A universally understood symbol or term or pattern of behavior, a prototype upon which others are copied, patterned, or emulated

Sometimes noted as stereotype

Birth-death-resurrection; purification and redemption; fertility and growth The sea: mother of all life; death and rebirth;

the unconscious; timelessness Rivers: death and rebirth (baptism); the

flowing of time into eternity; phases of the life cycle

Creative energy; father figure; passage of time and life Rising sun: birth, creation, enlightenment,

associated with the east Setting sun: death, associated with the west

Red: blood, sacrifice, violent passion Green: growth, sensation, hope, fertility Blue: usually positive, associated with truth,

religious feeling, security, spiritual purity Black (darkness): chaos, mystery, the

unknown, death, the unconscious, evil, melancholy

White: Positively – light, purity, innocence, timelessness Negatively – death, terror,

the supernatural

Wholeness; unity

Symbol of energy and force; evil; corruption; sensuality

Three– light; spiritual awareness and unity

Four– associated with the circle, life cycle, four seasons; four elements (earth, air, fire water)

Seven– (most potent of all symbolic numbers) signifying the union or three and four; the completion of a cycle; perfect order

Paradise, innocence, unspoiled feminine beauty; fertility

Growth; proliferation; life; immortality

Spiritual aridity Death Hopelessness

Journey through life

Traditionally, the hero’s mother is a virgin, the circumstances of his conception are unusual, and at birth some attempt is made to kill him. He is spirited away and reared by foster parents.

We don’t know much about his childhood, but upon reaching manhood, he returns to his future kingdom and reigns uneventfully, but later loses favor with the gods. He is then driven from the city after which he meets a mysterious death, often at the top of a hill.

His body is not buried, but nevertheless he has one or more holy sepulchers.

Characters who exemplify this archetype to a greater or lesser extent are Oedipus, Theseus, Perseus, Jason, Dionysus, Moses, Christ, Arthur, and Robin Hood.

The hero, with whom the welfare of the tribe or nation is identified, must die to atone for the people’s sins and restore the land to fruitfulness (Christ)

Figure who is banished from a social group for some crime against his fellow man.

Usually destined to become a wanderer from place to place

•Evil incarnate•Offers worldly goods, fame, or knowledge to the protagonist in exchange for possession of his soul

Young man and woman enter an ill-fated love affair which ends tragically in the death of either or both

Earth Mother– symbolic of fruition, abundance, fertility; traditionally offers spiritual and emotional nourishment to those with whom she comes in contact

Temptress– sensuous beauty; protagonist is physically attracted to her and ultimately brings about his downfall

Soul mate– source of inspiration and a spiritual ideal for whom the protagonist has an intellectual rather than physical attraction

Unfaithful wife– a woman, married to a man she sees as dull and unimaginative, is physically attracted to a more virile and desirable man

Personification of the spiritual principle Represents:

Knowledge Reflection Insight Wisdom

Describes the search for someone which when found and brought back will restore fertility to a wasted land, the desolation of which is mirrored by a leader’s illness and disability. Search for the Holy Grail Ahab’s quest for the albino whale in Moby Dick is a

variation

To save the kingdom, to win the fair lady, to identify himself so that he may reassume his right position, the Hero must perform some nearly superhuman deed

Odysseus must string the bow Arthur must pull the sword

from the stone Beowulf must slay Grendel

First existential ordeal, crisis, or encounter with experience in the life of a youth

Ideal aim is knowledge, recognition, and confirmation in the world

This situation is concerned with the introduction of youth into adult society

From this experience the youth is expected to learn a new code of conduct and meet the challenges of the world as a mature man

Used to send the Hero or a group of travelers in search of information or some intellectual truth The Odyssey The Canterbury Tales

The cosmos was brought into existence by some supernatural Being or Beings

Descent from a higher to a lower state of being

Usually involves spiritual damage and/or loss of innocence and happiness

Usually accompanied by an expulsion from a kind of paradise as a penalty for disobedience and moral transgression Paradise Lost Adam and Eve

Through escape from time, a return to Paradise before the Fall into corruption and mortality

Achieved by submitting to Nature’s eternal cycle (four seasons): death and rebirth. Morning and

springtime = birth, youth, rebirth

Evening and winter = old age or death

Check out this website for even more types and symbols from the Bible:

http://www.newfoundationspubl.org/types.htm