Carl Jung was always a bit vague about exactly what an archetype is. The basic definition is, “universal symbols or patterns that exist in the collective unconscious of all humans.”
Okey dokey. That’s one of those phrases that sounds like it must mean something really important and leaves us feeling a little dumb because we can’t figure out what it is.
One way of cognizing archetypes is to think of them as sort of Super Energy Forms. They are the essence of a particular idea or feeling, writ large. In Tarot cards, for instance, the card Justice might stand for all legal matters, court proceedings, judges, and lawyers. The Lovers might symbolize all forms of human bonding between couples. The Moon could be seen as all forms of craziness, delusions, and projection.
Now, one of the fascinating things about archetypes is that we can invoke them, which is to say that we can draw their energy into our lives. For instance, if it’s been a very, very long time since we had a romantic relationship, we might meditate on The Lovers and that will serve to create that romantic energy in our existence. Or, if we’re feeling scattered and restless, we can meditate on a statue of the Buddha and that will pull in peacefulness and serenity. If it feels like our lives are full of obstructions, we can invoke the energy of Ganesh to dissolve them.
It’s very much like there are all of these specific energy sources that we can tap into when we need them. Pretty neat, huh?
Although he only hinted at it Jung seemed to warn us that there is also a dark side to archetypes. He seemed to feel that they can actually possess us and take over our lives.
By way of an example, he was doing psychotherapy in Vienna when many of his male clients began having the same dreams. They involved white, Germanic males riding horses in a nighttime parade and carrying torches. This, of course, became a standard practice in Nazi Germany, but their dreams occurred several years before Hitler came to power. He theorized that the collective German unconscious was being slowly possessed by the archetype which would manifest as the Nazi movement.
In another example, Bill Wilson, who was one of the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous, once asked Jung what caused alcoholism. Jung replied that alcoholics were, “possessed by the Devil.” Jung was NOT, of course, a fundamentalist christian, and he meant that in a very specific way. He meant that their unconscious minds were being taken over by the archetype of addiction which, in its essence, is evil.
It is perhaps illuminating to view current American politics as a demonstration of the power of archetypes. In that scenario, Trump might be seen as a sort of a dark magician (The Magician reversed) who has been invoking an archetype in the unconscious minds of his followers. It has a huge amount of negative energy in it – hatred, anger, xenophobia, misogyny, racism, fear.
Many of us have been puzzled by it for several years. We have friends, relatives, neighbors, even lovers, who appear to be normal, rational humans in all of the other areas of their lives. Still, they support a politician whose, “values,” are the antithesis of everything they claim to believe in. How is that possible?
In Jungian terms, we might say that Trump has managed to summon their Shadow selves and form them into a collective archetype. And, at a certain point, that archetype has possessed them and they’re no longer in command of their own faculties. They are no longer individuals, they’re parts of a collective energy form.
One of the most intriguing aspects is that this dark, shadow archetype seems to be summoning yet another archetype in the minds of the people who aren’t Trumpsters.
The Trump movement has become increasingly focused on a particularly malevolent form of misogyny. Under their model, females, even children, will be forced to carry and deliver the babies of the men who raped them. Project 25 documents reveal that there are even plans to eliminate free access to birth control. J.D. Vance, Trump’s running mate has stated that women who don’t procreate are essentially wasting their lives and should be treated as second class citizens.
In a phrase, women are to be reduced to breeding stock.
Obviously, this is one of the most anti-feminist, anti-female political movements we’ve ever seen in the United States. The good news, though, is that it seems to be giving birth to a new wave of feminism. Suddenly, as if by magic, the male Democratic nominee has been whisked off of center stage and replaced by a very energetic, very feisty female candidate. There is a palpable, almost electrifying energy in our electoral process that hasn’t been there for years.
If we were to cast it in archetypal terms, Trump might be seen as The Emperor Tarot card, the embodiment of toxic male energy. Harris, on the other hand, could be seen as The Empress, the archetype of sensual, relaxed but very, very strong feminine energy. Toxic masculinity versus the divine feminine.
A Battle of the Archetypes. Wow!
It’s going to be a very interesting election.
Just the Tarot 