Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart.
Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.
Carl Jung
Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.
Carl Jung
$60 per participant
All art supplies, are included. No art experience is needed. 18+
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Exploring Archetypes – Soulcollage® RetreatJoin us for a enlightening afternoon that combines the SoulCollage® creative process with Jungian psychology as we explore the concept of archetypal phenomena. In this retreat, we'll be looking deeper into the basic four archetypes present in every person: Persona, Shadow, Anima/Animus and Self.
Carl Gustav Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. His work has been influential not only in psychiatry but also in anthropology, archaeology, literature, philosophy, and religious studies. Jung considered the process of individuation — the lifelong psychological process of differentiation of the self out of each individual's conscious and unconscious elements – to be the main task of human development. He created some of the best known psychological concepts, including synchronicity, archetypes, the collective unconscious, the psychological complex, and extraversion and introversion. Our retreat will combine creativity, contemplation and companionship. Snacks and beverages will be available, but in this spirit of community, we invite you to bring something to share. SoulCollage® is a gentle way of exploring one’s life journey – an intuitive process that allows discovery and acceptance of who you are. This session is open to newcomers, practitioners and facilitators. MORE ABOUT SOULCOLLAGE® |
What are Archetypes?
In Jungian psychology, the archetypes represent universal patterns that are part of our collective unconscious which re-appear time and again across people and cultures. Being unconscious, the existence of archetypes can only be deduced indirectly by examining behavior, images, art, myths, religions, or dreams. Jung understood archetypes as universal, archaic patterns and images that derive from the collective unconscious and are the psychic counterpart of instinct. They are inherited potentials which are actualized when they enter consciousness as images or manifest in behavior on interaction with the outside world, and are given particular expression by individuals and their cultures.
Carl Jung believed that we all have basic archetypes within us. He listed four main forms of archetypes: Persona, Shadow, Anima/Animus and Self.
Carl Jung believed that we all have basic archetypes within us. He listed four main forms of archetypes: Persona, Shadow, Anima/Animus and Self.
The Persona
The Persona, also known as the mask, is the outward face we present to the world. It represents all of the different social masks that we wear among various groups and situations. It acts like a protection shield for the ego. The persona archetype allows people to adapt to the world around them and fit in with the society in which they live. However, becoming too closely identified with this archetype can lead people to lose sight of their true selves.
The Shadow
The Shadow is the animal side of our personality. It is the source of both our creative and destructive energies. The shadow exists as part of the unconscious mind and is composed of repressed ideas, weaknesses, desires, instincts, and shortcomings. It is created out of our attempts to adapt to cultural norms and expectations. This archetype contains elements that are unacceptable to society in general and to our personal morals/values. By denying these latent dispositions present in all of us, Jung believed, people still project them on to others.
Jung suggested that the shadow can appear in dreams or visions and may take a variety of forms. It might appear as a snake, a monster, a demon, a dragon, or some other dark, wild, or exotic figure.
Jung suggested that the shadow can appear in dreams or visions and may take a variety of forms. It might appear as a snake, a monster, a demon, a dragon, or some other dark, wild, or exotic figure.
The Anima/Animus
The Anima/Animus is the mirror image of our biological sex. The psyche of a woman contains masculine aspects (the animus archetype), and the psyche of a man contains feminine aspects (the anima archetype). These archetypal images are based upon both what is found in the collective and personal unconscious.
Jung argues that these archetypes are products of the collective experience of men and women living together. However, in modern Western civilization men are discouraged from living their feminine side and women from expressing masculine tendencies. For Jung, the result was that the full psychological development both sexes was undermined. Together with the prevailing patriarchal culture of Western civilization this has led to the devaluation of feminine qualities altogether, and the predominance of the persona (the mask) has elevated insincerity to a way of life which goes unquestioned by millions in their everyday life.
Jung argues that these archetypes are products of the collective experience of men and women living together. However, in modern Western civilization men are discouraged from living their feminine side and women from expressing masculine tendencies. For Jung, the result was that the full psychological development both sexes was undermined. Together with the prevailing patriarchal culture of Western civilization this has led to the devaluation of feminine qualities altogether, and the predominance of the persona (the mask) has elevated insincerity to a way of life which goes unquestioned by millions in their everyday life.
The Self
The Self is the archetype of the psychical totality – the unified unconsciousness and consciousness of an individual. For Jung, the ultimate aim of every individual is to achieve a state of selfhood – a process known as individuation, in which the various aspects of personality are integrated and moving in the direction of a more humanist orientation.
The self archetype represents the unified psyche as a whole. The Self appears in dreams, myths and fairy tales as a "superior personality", such as for example a king, a hero, a prophet, a savior. As symbol of the totality he appears as a circle, a square, a cross, a quadrangle of the circle or mandala. When it represents the unity of the opposites, it is a unified duality such as Tao - which contains the opposites yin-yang, the hero and his opponent (demon, dragon), Faust and Mephistopheles etc. In this case the opposites are united and represented as such through a sufficient totality, impossible to accomplish consciously.
But perhaps the most important aspect of the Self is the numinous character of its experience. According to Jung, the experienced of the Self on the empiric plan is similar to a religious revelation. The Self being, psychologically speaking, the equivalent of the concept of supreme deity.
The self archetype represents the unified psyche as a whole. The Self appears in dreams, myths and fairy tales as a "superior personality", such as for example a king, a hero, a prophet, a savior. As symbol of the totality he appears as a circle, a square, a cross, a quadrangle of the circle or mandala. When it represents the unity of the opposites, it is a unified duality such as Tao - which contains the opposites yin-yang, the hero and his opponent (demon, dragon), Faust and Mephistopheles etc. In this case the opposites are united and represented as such through a sufficient totality, impossible to accomplish consciously.
But perhaps the most important aspect of the Self is the numinous character of its experience. According to Jung, the experienced of the Self on the empiric plan is similar to a religious revelation. The Self being, psychologically speaking, the equivalent of the concept of supreme deity.