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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Consciousness Research
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1379391
This article is part of the Research Topic Spirituality and Religion: Implications for Mental Health View all 13 articles

Archetype Symbols and Altered Consciousness: A Study of Shamanic Rituals in the Context of Jungian Psychology

Provisionally accepted
HANG SUN HANG SUN *Eunyoung Kim Eunyoung Kim *
  • Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Nomi, Japan

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The alteration of consciousness during shamanic rituals is both a physical and mystical phenomenon. It involves psychological and spiritual experiences. Through ritual practices, shamans can connect with archetype within the collective unconscious, utilising trance-inducing techniques for “hallucinatory exploration”. This study surveyed 75 participants to investigate the impact of prototype symbols in Shamanistic rituals on participants' consciousness states focusing on Jungian psychology's concept of archetype . The results indicate that archetype symbols in shamanic rituals can significantly influence participants’ conscious state, leading them to experience a conscious dissolution of the self. Furthermore, archetype symbols have different effects at the stages of consciousness change. In particular, during the “Visionary Restructuralization” stage, archetype symbols, such as patterns, masks, totems and music, brought participants’ consciousness to a peak and caused significant changes to it. These findings suggest that the metaphoric function of archetype symbols plays a crucial role in rituals. Archetype symbols connect the individual to the collective unconscious through visual images and symbolic imagery. They prompt the participants to experience emotional resonances that transcend individual experiences and affect their state of consciousness.

    Keywords: Jungian psychology1, archetype symbols2, altered states of consciousness3, shamanic rituals4, shamanism5

    Received: 31 Jan 2024; Accepted: 15 Apr 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 SUN and Kim. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    HANG SUN, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Nomi, Japan
    Eunyoung Kim, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Nomi, Japan

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