Archetypes In Psychology

Carl Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist who established the body of analytical psychology. He stated that every person has several personalities within oneself. Basically, we can look at one’s personality from four different categories, persona, shadow, anima/animus and archetypes. The easiest to recognize is persona. Persona is a social mask that we all show to the public. We change the roles in different situations in society. For instance, a student acts as an attentive respectful person who focuses on study at a school, but he/she becomes a father or mother who takes care of a household after going back home. I also have many social roles such as a student, daughter, sister, friend and girlfriend. I switch my roles in different situations. …show more content…
Each culture has a significance in certain symbols. One of the archetypes that is related to me is Mandala. The word mandala comes from sanskrit word meaning “circle”, and it symbolizes unity and harmony (Venefica). “The mandala appears to us in all aspects of life, the Earth, the Sun, the Moon and more obviously the circles of life encompassing friends, family and communities” (Dicker). In my drawing, mandalas appear a lot. First drawing I drew in my class, I only used circular symbols. My shadow drawing also has many circles. These mandalas are the reflection of my mind which is always trying to find peaceful harmony in both a material world. I like thinking about what I can do to make a peaceful world since I was a little girl; I like creating something to share with people and make them happy. Moreover, the mandalas appear a lot in my drawings because I have been trying to unify my persona and shadow. Another archetype of mine is the elephant since I drew an elephant for my persona and shadow drawing, and I have dreamed about the elephant recently. The elephant “has have a strong sense of community, with strong matriarchal bonds” (Archetype This), and if it appears in one’s dream, “it tends to represent the power and influence of the potent forces active in your body and mind” (Crisp). Therefore, I believe that the elephants appeared in my drawing and dream because I cherish my family and close friends. I am a person who is willing to take a risk for people whom I love. Specifically, I remember when I was seven years old, I fought with a boy who said a bad thing about my mother. Furthermore, the elephant in my drawing and dream might be showing my unconscious desire of independence as a woman since the elephant represents a matriarchal society and influential power. I didnʻt realize till now, but I would like to be independent from my parents