. ^ For example, Carl Gustav Jung: The psychological aspects of the mother archetype . In: Gesammelte Werke 9/1 , § 148–198 (first published in 1939, revised in 1954).
  21. ↑ ZB Carl Gustav Jung: About mandala symbolism . In: Gesammelte Werke 9/1 , § 627 (with preceding picture pages) -718 (first publication 1950).
  22. ^ Carl Gustav Jung: About mandala symbolism . In: Psychology and Alchemy. Collected Works 12 , §122–331 (first publication 1935/1936, revised 1952).
  23. ↑ Carl Gustav Jung: On the psychology of the trickster figure . In: Gesammelte Werke 9/1 , § 456–488 (first published in 1954. First published by Rhein-Verlag without Jung's consent under the title “Der Götliche Schelm”).
  24. ^ Carl Gustav Jung: Wotan . In: Gesammelte Werke 10 , § 371–399 (first publication 1936).
  25. ↑ Carl Gustav Jung: Attempt at a psychological interpretation of the dogma of the Trinity . In: Gesammelte Werke 11 , § 169–295 (first published in 1941, revised in 1948 and 1953).
  26. ↑ Carl Gustav Jung: The philosophical tree . In: Studies on Alchemical Concepts. Collected Works 13 , § 304–482 (first published in 1945, revised in 1954).
  27. ^ Carl Gustav Jung: Sol, Luna . In: Mysterium Coniunctionis. Collected works 14/1 , § 101–129 and 149–227 (first publication 1954, revised 1968)
  28. ^ Carl Gustav Jung: Rex and Regina . In: Mysterium Coniunctionis. Collected Works 14/2 , § 1–208 (first publication 1954, revised 1968)
  29. ↑ Carl Gustav Jung: Theoretical considerations on the essence of the psychic . In: Collected Works Volume 8 , § 406 (first published in 1947, revised in 1954).
  30. ↑ Carl Gustav Jung: Theoretical considerations on the essence of the psychic . In: Collected Works Volume 8 , § 414.
  31. ↑ Carl Gustav Jung: The structure of the soul . In: Collected Works Volume 8 , § 339 (first published in 1931, revised in 1950).
  32. ^ Carl Gustav Jung: Mysterium Coniunctionis. Investigations into the separation and composition of the spiritual opposites in alchemy . With the collaboration of Marie-Louise von Franz. In: Gesammelte Werke 14/2 , § 169 (first publication 1956/6).
  33. ^ Carl Gustav Jung: About the archetypes of the collective unconscious (first publication 1935, revised 1954). In: Collected Works 9/1 , § 152.
  34. ^ Carl Gustav Jung: Aion. Contributions to the symbolism of the self . (First published in 1948, revised in 1950). In: Gesammelte Werke 9/2 , § 13-19.
  35. ^ Marie-Louise von Franz: About projection. Your relationship to illness and mental maturation . In: Psychotherapy. Practical experience . Daimon, Einsiedeln 1990. p. 271. ISBN 3-85630-036-8 .
  36. ^ Carl Gustav Jung: About the archetypes of the collective unconscious (first publication 1935, revised 1954). In: Gesammelte Werke 9/1 , § 53–66.
  37. ↑ Carl Gustav Jung: On the archetype with special consideration of the concept of anima (first publication 1936/1954). In: Gesammelte Werke 9/1 , § 111-147.
  38. ↑ Carl Gustav Jung: On the psychological aspect of the Kore figure (first published in 1941, revised 1951). In: Gesammelte Werke 9/1 , § 355-7 and 371-83.
  39. ^ Carl Gustav Jung: Aion. Contributions to the symbolism of the self (first published in 1948, revised in 1950). In: Gesammelte Werke 9/2 , § 20–27.
  40. ^ Carl Gustav Jung: Aion. Contributions to the symbolism of the self (first published in 1948, revised in 1950). In: Gesammelte Werke 9/2 , § 28–33.
  41. ^ Carl Gustav Jung: Aion. Contributions to the symbolism of the self (first published in 1948, revised in 1950). In: Collected Works 9/2 , § 60.
  42. ^ Carl Gustav Jung: Aion. Contributions to the symbolism of the self (first published in 1948, revised in 1950). In: Gesammelte Werke 9/2 , § 43–126 and 287–418.
  43. ↑ Carl Gustav Jung: Symbols and Interpretation of Dreams (written 1961). In: Collected Works 18/1 , § 580.
  44. ↑ Carl Gustav Jung: Symbols and Interpretation of Dreams (written 1961). In: Collected Works 18/1 , § 591.
  45. ^ Carl Gustav Jung: Theoretical considerations on the essence of the psychic (first publication 1947, expanded 1954). In: Collected Works 8 , § 418 and 420.
  46. ^ Carl Gustav Jung: Theoretical considerations on the essence of the psychic (first publication 1947, expanded 1954). In: Collected Works 8 , § 440.
  47. ^ Carl Alfred Meier (eds.): Wolfgang Pauli and CG Jung. An exchange of letters 1932-1958 . With the collaboration of CP Enz and M. Fierz. Springer Verl., Berlin etc. 1992.
  48. ↑ H. Atmanspacher, H. Primas, E. Wertenschlag-Birkhäuser (ed.): The Pauli-Jung Dialogue and its significance for modern science . Springer, Berlin 1995.
  49. ↑ Herbert van Erkelens: Wolfgang Pauli and the spirit of matter . Studies from the existential-psycholog. Education and meeting place Todtmoos-Rütte Vol. 7, published by Thomas Arzt et al., Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 2002.