Archetypes & the Collective Unconscious Flashcards
What is an archetype?
Patterns of psychic perception and understanding common to all human beings as members of the human race. Similar to the Plato’s form, eidos.
What is an empirical observation?
An observation derived from experiment rather than theory.
What are the two layers of the unconscious?
The personal unconscious & the collective unconscious.
What is personal unconscious?
The personal unconscious contains the memories of everything that an individual has experienced, thought, felt, or known but that is now no longer held in active awareness, whether through defensive repression or because of simple forgetting.
What is the collective unconscious?
The collective unconscious contains patterns of psychic perception common to all humanity; to become aware of the figures and movements of the collective brought one into direct contact w/ essential human experiences & perceptions; considered by Jung to be the ultimate psychic source of power, wellness, & inner transformation.
What is the difference between the content of the archetype and the archetype itself?
The archetype itself is like a psychic mold into which individual & collective experiences are poured & where they take shape. It is distinct from the symbols & images themselves.
What is the nature of the archetypes?
They are outside conscious awareness, acting as forces of nature, organizing human experience for the individual without regard to the constructive/destructive consequences to the individual’s life.
How does one utilize the the content of the archetypes to promote psychological growth?
One must attempt to bring the content of the archetypes into conscious awareness & establish a relationship between one’s conscious life & the archetypal level of human existence.
