Archetypes lecture

Sigmund Freud
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

There is the influence of dreams on consciousness -
But there are other subconscious influences on the conscious -
Intuition and "impulses" - instinctive forces influence conscious activity.

Dreams intended to influence us, even similar dreams dreamt by different people,
must be interpreted differently. A dream of action or activity may be
a recognition of a passive lifestyle, or a warning against such activity, depending on the individual.

The "archetype" evolved over mankind's long history of development of both mind and body.
Our development of culturally similar imagery began before cave people had even achieved the safety of
the caves, in an epoch when man's instinct was geared for survival in the wild, and his psyche was closer
to that of an animal, depending upon primitive instincts.

Mankind's development of dream and mythic archetypal
("primordial images" - Jung; "archaic remnants" - Freud)
are an ancient, shared cultural and psychological heritage of mankind.
Our "instinct" is less dominant, but still manifests itself in both waking and dreaming.

Some of our archetypes are based on Life's inexorable opposites like Life and Death, Joy and Pain,
Good and Evil.

Dreams of children can contain archetypal imagery, even those not exposed to religious symbolism:
the "God Man", the "Great Hero" in the tradition of ancient myths, the theme of Destruction and Restoration.

At first man did not know he had a "hero myth".
"Myth" as we understand it, was a reality sprung from Man's personal and collective subconscious
in answer to a need, the need to relate to an unknown and hostile environment.
By the time of the Greeks the "Gods" were only a political/cultural tradition,
but there was a time when belief in such beings was vital.

"In the beginning there was the deed" - Goethe
Initially, there was no reflection on symbolism, merely the instinctive act of worship or belief.
The modern Christmas tree, for example, originated in a pagan nature ritual older than history.
At one time, it's "meaning" was not so abstract, and was far more "vital" to those who were so close to nature they still worshipped it.

Primitive storytellers were not concerned with the "origins" of their tales -
this only came later, as society became more complex and produced
poets and philosophers (and philosophy yielded science, etc.)

Mankind was moved to deeds that eventually formed our religious and cultural institutions
by unconscious factors: in part, a need to have a "reason" to exist.
There is a practical use of faith, and that is that it sustains in time of need.
A belief in a destiny beyond the unknown is both ancient and widespread.

Modern man, although less "superstitious" than primitive man, has his own "pathologies".
He is less dependent on religion, but more neurotic.
Our obsessions with escapism, alcohol, drugs, etc., point to an imbalance in our
own inner nature, and, by implication, with our relationship with the outside world.

Although our culture does not widely accept the concept of haunting,
individuals can believe they possess "bad luck';
the belief can become so ingrained in their personality it becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy.
In another culture or time such "misfortune" would have been attributed to a spirit,
and this interpretation would be seen as logical in that setting.

Man's behavior is influenced by his impressions of the outer world and
unconsciously reflected in behavior like "forgetting" or "mistakes" in speech known as "slips of the tongue".
In exaggerated cases of neurosis, people are totally unaware of certain aspects of their own behavior.

Our loss of superstition has led to a decline in the spiritual:
civilization strips the world of symbolism.
There is little mystery in the modern world:
Our denial of dream symbolism and the role of the subconscious is a fear of the unknown.

Early in man's development, instinctive concepts merged with conscious thoughts.
His need to qualify the outside world made use of the archetype.
"Mother Earth", once a potent symbol, is now "matter".
The "spirit' is now merely referred to as the "intellect".
The external world has been stripped of its intensity -
This had led to a decline in emotional energy.

South African Shaman Witch Doctor

Man has been dehumanized in the cosmos -
He no longer considers himself part of nature.
But our subconscious is part of nature, and we are, too.

Today, there is no symbolic connection between man and nature-
The modern world has been "disinfected" of superstition.
Words have less power in that they don't "conjure" anymore -
In the primitive, the word and what it stands for are related.

As we have conquered nature our relationship with it has been pushed in to the subconscious.
"Reason" has replaced religion.

Psychology is still in a very early stage of development -
skeptics don't consider the rudimentary beginnings of other fields,
or that the experienced psychologists study dream symbolism as others use the microscope.
The complication, of course, is the fact that everyone is different.

The archetype is a combination of image and emotion,
and still exists in man's subconscious.
This link to our ancient past is why dreams have such intense symbolism.
Words are inadequate to describe "what we don't know" (or can't understand), hence the symbol producing function of the mind.

Due to our ability to self-reflect, we have lost our original view of consciousness;
the modern mind has lost contact with psychic energy.
The subconscious tries to bring this back from our ancient roots.

This "original mind" is more present in the child than the adult,
and is often expressed in archetypal dream symbolism.

Dreams have a high emotional value, which highlights "feeling" as opposed to "thinking":
in our culture, thinking wins over feeling.
It is a criticism of psychology that is not "scientific" enough -
but feeling is a natural part of the psyche, and part of the language of the subconscious.

Frederick March as
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, 1932

"Duality of Personality"

There is, in modern human consciousness, a domination of that part of our mind that thinks rationally
and utilizes language. It could be said the mind thinks in a "linear fashion".
There is also that part of the mind which recognizes this thought process, the "self reflection" mentioned earlier. It is only partly conscious - it is the opposite of every thought that enters our mind, the potential for good or bad, our "conscience" or "superego".
Hence, there are at least two components to our conscious mind alone.
This is a complex contradiction of our individual "wholeness",
but is instinctively understood by the "culture" of the subconscious and expressed through myth.
The Orientals have the concept of Yin and Yang, the union of opposites.
Modern psychology refers to the Ego and the Id.

In the middle ages, there was a saying to the effect that within every man there is a small woman.
This practically instinctive statement has been proven true with modern physiological knowledge of glands,
which reveals sexual hormonal aspects of the opposite sex in all of us.
In addition to the physical aspect of this "union of opposites", psychologists recognize a
subconscious part of the psyche that represents this "opposite sexual self" -
they call it the "anima" (in men) and the "animus" (in women).
Ancient mythologies have represented such duel-sexuality in certain gods or beings.

This union of opposites is also represented in some American Indian lore, where the union of
"Mother Earth" and "Father Sky" comprise the universe

"Origin of Art"

At first, "art" and "religion" were basically the same.
The actual object (if it were a sculpture) or depiction (if it were a painting) contained "magic" -
the psychic energy mentioned previously.
By the time of the invention of "art", man had already existed a long time and had many
shared experiences - some of these archetypes began to appear in cave pictures as
abstract symbols or obvious representations. Although the art possesses beauty,
their purpose was obviously religious, an attempt to interact with the larger universe and
placate it, if not actually control it.

Some of the abstract symbols in the caves were the circle/sun shape,
determined by modern psychologists to represent in dream imagery the "self";
this shape is similarly found through the ages in the eastern mandala or the Christian halo.

Art, a spontaneous creation, continued as an organized aspect of the community until it became institutionalized later in "civilization" - art still did not have any "aesthetic" value, but was symbolically and practically important as government and religion began to separate into distinct cultural functions
while they consolidated and expanded power utilizing the symbolic and authoritative influence
of art, design architecture and sculpture.

The modest truth about the beginning of art is that the first "religious" or "sculptural" object was
probably a stone to which was attributed power or significance by the placement of it by the
"shaman" or "artist". Still today, Zen "rock gardens" are said to produce an "energy" all their own.
There is no doubt about the fascination with stones among people, primitive and otherwise,
and that some primitive beliefs state that a nature spirit resides within the stone.
(This is perhaps the "origin" of the "tombstone".)
The ancient "menhirs", crudely mined blocks of stone, eventually evolved into astronomical calendars, such as those at Stonehenge. This in itself indicates a possible religious function based upon the constellations. (Such superstition has survived the eons into today with "astrology",
an ancient belief that the individual is in fact controlled by the universe.)
In man's attempt to understand and control his role in the universe, he began to
interact with it directly in ways that were aside from ordinary survival like food or shelter.
This ability for a tribe to devote the resources of a "shaman/artist" to communicate with the gods represents a significant advancement away from the wild and toward civilization.

We also know from contemporary primitive tribes that they believe their soul can be shared by
an aspect of nature or an animal (a "bush soul"), so it is of course fortunate that anthropologists have
had the opportunity to learn from such tribes, even as they continue to dwindle upon contact with civilization.
This knowledge helps us theorize about early art and religion.
To the primitive, we know there is a special "real" significance to words and pictures,
a connection to the "unknown" manifested through the symbol.

Ancient Military titles such as "The Lion of..." a certain region or battle
denote an archetype and have their origin in prehistory and had more significance then;
much ancient symbolism has simply fallen into tradition or ritual.
But the cave art, and the words the cave people spoke in ritual, undoubtedly contained
intense psychic power, a relationship with their subconscious that we will never be able to fully understand.

The instincts that originated the production of this "religious art" eventually were subdued by habit and systemization, and, consequently, the "psychic intensity" of the image and the experience decreased.
Eventually, as society expands, religion and art separate from each other.