Collective unconscious, a term coined by Carl Jung, refers to structures of the unconscious mind which are shared among beings of the same species. According to Jung, the human collective unconscious is populated by instincts and by archetypes: universal symbols such as The Great Mother, the Wise Old Man, the Shadow, the Tower, Water, the Tree of Life, and many more.
Jung considered the collective unconscious to underpin and surround the unconscious mind, distinguishing it from the personal unconscious of Freudian psychoanalysis. He argued that the collective unconscious had profound influence on the lives of individuals, who lived out its symbols and clothed them in meaning through their experiences. The psychotherapeutic practice of analytical psychology revolves around examining the patient’s relationship to the collective unconscious.
Psychiatrist and Jungian analyst Lionel Corbett argues that the contemporary terms “autonomous psyche” or “objective psyche” are more commonly used today in the practice of depth psychology rather than the traditional term of the “collective unconscious.”
Critics of the collective unconscious concept have called it unscientific and fatalistic, or otherwise very difficult to test scientifically (due to the mythical aspect of the collective unconscious). Proponents suggest that it is borne out by findings of psychology, neuroscience, and anthropology.
Maynard w
As long as they’re not tulpas and gaining physicality from our psyche.
Viva
I just mentioned this to my husband the other day. He looked at me like I was crazy. Thanks for jumping on the crazy boat with me?
Maynard w
Good to know I’m not the only one.
Thomas W
I am more inclined to the ancestral memory inscribed in our DNA that the large hairy man is something to be concerned about, like our instinctive issues with snakes, spiders, sharks and my personal nemesis the Grizzly bear.
Duane A
Sasquatch is a mix of the Other, the trickster and the shadow.
m99
Yes. That’s it in a nutshell.
chris m
John Keel’s theory was all these Cryptid / UFO things were manifestations of the collective conscious. It would explain why people say Goblins and Trolls in days past, and now we see Bigfoot and The Rake.
Jeff D
Hogwash! The big ol critter I saw in the woods, was a figment of NO ONE’S imagination.
Mark T
The concept of collective unconscience really pisses me off!
So tired of this bullshit idea (sorry but this really makes me mad as it is extremely disrespectful to those of us who have had close up sightings).
I’ve earned two college degrees, worked as a teacher for 16 years, and in native fish recovery as a Fish anjd Wildlife Biologist for over 4 years.
I saw a big alpha male near Ashford, Washington 30 years ago while it was standing beneath a big mercury vapor lamp on the side of the highway… Pierce County, Washington, where according to the BFRO website, the most Bigfoot sightings have been recorded in the United States. Therewas nothing between me and the creature – it was in plain sight on the side of the road and fully illuminated by the overhead light source.
And so although it was around midnight, it was lit up as bright as day and the entire body was visible except the feet in the deep grass.
I came back the next day to follow visible scuff marks in the deep needle duff as it dragged it’s heels with each step, in an almost straight line for about 100 yards. The trail went through dense cover that at times I had to crawl beneath on hand and knees to get through.
It was over 11 feet tall, and also snapped a tree branch down from in front of its face at 10 feet off the ground… I measured the creature’ s height with a 12 foot fishing rod I keep in my trunk.
I followed the scuff marks until I came to a steep hill and found deep heels marks pushed down into the newly seeded native grass next to an area where earth was moves and compressed to store National Park equip.
Figments of the imagination do not leave physical evidence behind!
Academics who feel mankind sees hairy monsters around the world because our subconscious needs to are full of crap! And in my personal opinion, they are the looneys.
They will never believe until they have their own encounter and closes up sighting.
Glen K
(New Jersey) Mark, although I’ve never had an encounter, I agree with you 100%. It’s nonsense. P.S. Maybe you should come on Wes’s show
m99
Well dang Mark, tell us what you really think! But, all kidding aside, I agree with you. How fricking Looney is it to tell folks they’re not real, when the thing is standing there looking at you? That’s messed up. It’s dangerous & irresponsible, & gets people hurt because of it. Thanks for sharing. And I had no idea about the stats. We lived in Pierce county before. Pearl Prihoda had a face to face in Pierce county, in her house by the river. She wrote about it in her book. Yes. It’s not right to deny people knowing the truth.
m99
Please try to get on SC!