This post is a continuation to of one of my earlier post Jung's individuation process. The past post which i had written on the individuation process was more of a walk-through, Since then I've come to apprehend more regarding the very idea of individuation, although i would consider my understanding of psychology to be somewhere between nominal and substantial, these are just my stances on it.
Collective unconscious is something which Jung gave a lot of emphasis towards. As maintained by him, Collective unconscious refers to the idea that a segment of the deepest unconscious mind is genetically inherited and is not shaped by personal experiences. To explain it in a more simple manner, Collective unconscious is basically the existence of deepest of thoughts in ones unconscious mind (The unconscious mind (or the unconscious) consists of the processes in the mind which occur automatically and are not available to introspection and include thought processes, memories, interests and motivations, the unconscious mind can be seen as the source of dreams and automatic thoughts, source), which in no way or means is influenced by ones daily life experiences, rather is influenced by a genetic inheritance. According to Jung and his teachings, the collective unconscious is common to all human beings and is responsible for a number of deep-seated beliefs and instincts.
How is all of this associated with Archetype?, Well Archetypes is also a concept coined by Jung. He credited that archetypes were representations of people, behaviors, or personalities. Archetypes, he advocated, were inborn tendencies that play a role in influencing human behavior. The collective unconscious, Jung believed, was where these archetypes exist. He suggested that these representations are inbred, comprehensive, and congenital. Archetypes are unlearned and function to organize how we experience certain things.
Its fascinating to see how deep our inheritance can influence our current senses. For Jung, the eventual goal was for an individual to achieve a sense of cohesive self. Now, me being a rookie at this subject, gives me a tough time to understand what Jung means by a cohesive self, probably more research would help me find an answer. On the contrary, there are numerous classifications of archetypes, these Archetypes can be connected to some political aspects as well, which i would like to discuss in a future post.
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