What does Bigfoot mean to you? Why does he pop up all over the place? Why is Bigfoot such an iconic symbol of cryptozoology, and why is he shared among people of every culture around the world?


I gather up the courage to open up and talk about the bane of my cryptozoological interests! But this is not an attempt to bash Bigfoot, no, on the contrary! We explore the psycho-social significance of Bigfoot as an archetype in the collective unconsciousness, how much it may tell us about the human experience, and how it is a symbol shared among all people worldwide regardless of their cultural or historical context.


Unfortunately, this is not the Bigfoot discussion many are expecting, or even wish to hear. Many in the cryptid community will deny it, and many will not be willing to face the ultimate truth: Cryptozoology is a social science!


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Intro sampled from "Something strange lurks in the shadows" by Francisco Sánchez (@fanchisanchez)


Sound effects obtained from https://www.zapsplat.com


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FURTHER READING:


Indiana Mud Mermaids and Extended History of Van Meter, Iowa | Campfire: Tales of the Strage and the Unsettling | Jordan Heath | Bigfoot Society


Episode 45 - The Ozark Howler | Campfire: Tales of the Strange and Unsettling


Jungian archetypes | Wikipedia


Loren Coleman,  Patrick Huyghe (1999): Field Guide To Bigfoot, Yeti, & Other Mystery Primates Worldwide. Harper Perennial


Carl Gustav Jung (1979): Flying Saucers : A Modern Myth of Things Seen in the Skies. Princeton University Press


Joshua Cutchin, Timothy Renner (2020): Where the Footprints End: High Strangeness and the Bigfoot Phenomenon, Volume I: Folklore.


Dawn Prince-Hughes (2000): The Archetype of the Ape-Man: The Phenomenological Archaeology of a Relic Hominid Ancestor. Dissertation.Com


Mishlove, Jeffrey & Engen, Brendan. (2007). Archetypal Synchronistic Resonance A New Theory of Paranormal Experience. Journal of Humanistic Psychology - J HUM PSYCHOL. 47. 223-242. 10.1177/0022167806293006.