Mircea Eliade i pojęcie archetypu

The concept of archetype used by Eliade in religious science investigations derives from his meditational experiences. Eliade, in order to be better understood by Western scholars, referred to the archetype concept by Carl Gustav Jung and the concept of ideal type used by phenomenologists. However, one should not identify Jung's concept of archetype with that of Eliade's. With Jung, it has a psychological meaning, with Eliade a metaphysical one. However, according to the Romanian scholar, the same archetypes are basis of religious, esthetical and literary symbols. It is our intention which decides about how given symbol is to be understood. Any symbols however, owe their power just to the archetypes embedded in the structure of the human psyche.