Archetypes of the Gods

Pagan 203
Exploring our bonds to the Divine
 Opening
„ Come, blessed Dionysos, various-named, bull-
faced, begot from thunder, Bakkhos famed.
Bassaros God, of universal might, whom swords
and blood and sacred rage delight: in heaven
rejoicing, mad, loud-sounding God, furious
inspirer, bearer of the rod: by Gods revered, who
dwellest with humankind, propitious come, with
much rejoicing mind.
Orphic Hymn 45 to Dionysus
 Question
„ What is an Archetype?
 Defining the Concept
„ An original model or type after which other
similar things are patterned; a prototype:
"'Frankenstein' . . . 'Dracula' . . . 'Dr. Jekyll and
Mr. Hyde' . . . the archetypes that have
influenced all subsequent horror stories" (New
York Times).
„ An ideal example of a type; quintessence: an
archetype of the successful entrepreneur.
 Jung’s Archetypes
„ Jung's theory divides the psyche into three
parts.
„ The first is the ego,which Jung identifies with the
conscious mind.
„ Closely related is the personal unconscious, which
includes anything which is not presently conscious,
but can be.
„ But then Jung adds the part of the psyche that makes
his theory stand out from all others: the collective
unconscious. You could call it your "psychic
inheritance." It is the reservoir of our experiences as
a species, a kind of knowledge we are all born with.
And yet we can never be directly conscious of it.
 Origins of Archetypes
The contents of the collective unconscious are called
archetypes. Jung also called them dominants, imagos,
mythological or primordial images but archetypes seems to
have won out over these. An archetype is an unlearned
tendency to experience things in a certain way.
„ The archetype has no form of its own, but it acts as an
"organizing principle" on the things we see or do.
„ It works the way that instincts work in Freud's theory: At
first, the baby just wants something to eat, without
knowing what it wants.
„ Later, with experience, the child begins to yearn for
something more specific when it is hungry -- a bottle, a
cookie.
„ The archetype is like a black hole in space: You only know its
there by how it draws matter and light to itself.
 The Structure
„ In Jung's psychological framework archetypes are
innate, universal prototypes for ideas and may be used
to interpret observations.
„ Jung treated the archetypes as psychological organs, analogous
to physical ones in that both are morphological givens that arose
through evolution. (Chakra connection)
„ Jung outlined four main archetypes:
„ The Self, the regulating center of the psyche and facilitator of
individuation
„ The Shadow, the opposite of the ego image, often containing
qualities that the ego does not identify with but possess
nonetheless
„ The Anima, the feminine image in a man's psyche
„ The Animus, the masculine image in a woman's psyche
 The Self
„ For Jung, the self is not just 'me' but “God”. It is the
spirit that connects and is part of the universe. It is the
coherent whole that unifies both consciousness and
unconsciousness. It may be found elsewhere in such
principles as nirvana and ecstatic harmony. It is perhaps
what Jaques Lacan called 'the real'.
„ Jung described creation of the self as a process of
individuation, where all aspects are brought together as
one. Thus 're-birth' is returning to the wholeness of
birth, before we start to split our selves into many parts.
 The Anima and Animus
„ The second most prevalent pattern is that of the Anima
(male), Animus (female), or the Soul, and is the route to
communication with the collective unconscious. The
anima/animus represents our true self, as opposed to
the masks we wear every day and is the source of our
creativity.
„ There is a (Animus) Goddess in every man a (Anima)
God in every woman, which notion happens to be
Tantric in origin.
„ Individuation, for Jung, was an alchemical healing
process whereby the male recaptures his anima or
female self while the female incorporates her animus or
male sell, into psychic make-up
 The Shadow
„ The Shadow is a very common archetype that reflects
deeper elements of our psyche, where 'latent
dispositions' which are common to us all arise. It also
reflects something that was once split from us in early
management of the objects in our lives.
„ It is, by its name, dark, shadowy, unknown and
potentially troubling. It embodies chaos and wildness of
character. The shadow thus tends not to obey rules, and
in doing so may discover new lands or plunge things into
chaos and battle. It has a sense of the exotic and can be
disturbingly fascinating. In myth, it appears as the wild
man, spider-people, mysterious fighters and dark
enemies.
 Goddess Archetypes
„ The Maiden: Purity, desire
„ The Mother: Feeding,
nurturing, soothing
„ The Earth mother: Nature
„ The Sorceress: Dangerous
„ The Crone: Wish, sheltering,
guiding
 Question

„ Is there a Goddess the first comes to mind

when you think about the divine?
„ What is the key word or words that invoke
this image or ideal?
„ How does this relate to you? Are they things
you find in common or opposites?
 Goddess Examples
„ Mother Earth, Gaia – The planet,
source of all life.
„ Hera, Ishtar - Goddess of
marriage, family, motherhood
and queen of the gods.
„ Hestia - Goddess of the hearth
and domestic life.
„ Kali, Zroya – Goddess of war,
renewal, creation.
„ Venus, Innana, Hathor, Freya –
Goddess of love, lust, passion
 God Archetypes
„ The Father: Stern, powerful,
controlling
„ The Hero: Rescuer, champion
„ The Trickster: Deceiving, hidden
„ The magician: Mysterious,
powerful
„ The wise old man: Knowledge,
guidance
 Question

„ Which of the God Archetypes carries the

most weight for you?
„ In a Christian centric culture these images
can come preloaded or burdened with
popular images. Does that make it harder
for you to find away to identify with one
of the archetypes?
 God Examples
„ Ares, Ankt - God of War
„ Apollo, Thor, Perun - Greek
God of Light, storms
„ Dionysus - Greek God of
Ecstasy
„ Baldr - God of radiance, peace,
and rebirth.
„ Hermes - Greek God of
Commerce
„ Loki, Fox - Trickster Gods
„ Zeus, Wodan, Baal - Ruler
Gods
„ Osiris - god of the underworld
and of vegetation
„ Green Man – God of the
seasons, the hunt, fertility
 The Others

„ The Child: Birth, beginnings, salvation

„ The Animal: Unquestioning loyalty, Never
giving up, Self-serving
„ The Hermaphrodite: both male and
female, represents the union of opposites.
 Examples
„ Bast – Cat goddess
„ Lahar - was the Sumerian
cattle-god
„ Pan - of shepherds and
flocks, of mountain wilds,
hunting and rustic music,
fertility.
„ Ometeot - simultaneously
male and female, with
the names Ometecuhtli
and Omecihuatl
 The Hero
„ Robin Hood, Green Knight/man
„ Arthur, Lancelot
„ Odysseus
„ Theseus
„ “A hero ventures forth from the
world of common day into a
region of supernatural wonder:
„ Fabulous forces are there
encountered and a decisive
victory is won:
„ The hero comes back from this
mysterious adventure with the
power to bestow boons on his
fellow man.” (Campbell)
Self Identification
„ Matching ancient Deities to our
modern world requires that we
think about the roots of our daily
activities.
„ All human beings are attuned to
at least one archetype; most
people can be attuned to a
number of archetypes.
„ We are all hardwired to respond to
the power of an archetype - we just
need it to be activated.
„ Dance, image, ritual, prayer and
meditation, reading about the myths
of gods and goddesses are ways to
access them.
 Making the Transition
„ ATHENA--"Education, city culture,
careerist, competitor, intellectual, dutiful
daughter or rebel in the fatherworld.“
„ ARTEMIS--"Amazon shamaness,
adventuress, huntress, lover of
wilderness, lady of the beasts.“
„ APHRODITE--"Sexuality, body as
sacred, sensuality, romance, beauty,
passion, the arts, salons, patroness,
muse.“
„ HERA--"Empress, ruler, wife, worldly
power, tradition, marriage, partnership,
morality, matriarch.“
„ PERSEPHONE--"Occult, medium,
clairvoyance, visions, dreams, death and
transformation, inner guide, healing,
psychic power.“
„ DEMETER--"Body as vessel of life, lady
of plants, childbearing, earth mother,
generation, nurturance."
 What can we learn?
„ Identification with the divine through a better
understanding of our inner selves.
„ Looking to various Deities and the lessons they
teach use through story, ritual, and
communication.
„ More directly tapping into their abilities, power,
and will by knowing who your support will be.
„ Humans always can connection through
relationships, having a relationship with a
specific deities can open doors both inner and
outer that will help you in the path of life.
Inspiration and Reverence
„ Archetypes and the Deities
that match them go to our
very roots as humans.
„ Cross boundaries of culture
and time.
„ Help bring continuity to our
ritual, our daily lives, and our
goals.
„ Initiate and sustain respect
for our place in the cycle of
life.