The Collective Unconscious

The collective unconscious is an important concept in the psychology of Carl Gustav Jung. The collective unconscious is shared by us all. This means that it is present in each of us, a vast reservoir of the archetypes of the whole of humanity. It is accessible to everyone. In general, the collective unconscious consists of characteristics that many people have in common and which each of us inherit at birth. Fear and happiness, for example are inherited human characteristics. They arise without conscious motives but simply arise from inner necessity.

These archetypes are the result of the many experiences of life that repeat themselves: sunrise and sunset, the seasons, life and death, food, danger, and so on. They are symbols for the experiences of mankind.

The content of the archetype is basically unconscious. It undergoes a transformation when it becomes conscious or when it is being perceived. The way it is transformed depends on the state of consciousness of the individual in which the archetype has arisen.

An archetype is experienced as image and as emotion. It is especially recognizable in such typical and important human situations as birth and death, adolescence, extreme fear or a fearful experience. During such life phases and experiences archetypes will often appear clearly in dreams.

The form of the archetype is only partially determined. Its content is a primal image that can only be given form when it is has become conscious, and thus has become filled with material from the conscious.

Thus archetypes, when becoming conscious, will shape themselves, for example in myths and fairy tales, depending upon the cultural background of the people. A fairy in Europe, for example will be dressed in medieval or renaissance clothing, while in the East it will wear ancient Eastern clothing and be more djinn like of appearance. The underlying content, however, remains the same wherever you go. Archetypes are like a frame. The frame remains the same, but the image that appears inside the frame will be dependent upon the circumstances.

Archetypes cannot be brushed aside. They will always manifest. When a society undergoes a change its manifestations of the archetypes will change too. They get another form, another image in the frame.

Archetypes by themselves are neutral, without value judgments attached to them, but they can be interpreted in a positive, negative or neutral way.