What are Archetypes?

Archetypes are already as ancient as our history on earth. The Mandala is one of the oldest archetypal forms. The gods of the Sumerians, Egyptians, Greeks and Romans were archetypal energies.

Plato was aware of Archetypes and called them Forms. The Swiss psychologist Carl Jung believed that archetypes were connected to the unconscious of a person as well as the collective unconscious of humanity.

Archetypes are symbolic energies. We all speak in archetypal symbols in sayings like:

• She is a real mother figure (Mother archetype).
• Everything he touches turns into gold (Midas archetype).
• She is always so childish, when is she ever to grow up? (Child archetype).
• I feel victimized by her behaviour (Victim archetype).
• She is always sabotaging her relationships (Saboteur archetype).

Archetypes symbolize characters that are relevant to our connections with family, friends, finances, jobs, values, our potential and our selves. Your personal twelve Archetypes will provide the basic fabric for your beliefs, feelings and actions. They will be active in your life as protectors and help you when you are prone to damaging behaviour. The Saboteur for instance, will alert you when you are sabotaging your power or quality. Archetypes are basically neutral, but the interpretation can be in the form of a “light” or a “shadow” quality. For instance: the light side of the Advocate Archetype represents dedication to defend other people in distress, fighting to restore injustices. The shadow side of the Advocate represents incorrect principles, looking only for personal gain.

For archetype descriptions please see our Gallery of Archetypes page.