The Ruler Archetype in African Myth and Folklore

Hi Friends!

In week three of our Jungian archetypes meets African myth and folklore series, we start on the story of Sundiata (AKA Son Jara) Keita, arguably one of the major figures from African legends about good and courageous rulership.

Sundiata is to the Manding people what Arthur of Camelot is to the British.

We preface things with a bit more contextualization of rulership as an archetype and then take a quick look at Sundiata’s life to lay the foundation for our discussion.

This is a big topic and I feel the weight of my own limited knowledge as I poke and prod at it. I ask for your understanding as we go along. I will try to be as thorough as I can be.

I hope you enjoy!

References

* The Epic of Son Jara by John W. Johnson

* The Collected Works of Carl Jung

* Jung and the Individuation Process

* The Persona

* The Shadow