Archetypes as Living Fields

Research Focus

We propose a radical shift in analytical psychology by redefining archetypes as living fields of order rather than internal symbolic images. We argue that Jung’s late work and his collaboration with Wolfgang Pauli suggest that archetypes are objective, non-local structures that exist prior to and independent of human thought. By incorporating David Bohm’s theories on wholeness, we challenges the idea of a private, self-contained psyche, suggesting instead that individuals participate in a broader ecological reality. To highlight the limits of Western interpretation, we juxtapose these concepts with Tjukurrpa, the lived Indigenous law shared by elder Bob Randall. This comparison serves to demonstrate that archetypal fields should be understood as binding continuities involving responsibility and relation rather than mere metaphors. Finally, we advocates for a clinical and ethical transition from decoding meanings to acknowledging our embeddedness within a larger, lawful order.