Carl Jung's Theory of Archetypes

In his analysis of patients' dreams, Carl Jung recognized that the archetypical images which recurred could also be found in myths, legends, and the art of ancient peoples, and also in contemporary literature, art, and religion (Aspects). These archetypes help people connect with the Eternal, and make mysteries more accessible by providing many images. In religion, this is evidenced by the Catholic faith, which distinguishes The Father, The Son, and The Holy Ghost; and in Buddhism, in which the one Buddha is divisible into 40, then 400, then 4000 facets of the single deity. Archetypes are also seen as primal symbols of man's nature. These archetypes can thus be used by man to discover his own selfhood.

Jung found that humans have a preconscious psychic disposition that enables them to react in a human manner (Aspects). These potentials for creation are actualized when they enter the consciousness as images. While there are a limited number of archetypes at the unconscious level, there are an infinite variety of specific images which can be traced back to them. The potential for significance is not under conscious control, and there has been a tendency in more recent times for man to deny their existence and feel that he is truly "in control" of his life. In his later works, Jung believed that the archetypes not only shaped human minds, but that they shaped the physical world too: they were elemental forces that played a vital role in the creation of the world and o

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