Article: Understanding Dream Archetypes

The word archetype is actually derived from the Latin and Greek languages, but the world of psychiatry, particularly the work of Carl Jung, is what brought the word into common usage. Simply stated, an archetype is a prototype, or an original model. An archetype can also be used to mean the ideal example of a type.

Carl Jung used the word archetype to mean an instinct pattern of thought or imagery that was derived from collective experience. Jung believed in the existence of the collective unconscious -- that is that people are born knowing things learned from their ancestors.

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