Archetypes and Icons
Oct. 28th, 2004 07:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
qosThe question for the evening is this: which archetypes resonate most deeply with you, and which - if any - characters from literature or film or history or culture exemplify that archetype to you?
For example: The Witch is an archetype. She exists cross-culturally, and seems to be part of the imaginative inheritance of the human psyche. In my "Witchtrials" class, we learned that a "witch" was someone upon whom the negative values of a community were projected: baby eating, crop-blighting, milk-drying, etc. I read an article once which called The Wicked Witch of the West, as portrayed by Margaret Hamilton in The Wizard of Oz the ur-witch, with her green skin, hooked nose, black conical hat, and shapeless black dress. Say "witch" and she is what leaps to the mind of millions of Americans. On the other hand, the witch sisters in the film Practical Magic remind all too many people of![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
raptures_shadow and myself. (See "Iconic" below.)
Warrior. Seeker. King. Queen. Princess. Knight. Wizard. Sage. Mother. Father. Magician. Witch. Soldier. Priest/ess. Guardian. Beloved. These are all archetypes. And there are many more.
The other category is Icon. For my Purposes of the Moment, this is not an archetype - a universal template - but something more personal. What figure(s) resonate with your soul, make your heart beat faster, say "I am not the only one?" or "Here is what I want to be?" or "That is who I am in the secrecy of my soul?" Legendary, modern, or mixed? Mortal or divine? Tam Lin and/or Fair Janet? Jeremy Irons as Aramis? Barbara Streisand as Yentl? Galileo? Inanna? Beauty (with or without Beast)? King Arthur or Guinevere (pick your version)? Charlie Brown? Dilbert? Drusilla?
I'm not in a fit state to respond to my own question tonight, but I want to know your answers. I'll answer this weekend.
For example: The Witch is an archetype. She exists cross-culturally, and seems to be part of the imaginative inheritance of the human psyche. In my "Witchtrials" class, we learned that a "witch" was someone upon whom the negative values of a community were projected: baby eating, crop-blighting, milk-drying, etc. I read an article once which called The Wicked Witch of the West, as portrayed by Margaret Hamilton in The Wizard of Oz the ur-witch, with her green skin, hooked nose, black conical hat, and shapeless black dress. Say "witch" and she is what leaps to the mind of millions of Americans. On the other hand, the witch sisters in the film Practical Magic remind all too many people of
raptures_shadow and myself. (See "Iconic" below.)Warrior. Seeker. King. Queen. Princess. Knight. Wizard. Sage. Mother. Father. Magician. Witch. Soldier. Priest/ess. Guardian. Beloved. These are all archetypes. And there are many more.
The other category is Icon. For my Purposes of the Moment, this is not an archetype - a universal template - but something more personal. What figure(s) resonate with your soul, make your heart beat faster, say "I am not the only one?" or "Here is what I want to be?" or "That is who I am in the secrecy of my soul?" Legendary, modern, or mixed? Mortal or divine? Tam Lin and/or Fair Janet? Jeremy Irons as Aramis? Barbara Streisand as Yentl? Galileo? Inanna? Beauty (with or without Beast)? King Arthur or Guinevere (pick your version)? Charlie Brown? Dilbert? Drusilla?
I'm not in a fit state to respond to my own question tonight, but I want to know your answers. I'll answer this weekend.
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Since you asked, welcome to my universe... ;-)
Date: 2004-10-28 09:28 pm (UTC)~ Amritapuri (India, main ashram site)
~ MA Center (US ashram site)