Archetypes can include which of the following

Which of the following is the best definition of archetype? What is the definition of archetypal? What is a archetype in literature? What archetype is Romeo? What is the purpose of archetypes? Which character is best example of an archetype? What are the 12 character archetypes? What are the main archetypes? What are the 13 archetypes? What are the 24 archetypes?

Are archetypes outdated? How many archetypes are there Jung? What are the signs of a neurotic person? What is a neurotic person like? What is an example of neurotic anxiety? This irks me somewhat. My understanding of ancient mythology reveals there is a reason why there are 12 archetypes we need to integrate into conscious reality. And given almost every culture places an emphasis on 12 major archetypes, there is clearly an important significance. As a consequence, there are essential archetypal attributes missing from mainstream psychology.

So how can you become whole? There are over archetypes specified by psychoanalysts, but there is a lot of subtle overlaps so they have been placed into a palatable 12 major personalities. Moreover, the 12 major archetypes have different attributes that complement one another; the magician and the sage, for example, are feminine and masculine principles that are needed to fully develop this side of your nature.

You could say, for example, that the shadow is all the dark and evil aspects of you that exists in all humans. Quite rightly you want to have control over your potential for evil but it is also pertinent to be aware that such aspects of your nature exist.

There are also aspects of your consciousness that you need but have been repressed in the unconscious. These energies will emerge in your personality as a shadow archetype. Likewise, understanding the positive attributes of all the major archetypes will enable you to determine which archetypes are developed, which are dominant, which have possessed your ego and which you need to mature.

The 12 major archetypes offered by mainstream psychology are listed in the table below. This column is given in alphabetical order and does not relate to the archetypes named in the first two columns. This does make some sense, however. Jung classified the shadow as an archetype by itself, but the shadow appears in each of the archetypes as negative traits. The shadow personalities have also taken on thier own archetypal name in modern psychology, for instance, the two poles of the shadow Lover are known as the Addicted Lover and the Impotent Lover.

Furthermore, I do not agree with some of the classifications presented by psychoanalysts. For example, the Ruler is considered to be an aspect of the Father archetype, but I feel the Self-ego axis is a closer fit.

I explain why under the heading Ruler Archetypes below. Again I will explain in more detail under the relevant heading, but the Outlaw is essentially a combination of the Explorer and the Warrior. As I mentioned above, I feel mainstream psychology is missing important ingredients that cultivate an enlightened mind. Whilst a power drive is a quality everyone needs as part of their character armour, the Ruler archetype represents much more than a craving for success and power.

It is our experience, however, that although the King underlies the Father archetype, it is more extensive and more basic than the Father. The respected psychoanalyst John W. I can see how the King archetype of modern psychology aligns with the father archetype in mythology because symbolism portrays fathers as authoritative and creative; i. However, the King archetype should not be confused with Kings that appear in myth as characters. They are always mortal and never have any influence over the hero other than to give orders.

They are not gods, they are a mirror aspect of the hero. Furthermore, it is evident that the mortal father or king is replaced by the son or prince which denotes emerging consciousness from the unconscious into the conscious. However, there is a case to suggest the father archetype is the authority and the Self is the creator. However, my feeling is that the King is the Self-ego axis because in symbolism, the figure of the king or the mortal father is also associated with the sun which is also associated with the number one and thus conscious thought.

The sun is also a symbol of the Self. Lions share a similar meaning because their manes resemble the glare of the sun. I understand why psychoanalysts have replaced the father archetype with King energy, but as Moore notes they are not an exact equivalent.

There is also an argument for the father archetype to be more closely related to psychologies Artist archetype because desire guides will and gives it an object to achieve -[Regardie, The Philosophers Stone]. Will is associated with the male principle and thus the father. Desire is associated with the female principle. Male and female energies in the unconscious are an androgynous figure that relates to the Self archetype, and desire and will are the creative forces of mankind.

Modern psychology has not really helped matters with the motifs they attribute to archetypes. They seem to have confused God the Father with God the Creator without making any concrete clarification.

As Moore and Gillette point out, the energy of the King archetype means you are calm, centred and life-giving. When fully developed, it is the most important of the personality traits. It stabilizes chaotic emotion and out-of-control behaviors. It gives stability and centredness. It brings calm.

It brings maintenance and balance. If defends our own sense of inner order, our own integrity of being and of purpose, our own central calmness about who we are, and our essential and unassailability and certainty. Moreover, in mythology, the Ruler has a very real fear of being overthrown. So does the ego or the Self in the axis of the conscious mind. You will notice during the process of self-development that you will feel uneasy at times.

Again, we see here a correlation with the Self-ego axis described by the eminent philosopher and psychoanalyst Erich Neumann. The self-ego axis is the dual-facing centre of consciousness. The ego is the world-facing observer, whilst the Self draws information from within — what Jung called the collective unconscious which is the world of archetypes.

But for Self-realization all the phases of transformation are necessary. An understanding of the Self-ego axis is essential when understanding archetypes because these unconscious energies project themselves on to the ego. At times, they can make you act of character. The central powers of consciousness have autonomy and when their seat of authority is under threat, you physically feel the resistance because the ego is programmed for survival.

When the ego does not have a program and you start doing something out of its control, you may feel panic or anxiety. Because the ego is programmed to respond with what it knows, it panics when the Self overrules it. In mythology, we see the struggle between the Self and the ego in the battles between gods and demons, heroes and monsters or tyrannical kings. In mythology, the death of a king or the heroes defeat of a monster his inner demon , reflects a shift in conscious awareness.

Before they achieve their conquest, the hero has to go through a battle or period of chaos. The instinct protects we have an instinctual protection against inflation. We have all often become inflated and know that when one is inflated one feels uneasy. What is worse, inflation always means sterilization of the mind, for if one is inflated one is both sterile and stupid.

People with a well-developed ruler archetype typically have a goal which they are adept at putting into action. Depending on whether the King energy in you is benevolent or tyrannical, you will either persuade and inspire others to willingly support your vision or subdue them through manipulation and perhaps even force.

When positive, having the Ruler archetype in your character armour enables you to become a good leader. You carry an air of authority, people respect your opinions and take your instructions on board. You exude confidence and authority. When making decisions, you have the mental capacity to use logic and reasoning rather than knee jerk reactions prompted by emotional impulses.

If your children are afraid of you, their cells are also being damaged. They will also develop neurotic behaviours in adulthood. For more information about how a father can disturb the emotional development of a child, read my article on the Father Complex.

When you provide your cells with good information your bodily functions work how they are designed to. This enables you to stay in good health. You also expand conscious awareness and make good decisions. The King archetype The Self is responsible for maintaining order and creating a wealth of knowledge so that you prosper physically and spiritually. The organising function must be able to put information in formation. Without order, you experience chaos, physically, mentally and emotionally.

The shadow side of all the archetypes is the unconscious aspect of your psyche. To heal, you have to get to know your shadow archetypes and factor their positive aspects into your character armour. When the Ruler archetype is fully integrated into the psyche, you are charismatic and amiable. However, the negative Ruler will place unreasonable demands on other people and get angry at them if they do not fulfil your wishes.

Even if your desire in any given moment is inconsequential, the tyrannical king can make you fly off the handle if you are in a bad mood. Because the tyrannical ruler wants complete control, people that are possessed by this archetype find it difficult to delegate. In such cases, the shadow energies will appear in the form of feeling overwhelmed.

This is an indication for you to stop putting too many demands on yourself and learn to trust others. A shadow projection may also make you a strict authoritarian, both at work and at home. This is a weakness in character that can be overcome by releasing repressed anger and adopting the qualities of the lover archetype. When the Ruler archetype is underdeveloped, people will not admit they cannot do something in case it undermines their authority.

This also reflects deep-rooted feelings that you are not good enough. However, dishonesty will rear up in the shadow and you will eventually feel overwhelmed and stressed. If you recognise these traits in yourself, you need to activate and develop the positive side of the warrior archetype. The Warrior archetype is the final step to developing a strong and trustworthy ruler that will enable you to achieve your goals and be happy with everything you have.

Together with the Ruler, the Caregiver is the most important archetype to develop. However, both typically come at a later stage in life because they represent the matured and balanced Self-ego axis.

While the ruler in more concerned with making the right decisions, the Caregiver considers other people. The caregiver archetype is also known as the Great Mother that imbues unconditional love, compassion, dedication and patience. Other attributes associated with the Caregiver are generosity, protection and nurturing. The caregiver is a positive mother that is able to say no to your child because you know what is best for them.

On the flip side, you have the flexibility and presence of mind to understand your offspring need the freedom to explore the world and develop their personality.

The Mother archetype is connected with the root chakra which defines your sense of Self and provides your basic needs. When the caregiver is balanced you are grounded, emotionally stable and in good health. People with a giving and compassionate nature often have a difficult time saying no. Subsequently, you overstretch yourself and spend all your energy on other people rather than on yourself.

By giving yourself to others you lose your sense of self and find it difficult to set boundaries. The victim archetype is someone that does not nurture themselves and meet their basic survival needs — either physically or emotionally.

If the caregiver in you is unable to set boundaries, the shadow will appear as feelings of bitterness and resentment. You may even guilt-trip people so they recognise your sacrifices. Ultimately, you want to be recognised for your good deeds to feed your emotional body. Negative aspects of the caregiver arise due to a mother complex. Feelings of inadequacy often arise because you did not receive enough emotional support from your mother.

As an adult, you can often feel overwhelmed with situations you think are beyond your realm of capability. This makes you feel incompetent and unworthy — again feelings that were instilled in childhood because your achievements or your presence was not recognised.

Caregivers can also develop a slave mentality which leaves you feeling exhausted. When you are not in a position to do something for somebody else — when you have to say no — you feel guilty and ashamed. Feelings of guilt and shame ultimately impact on your ability to relax and enjoy life. Trapped in your hips, these blocked energies prevent the loving and creative aspect of the feminine principle to flow through you. The main focus for the everyman archetype is to fit in, find a sense of belonging and enjoy life.

It is the aspect of your nature that longs to be accepted by others in your community. The Everyman archetype excels at creating and forging connections with others. They have a friendly and inviting demeanour that is instantly likeable.

It is this aspect of your personality that gives you the capacity to form relationships. It also hides the real you in the background. This can be a good thing if your animal nature is not refined. Jung warned that if you associate with your persona, you lose your own identity and hide behind the mask. Whoever goes to himself risks a confrontation with himself. The mirror does not flatter, it faithfully shows whatever looks into it; namely, the face we never show to the world because we cover it with the persona, the mask of the actor.

But the mirror lies behind the mask and shows the true face. When this archetype is balanced you perform well in groups and share a common vision. Although you work hard, you are content with a simple life. Your family is important and you make time to give them the attention they deserve. Incorporating the Everyman archetype helps to offset the workaholic of the Ruler archetype.

Also known as the orphan archetype, the Everyman yearns for personal safety by spending time with other people. Although this archetype is a natural development from the Innocent Child there is still a vulnerability about the individual that craves company.

This generally occurs when someone betrayed your trust as a child. Maybe you felt rejected by your parents as we see in the character of Hephaestus in Greek mythology. However, the imbalance may have been caused by something that is quite natural in the life of a young child.

For example, when you realised the utopian fantasy you have as a child is not how the world really works, there is a high possibility you were left feeling powerless, hence the need to be supported by team members as an adult. The gravest fear in the Everyman archetype is to feel left out. Being ignored is devastating. As a result, when the Orphan archetype is dominant, you may emotionally manipulate people to give them a guilt trip.

A weakness of the Everyman archetype is that they are dependent on other people. This can give you a character weakness that exudes a feeling of helplessness. You may even refrain from learning how to do things so that other people do them for you.

An underdeveloped Everyman archetype will also prompt you to conform with societal norms and the demands of people you want to like you. Adolescent boys can often fall into this trap when they are dared to do something dangerous or foolish by their peers. To fit in, the everyman will do whatever it takes to impress his friends. The Shadow Everyman can also manifest as anxiety. When you are not being True to your Self, the unconscious aspect of your personality will make you feel uncomfortable.

Denying yourself the things you want to do in life, takes away the things that you need to grow emotionally and spiritually. As you get older this will manifest as restlessness and an overwhelming desire to differentiate yourself from your friends. As a matter of fact, it shares so many similarities with the Magician, I am not convinced it should be named as one of the 12 main archetypes typified by mainstream psychology.

In keeping with internet psychology, I have included the Creator in this article for consistencies sake. Moreover, every ancient myth that I know of has a Creator God — the Father of the world that is always accompanied by a female counterpart — even is he is hidden by symbolism.

Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. Artistic, or imaginative qualities, generated by the Creator archetype, provide you with inspiration and a vision.

The Self-ego axis is the decision-maker. In myth, magicians are often closely associated with the King for this very reason; they provide them with the inspiration and information to pursue a vision and often give them the tools to achieve their task. The difference between the Creator and the King is that the ruler seeks to maintain control of the vision and reap the rewards whereas the creator is happy to go about their business and delight in what they have created.

The ego is the outwards facing centre that connects with the outside world. This is the aspect of your nature that needs validation from your creative achievements.

A positive aspect of the Creator archetype is the willingness to constantly learn. Eager to learn and improve, you are able to adapt to new circumstances without feeling flustered. With the rapid pace of advancements in technology, new challenges come thick and fast. Being able to call upon the qualities of the Creator or Magician enables you to work out a solution. Negative traits of the Creator archetype can often cause you to lose sight of what you have achieved.

When you focus on perfection, you struggle to accept things for how they are. The inability to be content with what you have and move on is obviously a detriment to self-development. Unless you explore other aspects of life, you cannot develop your personality and ultimately become stale.

Moreover, whilst ever you pursue the ultimate creation, you lack stability and comfort. Artist personalities tend to live in their heads and are often not in control of their emotions. Emotional discharges can create beautiful art, but typically created chaos in your life. As a consequence, this can destabilise your connection with your relationships.

By excluding other people, you develop the same negative traits as the ruler is unable to delegate. This archetype is the closest you will get to the True Self or Divine Child of eastern mysticism; an uncomplicated and authentic personality. When we are born, our awareness is solely in the unconscious. It is not until between the ages of years old that we start to develop ego — our connection to the outer world. The Innocent Child archetype is the aspect of your consciousness that can guide you back to the unconscious in search of innate wisdom.

Jung believed this wisdom comes from the collective unconscious — a second source of consciousness which is separate from the personal unconscious subconscious.

As an archetype, the innocent is the most unique. What this essentially means is that as a newborn child, we are totally oblivious to the outer world. We live in a pure state of bliss without any awareness of the dangers and stresses related to life. It is also said that you fall back into this state of pure consciousness when you die.

The ability to connect with the innocent can instil this sense of utopia and trust in Self within you. Integrating the Divine Child brings a state of inner peace.

In some respects, primordial energies contain the purity — and thus innocence — of a child. It is the aspect of your nature that searches for happiness and is easily pleased. The innocent even desires peace for your enemies and embodies sympathy and sincerity.

It is an archetype you need to call upon when forgiving people that have hurt you in the past. Thanks to this purity, people that have a dominant aspect of the innocent archetype in their personality have a gift for inspiring people to do the right thing. They can also offer hope because optimism is the primary motivation. For all the positive traits the innocent archetype offers, the shadow side causes serious problems in individuals and the world. It is often the case that people living a sheltered life are strongly influenced by the Innocent archetype.

They have subsequently grown into an adult-child and harbour childish personality traits. You might also be precocious and difficult to reason with. Moreover, you shy away from challenges and ignore anything that goes wrong. In doing so you invite more problems into your life moving forward. Yet every problem or situation you encounter in life is an opportunity to learn something about yourself. The shadow side of the innocent archetype acts as a catalyst for growth. In the individuation process, it anticipates the figure that comes from the synthesis of conscious and unconscious elements in the personality.

It is therefore a symbol which unites the opposites; a mediator, bringer of healing, that is, one who makes whole. Naivety is also a trait of the shadow innocent archetype. In adults, this can lead you to trust people that want to rip you off — or worse, cause you harm. Get started now. Not necessarily. Archetypal characters and stories will boil down the human experience to a relatively small number of patterns, which is perfectly fine.

Archetypes only become stock characters when the specifics get repetitive and predictable. Some of the most compelling and enduring stories will adhere to archetypes while introducing enough of a twist to make a character seem fresh. If you'd like to make sure that your character isn't a stock character, we recommend downloading and filling out this character profile template. Find out which literary luminary is your stylistic soulmate. Takes one minute!

Every character archetype has a unique set of strengths, flaws, and desires which drive their stories. Some of these archetypes are seemingly gender-specific, which is perhaps a result of gender roles that span back millennia.

Armed with a particular set of skills and the sheer force of their will, the hero will conquer the enemy and carry the day. This incredibly competent character will usually suffer a crisis of confidence at their lowest ebb — which they must overcome if they are to rise once more.

This archetype usually follows a young or naive character who sees the world through rose-tinted glasses — until reality comes knocking. For this kind of character, nothing is more important than the need to make something.

In many stories, a creator will be an artist of some sort — willing to sacrifice their own well-being and relationships in the pursuit of this greater abstract goal. Because of their single-minded vision, creators often pay the greatest personal price. Selflessness is the defining attribute of this character type. Our protagonist might encounter some sort of mentor character, who will prepare them for the trials ahead. Sometimes this mentor is a parent. Other times, it might be a wizard or a suburban Karate teacher.

Whatever form they take, they are there to guide our hero through the unknown. The original purpose of this archetype was probably to convince younger generations of people to listen to their older, frailer tribe-mates.

Desires: To help the hero push past their boundaries and make sense of the world. Examples: Magwitch in Great Expectations , Mr.

The fool, the clown, the jester, the hedonist, the laid-back stoner. In myth, Jokers often act as a cautionary tale, warning people not to waste too much time in pursuit of pleasure.

The aspiring masters of the universe. Driven by their inquisitive nature, Magicians seek enlightenment — but unlike the sages and mentors, they also want to impose their will on the world around them.

Magicians can easily impress others: even if they are not literal wizards, their abilities are beyond the comprehension of mere mortals. Heavy hangs the head that wears the crown. Any society needs a leader, but how does that leader cope with absolute power? What will they do to maintain control and order? Do they rule with kindness and compassion or with an iron fist?