ARCHETYPAL IMAGES: the soul's language

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Thomas Singer, M.D., Jungian Analyst, and president of The Archive for Research in Archetypal Symbolism (www.ARAS.org) joins us to decipher Archetypal Images and explain the essential role of A.R.A.S. in collecting and curating them.

Archetypes, as cosmic blueprints, dictate universal patterns of the collective unconscious, transcending personal experiences and cultural variations. They mold our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. Archetypal images are their visible expressions, emerging in dreams, myths, and cultural narratives, providing a visual language linking psyche to self. They adapt and evolve across cultural contexts.

Archetypal theory traces back to Plato's theory of Forms, which proposed transcendental ideals, or "arkhetypos" (first-molded), as the pure essence behind physical manifestations. The Swiss psychiatrist CG Jung linked these archetypes to the collective unconscious, profoundly influencing our experiences.

Archetypal images carry universal resonance, stirring deep recognition within us. Iconic images, on the other hand, reflect temporal cultural dominants. Archetypal imagery identification involves recognizing recurring symbolic patterns with deep cultural or psychological significance.

In the therapeutic relationship, archetypal imagery offers a stage for the drama of the unconscious. The analyst’s role includes identifying the universal patterns in the analysand's dreams and fantasies. Interpreting these influences can free the analysand from the grip of debilitating complexes.

Archetypal images are also prominent in culture and commerce, shaping narratives and influencing behavior. They find use in brand narratives, films, religious and spiritual traditions, and even political leaders' narratives. However, they can both inspire and manipulate, highlighting the need for discernment and critical awareness.

Archetypal imagery also aids in expressing complex emotions and experiences. Expressions such as "Pandora’s box," "Siren’s call," and "Promethean knowledge" exemplify this influence on language and culture.

A.R.A.S. (www.ARAS.org) was initially assembled by Olga Froebe-Kapteyn, who collected illustrations of ancient symbolic artifacts at her estate on Lake Maggiore in southern Switzerland. These images illustrated the annual meetings of the Eranos Society, conducted by Froebe-Kapteyn from 1933, with participation from renowned scholars such as Heinrich Zimmer, Károly Kerényi, Mircea Eliade, C.G. Jung, Erich Neumann, Gilles Quispel, Gershom Scholem, Henry Corbin, Adolf Portmann, Herbert Read, Max Knoll, and Joseph Campbell.

In 1946, Froebe-Kapteyn donated her collection to the Warburg Institute in London, with duplicates given to the C.G. Jung Institute in Zurich and the Bollingen Foundation in New York. Jessie E. Fraser, librarian of the Analytical Psychology Club of New York, expanded the archive beyond its original scope, leading to the creation of the Archive for Research in Archetypal Symbolism. The collection was acquired by the C.G. Jung Foundation of New York and copies were also kept at the C.G. Jung Institutes in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

HERE’S THE DREAM WE ANALYZE:
“I was walking down a scenic nature trail and felt awed at the sight of ducklings and their mother in a tree. Then a great owl swooped down and snatched the ducklings from their mother, flew to a nearby tree, and started gorging them while the mother could only stare in horror.”

REFERENCES
The Archive for Research in Archetypal Symbolism, www.ARAS.org

RESOURCES:

SHARE YOUR DREAM WITH US

INTERESTED IN BECOMING A JUNGIAN ANALYST?

[tzmythos]

wow! That discussion about manholes really affected me. In my childhood, I had a recurring nightmare of my mother cheerfully descending into a manhole and me sobbing wildly, begging her not to go. Listening to your discussion, I realise how persistent and powerful images of descent into the subterranean have been in my life, not only in dreams but emotionally. The descent is always fearful but compelling, a soul urging that I cannot deny, that inevitably leads to a symbolic dark experience of death, revelation and transformation.

[Silvia-pvls]

I’ve just finished listening to the Podcast version of this discussion. Quite surprisingly, two years ago I heard Australian native wood ducks quacking down from a broad fork in a tall eucalyptus tree close to our house. They had built a nest there and were raising young. How they eventually got down I don’t know, but the quacking and coming and going by the parents continued for quite a while. 😊

[debatthebeach]

Love this discussion. Beautiful and thought-provoking. 🥰

[chalinofalcone]

The owl is Wisdom, which is insight into the darkness of ignorance or the unknown. It devours the innocence of infantile dependency. The ducklings are above their natural environment, they do not belong where they are; out of their element. Summary: time to grow up.
I once did a psychedelic and during my trip I wanted to get up and run tell my roommate, who was a woman, what I was experiencing. Then a voice inside me told me "why are you always looking for your mommy to tell her how you feel? Grow up already." So, I thought of the Buddha and The Immovable Spot and determined to 'ride it out'.

[KateGee-wfpc]

A freind of mine, once referred to an archetype as vital metabolic process. I find this useful as it speaks to the dynamic quality (potential, as you say) of the phenomena as it moves through our personal and collective un/consciousness.

I did so love Deb’s quoting of the flowing river though.

I was compelled to define archetype after feeling particularly disappointed by Megan Markle’s podcast, ‘Archetypes’, due to her failure to grasp the concept in any way, much less contribute to understanding of archetypes. Perhaps mistaking the term for something more like ‘stereotypes’. This is a common enough mistake. What was more troubling however is that Ms Markle tried to copyright the term. Lucky she was unable to.

Thank you for your thoughtful commentary on archetypes and for this wonderful podcast more broadly. 🙏

[dmystfy]

“It does raise the question which is how do we discriminate images which have enduring meaning and computer generated images? The first word that comes to mind is intuition” I love this and told my students in anthropology: digital futures the same thing! 29:14

[MaggieMay]

There actually are ducks that perch and nest in trees. One species is called the Wood Duck. They would not be out of place in a tree, but they are unusual and inhabit spaces most ducks do not. When I think about the dream, I associate to themes of being authentic and in the “right” place but being perhaps misunderstood and feeling vulnerable. The wood duck belongs in the tree but the other ducks are down below, and to be a baby duck braving life in a tree brings with it exposure and danger not faced by the ducks in the more familiar and safer grass or water below. I wonder if there’s any connection with the dreamer’s phase of life, entering adulthood and trying to figure out where he “belongs” and whether to risk individuating and taking a path that is authentic to him but feeling that doing so is frightening. To be a baby duck who belongs in a tree and dares to perch up high.

[herbika]

This episode is something else! Like someone unlocked the well known door and what I saw was a magnificent garden. I will be visiting this garden often
(Already listened 3 times)
Thank you so much❤❤❤❤

[kaigoias]

I am curious if the guest has learned anything interesting in the years following his recent book. It would be quite interesting to see you all discuss the effects of propaganda on the individual and collective psyche.

[adamswierczynski]

Archetypes are the effigies of universal human experiences.

[Northern_Mystic]

7:55 its an ad bteak and i thought you had naturally drawn to an end of these opening definitions of archetypes.

There are reasons and causes you resist allowing archetypes to be defined beyond the vagaries of potential. It is similar to the effects of people who find themselves good at solving problems. Soon beginning to discover problems surround them. Aren’t Jungian analysts defined by their conformity with a Jungian archetype?

Archetypes are metaphors of energy a person isnt ready to undetstand and face directly. It is a mirror through which a spirit guides the nature of learning. There is only nature and spirit, personality is another restriction, a limitation on the nature of information. Archetypes lead us to the truth of nature and reality, each stage is defined by its own stereotypes and archetypes, of which, Jesus and Buddha are part of. We are in expressive cycles, not only relationships.

This is why there is a part of nature, a divine form that seems to know what atage of growth we each must go through. It is the energy we are capable of understanding, helping us mature to full awareness.

[n.d]

caroline myss has done a serie on archetypes . On Ytube

[asteroxfoundation]

The manhole covers in my neighborhood have now taken on a new life.

[zakatista]

The constant immersion in images is exhausting. I suspect that people are also hovering in an image drunk immortal thoughtlessness. At 50, 60 or 70 years old, why spend any of one's remaining life enthralled in these collective obsessions? But that seems to be all there is with many people.

[chalinofalcone]

Maybe read the Corpus Hermeticum and discuss that?
"Everything happens in the mind."

[adripekalski]

How would one interpret symbols of ‘modern’ technology such as computers apart from the obvious purpose of communication (e-mail) and assistance (software)? Mobile phones now are an extension of our hands. What about AI?

[GrandmaTurtle]

Went to warburb data base. Looked up, " Taking a knee" and various alternatives and got nothing
Just saying

[advandepol]

The analogies for the archetype of the crystal and the riverbed are not fully compatible to me. The one is a priori, and the other is post priori.
The riverbed analogy makes me wonder whether the indian god archetypes are more potent because of their long history and widespread dedication.

[chalinofalcone]

And for an owl in US symbolism, look for Minerva. As at the Pittsburgh train station. Of the West Memphis courthouse architecture. As well as hidden in the Great Seal. The 9 feathers of the Eagle tail are an inverted Minervan headdress.
And as for the "assault on innocence ", Joseph Campbell talks about how Aboriginal Australian male initiation into manhood through ritual genital mutilation, i.e. circumcision.
"That [s]he's not living in a natural environment. If [s]he's civilized, [s]he's living in Euclidean space-closed, controlled, linear, static-abstracted from the world around [them]. Like language, it is an attempt to manipulate as well as interpret the world."

[The Global Village: Transformations In World Life & Media in the 21st Century, Marshall McLuhan, 1957, Sec. II: THE GLOBAL EFFECTS OF VIDEO-RELATED TECHNOLOGIES, 9: Angels to Robots: From Euclidean Space to Einsteinian Space]

[advandepol]

It is democracy very much for the white (caucasian?) culture, and rather still for the rich white people (by the way, I have blue eyes myself). This is the real root of the ukraine-russia conflict. I go through all your videos, and recently saw the interview with Fanny Brewster. In her place I would be in a split for being part of the Jungian community, and would not fully speak my mind, and feel pretty frustrated sometimes. I feel in a split myself, being a big fan of Jungian psychology, and at the same time having a big yearning for universal sympathy and righteousness. I suppose you know better, but I can understand your stance before an american audience.