What did Carl Jung mean by collective unconscious?

Carl Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology, introduced the concept of the collective unconscious to describe a part of the unconscious mind that is shared among all human beings due to our shared ancestral past. Unlike the personal unconscious, which is unique to each individual and contains forgotten experiences and repressed memories, the collective unconscious is a universal phenomenon that transcends individual experiences.

Jung believed that the collective unconscious is made up of what he called "archetypes," which are innate, universal psychic structures or predispositions that influence our thoughts, feelings, and actions. Archetypes manifest in the form of symbols, myths, and motifs that appear across different cultures and historical periods. Examples of archetypes include the Great Mother, the Wise Old Man, the Shadow, the Hero, and the Trickster, among others.

According to Jung, these archetypes are inherited potentials that are actualized when they enter consciousness as images or manifest in behavior. They are the psychic counterpart of instinct and play a role in shaping the way we perceive and interact with the world. The collective unconscious and its archetypes are revealed in dreams, fantasies, and creative expressions, as well as in the themes and narratives of mythology and religion.

Jung's theory of the collective unconscious suggests that there is a deeper layer of the psyche that connects all human beings, and it is through this shared unconscious that we can understand the universality of human experiences and the commonalities in our psychological makeup. This concept has had a significant influence on various fields, including psychology, anthropology, literature, and the arts, as it provides a framework for understanding the symbolic and mythological underpinnings of human culture.