The Mystery of Market Movements: An Archetypal Approach to Investment Forecasting and Modelling

Chapter 3How Archetypes Influence and Impact Behaviour

When an archetype activates, it can be noted through a number of psychological mechanisms that influence behaviour. These manifestations include the introduction of a new zeitgeist that shines a light on how reality is viewed and what is dimmed out. Anything or anyone that seems to be deviating from it is subject to being projected onto a scapegoat, something which history has shown carries great risk. Panics and hysteria are other neurotic reactions that can arise out of a changing psychological environment. All of these features will be discussed in this chapter.

Characteristics of the Activation of an Archetype

When an archetype has activated and the archetypal force begins influencing thought patterns, the thinking of the human collective tends to bend. This effect is particularly apparent in mass movements and moves in the financial markets. Because the archetypal force influencing behaviour is initiated at the unconscious level, on the conscious level the behaviour will appear to have been spontaneous. The awakening of an archetype produces a compulsion towards certain ideas, and can in itself initially trigger another state of neurosis, in contrast or complementary to the neurotic imbalances it was set to resolve. Before an archetype is embedded in the conscious and a new equilibrium is restored, its entry into the conscious world can take the form of a sort of birth pang.¹

Carl Jung saw politics as the area where ...