Archetypal Image According to Carl Jung, the archetypal image is a representation of an underlying archetype.
The archetypal images symbolize and mediate to everyday consciousness the psychological power of the collective unconscious.
Through various modes of expression (e.g. works of art and architecture) mankind translates these hidden archetypal forces into the realm of human culture.
Some contemporary and ancient examples of archetypal images would be figures like Godzilla, the Klingons, The Cylons, Luke Skywalker, the Magician, the Witch, the Angel, Yahweh and the Devil.
Jung believes that the ancients did not always view the archetypal images as mere symbols, but as actual things in themselves. The Indian sun god, Surya, for instance, was not a symbol but a real deity, diurnally traveling across and lighting the heavens in a splendid chariot.
Likewise, many American Indian cultures firmly believe that their myths tell of actual ancient events and heroic ancestors.
Meanwhile, contemporary Catholics believe that the Eucharist is not a symbol but the real presence – in essence but not form – of the body and blood of Jesus Christ.†
On the topic of UFOs, Jung regarded the rounded saucers of the 1950s as archetypal images of the human self, not unlike the mandala. But Jung didn’t rule out the possibility of actual UFOs.
However, Jung was not quite so open-minded with regard to Christian religious truth-claims, choosing to adapt them into his own theoretical structures. At times he speaks of the crucifixion of Jesus, for instance, as producing a mere “skewed symbol of the self” (i.e. the crucifix) instead of seeing Jesus’ death as a saving sacrifice, as most Christians would believe. » Archetype
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Resized from “Benzaiten” by colodio at http://www.flickr.com/photos/colodio/1420007024/in/set-72157602055544339, Creative Commons License
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†Belief alone does not necessarily render truth out of falsehood. But as Plato pointed out, a true belief does relate to an actual truth (if not knowledge of that truth).
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