This is aimed to work as an overview of the four primary archetypes from Jung’s model of the mind (psyche). It will be highly simplified as this is a complex topic.
According to Jung, archetypes are universal symbols and patterns of behaviour that reside in the collective unconscious of all humans. The archetypes express themselves in our personalities, dreams, artwork, myths, and interactions with the world. Jung argued that there are four primary archetypes forming the structure of the human psyche around the ego: The Self, The Shadow, The Persona, and The Anima/Animus.
1. The (capital S) Self: The Integrated Psyche
The Self represents the totality of a person’s psyche, integrating both conscious and unconscious aspects. It is the archetype of wholeness and the guiding force behind personal development known as individuation—the process of integrating different aspects of oneself into a unified whole.
- Symbols of the Self include a circle, mandala, or divine figures like gods or enlightened beings. Examples are Jesus in Christianity, Leonardo DaVinci’s Vitruvian Man, the Yin Yang symbol, and the Philosopher’s Stone in alchemy.
- Achieving a fulfilled Self would mean integrating all aspects of one’s personality, positive and negative. This doesn’t mean acting out all these aspects, just accepting them consciously.
- The journey toward the Self requires overcoming personal limitations and integrating all aspects of one’s psyche. As you can imagine, this can not be treated as a goal to completely achieve, as this would be impossible, but rather a guiding image on one’s journey toward individuation.
2. The Shadow: The Rejected Side of the Psyche
The Shadow consists of the repressed, hidden, or socially unacceptable parts of a person’s psyche. It embodies anything a person has rejected in themselves, such as desires, weaknesses, and fears that are unwanted.
- The Shadow manifests in dreams, projections, and impulsive behaviours. In order to integrate the shadow, you can therefore look at negative contents of your dreams, traits that annoy you in others, and memories of times when you have ‘acted without thinking’ due to stress or overwhelm. Whatever comes up for you are likely parts of yourself that you have rejected and pushed into the unconscious shadow.
- In literature and mythology, the shadow is often represented by monsters, demons, or dark figures. Some popular examples include: the Joker in DC’s Batman, the painting in Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Picture of Dorian Grey,’ and Loki in Norse mythology.
- Confronting and integrating the Shadow can be a path to personal growth and self-awareness. Imagine for example that you currently repressing a lot of anger to appear as ‘good’ and kind. This may have consequences like tiredness, hurtful slips of tongue, and extreme anger outbursts when you are pushed over the edge. Say you realise that you do, like everyone else, feel angry sometimes. Imagine that you are able to accept this and find healthy ways of expressing anger, perhaps by communicating it early on, being more assertive, or writing a journal. You have then brought a part of your shadow to awareness and integrated it.
- If ignored, the Shadow can control behaviour in unconscious and destructive ways.
- A famous quote by Jung is: ‘Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life, and you will call it fate.’
3. The Persona: The Social Mask
The Persona is the mask we put on to present to the world. It is thus a figure that stands between our ego and the outer world. It is shaped by societal expectations and personal beliefs about what is socially desirable. When well developed, it helps us function in social settings by hiding parts of the personality we feel are not acceptable or useful.
- The Persona can take various forms, such as a professional role, family role, or social identity.
- Over-identification with the Persona can lead to inauthenticity and inner conflict. For example, if we feel like we are only our job role, other parts of our personality, like inner emotional experiences, personal interests, relational interests, and personal desires get frustrated.
- Healthy development involves balancing the Persona with the true Self. That is, one also needs to look inward, paying attention to the parts of oneself that exist but one does not present to the outer world. This can involve thoughts and feelings, inner experiences, hidden desires, etc.
- Recognizing the difference between the Persona and the authentic Self can lead to greater psychological well-being.
4. The Anima and Animus (Anima/us): The Guide To The Unconscious World
The Anima/us is the inner figure that stands between the ego and the unconscious world (in a similar way to how the persona stands between the ego and the outer world). Whenever information or energy, such as an emotion or thought, flows from the unconscious to the conscious ego it is received and passed on by the anima/us.
For example, there may be a foul mood emerging from the unconscious into the ego. A well-developed anima/us will help the ego navigate this and regulate emotions and thoughts. It is a helpful attitude or strategy to deal with unconscious contents that are becoming conscious. An under-developed anima/us, on the other hand, will not do a good job with this. One might end up being dominated by emotions or rationalisations and opinions instead. Therefore:
- Forming a conscious relationship with the anima/us fosters greater harmony within the psyche. Then anima/us can then help us integrate and regulate the stream of contents from our inner world.
- When an underdeveloped anima/us remains unconscious, however, this can lead to projections and challenges in relationships. A man who is often overcome by moos, for example, may project his anima onto women who he expects to help him regulate. A woman who is overly set on rationalisations or opinions may project her animus onto a man whom she expects to agree with everything she says. In these and similar cases it is no wonder that relationships can become turbulent. A healthy relationship with one’s own anima/us means we don’t need to seek it’s functions in others.
The Bottom Line
Jung’s four primary archetypes—the Self, Shadow, Persona, and Anima/Animus—provide a useful conceptualisation of the various parts of the psychological structure beyond the ego. Each archetype contributes to this structure, influencing our development and interactions with the world. Integration of the archetypes can lead to greater self-awareness, balance, and fulfilment in life.
Integration is the journey of becoming oneself, which Jung called individuation. If you are interested in starting the journey of individuation you can seek out a Jungian or depth psychologist, and/or follow the advice in the suggested reading below.
Suggested reading:
‘Jung’s map of the soul’ by Murry Stein.
‘Inner Work’ by Robert A. Johnson.
