The Déjà vu Effect
A recurring image, character, event and story is an archetype. Archetype is from the
Greek work meaning "original model or original pattern."
Carl Gustav Jung was a pioneer in the field of psychology. He established the concept of
archetype.
Archetypes are universal symbols that evoke deep and sometimes unconscious responses
in a reader. In literature, characters, images, and themes that symbolically embody
universal meanings and basic human experiences, regardless of when or where they live,
are considered archetypes. Common literary archetypes include stories of quests,
initiations, scapegoats, descents to the underworld, and ascents to heaven.
Mythological critics look for underlying, recurrent patters in lit that reveal universal
meanings and basic human experiences for readers regardless of when or where they live.
An archetype is a unique type of symbol, a kind of super symbol that can take a number
of forms: an abstract idea or a single entity, such a s a circle or a wheel; a charismatic
figure, such a s a hero or a heroine; a pattern of behavior, such a s a vision quest or an
initiation ritual; a theme, such as death and rebirth or redemption; and even a number,
like four which depicts the four corners of the earth or the four seasons of the year in
Navaho art. Note that an archetype is always a symbol or symbolic pattern, but a symbol
is not always an archetype.
Difference between Archetype and Symbol
Archetype—instinctive patterns in the collective unconscious of humankind.
Symbol—An object that stands for something more abstract or general. The cross, for
example is a symbol in Christianity representing Christ’s suffering and death. Symbols
usually presuppose a certain learning process in order to be fully understood.
A cross can also act as an archetype, and some images can and do act in both capacities.
Guerin et al. states that archetypes are universal symbols, motifs or themes that may be
found among many different cultures. They recur in the myths of people worldwide.
These symbols
carry the same or very similar meanings for a large portion, if not all, of mankind
. . . . certain symbols, such as the sky father and earth mother, light, blood, updown, and others recur again and again in cultures so remote from one another in
space and time that there is no likelihood of any historical influence and causal
connection among them. (157)
Water: birth-death-resurrection; creation; purification and redemption; fertility and
growth.
Sea/ocean: the mother of all life; spiritual mystery; death and/or rebirth;
timelessness and eternity.
Rivers: death and rebirth (baptism); the flowing of time into eternity; transitional
phases of the life cycle. . . .
Sun (fire and sky are closely related): creative energy; thinking, enlightenment, wisdom,
spiritual vision.
Rising sun: birth, creation, enlightenment.
Setting sun: death.
Colors:
Red: blood, sacrifice, passion; disorder.
Green: growth, hope, fertility.
Blue: highly positive; secure; tranquil; spiritual purity.
Black: darkness, chaos, mystery, the unknown, death, wisdom, evil, melancholy.
White: light, purity, innocence, timelessness; [negative: death, terror,
supernatural]
Yellow: enlightenment, wisdom.
Serpent (snake, worm): symbol of energy and pure force (libido); evil, corruption,
sensuality, destruction.
Numbers:
3 - light, spiritual awareness, unity (the Holy Trinity); male principle.
4 - associated with the circle, life cycle, four seasons; female principle, earth,
nature, elements.
7 - the most potent of all symbolic numbers signifying the union of three and four,
the completion of a cycle, perfect order, perfect number; religious symbol.
Wise old Man: savior, redeemer, guru, representing knowledge, reflection, insight,
wisdom, intuition, and morality.
Garden: paradise, innocence, unspoiled beauty.
Tree: denotes life of the cosmos; growth; proliferation; symbol of immortality; phallic
symbol.
Desert: spiritual aridity; death; hopelessness.
Creation: All cultures believe the Cosmos was brought into existence by some
Supernatural Being (or Beings).
Seasons:
Spring - rebirth; genre/comedy.
Summer - life; genre/romance.
Fall - death/dying; genre/tragedy.
Winter - without life/death; genre/irony.
The great fish: divine creation/life.
Freud's symbolism/archetypes:
Concave images (ponds, flowers, cups, vases, hollows): female or womb symbols.
Phallic symbols (towers, mountain peaks, snakes, knives, swords, etc.) male
symbols.
Dancing, riding, or flying: symbols of sexual pleasure.
The hero, The antihero
Initiation
Death -Rebirth -Renewal
The Benevolent Guide
The Sacred Marriage
the Trickster
The mercenary
The Scapegoat
Orphan
Martyr
Wanderer
Warrior
Magician
ARCHETYPE LESSON GUIDE
Read Synopsis of Jung’s Archetypes pg. 5
Give a general list of archetypes
Give Archetype Quiz
Discuss in terms of Beloved
Read Circle as Archetype
How is the circle an archetype in Handout #3? See page 3
Does the circle carry any symbolic meaning or archetypal power in their own lives or
belief systems?
Read Mythology Packet & Discuss
Watch Cambell’s Mother Goddess segment and take notes
Lesson 4: Manifestations of the Mother Goddess
Watch Campbell’s Hero video segment and take notes