A R A S
The Archive for Research in Archetypal Symbolism
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"When the Soul wants to experience something she throws out an image in front of her and then steps into it."
Meister Eckhart's words explain why an archive such as this matters in a world as chaotic and complex as our own––symbolic images are living carriers of meaning.
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Drawing upon Carl Jung's work on the archetype
and the collective unconscious, the Archive for Research in Archetypal Symbolism (ARAS) is a pictorial and written archive of mythological, ritualistic, and symbolic images spanning times and cultures. The collection probes the universality of archetypal themes and provides a testament to the deep and abiding connections that unite the disparate factions of the human family. |
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The ARAS archive contains more than 17,000 images,
each cross-indexed and accompanied by scholarly commentary including cultural history, archetypal significance and symbolic meaning. See sample records:
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You can search the archive on any word or phrase.
Our example shows a handful of images from a search on Snake. Each search generates a set of image thumbnails and brief descriptions to let you review which images you wish to explore in more depth. As you type in the search word you see a list of archetypal themes, in this case related to snakes, such as "Snake God", "Snake Hair", or "Snake and Bird" opening up the search further. |
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When you search, you see a cultural timeline
showing where the specific images found are situated across human time and culture. The timeline lets you narrow your search to certain periods of most interest by clicking on one of the red triangles. The sample above shows the timeline generated for "Snake." |
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The Book of Symbols: Reflections on Archetypal Images
This best-selling book, published by Taschen, is our most recent publication.
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EXPLORE
- 17,000+ images and commentaries spanning human eras and cultures
- The meaning of dream symbols
RECEIVE
- A treasure of myths and symbols for artists, therapists and scholars
- Quick information for college papers and research studies
- Free online books, articles and ARAS Connections newsletter
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DONATE
- Your tax-deductible donation helps make ARAS possible!
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