Carl Jung, the famous Swiss psychiatrist, was interested in many different things, not only in psychiatry. He was the first one to talk about extroverted and introverted types of personality, among other things. He was mostly interested in unlocking all mysteries of different personalities. Four main archetypes Jung introduced are to be used as keys for unlocking human personalities.
Although Jung recognized great number of archetypes, the main ones are called The Shadow, The Self, The Anima or Animus and The Persona. No person is determined with only one of them, and all other types are often overlapped and linked to this major ones. Take for example Animal archetypes. When it comes to, for example The Horse, this archetype describes hard and steady work without rest.
The Self unifies human and divine, consciousness and unconsciousness. It exists in your moment of birth, and it is the real, unspoiled harmony. After that, people start to split. They are the whole in this perfect moment, and then they begin to split into parts.
The Shadow is the part of every person as well. Everyone has this dark side, even if it is perfectly hidden. It represents everything mysterious and dark, chaotic, the wildness in someone's character. These dark elements are mostly denied, and can take over if this person is in particularly dangerous situation, for example. Otherwise, some of these elements mostly appear in dreams or hallucinations only.
The Animus and The Anima represent masculine and feminine or the soul, the true self. It is the way to be in contact with collective unconscious. All people have both feminine and masculine sides. They also have feminine and masculine figures in their lives, that determine them as persons. Jung says women are more complex when it comes to that.
The perfect unity between The Anima and The Animus is called Syzygy. This term is used to denote the planets alignment as well. Everyone wants to be whole again. That's why people are trying to find their perfect soul-mate, just because they want to achieve the perfect wholeness. Only very few people are lucky enough to actually succeed in this quest.
Another archetype, the Persona, is named by one Latin word that actually means the mask. This mask is actually a shield between person and different negative influences. People wear masks because they want other people to see them clever, brave or self-conscious, for example. They wear different masks, depending on their goals, as well as their fears.
Other archetypes are also important, and some are mostly easy recognizable. For example, family ones. The most popular ones are Father, Mother and Child. Father stands for authority, power and control, Mother is often used to describe comfort, nurturing and safety, and Child represents birth, beginning, full innocence and similar characteristics.
You will find numerous story archetypes used in literature, for example. The Wise Old Man is there to offer his wisdom. Life experience and knowledge. The Maiden is in trouble, fragile, innocent and pure, while The Hero comes to rescue, brave and strong. The Earth Mother is really the nature, and this particular archetype is also recognizable.
Although Jung recognized great number of archetypes, the main ones are called The Shadow, The Self, The Anima or Animus and The Persona. No person is determined with only one of them, and all other types are often overlapped and linked to this major ones. Take for example Animal archetypes. When it comes to, for example The Horse, this archetype describes hard and steady work without rest.
The Self unifies human and divine, consciousness and unconsciousness. It exists in your moment of birth, and it is the real, unspoiled harmony. After that, people start to split. They are the whole in this perfect moment, and then they begin to split into parts.
The Shadow is the part of every person as well. Everyone has this dark side, even if it is perfectly hidden. It represents everything mysterious and dark, chaotic, the wildness in someone's character. These dark elements are mostly denied, and can take over if this person is in particularly dangerous situation, for example. Otherwise, some of these elements mostly appear in dreams or hallucinations only.
The Animus and The Anima represent masculine and feminine or the soul, the true self. It is the way to be in contact with collective unconscious. All people have both feminine and masculine sides. They also have feminine and masculine figures in their lives, that determine them as persons. Jung says women are more complex when it comes to that.
The perfect unity between The Anima and The Animus is called Syzygy. This term is used to denote the planets alignment as well. Everyone wants to be whole again. That's why people are trying to find their perfect soul-mate, just because they want to achieve the perfect wholeness. Only very few people are lucky enough to actually succeed in this quest.
Another archetype, the Persona, is named by one Latin word that actually means the mask. This mask is actually a shield between person and different negative influences. People wear masks because they want other people to see them clever, brave or self-conscious, for example. They wear different masks, depending on their goals, as well as their fears.
Other archetypes are also important, and some are mostly easy recognizable. For example, family ones. The most popular ones are Father, Mother and Child. Father stands for authority, power and control, Mother is often used to describe comfort, nurturing and safety, and Child represents birth, beginning, full innocence and similar characteristics.
You will find numerous story archetypes used in literature, for example. The Wise Old Man is there to offer his wisdom. Life experience and knowledge. The Maiden is in trouble, fragile, innocent and pure, while The Hero comes to rescue, brave and strong. The Earth Mother is really the nature, and this particular archetype is also recognizable.
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