The Archetype of Mowgli in a Child: When the Soul Speaks the Language of the Jungle Every parent has at least once looked at their child and thought: “Where does all this wild energy come from in him? Why does he look at the world so strangely? And why is it so hard for him to fit in with ordinary school rules?” Sometimes it seems like this child is not from here, that he grew up among wolves and speaks the language of the wind, not human words. This image is not accidental. Jungian psychology calls it the Mowgli archetype — a universal image of the “wild child” that lives in each of us, but is especially vivid in some children. Understanding this archetype helps parents not to break, but to guide the unique nature of their child. What is the Mowgli archetype in psychology In Carl Jung's psychology, archetypes are innate, universal images stored in the collective unconscious. The Mowgli archetype is the image of a child raised by nature, not culture. It symbolizes a pure, unspoiled connection with instincts, with the earth, with wild freedom. Such a child does not submit to rules because they seem artificial to him. He lives by the laws he creates for himself, and these laws seem more just to him than any human establishment. This does not mean that a child with the Mowgli archetype is actually raised by wolves. This means that his internal structure tends towards nature, towards direct contact with the world, towards sensory knowledge, not abstract rules. He is like Kipling's Mowgli: he can talk to animals, understand nature, but he finds it hard to accept the laws of the human village. How to recognize the Mowgli archetype in a child Children with a strongly expressed Mowgli archetype have a number of characteristic traits. First, this is a deep connection with nature. Such a child can watch ants for hours, talk to flowers, feel the weather with his skin. He often prefers the company of animals to people and understands body language better than verbal inst ... Read more