Transcript Symbolic Archetypes

Symbolic Archetypes
9/22 & 23
What is a Symbol?

A symbol is a
concrete object
used to represent
an abstract idea.

Examples
Heaven - Hell
• Gods live in the
skies or
mountaintops
• Evil forces live in
the bowels of the
earth
Water - Desert
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Because water is necessary to
life and growth, it commonly
appears as a birth or rebirth
symbol.

The appearance of rain in a
work of literature can suggest a
character’s spiritual birth.
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Conversely, the aridity (dryness)
of the desert is often associated
with spiritual sterility.

Characters who live in the
desert are often “dead” to morals
or the “good side”.
Haven vs. Wilderness
• Places of safety contrast sharply
against the dangerous wilderness.
• Heroes are often found in
unexpected places.
• Wilderness threatens civilization.
Circles
• Spheres, eggs, wheels
– Wholeness, unity, infinity,
continuity, and cycles
Civilization
• Cities
• Corruption, sin, lust, voluptuous
materialism
Colors
• The most ancient and universal of
symbols.
• They can symbolize moods or
emotional process.
• They can represent pairs of
opposites and dualism such as
light and dark, masculine and
feminine, etc.
Black (darkness)
• The shadow; the repressed part of the
Self.
• Mystery; the unconscious, the
underworld, emotional darkness,
hidden desires/instinct
• Black represents the first step in the
transformation process in which the
old is destroyed in order for new
creation of the Self to occur
Green
• In positive terms
•
•
•
•
Growth
Fertility
Hope
birth
• In negative terms
•
•
•
•
Rot
Decay
Jealousy
Envy
Blue
• The color of spirit, the heavenly,
the divine, intuition and
inspiration
Red
• Blood, life, anger
• Lust and passion
• Courage and war
Gold
• Divine light, illumination, selfworth/ value
White
• Purity, holiness, sacredness,
redemption, mystical enlightenment
and innocence.
• Signifies
– the union of opposites to form a whole
– the symbolic death of transformation
– renewal
• In Eastern thought, white is the color
of the crown chakra, what is known as
the halo in Western thought
Yellow
• The sun, illumination and
intellect.
• The color of fire and thus the
purification of flame
Silver
• The color of the moon, magic, the
Goddess, psychic nature.
Orange
• Balance, creative expression,
pride and ambition.
• As the color of fire, can represent
burning away impurities
Sun Cycle
• Rising sun
– The East, birth, rise of the hero,
goodness or optimism
Sun Cycle
• Setting Sun
– The West, death, fall of the hero, evil
or pessimism
Seasonal Cycle
Spring
Birth phase,
rise of the
hero,
resurrection
growth
Summer
Peak of hero’s
power,
marriage,
triumph, youth
Fall
Beginning of
death, decline of
hero, increasing
isolation and
alienation
Winter
Death, chaos,
fall or death of
hero
Seasonal Cycle continued
• Deserts
– Spiritual
emptiness, death,
hopelessness, and
sterility
• Gardens
– Paradise,
innocence,
unspoiled beauty,
fertility
Water
• Sea
– The mother of all life, spiritual mystery
and infinity, death and rebirth,
timelessness and eternity, the unconscious
• Rivers
– Father or protector, death and rebirth,
baptism, the flowing of time into eternity,
transitional phases of life cycles
Review
True or False
1. Gods live in the
skies; evil lives in
the bowels of the
earth.
2.
Water and desert
both symbolize
birth.
True or False
3. Heroes live in the
woods.
4. Cities symbolize
corruption.
List One Possible Meaning of the
Symbol
5.
6.
7.
8.
Colors: List One Meaning
9.
Black
10.
Green
11.
Blue
12.
Red
13.
White
Time to Use your Knowledge

Get in your group and work on your
Creation Myth art project