That the world inside and outside us rests on a transcendental background is as certain as our own existence, but it is equally certain that the direct perception of the archetypal world inside us is just as doubtfully correct as that of the physical world outside us. – Jung, CW 14, par. 787.

Landscape Archetypes

Archetypes are inborn, primordial structures that lie deeply within the collective unconscious, that aspect of psyche that transcends the personal and extends into the wider realm of culture and nature. The collective unconscious is an ancient and shared storehouse of transpersonal archetypal structures, but it is also the place where we are most connected with nature. Jung calls archetypes “inherited patterns of behavior”, which are exhibited in our instinctual responses to the natural world.  Just as a bird knows how to build a nest, we, too, follow innate patterns which govern our lives. Jung paints a comprehensible portrait of this instinctual character of archetypes.

• Well, you know what a behavior pattern is. The way in which, say a weaver bird builds his nest. That is an inherited form in him which he will apply. Or certain sorts of symbiotic phenomena between insects and plants. They are inherited patters of behavior. And man, of course, has an inherited scheme of functioning too. His liver, his heart, all his organs, and his brain will always function in a certain way, each following its pattern. You would have great difficulty in seeing it because we cannot compare it with anything….Yet it is quite certain that man is born with a certain way of functioning, a certain pattern of behavior, and that is expressed in the form of archetypal images. (1977, p. 292).

And, although, we have no way of perceiving these inborn patterns, we do see the nest, both the individual nest, with all its peculiarities and flaws, and the archetypal nest, perfected by a universal design. In this respect, it is nearly impossible to look at any nest without being spellbound by its archetypal magic. As Jung asserts, the pure archetype is unknowable, but the archetypal image appears in the adornment of the material world, in the style and dress, or rather, the twigs and feathers, of the cultural and environmental surroundings. Archetypal structures are similar throughout the world, but their manifestations are unique to the specific situation and locale of the people who perceive them. Even when we encounter archetypes in dreams or fantasies, the moment we become consciously aware of them, they wrap themselves with imagery taken from the immediate physical world.  Archetypes bestow meaning to the world, and conversely, the world gives expression to the archetypes.

For this reason, it is difficult to speak about archetypes without referring to the natural world.  Although archetypal motifs are found in myths, fairytales, legends and dreams many of these motifs can be traced to the shapes and patterns found in the natural landscape. Thus, in addition to being an uplifted mass of stone, the archetypal mountain is also the cosmic mountain, linking heaven and earth and fastening the four cardinal directions. Similarly, in addition to being an eroded crevice in the earth’s surface, the archetypal valley is the valley of shadow and death, or, in other cases, a paradisiacal recess flowing with milk and honey.  The archetypal motifs that emerge from the landscape are as diverse as the landscape itself, and throughout all cultures and locations we find a vast range of archetypes that take on the appearance of mountains, rivers, trees, oceans, caves, and canyons. Archetypes symbolize the union of soul and earth, and from this union is the birth of a world that is living and sensual, full of character and meaning.

Betsy Perluss, copyright, 2008