FAQ

q: what's that funny-looking lizard on all the back buttons?

a: That's an Ouroboros (some people spell it Oroborus, Uroborus, or Uroboros)

Frankly, I think he (or she!) needs a name. Maybe we'll have an ouroboros-naming contest. If you haven't met the resident ouroboros, one of the many places you can say hi is here.

Dating back to almost 5000BC, the ouroboros is one of the oldest mythological symbols in the world. Carl Jung (The Archetype Guy Himself) believed the ouroboros had particular significance to the human psyche. It has often symbolized the balance of opposites and perfect, self-sustaining cycles in the same way the phoenix or the yin-yang symbols in Taoism have. Many religions and folk myths—from Christian to Hindu—reference the ouroboros.

After dreaming of a snake eating its tail, chemist August Kekulé famously realized that a circle was the best way to account for the unique structure of alternating double carbon bonds found in benzene.

q: what are these things: & ?

a: They indicate outside links.

It seemed like a good idea at the time. I may try to replace them with italics or some other indicator eventually, but right now, it's blue and green arrows. Generally, the blue arrows go to official psychiatric information, and the green go other places.

q: can I link to your site?

a: Absolutely! Please feel free to link to us.

We prefer you link to the site's main index, but if you really want to link to an internal page, please just include a link to the index page as well (www.archetypewriting.com).

q: are you interested in a link exchange?

a: If you run a high-quality psychology or writing site, yes. Otherwise, no.

If you're looking for a way to build links for your sauna company or your outdoor clothing line, you're going to need to look somewhere else. I have no interest in spam links.

q: can you help me with my personal problem?

a: No. I only answer fiction-related questions by fiction writers.

For some reason a lot of people ignore the clear indications that I don't address real-life problems. Maybe they hope that I'll feel obligated if they write out the whole story. Sorry, I don't, under any circumstances. That goes beyond the mission of this site and would, frankly, be unethical of me.

If you need a therapist, you'll need to check with your insurance company to find out about coverage. If you don't have insurance in the US, you can check with your college's counseling center (if you're working at or attending a college or university) or call your state's Department of Mental Health. (Just Google [your state] + mental health. Typically the first link will give you information on crisis lines and finding referrals.)