Jung's Archetypes
Along with The Shadow there are many other archetypes we must come to terms with and understand before we can hope to achieve any sense of higher wisdom and wholeness.
The Anima and the Animus
After The Shadow the Anima and the Animus are the two of the most important archetypes for which we must meet in order to become closer to a wholeness within ourselves. In this case we meet the inner opposite of ourselves that we exist as on a daily basis. Anima and Animus are latin words for soul or inner self. Anima is the male word for soul and his anima is the subconscious opposite to his outward persona and can also be represented as his hidden feminin equivalent. Animus is the female word for the subconscious persona we hold and also their masculine side. The anima and the animus can have impacts on the people we find attractive and can project our own inner needs and expectations onto our loved ones. People who have not come to term with their Anima or Animus will find themselves constantly dissapointed when their lovers and partners do not meet up with their expectations and will not understand why. This can be a recipe for disaster and this is why a confrontation is neccersary. The Anima and Animus can be illustrated in all walks of life. A good example is that of Superman and Louis Lane. Clark Kent is the shadow side to superman, he is inferior but closer to the people in his life. Louis does not care for Clark but is wildly infatuated with Superman, her Animus, the masculine side of her personality. An example of the male Anima is Wonder Woman.
Above - Representations of Jungs 'The Anima and the Animus"
The Child
The child archetype represents hope and the faith for new beginnings. The child gives us hope for unity and a world of paridise. The birth of Jesus Christ is a good example of the child archetype as he was sent to Earth as the son of God and with his life on Earth he united Earth and Heaven. When the child appears in our dreams it may be asking ourselves to look at our inner child and the qualities we had when we were children. It represents our search for the innocence we once had, the games we used to play and the unconditional love we recieved from the people around us.
The Self
The archetype pattern of the self is that of potential. To become a fully integrated individual we have to allign our spiritual self with our real world self. As the future holds all potential to us we may first see The Self appear to us in our dreams as a form of something beckoning us to move forward. This could be a figure urging us to come along with them or as simple as walking through a symbollic door or leaving something old behind you. We have to become aware of the spiritual realm and our part in the great scheme of thing. To think of oneself as one single unit is incorrect in the process of Self, it is when we realise we belong to something much grander that we shall become complete. If you are not particulary religious and the idea of becoming one with God and all things spiritual you can view this process from a scientific angle also. In science everything within the world generally runs in a cycle, life and death for example, the cycle of rain falling to the earth and then being evapporated again, or how trees grow to produce seeds that grow into sapplings and so forth. The concept of self is the same. We have to realise that we are a part of this great cycle and to think of ourselves not as insignificant.
The Great Mother - Mother Earth
This archetype represents the compilation of all feminine attributes, both positive and negative. This archetype suggests complete wholeness within a woman and the ability for her to use all of these attributes in their entirety. To reach this state of perfection the woman must learn to clarify and use all aspects of her personality. She must learn to use sensation, feeling, intuition and thinking as her tools rather than as weapons. A woman who has not developed this side to her personality will often look for a man who has the qualities that she sees in herself as inadequate. For example a woman who has the urge to mother will find a man who is highly dependable on his partner. These relationships will break apart if one side suddenly realises their true potential and develops other aspects of their personalities. This is the feminine Self.
The Wise Old Man
The wise man archetype is like that of the Great Mother of the femine attributes but this time it is the masculine for which it represents. This is the masculine characteristics understood as a whole. When an individual realises that true guidance can only be found deep inside of ourselves the wise old man will appear to us in our dreams. The mind provides us with a dream guide sometimes taking form of a friend to guide us towards the right path in life. As like the female Self the wise man is a combination of sensation, thinking, feeling and intuition used as a whole to further expand our selfs as a whole.