Archetype

Archetype (Greek: ἀρχέτυπον archétypon "archetype, original", from ἀρχή "beginning, principle, origin" and τύπος týpos "variety, type, model")) is a term used in various disciplines with slightly different meanings:

• in philosophy, especially with regard to Plato's theory of ideas, it denotes an ideal-typical, archetypal idea → archetype (philosophy)
• in psychology, especially in analytical psychology, it stands for a typical psychological pattern of imagination and action → archetype (psychology)
• in Goethe's theory of metamorphosis, the archetypal plant is the common ideal archetype of all plants and, similarly, the archetypal animal is the common archetype of all animals - which, finally, is [[man}} himself in his ideal-typical form
• in anthroposophy the archetypal Condition of Form is the seventh and highest of the seven conditions of form, which are passed through in each of the seven rounds of a cosmic stage of world evolution.