Archetypes
Archetypes are the "original language" of the mind.
Every being that has awareness uses archetypes as a primary language.
Humans and other animals have languages unique to their species, whether learned socially (like English) or instinctive (like certain expressions of anger, fear, love, joy, etc).
Socially learned languages allow an individual to communicate with others of the same species, but they also involve a "step away" from nature. In other words the accuracy of the symbols (e.g. words) in a learned language is subject to a sort of decay. If you put your hand on a hot stove you will know the meaning of the word "ouch" or the word "hot". But many words are used repetitively without their being reconnected regularly to the underlying reality of the word.
Anyone who has spent time with "primitive" people (including children) knows that there is a difference between the authenticity of language in primitives and in technological peoples. (With children, the observation is that we teach our children some words, then we teach them to use words manipulatively. In primitive cultures the observation is that they have not developed the degree of cunning we have.)
Archetypes are the perceived parts of the language that underlies learned languages. When you touch a hot stove the reaction within your mind is an archetypal element that you translate perhaps to the word "ouch" or the descriptor "hot".
Why should a person recognize archetypes?
Many people are completely "captured" by learned language, to the extent that the boundaries of their life are entirely defined by the past experiences of others. Learned language does not just describe the universe, it limits it. Thus any experience that does not fit well within learned words can be ignored. Archetypes, to the extent they are understood, provide a new set of boundaries, outside learned language and based on nature rather than social history.
What exactly is an archetype?
Obviously the concept of "archetype" (as it is being used here) cannot be defined precisely using words. Plato's Allegory of the Cave was an excellent way of pointing at archetypes. Another way is to create a continuum that includes various types of languages.
(cont.)