Levels of Intuition: The Collective Unconscious

Joseph Campbell, the author of the Power of Myth, said: “My studies have revealed the unity of the race of man, not only in its biology but also in its spiritual history, which has everywhere unfolded in the manner of a single symphony” 


Just as the personal subconscious is individual and separate from others, the collective unconscious unites us. Our brains and bodies are the very much the same and we have more common with one another than not. So people all over the world tend to create the same myths and archetypal images even when separated by geographic distance. Many ancient cultures, for example, talk about a great flood. These cultures did not have contact with one another, yet the myths are surprisingly similar. Perhaps there was a great flood at one time? Or..it may be that water, a symbol of the unconscious, overwhelms everyone, and therefore a myth arose to give expression to this experience.
All cultures have stories about angels, spirits and deities that exist outside and beyond our three dimensional experience. Once again, we can wonder do all peoples carry this idea because spiritual energies actually exist? Or is there a need for all humans of all races, cultures and times to create these beings to fulfill a fundamental need?

 

Personally, my direct experience as led me to believe that angels and helpful energetic beings really do exist. I believe they are energies that exist on a plane of reality that is parallel to ours, but that is vibrating at a higher frequency. But that is a subject for another blog….. 

Because we all have similar needs on an emotional/spiritual level we tend to create archetypes that are common to all peoples in all times. Some examples of archetypes seen in all world religions of all peoples are:
Father/ Mother:usually the Sun represents father, the earth mother
Trickster: Coyote, Raven, Jester
Fertility: Spring, Egg, Gardens, Young Maiden, Corn shoots, Flowers/Blossoms
Death: Grim Reaper, Angel of Death, The Owl
Anima: The inner male (Carl Jung)
Animus: The inner female (Carl Jung)




Both men and women have both the anima and animus.
These are only a few of the archetypes that are our vast heritage of symbols. We relate to these archetypes in our dreams, art, music, religion and stories.
All people also carry the burdens and gift of our ancestors.One of my readers, Evelyn Wray, proposes that we also carry future realities within us. These ideas are mirrored in the life cycle of the caterpillar.

When a caterpillar transforms into a butterfly it melts inside its cocoom into a shapeless blob of goo. But within that goo, is the DNA of its old caterpillar self and the DNA of the butterfly.  Nature tends  to have patterns that repeat so I wonder if we carry in our DNA the memories of our ancestors as well as future possibilities? Its an interesting idea…..and would love to hear theories, explanations, comments or other questions from all of you who are reading this!
So what does these commonalities have to do with Intuition?
We can look for archetypes and symbols in our dreams that transcend the personal for information and guidance. We can pay attention to the symbols that appear over and over again in our environment. We may see multiple sightings of a bird, or other animal and can be sure that we are noticing in our outer environment an inner universal symbol. We consciously activate specific archetypes to help us in our lives. For example, when giving actual birth or birth to a project we can think about and surround ourselves with flowers, spend time in a garden, notice growing things.
Spirit is always talking to us through symbols and images and Spirit has a lot to say!

Wishing you Peace and Happiness,
Sue Schmidt C.Ht,CMT
www.healingmeditations.net
healingmeditations1@gmail.com