This theory described by Carlos Byington conceives the interaction of four archetypal patterns during the historical elaboration of symbols, which form collective consciousness.

Following Bachofen’s idea that a matriarchal pattern precedes the patriarchal pattern in culture, developed by Erich Neumann within the mythological and archetypal perspective, Byington reviews the interaction of the matriarchal and patriarchal archetypes, and introduces the symbolic dimension of the archetypes of alterity and of totality in the historical development of individual and collective consciousness.

The Christian Myth, in the West, and the myth of Buddha, in the East, illustrate, in this theory, the historical implantation of the dialectical relationship of polarities through compassion, characteristic of the alterity archetype.

The tension between these four basic archetypes of collective consciousness is an important factor in understanding the main ideals and socio-cultural dysfunctions of modern times, such as, for instance, consumerism, terrorism and globalization.