In the most general sense – an initial type or example, according to which all other things are modeled;
In Jungian psychology – a predisposition or idea (like the figure of the sage), rooted in the collective unconscious and open to countless manifestations (from Merlin from King Arthur to Yoda in Star Wars).
Mostly thanks to the influence of Sigmund Freud, we are used to distinguishing between conscious and unconscious areas of the human mind. In perceiving the relationship between the two, we sometimes rely on a spatial metaphor in which the conscious is represented as a relatively superficial area and the unconscious as a deep, dark, deep area from which some forces can explode upward, sometimes reaching the surface (i.e., entering the conscious, albeit in a censored form).
But the unconscious, accepted in this way, is supposed to be the product of our individual experience, in particular of a traumatic experience gained at a very early age.
Carl Jung believes that in addition to the individual unconscious, there is a collective unconscious, an area of the human soul saturated with “ideas” that are not the result of our individual experience but part of the heritage of our species: archetypes are rooted in the practice of the human species, not that of each individual.
Just as the fundamental goal of Freudian psychoanalysis is to bring us into contact with certain decisive factors of our individual unconscious, thus freeing us from their damaging effects, the main goal of Jungian psychology is to put us in contact with our collective unconscious.
Jungian notes on the archetype, as well as other parts of his thinking, reveal a deep and pervasive acceptance in our individual and collective lives of the role of symbols.
Among all else, his work is important to semiotics.
