ARCHETYPES

VS

STEREOTYPES
What is the difference between an archetype and a stereotype?

Lets look at the definitions:

Archetype: the original pattern or model from which all things of the
same kind are made or on which they are based; a model or first form.

Stereotype:- a method of producing cast-metal printing plates from a mold

made from a form of type matter in papier-mch or some other material
- a set of simplistic and standardized conceptions or images
(generalizations) that have grown stable through a fixed usage (a clich ,
which in French means a photograph )

According to you, where do archetypes come from? And where do

Stereotypes comes from?...
Archetypes are God-made, when stereotypes are man-made. In other words,
an archetype is a divine model, when a stereotype is a worldly (and so evil?)
mold

Can you see the big difference between these two words? A stereotype aims for things to be the
same. Much like Satan wants us to all be the same-- no agency, no individuality, no deviations from
what he wants. He tries to teach us that we need to fit into a certain rigid form. He makes
us believe that if we aren't doing everything the man next door is, if we aren't as "good" as the people
in our church, or if we don't dress or look like the woman down the street then our value
decreases. Hell is paved with stereotypes, which is why no one likes being stereotyped.

God on the other hand glories in diversity. You only have to take a brief glance at the world and its
millions of types of insects, plants, and animals to discover that fact. Not one of God's creations is
exactly the same, they are each unique. Yet each monkey, tree, beetle, snowflake or person is derived
from a divine archetype and possess unique characteristics that make it what it is.

God has told us that for each thing he has created he has an original pattern. In D&C 29:31-32 we
read that,
"...by the power of my Spirit created I them; yea, all things both spiritual and temporal-First spiritual,
secondly temporal, which is the beginning of my work; and again, first temporal, and secondly
spiritual, which is the last of my work"
Also in Hebrews 8:5 Paul explains that priests who serve in the temple "... serve unto the example and
shadow of heavenly things.
In a similar sense all men and women are created in archetypal images as well... the image of God.
In Genesis 1:26-27 it reads, "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our own likeness
We want to follow the patterns set by God, which give
us a model while still enabling us to exercise our agency,
creativity and individuality and then truly progress to
finally become Gods and Godesses ourselves.

We do not want to be forced into a mold which deny

who we really are, the strengths and talents that God
gave us as individuals, and which infringe upon agency.
Stereotypes are Satans counterfeit of archetypes

Here is a passage of a talk given by Elder Jeffrey R.

Holland at the Worldwide Leadership Training Meeting
(February 9, 2008)
Patterns and Replicas

Let me use a parable that I hope can make this point, whatever your marital or family
circumstance. For lack of a better title, I call it The Parable of the Homemade Shirt. My
mother, bless her, was a marvelous seamstress. In my childhood years, when money was short
and new clothing hard to come by, she would sometimes make clothing for us to wear to
school. I would see a shirt in a store window or in a mail-order catalogue, and my mother
would say, I think I can make that. By looking at the shirt as closely as she could, she would
then cut cloth and put in seams to a degree that was close to the expensive original.
I pay her the tribute of being both willing and able to do that. But she didnt like to do it that
way. While she could study the commercial product and come close, what she really wanted
was a pattern. A pattern helped her anticipate angles and corners and seams and stitches that
were otherwise hard to recognize. Furthermore, if she went back for a second or a third shirt,
she was always working from a perfect original pattern, not repeating or multiplying the
imperfections of a replica.
I think you can see my point and hers. We are bound to be in trouble if a shirt is made from a
shirt that was made from a shirt. A mistake or two in the first productinevitable without a
patterngets repeated and exaggerated, intensified, more awkward, the more repetitions we
make, until finally this thing Im to wear to school just doesnt fit. One sleeves too long. The
others too short. One shoulder seam runs down my chest. The other runs down my back. And
the front collar button fastens behind my neck. I can tell you right now that such a look is not
going to go over well in the seventh grade.
The Ideal Pattern from God

Now, I hope this helps you understand why we talk about the pattern, the ideal, of
marriage and family when we know full well that not everyone now lives in that ideal
circumstance. It is precisely because many dont have, or perhaps have never even seen,
that ideal and because some cultural forces steadily move us away from that ideal, that
we speak about what our Father in Heaven wishes for us in His eternal plan for His
children.
Individual adaptations have to be made as marital status and family circumstances differ.
But all of us can agree on the pattern as it comes from God, and we can strive for its
realization the best way we can.
We who are General Authorities and general officers are called to teach His general
rules. You and we then lead specific lives and must seek the Lords guidance regarding
specific circumstances. But there would be mass confusion and loss of gospel promises
if no general ideal and no doctrinal standard were established and, in our case today,
repeated. We take great strength in knowing the Lord has spoken on these matters, and
we accept His counsel even when it might not be popular.
Thank you for understanding why we are concerned about protecting all members of
families, whatever your age, and why we speak in opposition to trends or forces that
would seek to destroy any aspect of Gods eternal plan of happiness. How grateful we
are that the Lord has said, I will give unto you a pattern in all things, that ye may not be
deceived (D&C 52:14)
1) - Can you find examples of archetypes in the LDS religion?

- Can you find examples of stereotypes in the LDS religion?

2) Can you find examples of stereotypes in your culture? Other

cultures? Movies or literary books?