Archetype – Definition of Archetype
What is an archetype? The word archetype comes from the Greek archetypos (arche- first + typos- stamp, mold, type). In its original sense, it simply means prime im-printer, an original model or mold from which copies are made.
In the 20th century, the term re-emerged as a fundamental component of the Jungian psychoanalytic lexicon. Jung depicted it as a universal pre-existing pattern that informs the development of both psyche and matter, an “a priori structural form of the stuff of consciousness.”
The psychologist James Hillman calls archetypes “the deepest patterns of psychic functioning, the roots of the soul governing the perspective we have of ourselves and the world.”
Why identifying the god or goddess that is your personal archetype can help improve your life.
Archetypes are styles or tendencies present in the personality, and they drive our beliefs, values, motivations, emotions and our behavior. They can be a source of spiritual wisdom and personal authenticity that give us a sense of meaning to our lives.
Archetypes are internal images that you have in your mind. They embody characteristics, concepts, and experiences that are universal to us all regardless of where we might live or in what period of time. Take, for example, the notion of “mother” or “trickster”. . . these are universal images that are archetypes.
In astrology, the concept of archetype carries great meaning as various astrological relationships were conceived as the primordial images of what Plato called the Eternal Ideas or prototypes that underpin all forms of reality. Thus various configurations of the planets in the chart are read as significators of fundamental archetypal forms or structures.
Archetypal Coherence
The attraction or binding together of similar patterns of form and meaning.
Archetypal Field
The energetic function of the archetype, which finds its expression (manifestation) in time and space. Archetypal fields are considered non-local – that is, they cannot be measured according to traditional scientific criteria (as are gravitational and electromagnetic fields). The concept of an archetypal field is a particularly compelling way to understand the relationship between astronomical configurations, events in nature and human life, as well as internal psychological experience.
Last updated on February 25, 2018 at 9:20 pm. Word Count: 356
