ARCHETYPAL MOTIFS & UNIVERSAL SYMBOLS

Universal Symbols & Archetypal Motifs: evoke deep response in readers are characters, images, and themes = basic human experiences no matter where or when they live mean the same thing for all people

SYMBOL OBJECT, WORD, OR IMAGE THAT REPRESENTS AN ABSTRACT IDEA

MOTIF Pattern; recurring set of words, shapes, colors, subject, symbols, theme, ideas, images Recurring symbol motifs in literature often take on figurative meaning and help develop the central theme

ARCHETYPE: Original, a model or first form, prototype. In literature, model for common characters and stories Writers use archetypal stories to inspire contemplation of our human nature and evoke a deep psychological response/connection/understanding Writers use archetypal characters to define who their characters are and how they act EXAMPLES of archetypal stories and characters: stories of quests, initiations, scapegoats (hero’s journey); descents to the underworld, ascents to heaven, awakenings, death/rebirth, sacrifice, creation myths; wise old man, hero, soul mate, terrible mother, good mother, etc.

SYMBOLS objects (nature), shapes, colors, numbers UNIVERSAL SYMBOLS objects (nature), shapes, colors, numbers

SUN, FIRE, SKY SUN: Laws of nature Creative energy; consciousness (thinking, wisdom, enlightenment) Passage of time/life Masculine Power, Force, Clarity Rising Sun = birth, creation, enlightenment Setting Sun = Death FIRE –energy, passion, creation SKY – dreams, limitlessness, freedom, contemplation

TREE Life of the Cosmos – consistence, growth, generative and regenerative processes, connectivity Inexhaustible Life – symbol of immortality

SERPENT (snake, worm) Energy Pure force (libido - sexual instinct/sex drive) Corruption Evil Sensuality Destruction Mystery Wisdom The unconscious

CIRCLE: Wholeness & unity Mandala: (geometric figure based upon the squaring of a circle around a unifying center) classic Asian forms of the mandala juxtapose the triangle, the square, and the circle with their numerical equivalents of 3, 4, and 7. Egg (oval): the mystery of life and the forces of generation Yin-Yang: union of the opposite forces of the yang (masculine, light, activity, the conscious mind) and the yin (female, darkness, passivity, the unconscious); balance

COLORS RED: blood, sacrifice, violent passion, rage, disorder GREEN: (+) growth, sensation, hope, fertility (-) jealousy, death, decay BLUE: highly (+), truth, religious feeling, security, spiritual purity (the color of the Great Mother or Holy Mother) BLACK (darkness): chaos, mystery, the unknown, death, primal wisdom, the unconscious, evil, melancholy WHITE: (+) light, purity, innocence, timelessness; (-) death, terror, the supernatural, the blinding truth of cosmic mystery

NUMBERS 3: light, spiritual awareness & unity (Holy Trinity, pagan trinity = maiden, mother, and the crone), male 4: associated with the square, life cycle, 4 seasons, earth, nature, 4 elements (earth, air, fire, water), female 7: Most potent of all symbolic numbers = the union of 3 and 4, the completion of a cycle, perfect order (7th day of creation)

Archetypal Characters

THE ARCHETYPAL WOMEN The Good Mother (+ aspects of Earth Mother): life, birth, warmth, nourishment, protection, fertility, growth, abundance The Terrible Mother (- aspects of Earth Mother): the witch, the sorceress, siren, whore, temptation, femme fatale—associated with sensuality— sexual orgies, fear, danger, darkness, death, dismemberment, emasculation The Soul Mate (Holy Mother, the princess or beautiful lady): incarnation of inspiration and spiritual fulfillment

THE ARCHETYPAL MEN The Wise Old Man (savior, redeemer, guru): Personification of spirituality Knowledge Reflection Insight Wisdom Cleverness Intuition Morality - tests moral qualities of others Always appears when the hero is in a hopeless and desperate situation from which only profound reflection or a lucky idea can help him.

HERO ARCHETYPES The Quest: hero (savior, deliverer) goes on long journey to perform impossible tasks, battle with monsters, solve unanswerable riddles, and overcome insurmountable obstacles Initiation: hero undergoes a series of excruciating ordeals in passing from ignorance and immaturity to social and spiritual adulthood (becoming full-fledged member of social group), consists of 3 phases: separation, transformation, and return. Like quest =variation of the death and rebirth archetype (coming of age) The Sacrificial Scapegoat: hero on whom welfare of tribe or nation is identified must die to atone for the people’s sins and restore the land to fruitfulness

Symbolic Archetypal IMAGES

ARCHETYPAL IMAGES WATER SEA: life, spiritual mystery, infinity, death & rebirth, timelessness & eternity RIVERS: death & rebirth (baptism), flowing of time into eternity, transitional phases of the life cycle

Paradise Innocence Fertility Unspoiled beauty – especially feminine GARDEN Paradise Innocence Fertility Unspoiled beauty – especially feminine

DESERT Spiritual aridity Death Nihilism - Hopelessness 1. An extreme form of skepticism that denies all existence. 2. A doctrine holding that all values are baseless and that nothing can be known or communicated. 3. Rejection of all distinctions in moral or religious value and a willingness to repudiate all previous theories of morality or religious belief. 4.The belief that destruction of existing political or social institutions is necessary for future improvement. Hopelessness Infertile/Unproductive

Spring – beginning of life, birth, newness SEASONS OF THE YEAR Spring – beginning of life, birth, newness Summer – height of life, harmony, perfection, good health Fall – middle of life, middle age, harvest, knowledge, maturity, ripeness Winter – death, barren, end of life

ARCHETYPAL STORY MOTIFS

CREATION Most fundamental of all archetypes – Every mythology is built on some account of how the cosmos, nature, and human- kind were brought into existence by some supernatural being or beings (usually includes fall of mankind)

IMMORTALITY Escape from Time: return to paradise (the state of perfect, timeless bliss enjoyed by man and woman before their tragic Fall into corruption and mortality) Mystical submersion into cyclical time: theme of endless death and regeneration – human beings achieve some kind of immortality by submitting to vast, mysterious rhythm of nature’s eternal cycle, particularly the cycle of seasons

TRICKSTER A god, goddess, spirit, or man that experiences challenges and danger by playing tricks or disobeying rules of conventional society.

RESURRECTION THE HERO… ...faces most dangerous life and death ordeal …dies (either literally or figuratively) so he can apply all he as learned to the ordinary world. …is reborn/transformed …maintains ordinary self + insights/lessons learned …is purified/cleansed

DUALITY Good v. Evil Innocence v. Experience Exploration of man’s dual nature and our fallibility; delicate balance to maintain reason; better to have knowledge or to be innocent?