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

SYMBOLOBJECT, 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.

UNIVERSALSYMBOLS

objects (nature), shapes, colors, numbers

SUN, FIRE, SKYSUN:• 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, creationSKY – dreams, limitlessness, freedom, contemplation

TREE

Life of the Cosmos – consistence, growth, generative and regenerative processes, connectivityInexhaustible 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 juxtaposethe 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

COLORSRED: 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

NUMBERS3: light, spiritual awareness & unity (Holy Trinity, pagan trinity = maiden, mother, and the crone), male4: 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)

ArchetypalCharacters

THE ARCHETYPAL WOMENThe Good Mother (+ aspects of Earth Mother): life, birth, warmth, nourishment, protection, fertility, growth, abundanceThe 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, emasculationThe 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 spiritualityKnowledgeReflectionInsightWisdomClevernessIntuitionMorality - 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 obstaclesInitiation: 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 IMAGESWATER

SEA: life, spiritual mystery,infinity, death & rebirth, timelessness & eternity

RIVERS: death & rebirth (baptism), flowing of time into eternity, transitional phases of the life cycle

GARDEN

Paradise Innocence Fertility Unspoiled beauty – especially feminine

DESERT• Spiritual aridity•Death•Nihilism -

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

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 accountof how the cosmos, nature, and human-kind were brought into existence by some supernatural being or beings (usually includes fall of mankind)

IMMORTALITYEscape 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.

RESURRECTIONTHE 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?