Archetype List
APLC
These archetypes are the most common in the works we study. Know them; love them;
use them. I like to think of archetypes as a “cheat sheet” for studying literature. These
definitions have been compiled from different internet sources, book sources, and our
personal notes. One important note about using archetypes is that you must consider the
context of the archetype to determine how it’s being used, and as always, use other
context clues to determine if in fact a reference to an object is an actual archetype. This
list is a work in progress. We add to it every year, so if you find some information on
any of the archetypes below, let us know, so we can add it for future APLCers.
Sea/ocean: mystery of creation, eternity, timelessness; birth – death – resurrection (don’t
separate); purification and redemption; fertility and growth; the unconscious
River: death and rebirth (baptism); transitional phases of life cycle; irreversible passage
Of time
Sun: creative energy, law in nature, consciousness (i.e. thinking, enlightenment, spiritual
vision), father principle whereas the moon is the mother
Setting sun: usually associated with death – spiritual, emotional, physical
Rising sun: usually associated with birth – spiritual, emotional, physical
Red: violent passion, disorder, birth (from childbirth but also in recognition of new life
or spiritual rebirth (i.e. Mayan sacrifice), death, warning
Green: growth, sensation, hope, fertility; in negative contexts death and decay
Blue: usually positive, associated with truth, religious feeling, security, spiritual purity;
in negative contexts sadness (this is more modern)
Black (darkness): chaos, mystery, the unknown; death; primal wisdom, the unconscious;
evil, melancholy, fear
Light: order, truth, life, hope, safety, consciousness
White: light, purity, innocence, and timelessness; can also be negative: death, terror, the
supernatural, blinding truth
Egg: repository for new life; new life lies dormant in the egg associated with life energy;
White color of the shell, purity and perfection
Snake/serpent: symbol of energy, wisdom; evil, corruption, sensuality; destruction;
mystery, the unconscious
2: duality, polarity, or opposition; circle
3: movement toward resolution, unity, trinity in Christianity; masculine
4: female principle, earth, nature, four elements (earth, air, fire, water); four seasons,
circle (or square depending on context), life cycle; mankind (four limbs)
6: devil, evil
7: 3+4 = unity of male and female; perfection; divinity (3) + mankind (4) = relationship
between; seven deadly sins, seven days of week, seven days to create the world (in
western religions), seven stages of civilization, seven colors of the rainbow, seven gifts of
Holy Spirit (Christianity).
Good mother: life principle, birth, warmth, nourishment, protection, fertility, growth,
abundance
Terrible mother: whore, femme fatale, siren, associated with sensuality, fear, danger,
darkness, dismemberment, emasculation, death; the unconscious in its terrifying aspects
(good and terrible mother also seen as earth mother; each representing one half)
Soul mate: Sophia figure, Holy Mother, the princess or beautiful lady, incarnation of
Inspiration, spiritual fulfillment
Wise old man: (savior, redeemer, guru); personification of spiritual principle, represents
Knowledge, reflection, insight, wisdom, cleverness, and intuition on the
One hand, and on the other moral qualities, tests the morality of others;
Appears when hero is desperate
City: security from threats of uncivilized world; feminine image, woman who shelters
her inhabitants
Paradise: (also garden); unspoiled beauty, fertility, consciousness; usual image is garden
with fountain in the middle; order, controlled growth
Forest: opposite of garden, unconsciousness; also labyrinth requiring inner exploration
self discovery; hero faces inner darkness; wild and unknown, yet to be discovered
self; images in forest are embodiments of fears and wishes
Tree: life of the cosmos (downward and upward structure – three planes of existence:
below (roots), surface (earth), above (branches)), inexhaustible life, growth, proliferation;
generative and re-generative processes
Child: hidden forces of nature, purity and innocence, holy child; image of renewal
Shadow: psychotic imbalance; blindness to our own capacity for destruction; evil or dark
haunting memories; negative past
Tower: eye-like windows at top suggest vision for human potential (no windows
suggests the stifling of human potential), connection between heaven and earth, also
entrapment, inability to venture
Flower: transitory nature of existence; red rose = passion, yellow = sun symbol, white =
Purity, blue = European Christianity, golden = Chinese tradition for spirituality
Labyrinth: hero’s search for hidden aspect of self
Heights (ascent): height, transcendence, inward journey, increasing intensity
Depths (descent): unconscious, potentialities of being, animal nature
Fire: the ability to transform, love, life, health, control, sun, God, passion, spiritual
energy, regeneration; also destruction
Earth: passive, feminine, receptive, solid (see earth mother)
Other archetypes you might find useful:
Dragon: mother-dragon, move to masculine over feminine world; imperial power,
overcome wickedness, storm and thunder, rhythm of the life process; ties
together earthly and spiritual forces; strength and speech; fire
Gold: sun, majesty, wealth, corn (life dependency), truth
Purple / violet: nostalgia, water, advanced spirituality, royalty
Silver: wealth, moon
Orange: fire, pride, ambition, egoism
Mandala: squaring of the circle; symbol of wholeness
Yin-yang: union of opposites; yang is the conscious mind, masculine, light, action; yin is
the female principle, unconscious, mystery, darkness
Ouroboros: circular serpent = snake head biting its tail; eternal cycle of life, unity of
opposing forces of life and death
Anima: inner feminine side of a man; archetypal image of woman in male psyche
Animus: inner masculine side of a woman
Mountain peak: journey for spiritual enlightenment, connection between heaven and
earth; intellectual achievement
Desert: spiritual aridity, death, nihilism, hopelessness
Circle: heaven, intellect, thought, sun, the number two (or 4, depending on context),
unity, perfection, eternity, oneness, celestial, realm, hearing, sound
Square: pluralism, earth, firmness, stability, construction, material solidity, the number
four
Spiral: the evolution of the universe, orbit, growth, deepening, cosmic motion,
relationship between unity and multiplicity, macrocosm, breath, spirit, water
Triangle: communication, between heaven and earth, fire, the number 3, trinity,
aspiration, movement upward, return to origins, sight, light
There, of course, are more archetypes out there. These have been brought up in class at
least once. We will also study archetypal patterns (like the journey of the hero or the
quest that Foster mentions) but those patterns we’ll address while studying the works in
question.