Wise Old Man and Wise Old Woman

For other uses, see Wise old man and Wise Woman (disambiguation).
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In Jungian psychology, the Wise Old Woman and the Wise Old Man are archetypes of the collective unconscious.

The Wise Old Woman, or helpful old woman, "is a well-known symbol in myths and fairy tales for the wisdom of the eternal female nature."[1] The Wise Old Man, "or some other very powerful aspect of eternal masculinity" is her male counterpart.[2]

  1. ^ Jacobi, Jolande. [1964] 1978. "Symbols in an Individual Analysis." In Man and his Symbols, edited by C. G. Jung. London. pp. 331, 335
  2. ^ Hannah, Barbara. 1988. Striving Towards Wholeness. Boston. p. 291.