Tibetaanse bidkrans

The skull, that is often used in Tibetan prayer beads symbolises ‘the void’ which is the essence of the universe.

For Carl Jung, archetypes are not fixed or closed symbols, but a kind of generator of meaning and associations that span the bridge between the intellect and instinct, or consciousness and unconsciousness. Archetypes are visually recognisable elements in the rituals of primitive tribes. Not because these people have a childish or backward vision of the world, but because they recognise the importance of these archetypes. If these rites and the corresponding archetypes had no significance, they would not have existed in our own prehistoric times according to Jung. Moreover, he sees symbols or archetypes of mandalas from all over the world recurring in the dreams of his patients. Here in the West, where rituals have more or less disappeared our archetypical dreams form the last link with instinct, which is essential for consciousness.

^{A Wild Thing, p. 103}