Archetype Lab

1. Archetype Lab Mr. Thomas

2. Today’s Objective 11/16/11 • Know: What is meant by the term archetype. • Understand: Archetypes are universal symbols • Do: You will participate in an archetype lab to analyze and determine the meaning of archetypes in various texts.

3. What is Myth? • It is a common perception that myths are lies, misconceptions, stories, make-believe, etc…however: • According to 20th century philosopher/psychologist Carl Jung: • “Myth is a belief or story that demonstrates a human being’s inner understanding of himself and the universe.” • It is a core truth about who we are in a culture and as a human being.

4. Ultimate Truth • If we understand myth in this way, a person’s myth is • Their ultimate truth. • MYTH = TRUTH • As Carl Jung said, “Myth is the only truth.” • For Example: • Romans: believed that a chariot pulled sun across the sky • Catholics/Middle Ages: believed the sun revolved around the Earth (geocentric) • Europeans/Explores: believed that the earth was flat

5. Your Myth • Your understanding of the world and the universe is your “Myth.” • Sharing this understanding with others is what binds you together in a community. • People who subscribe to the same myth as you may be considered “good.” • People who don’t subscribe to your myth may be considered “bad”: • Hitler • Communism • Capitalism • Religions

6. In the Name of the Myth • People do crazy things in the name of their myth: • Crusades • Spanish Inquisition • Salem witch trials • Others:

7. Chaos and Reunion • When the fabric or integrity of a society’s myth breaks down, chaos ensues. • A significant communal event is required to reunite the society together as one with their myth. • Current Financial Crisis • Presidential Election of 2008 • 9/11

8. First Kind of Myth: • Conscious and Cultural Myths • All in culture understand the myth • All in culture can recall the myth • Myth stands for some element that is basic to that culture: • Santa Claus • Easter Bunny • Tooth Fairy • American Dream

9. Wooden Hawk Experiment: • Newly hatched chicks, even without the guidance of a mother hen, will run for cover when a hawk flies overhead [frightened by the predator’s passing shadow]. When tested with a wooden model of a hawk suspended on thin wire and pulled by string to move over the young chicks they would scramble clumsily looking for a place to hide. But if the same wooden hawk was made to glide backwards, there would be no response from the animals. The shadow of the hawk moving backwards does not trigger any inherent understanding in them. But the correctly flying hawk, and anything that resembles it, strikes a deep chord of fear/flight mode. • (Joseph Campbell - Campbell in Guerin, 147)

10. Wooden Hawk • Joseph Campbell used this analogy to explain certain human behaviors: • Hunting: • Thrill of the hunt • Connection to Primal Forces • Basic survival/need • Sports: • Territorial Struggle • Catharsis of Emotions • Gladiator Spectacle • Art, Music, Literature: • Colors • Shapes • Compositions • Relates to the psychology of the current culture.

11. Archetypes • Carl Jung refers to these “deep chords” as Archetypes. • Greek Origin: • Arche = “first” • Typos = “stamp” or “type” • Therefore, an archetype includes: • Universal symbols imprinted upon our race memory • Consistent for all time period and races • Important to explain natural and ancient realities • Defines a culture’s belief system • Represented in Myths

12. Definition of Archetype • In literature and art an archetype is a character, an event, a story or an image that recurs in different works, in different cultures and in different periods of time. • An example of an archetype occurs in the story of “The Flood.” Many different cultures have similar stories about the reasons for and the results of a flood. • Can you think of any stories or image patterns that have been repeated in movies, books, or even commercials?

13. Archetype/Mythological Criticism • An original model or pattern from which other later copies are made, especially a character, an action, or situation that seems to represent common patterns of human life. • Often, archetypes include a symbol, a theme, a setting, or a character that some critics think have a common meaning in an entire culture, or even the entire human race. • These images have particular emotional resonance and power. Archetypes recur in different times and places in myth, literature, folklore, fairy tales, dreams, artwork, and religious rituals.

14. Archetypal Symbols • Water: • birth-death-resurrection; creation; purification and redemption; fertility and growth. • symbol of life, cleansing, and rebirth. It is a strong life force, and is often depicted as a living, reasoning force. • Sea/ocean: • the mother of all life; spiritual mystery; death and/or rebirth; timelessness and eternity. • Rivers: • death and rebirth (baptism); the flowing of time into eternity; transitional phases of the life cycle. . . . • Circle: • wholeness, unity

15. Archetypal Symbols • Forest: • The mysterious; secrets; fertility, growth, primitive instinct. Here there is no mother or father to protect the individual. He must face the trial alone to grow. • Protection and sanctuary; wild and imaginative; pure • Sun (fire and sky are closely related): • creative energy; thinking, enlightenment, wisdom, spiritual vision. • Rising sun: birth, creation, enlightenment. • Setting sun: death.

16. Archetypal Symbols • Garden: • paradise, innocence, unspoiled beauty. • Tree: • denotes life of the cosmos; growth; proliferation; symbol of immortality; phallic symbol. • Desert: • spiritual aridity; death; hopelessness. • Creation: • All cultures believe the Cosmos was brought into existence by some Supernatural Being (or Beings).

17. Archetypal Symbols/ Themes • Seasons: • Spring - rebirth; genre/comedy. • Summer - life; genre/romance. • Fall - death/dying; genre/tragedy. • Winter - without life/death; genre/irony. • Light vs. Darkness: • Light usually suggests hope, renewal, OR intellectual illumination; darkness implies the unknown, ignorance, or despair. • Fire vs. Ice: • Fire represents knowledge, light, life, and rebirth while ice, like desert, represents ignorance, darkness, sterility and death.

18. Archetypal Colors • Colors: • Red: blood, sacrifice, passion; disorder. • Green: growth, hope, fertility, life. • Blue: water; secure; tranquil; spiritual purity. • Black: darkness, chaos, mystery, the unknown, death, wisdom, evil, melancholy. • White: light, purity, innocence, timelessness; [negative: death, terror, supernatural] • Yellow: enlightenment, wisdom.

19. Important symbols and numbers • Serpent (snake, worm): • symbol of energy and pure force (libido); evil, corruption, sensuality, destruction, temptation. • Numbers: • 3 - light, spiritual awareness, unity (the Holy Trinity); male principle. • 4 - associated with the circle, life cycle, four seasons; female principle, earth, nature, elements. • 6 – imperfection, one short of the union of three and four, not complete, evil • 7- the most potent of all symbolic numbers signifying the union of three and four, the completion of a cycle, perfect order, perfect number; religious symbol.

20. Archetypal Characters • Wise old Man: savior, redeemer, guru, representing knowledge, reflection, insight, wisdom, intuition, and morality. • Earth Mother: nurturing, fertility, nature • Hero: rescuer, champion, noble • Maiden: purity, desire, beauty, youth • Witch: danger, ugliness, evil, older age • Trickster: deceiving, playful • Magician: mystery, power • The pilgrim archetype is the wanderer and explorer. • The patriarch archetype is the symbol of care, nobility and sacrifice

21. Archetypal Characters • The warrior archetype is the symbol of bravery, honor and protection- • The healer archetype is the one who cures physical, emotional and spiritual maladies for individuals or societies. They may use spiritual or mystical powers or science. • The prophet archetype is the humble truth seeker in pursuit of goodness and justice. • The lover archetype is the symbol of connectedness and relationship. It is the archetype that gives meaning and satisfaction to life. The lover is. caring, intimate, loyal, and gives beyond the self.

22. Archetypal Animals • Serpent (snake, worm): symbol of energy and pure force (libido); evil, corruption, sensuality, destruction. • Dog: symbol of loyalty, companionship, dependability. • Cat: symbol of being devious and self-serving • Lion: symbol of bravery, patience • Horse: symbol of strength, endurance, freedom • The Great Fish: divine creation/life. • What other animals can you think of that have archetypal significance?

23. Archetype Sound Lab • As you listen to each of the following songs, write down any images including objects, shapes, colors, etc. that come to your mind. • Analyze the images that you found according to the archetype list provided

24. Archetype Visual Lab • As you view the following three slides, write down any archetypes that you recognize. • What do these archetypes mean?

29. Archetypes in Music • Listen to the following song clips and identify as many archetypes you can from your Archetype Key “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” “American Pie” “Hotel California”

30. “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” Somewhere, over the rainbow, way up high. There's a land that I heard of Once in a lullaby.Somewhere, over the rainbow, skies are blue. And the dreams that you dare to dreamReally do come true.Someday I'll wish upon a star and wake up where the clouds are far Behind me.Where troubles melt like lemon drops, Away above the chimney tops.That's where you'll find me.Somewhere, over the rainbow, bluebirds fly. Birds fly over the rainbow,Why then - oh, why can't I?If happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow,Why, oh, why can't I?

31. “American Pie” A long, long time ago...I can still rememberHow that music used to make me smile.And I knew if I had my chanceThat I could make those people danceAnd, maybe, theyd be happy for a while.But february made me shiverWith every paper Id deliver.Bad news on the doorstep;I couldnt take one more step.I cant remember if I criedWhen I read about his widowed bride,But something touched me deep insideThe day the music died.So bye-bye, miss american pie.Drove my chevy to the levee,But the levee was dry.And them good old boys were drinkin whiskey and ryeSingin, thisll be the day that I die.Thisll be the day that I die. Did you write the book of love,And do you have faith in God above,If the Bible tells you so? Do you believe in rock n roll,Can music save your mortal soul,And can you teach me how to dance real slow? Well, I know that youre in love with him`cause I saw you dancin in the gym.You both kicked off your shoes.Man, I dig those rhythm and blues.I was a lonely teenage broncin buckWith a pink carnation and a pickup truck,But I knew I was out of luckThe day the music died.I started singin,Bye-bye, miss american pie.Drove my chevy to the levee,But the levee was dry.Them good old boys were drinkin whiskey and ryeAnd singin, thisll be the day that I die.Thisll be the day that I die.

32. “Hotel California” On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim I had to stop for the night There she stood in the doorway; I heard the mission bell And I was thinking to myself, this could be heaven or this could be hell Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way There were voices down the corridor, I thought I heard them say...Welcome to the hotel CaliforniaSuch a lovely placeSuch a lovely facePlenty of room at the hotel CaliforniaAny time of year, you can find it here Her mind is tiffany-twisted, she got the mercedes bends She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys, that she calls friends How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat. Some dance to remember, some dance to forget So I called up the captain, please bring me my wine He said, “we haven’t had that spirit here since nineteen sixty nine” And still those voices are calling from far away, Wake you up in the middle of the night Just to hear them say...Welcome to the hotel CaliforniaSuch a lovely placeSuch a lovely faceThey livin’ it up at the hotel CaliforniaWhat a nice surprise, bring your alibis Mirrors on the ceiling, The pink champagne on ice And she said “we are all just prisoners here, of our own device” And in the master’s chambers, They gathered for the feast The stab it with their steely knives, But they just can’t kill the beast

33. Recognizing Archetypes

34. Recognizing Archetypes

35. Recognizing Archetypes

36. Summary: • Myths: • Truths on a conscious/unconscious level • Exemplified through stories based on a primal belief • Story may not be true on the surface…but the lesson is extremely true and essential • Archetypes: • Symbols common in a culture • Exist in all times/cultures • Important natural/ancient realities shown through archetypes • Exist in Myths