Issue 3.6: Archetypal, My Dear Watson

A Primer on Jungian Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious in Video Games

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Game & Word Volume 3, Issue 6: Sunday, Jun. 19, 2022

Game & Word is a Substack Featured Publication, recognized by Substack for quality, consistency, and accessibility.

• Publisher: Jay Rooney

• Author, Graphics, Research: Jay Rooney

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Table of Contents

1. Summary & Housekeeping

2. Feature: “Archetypal, My Dear Watson” (~20 minute read)

3. Food for Talk: Discussion Prompts

4. Further Reading

5. Game & Word-of-Mouth

6. Footnotes

Summary:

Today, we’ll dip our toes into the collective unconscious by taking a look at archetypes, what they represent, and why they’ve been such a fixture of humanity since we practically gained sentience. With this, we’ll be setting the ground for a deep dive into some of gaming’s best depictions of the collective unconscious.

Housekeeping:

We’ve heard from one of our giveaway winners, Nattend0, who just received her signed copy of The Psychology of Zelda—which, you might remember if you were around, she won in Game & Word’s first-ever book giveaway! This is one happy customer:

Nattend0 @Nattend0

SO EXCITED! 😱 Psychology + Zelda = my JAM! 💚 It’s specifically written on OoT and Majora’s psychology, relating it to deeper issues. Self help book for Zelda nerds!! YASS PLZ! 🙌 Thank you @GameAndWord !!! Check them out on Twitter and their website! They have so much content!

Once again: congratulations on winning the giveaway, Nattend0! And thank you for your ongoing readership and support of Game & Word. Everyone else: you can catch Nattend0 on Twitch, Twitter, and pretty much all the socials.

Also, sorry this issue isn’t as image-heavy—or as long—as previous issues. I just didn’t have enough time this week. 😞 Next issue, on the other hand, will be much more… dynamic. I promise! 😁

Previous Issues:

• Volume 1 (The Name of the Game): Issue 1 ● Issue 2 ● Issue 3 ● Issue 4

• Volume 2 (Yo Ho Ho, It’s a Gamer’s Life for Me): Issue 1 ● Issue 2 ● Issue 3 ● Bonus 1 ● Issue 4 ● Issue 5 ● Issue 6 ● Issue 7 ● Bonus 2 ● Issue 8 ● Bonus 3

• Volume 3 (Game Over Matter): Intro ● Issue 1 ● Issue 2 ● Issue 3 ● Podcast 1 ● Issue 4 ● Video Podcast 1 ● Bonus 1 ● Issue 5 ● Podcast 2

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Feature: Archetypal, My Dear Watson

⏳📜✍️ Updates & Errata: ✍️📜⏳

UPDATE (6/21/22): Added images, including an archetype infographic, to provide some more visual flair to the piece.

CONTINUED FROM ISSUE 3.5

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I aM eVerYwHerE aNd NoWHerE. .eReHWoN dNA eRehWyREve Ma I

Source: Gifycat

The Collective Unconscious

…Ok, maybe it’s time we get our bearings. What, exactly, is the collective unconscious, anyway?

Roadmap to the Center of the Mind ||| Our Three Stops: 1) The Ego, 2) The Personal Unconscious, 3) The Collective Unconscious [You Are Here]

As far as the mind is concerned, you can’t get much deeper than this. We’re way past the realm of dreams and imagination, and in the plane of archetypes and quantum bonds. This is the fount from which all human experience originates, and the endpoint of every human journey. To use a computer analogy, this is the kernel through which God (or the cosmos, or evolution, or whatever) interfaces with the operating system of the psyche.