Archetypes: Storytelling for Survival and Hope

1. Archetypes: Storytelling for Survival and Hope

2. How many stories do you encounter daily? • Think about the number of stories you encounter daily either reading, viewing, or listening. This would include all of the following categories: -books, short stories, newspaper stories, movies, sitcoms, tv shows, video games, news reports, magazine stories, etc. • Write down this number in your notes, as well as what categories apply to you. • Write down what percentage of the stories you encounter are fictional.

3. Do you agree with the following statements? Why or why not? • Storytelling is essential for the survival of humanity and provides hope for humanity. • Without stories, mankind would slowly go mad and become suicidal.

4. Why do we need stories? • Think of examples of each of the ideas below as we go. • To explain natural phenomenon such as great floods and the creation of the world. • To answer such questions such as why we are born and why we die. • To help us escape reality by entering a world where the good guy wins, the forces of evil are defeated, and love conquers all. • To help define the roles of good and evil such as the hero and the villain so that we might recognize them in reality.

5. “Throughout the inhabited world, in all times and under every circumstance, the myths of man have flourished; and they have been the living inspiration of whatever else may have appeared out of the activities of the human body and mind. It would not be too much to say that myth is the secret opening through which the inexhaustible energies of the cosmos pour into human cultural manifestation. Religions, philosophies, arts, the social forms of primitive and historic man, prime discoveries in science and technology, the very dreams that blister sleep, boil up from the basic, magic ring of myth.” -Joseph Campbell The Hero with a Thousand Faces

6. Joseph Campbell's Purposes of Myth

7. The Mystical Function The realization of the wonder of the universe and what a wonder you are, and experiencing the awe before this mystery. Myth opens the world to the dimension of mystery, to the realization of the mystery that underlies all forms. If you lose that, you don’t have a mythology.

8. What is an example of a story that demonstrates the mystical function of myth, either in one moment or in the entirety of the story?

9. The Cosmological* Function *the branch of philosophy dealing with the origin and general structure of the universe, with its parts, elements, and laws, and esp. with such of its characteristics as space, time, causality, and freedom. The dimension with which science is concerned – showing you what the shape of the universe is, but showing it in such a way that the mystery again comes through.

10. What is an example of a story that demonstrates the cosmological function of myth, either in one moment or in the entirety of the story?

11. The Sociological Function Supporting and validating a certain social order.

12. What is an example of a story that demonstrates the sociological function of myth, either in one moment or in the entirety of the story?

13. The Pedagogical Function How to live a human lifetime under any circumstances.

14. What is an example of a story that demonstrates the pedagogical function of myth, either in one moment or in the entirety of the story?

15. The Monomyth • The term Monomyth (often referred to as the hero's journey) as used within the field of comparative mythology refers to a basic pattern supposedly found in many narratives from around the world. This widely-distributed pattern was described by Joseph Campbell in his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949). Campbell held that numerous myths from disparate times and regions seem to share a fundamental structure and stages.

16. What are archetypes? Are they simply different types of arches?

17. NO!

18. What are archetypes? • They are the basic building blocks of stories that all writers use to create a world to which readers can escape. • Without communicating about archetypes, all cultures around the world use them to build their stories. This is called the Collective Unconscious (term coined by Carl Jung). Carl Jung

19. Examples of Archetypes

20. Situational Archetypes • THE QUEST—search for someone or some object, which when it is found and brought back will restore life to a wasted land, the desolation of which is shown by a leader’s illness and disability. • THE TASK—to save the kingdom, to win the fair lady, to identify himself so that he may assume his rightful position, the hero must perform some nearly superhuman deed. • THE INITIATION—this usually takes the form of an initiation into adult life. The adolescent comes into his/her maturity with new awareness and problems along with a new hope for the community. This awakening is often the climax of the story. • THE JOURNEY—the hero goes in search of some truth or information to restore life to the kingdom; he must descend into a real or psychological hell and is forced to discover the blackest truths quite often concerning his faults; once the hero is at his lowest point, he must accept personal responsibility to return to the world of the living; this could also appear as a group of isolated people (trapped on a boat, bus, island) to represent society.

21. Situational Archetypes • THE FALL—describes a descent from a higher to a lower state of being. The experience involves a defilement and/or a loss of innocence and bliss. The fall is often accompanied by expulsion from a kind of paradise as a penalty for disobedience and moral transgression. • DEATH AND REBIRTH—grows out of a parallel between the cycle of nature and the cycle of life. Thus, morning and springtime represent birth, youth, or rebirth; evening and winter suggest old age or death. • NATURE VS. MECHANISTIC WORLD—Nature is good while technology and society are often evil.

22. BATTLE BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL—Obviously the battle between two primal forces. Mankind shows eternal optimism in the continual portrayal of good triumphing over evil despite great odds. THE UNHEALABLE WOUND—The wound is either physical or psychological and cannot be healed fully. This wound also indicates a loss of innocence. These wounds always ache and drive the sufferer to desperate measures. THE RITUAL—The actual ceremonies the initiate experiences that will mark his rite of passage into another state (weddings, funerals)

23. Symbolic Archetypes • LIGHT VS. DARKNESS—Light usually suggests hope, renewal, or intellectual illumination. Darkness implies the unknown, ignorance, or despair. • WATER VS. DESERT—because water is necessary to life and growth, it commonly appears as a birth or rebirth symbol. The appearance of rain in a work of literature can suggest a character’s spiritual birth.

24. HEAVEN VS. HELL—Man has traditionally associated parts of the earth not accessible to him with the dwelling places of the gods that govern his world. The skies and mountains are where his gods live, and the bowels of the earth contain the evil forces that inhabit his universe. INNATE WISDOM VS EDUCATED STUPIDITY—Some characters show wisdom and understanding of situations instinctively as opposed to those supposedly in charge.

25. Symbolic Archetypes • SUPERNATURAL INTERVENTION—The gods intervene on the side of the hero or sometimes against him. • HAVEN VS. WILDERNESS—places of safety contrast sharply against the dangerous wilderness. Heroes are often sheltered for a time to regain health and resources.

26. FIRE VS. ICE—Fire represents knowledge, light, life, and rebirth, while ice like the desert represents ignorance, darkness, sterility, and death. MAGIC WEAPON—The weapon used by the hero to defeat the forces of evil…must have supernatural or magical powers.

27. Character Archetypes • THE HERO—mother is sometimes a virgin, circumstances of conception are unusual, some attempt is made at birth to kill him; raised by foster parents. We know almost nothing of his childhood, but upon reaching manhood, he returns to his future kingdom. After a victory over the king or a wild beast, he marries a princess, becomes king, reigns uneventfully, but later loses favor with the gods. He meets a mysterious death, often at the top of a hill. His body is not buried.

29. THE INITIATE - These are young heroes or heroines who, prior to their quest, must endure some training and ceremony. They are usually innocent and wear white. MENTOR - These individuals serve as teachers to the initiates. Sometimes they work as role models, and often serve as a mother or father figure.

30. YOUNG MAN FROM THE PROVINCES -This hero is spirited away as a young man and raised by strangers. He later returns to home and heritage where he is a stranger and can see new problems and new solutions.

31. FATHER-SON CONFLICT Tension often results from separation during childhood or from an external source when the individuals meet as men and where the mentor often has a higher place in the affections of the hero than the natural father.

32. Character Archetypes • HUNTING GROUP OF COMPANIONS—Loyal companions willing to face any number of perils to be together. • LOYAL RETAINERS—These individuals are somewhat like servants who are heroic themselves. Their duty is to protect the hero and reflect the nobility of the hero. • FRIENDLY BEAST—This shows that nature is on the side of the hero.

33. DEVIL FIGURE—Evil incarnate, this character offers worldly goods, fame, or knowledge to the hero in exchange for possession of the soul EVIL FIGURE WITH GOOD HEART—A redeemable evil figure saved by the nobility or love of the hero.

34. SCAPEGOAT—An animal or more usually a person whose death in a public ceremony gets rid of some evil that has been visited upon a community. Their death often makes them a more powerful force dead than alive.

35. Character Archetypes • OUTCAST—A figure who is banished from a social group for some crime against his fellow man. The outcast is usually destined to become a wanderer from place to place. • EARTHMOTHER—This character traditionally offers spiritual and emotional nourishment to those with whom she comes in contact. Often shown in earth colors and has large breasts and hips symbolic of her childbearing capabilities

36. TEMPTRESS—Characterized by a sensuous beauty, this woman is one to whom the hero is physically attracted and who ultimately brings about his downfall. • PLATONIC IDEAL— This woman is a source of inspiration for whom the hero has an intellectual rather than physical attraction.

37. STAR-CROSSED LOVERS—These two characters are engaged in a love affair that is fated to end tragically for one or both due to the disapproval of society, friends, family, or some tragic situation • DAMSEL IN DISTRESS—The vulnerable woman who must be rescued by the hero. She is often used to trap or ensnare the unsuspecting hero. • CREATURE OF NIGHTMARE—A monster usually summoned from the deepest, darkest part of the human psyche to threaten the lives of the hero or heroine. Often it is a perversion or desecration of the human body.

38. Harry Potter Archetypes • HERO—Harry has unusual birth, is saved by his mother’s love and develops his powers as a wizard. • QUEST—various; to discover the sorcerer’s stone, find horcruxes, etc. • TASK—to defeat Voldemort • HUNTING GROUP OF COMPANIONS—Ron and Hermione are Harry’s constant companions; He is also aided by others such as the Order of the Phoenix

39. Harry Potter Archetypes • FRIENDLY BEAST— Hedwig, any number of creature’s kept under Hagrid’s watch. • DAMSEL IN DISTRESS— At times Hermione, Ginny Weasley and others • HEAVEN VS. HELL— Hogwarts vs. the muggle world Harry occupied previously and during the summer. The world under the dominion of good wizards or under the power of Voldemort. • LIGHT VS. DARKNESS – Voldemort and his minions are depicted at night or meeting in the shadows. Hogwarts, while often encroached upon by shadows, is a light in the darkness.

40. Harry Potter Archetypes • DEATH AND REBIRTH— Harry is sometimes aided by those who have died, The ending of the saga places Harry in this role. • STAR-CROSSED LOVERS—Harry and Ginny • BATTLE BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL—Harry and his friends face down Voldemort and his minions.

41. Harry Potter Archetypes • EVIL FIGURE WITH A GOOD HEART—Professor Snape, Draco (discuss) • CREATURE OF NIGHTMARE—Voldemort • THE JOURNEY—Journey to adulthood, preparations to defeat Voldemort,