Carl Gustav Jung (1875 – 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and the founder of ‘Analytical Psychology’. Although Jung spent a great deal of time working as a clinician, he drew on many different cultures and ideas from both eastern and western philosophy to shape his theories. One of his most famous theories involves psychological archetypes.
An archetype is an ideal example or model of a person’s personality or behaviour. The number of archetypes is potentially endless, but the five main examples are:
The Self: Regulates the psyche and allows us to be individuals.
The Persona: The way we like others to see us and the way we present to the world. The ‘mask’ we wear.
The Shadow: Sometimes referred to as the ‘darker side’ of the ego. A part of us we don’t relate to but know it exists.
The Anima: The feminine image in the male psyche.
The Animus: The male image in the female psyche.
Jung found the mythical expression of archetypes in fairy tales and legends.
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