The archetype of the Self is Jung's answer to the crisis of civilization in our age. In a world grappling with the relativism and indeterminacy of post-modernism, where grand narratives have collapsed and meaning seems fluid, with a host of other modern philosophical ailments that breed anxiety and nihilism, the Self offers an inner, inherent source of meaning and direction. It suggests that beyond the shifting sands of external opinions and cultural trends, there is an enduring core, a guiding principle within each individual. It is an antidote to the spiritual rootlessness of our age and a light for those seeking an authentic and meaningful life beyond superficial materialism or ideological extremism.

The earliest archetypal images with an implicit mythological narrative are presented: The Venus of Laussel – the earliest great mother archetype with an age of around 24,000 years; and the Fallen Shaman in the Paleolithic Cave of Lascaux at 16,000 years ago. The former is feminine-coded (nurture, nature, reproduction, love) and the latter is male-coded (gnosis or higher knowledge obtained through the individual quest, sacrifice and transcendence). These two great archetypes, synthesized, are needed now more than ever for our crisis -ridden age.

An account of a healing séance ceremony from a Siberian tribe opens the episode. Evidence of the shamans on the cave walls is given especially for the French caves of Lascaux, Trois Fréres, Gabillou, and Chauvet. The images in the “shaft” at the end of the Lascaux cave are highly enigmatic but a mythological interpretation is hinted at as it is one of the earliest archetypal representations of humanity and underlies many religions, spiritual movements, and also Jungian archetypal psychology.