Archetypes – What Are They?

This word is flung around a lot on my website and I wanted to give you a little insight into what it means.  Perhaps you’ve heard the word before and you really don’t have a good sense of what it is all about—don’t worry, you aren’t alone.  I'm studying the concept and it still seems illusive to me sometimes.  

I figured I would share the definition from the master (Carl Jung) himself first.  A quick search reveals that www.carl-jung.net has an entire page dedicated to the concept.  Here is an excerpt regarding what an archetype is: "An innate tendency which molds and transform the individual consciousness. A fact defined more through a drive than through specific inherited contents, images etc.; a matrix which influences the human behavior as well as his ideas and concepts on the ethical, moral religious and cultural levels. . ."  The page goes on to state,  "The archetype concept - Jung writes - derives from the often repeated observation that myths and universal literature stories contain well defined themes which appear every time and everywhere. We often meet these themes in the fantasies, dreams, delirious ideas and illusions of persons living nowadays".

That is all fine and dandy of course...but I would like to give you a definition that isn't as complex...something you can easily wrap your brain around.  So, my definition is as follows:
ARCHETYPES ARE DIVINE UNIVERSAL PATTERNS THAT SHAPES EVERYTHING IN THE WORLD AROUND US!

To be more specific, they have to do with our consciousness and the way we show up in the world.  I believe that everyone is born with a set of archetypes already installed in their unconscious that develop who they are over time.  Think of them as an operating system.  For instance, you find yourself being driven by your creativity, desire to create things and a need to make beautiful objects with your hands--you have the ARTIST archetype within you.  Another example would be that you approach the world looking for the beauty in everything, you attract friends easily and feel that love is the driving force in your life--then you have been fitted with the LOVER archetype.  And so on...

Many different mystics and modern-age gurus have stated that we have a specific amount of archetypes.  I believe this to be true, but don't know if we can ever truly calculate that number.  Thus, when working on my Multihood Program I have arbitrarily chosen the number 9.  And in the work that I will be leading Mothers through, intend to help them discover 8 unique archetypal patterns within themselves, along with honing the most important one, according to Jung, THE SELF.  Jung states, "The Self is the archetype of the psychical totality. It is not identical with the ego but situates itself somehow above or in other words in the midst between ego and unconscious" (http://www.carl-jung.net/self.html). 

So does that make sense?  Does that help you understand the concept a bit better?  Please let me know in the comments below!  So Much Gratitude - Rev. P