INTELLECTUAL EXERCISES These white-papers are the result of the many and varied reading and research as filtered through the eyes and mind of Miriam Greenfield.
"It is quite impossible to conceive how 'experience' in the widest sense, or, for that matter, anything psychic, could originate exclusively in the outside world. Whether the psychic structure and its elements, the archetypes, ever ‘originated' at all is a metaphysical question and therefore unanswerable. […]" ~ C. G. Jung 1990 (*click here for the rest of this quote)
Carl Jung, the twentieth century Swiss psychiatrist, is perhaps the first modern man to have written in great detail about archetypes. Archetypes are spoken of, over and over, in stories and fairy tales. They are expressed regularly in dreams and a modern version is regularly depicted in movies and television serials.
So, what are they?
Put simply, archetypes are the overarching traits or qualities that we all possess and which we express naturally and spontaneously. They can also be described as the energy that fuels our unconscious knowledge, that is, knowledge and information that is imparted to us by others or that we instinctively have which we store in our unconscious. It is only when we are faced with a crisis that we call upon this unconscious knowledge through problem solving.
Today, archetypes have modern application in helping people communicate with their unconscious, understand their behaviors more fully and relate to the external world more harmoniously.
How do we know our own archetype?
To know an archetype, you could look at the ‘outstanding' quality/trait that distinguishes an individual or his/her behavior.
Is an archetype negative or is it positive?
It is neither. It has a light and a shadow side, like a coin has two sides. Whether you experience an archetype positively or negatively, either as an actor or an observer, depends on you. However don't forget that it is completely unconscious.
How do we know what the sides are?
The light side is the visible side or a characteristic which we know we have. This side is conscious. The flip side, the shadow side, is what we project rather than consciously express. It is unconscious.
In day to day living, the light side of our archetypes expresses itself and we can and often do manipulate them to achieve directed results. In fact, often we survive and relate to the world simply through this side of ourselves and do not explore the shadow side.
However, the shadow side holds a lot of creative, intelligent and useful material.
It is less visible and expressed inelegantly because it is less socialized, or in other words, it simply has a lesser opportunity to go shopping for a more graceful behavior. Nonetheless, it has good qualities and when we are open enough and knowing, we can notice these and interpret their expression.
How do we interpret a behavior that comes from the shadow side of our personality?
The shadow side expresses itself symbolically. That is mainly through dreams, symbols, creative art and even illness.
All symbolic forms of expression of the shadow have one thing in common. They do not express themselves in language or in any conventional/traditional speech form, or in a logical way. The shadow, or the unconscious, however has its own ‘language'; one that is unique to each of us, so if you thought you were not unique, think again.
Does this mean that each of us needs to learn our unique ‘language' in order to interpret, understand and work with our shadow side?
Yes, exactly.
Some people are intuitively aware of their own archetypes and work with them. These people may include outstanding students, ministers of all religions, coaches, athletes.
However for many of us we must learn to know and communicate with our archetypes. You may ask, why go into all the trouble?
Firstly, because we are worth it. Secondly, knowing yourself allows you to live your life well and correctly. This means better health and education, a deeper understanding of yourself and others and an increased awareness of how you make choices in your life. Importantly, knowing yourself means knowing how to deal with stress in times of crisis and how to conquer them. In such times you will realize that we are each the source of the most amazing discoveries.
Let's look at some examples of archetypes
Archetypes as expressed by famous people:
Mother Theresa gave her life to assist the poor and helpless, to be with them and help them live with their untold misery and suffering. Mother Theresa had the saint archetype written all over her and ultimately was formally declared a Saint by the church.
Archetypes as expressed in fairy tales:
In the "Wizard of Oz" Dorothy leaves home in search of something different. She explores, along the way, the parts of herself she is not aware of. She searches for a heart (the tin man), for a brain (the scarecrow) and finally when she reaches the end of the road, she finds there is no wizard at all. The search was all that it was, her lesson. She misses home and before Dorothy wakes up , her intuition (the dog) which she trusted, helped her to find her way home. on her return , when she wakes up, she realizes that all that she was looking for was all the time there and what she needed was a change in attitude: loving her family, instead of trying to replace it. Here, the archetype expressed is "the Adult" coming home represents real values and the reaching of maturity.
Archetypes as expressed in TV serials:
In Seinfeld, we have a collection of characters, each very different from the next and yet all joined in friendship. What connected them was their honesty about their flaws. That is the one thing they have in common. They do not excuse themselves for their shortcomings, they celebrate their differences. We all tend to wear masks and only the comedian can express his real feelings, because honesty tends to unsettle us. But we enjoy this honesty in others and love it in comedy shows. We need honesty to keep us grounded. In Seinfeld, we can all relate to the characters flaws, and through laughter, we acknowledge ours, thus connecting with our "Clown" archetype.
Begin by writing a journal. Enter any situation, thought, observation or event which strikes you as meaningful, each day, until the exercise becomes part of life itself.
Create a collage of archetypes that express the characteristics that you would like to celebrate in you and the ones that are absent, which you would like to awaken. You can do this through writing, drawing, painting or pasting magazine cut outs in your favorite diary. You may also express these characteristics through other artistic expressions such as playing music, singing, dance or exercise.
For example, listen more if you're a talker or talk more if you're a listener. Initiate more if you are a follower and step back once in a while if you are a controller.
Figuratively speaking, socialize your shadow more. It must be socialised to allow you to use its lessons.
Finally, record your own dreams regularly, and interpret them. There are many comprehensive, affordable dream dictionaries available in New Age book shops.
Whether we know them or not, archetypes are always with us, hovering around us like little angels, warning us or encouraging us to take that step. According to different sources, we all have the same four archetypes, and more that are different for each person. If you wish to understand more on this topic you could start with Carol S. Pearson's "the hero within" Six Archetypes We Live By.
[…] The structure is something given, the precondition that is found to be present in every case. And this is the mother, the matrix-the form into which all experience is poured. The father, on the other hand, represents the dynamism of the archetype, for the archetype consists of both-form and energy." ~ C. G. Jung 1990
