Explain/describe
Read “Archetypes” by Christine Breese D.D., Ph.D. and the “Anima and Animus” handout. (On TRACS, Resources section.
• Explain/describe your ‘Self’ and ‘Shadow’ using the different archetypes (including seemingly negative ones) provided in the article.
• You can use archetypes from all the different traditions of wisdom, e.g., Jungian, Enneagrams, Native American, and Celtic.
• Show how sometimes your archetype Self manifests itself as a Shadow and how a seemingly negative archetype can have a positive manifestation or be used as a positive force.
• Before you start writing first choose twelve archetypes and then narrow these down to the four most important ones. These four are the ones you will use for your essay to analyze yourself in all the ways indicated here.
• Analyze your internal makeup in terms of the Anima/Animus combination. Also examine the extent to which your external projection of yourself and your social behavior reflects your internal Anima/Animus makeup, thus, how well correlated are your inner Self and your outside (social) Persona in this regard.
• Give examples or be as specific as possible throughout.
• This assignment is an exercise in self-discovery and self-examination.
Anima and Animus:
The anima and animus, in Carl Jung’s school of analytical psychology, are the two primary anthropomorphic archetypes of the unconscious mind, as opposed to both the theriomorphic and inferior-function of the shadow archetypes, as well as the abstract symbol sets that formulate the archetype of the Self. The anima and animus are described by Jung as elements of his theory of the collective unconscious, a domain of the unconscious that transcends the personal psyche. In the unconscious of the male, it finds expression as a feminine inner personality: anima; equivalently, in the unconscious of the female it is expressed as a masculine inner personality: animus.
The anima (animus) can be identified as the totality of the unconscious feminine psychological qualities that a male possesses or the masculine ones possessed by the female. It is an archetype of the collective unconscious and not an aggregate of father or mother, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles or teachers, though these aspects of the personal unconscious can influence for good or ill the person.
Because a man’s sensitivity must often be repressed, the anima is one of the most significant autonomous complexes of all. It is said to manifest itself by appearing in dreams. It also influences a man’s interactions with women and his attitudes toward them and vice versa for females and the animus. Jung said that “the encounter with the shadow is the ‘apprentice-piece’ in the individual’s development…that with the anima is the ‘masterpiece'”. Jung viewed the anima process as being one of the sources of creative ability.
The key to controlling one’s anima (animus) is to recognize it when it manifests and exercise our ability to discern the anima (animus) from reality.
Levels of anima development:
Jung believed anima development has four distinct levels, which he named Eve, Helen, Mary and Sophia. In broad terms, the entire process of anima development in a male is about the male subject opening up to emotionality, and in that way a broader spirituality, by creating a new conscious paradigm that includes intuitive processes, creativity and imagination, and psychic sensitivity towards himself and others where it might not have existed previously.
Eve:
The first is Eve, named after the Genesis account of Adam and Eve. It deals with the emergence of a male’s object of desire.
Helen:
The second is Helen, in allusion to Helen of Troy in Greek mythology. In this phase, women are viewed as capable of worldly success and of being self-reliant, intelligent and insightful, even if not altogether virtuous. This second phase is meant to show a strong schism in external talents (cultivated business and conventional skills) with lacking internal qualities (inability for virtue, lacking faith or imagination).
Mary:
The third phase is Mary, named after the Christian theological understanding of the Virgin Mary (Jesus’ mother). At this level, females can now seem to possess virtue by the perceiving male (even if in an esoteric and dogmatic way), in as much as certain activities deemed consciously unvirtuous cannot be applied to her.
Sophia:
The fourth and final phase of anima development is Sophia, named after the Greek word for wisdom. Complete integration has now occurred, which allows females to be seen and related to as particular individuals who possess both positive and negative qualities. The most important aspect of this final level is that, as the personification “Wisdom” suggests, the anima is now developed enough that no single object can fully and permanently contain the images to which it is related.
Levels of animus development:
Jung focused more on the male’s anima and wrote less about the female’s animus. Jung believed that every woman has an analogous animus within her psyche, this being a set of unconscious masculine attributes and potentials. He viewed the animus as being more complex than the anima, postulating that women have a host of animus images while the male anima consists only of one dominant image.
Jung stated that there are four parallel levels of animus development in a female.
The animus “first appears as a personification of mere physical power – for instance as an athletic champion or muscle man, such as ‘the fictional jungle hero Tarzan'”.
In the next phase, the animus “possesses initiative and the capacity for planned action…the romantic man – the 19th century British poet Shelley; or the man of action – America’s Ernest Hemingway, war hero, hunter, etc.”
In the third phase “the animus becomes the word, often appearing as a professor or clergyman…the bearer of the word – Lloyd George, the great political orator”.
“Finally, in his fourth manifestation, the animus is the incarnation of meaning. On this highest level he becomes (like the anima) a mediator of…spiritual profundity”. Jung noted that “in mythology, this aspect of the animus appears as Hermes, messenger of the gods; in dreams he is a helpful guide.” Like Sophia this is the highest level of mediation between the unconscious and conscious mind.
Anima and animus compared:
The four roles are not identical with genders reversed. Jung believed that while the anima tended to appear as a relatively singular female personality, the animus may consist of a conjunction of multiple male personalities: “in this way the unconscious symbolizes the fact that the animus represents a collective rather than a personal element”.
The process of animus development deals with cultivating an independent and non-socially subjugated idea of self by embodying a deeper word (as per a specific existential outlook) and manifesting this word. To clarify, this does not mean that a female subject becomes more set in her ways (as this word is steeped in emotionality, subjectivity, and a dynamism just as a well-developed anima is) but that she is more internally aware of what she believes and feels, and is more capable of expressing these beliefs and feelings. Thus the “animus in his most developed form sometimes…make[s] her even more receptive than a man to new creative ideas”.
Both final stages of animus and anima development have dynamic qualities (related to the motion and flux of this continual developmental process), open-ended qualities (there is no static perfected ideal or manifestation of the quality in question), and pluralistic qualities (which transcend the need for a singular image, as any subject or object can contain multiple archetypes or even seemingly antithetical roles). They also form bridges to the next archetypal figures to emerge, as “the unconscious again changes its dominant character and appears in a new symbolic form, representing the Self”. – the archetypes of the Wise Old Woman/Man
Jungian cautions:
Jungians warned that “every personification of the unconscious – the shadow, the anima, the animus, and the Self – has both a light and a dark aspect….the anima and animus have dual aspects: They can bring life-giving development and creativeness to the personality, or they can cause petrification and physical death”.
One danger was of what Jung termed “invasion” of the conscious by the unconscious archetype – “Possession caused by the anima…bad taste: the anima surrounds herself with inferior people”. Jung insisted that “a state of anima possession…must be prevented. The anima is thereby forced into the inner world, where she functions as the medium between the ego and the unconscious, as does the persona between the ego and the environment”.
Alternatively, over-awareness of the anima or animus could provide a premature conclusion to the individuation process – “a kind of psychological short-circuit, to identify the animus at least provisionally with wholeness”. Instead of being “content with an intermediate position”, the animus seeks to usurp “the self, with which the patient’s animus identifies. This identification is a regular occurrence when the shadow, the dark side, has not been sufficiently realized”.
Animus and Anima in Midlife:
Two final aspects of personality remain for consideration in regard to midlife development.
Jung postulates that each individual has both masculine and feminine components of the psyche. For a male the feminine component is the anima, and for a female it is the animus. Part and parcel of human biological and psychological development is this mixture of masculine and feminine energies.
These energies are theoretical constructs or concepts, which are useful for explanation but are not identical with gender. The separation of these concepts from gender is very difficult to maintain in the English language because of the similarity of words. Masculine energy and male and feminine energy and female seem to be the same but are not. The concepts may be better understood if viewed from a different context.
In Eastern cultures the Tao symbol with its Yin and Yang energies is expressive of the same idea. The Tao symbol, consisting of a circle divided in two equal portions each containing an element of the other, indicates that all of creation is composed of two energies held in harmony and interaction.
The Yang energy is masculine in nature and is described as light, dry, directed, focused, logical, and action oriented. Yin energy is feminine and described as dark, moist, diffuse, vague, intuitive, and receptive. In regard to psychological functioning, men are predominately yang but contain a yin aspect. Women, while predominately yin, contain an element of yang. Thus human beings are psychologically androgynous with latent inner masculine and feminine energies awaiting development. In the first half of life a differentiation of the primary sexual identity and corresponding energy takes place but in later life a call to integrate the opposite energy, the anima or the animus, arises. This is a move towards wholeness.
At the most basic and simplistic level what happens is that men begin to develop their capacity for relationship and must come to terms with emotions, vulnerability, and needs while women begin to become more decision and action oriented and in the process claim their independence, courage, power and wisdom. At midlife women are called to decide and do while men are called to nurture.
This is process is seen in what Gail Sheehy in her book, Passages, refers to as the “switch forties”. This is the time in midlife when men in the roles of husband and father begin a return to the values of home and family. They are drained from their years in the work world. At the same time that women as wives and mothers whose children are leaving home begin to experience a pull to the world of work. A switching of roles is taking place but may not be recognized as such.
A woman who has been in the care-taking role begins to want to establish her own independence through action and accomplishments. An impetus is provided to seeking employment, education, or career. At the same time a man had often has enough of work and career. He recognizes the stifling effect on his personal development. He now needs to open himself to relationships and emotions, but when he does, he finds no one at home. The children are now increasingly independent and on their way out of the family by way of work or college. His wife who may have eagerly sought his companionship when he was “too busy” now is after a business of her own. The potential for significant relationship conflict arises as these two people are crossing paths on different trajectories. They are moving towards the earlier interests of the other. Each person is in the process of integrating the opposite masculine or feminine energy. Men must incorporate the inner feminine with its call for relatedness while women must respond to the inner masculine and the need for action.
The anima and animus can influence a person in either a positive or negative manner. If a man is under the influence of the positive anima he will show tenderness, patience, consideration, and compassion. The negative anima manifests as vanity, moodiness, bitchiness, and sensitivity to hurt feelings. A woman with a positive animus shows assertiveness, control, thoughtful rationality, and compassionate strength. The negative animus reveals in strong opinions, ruthlessness, destructive forces, and “always the last word”. Both men and women are on the path to their own integration and must struggle with the interpersonal ramifications of the anima and the animus.
This process can be complicated by cultural influences. The impact of the early women’s movement motivated women to leave the home for the work place. In doing so, these women had to take on a traditional masculine role if they were to succeed. They had to become competitive and more assertive. They had to internalize their emotions and be more “logical.” As a result, these women at midlife may find that they have already developed the animus or the masculine energy. What they need to do is to integrate the feminine back into their lives. The men who have worked at being “liberated” have developed their feminine side and may need to catch up on the masculine. The “Wild Man” of the recent men’s movement may be the symbol of recapturing the masculine energy.
When it comes time to integrate the opposite energetic component you may have to do careful review of where you are in the individuation process before identifying the task ahead. The basic question is, “What is the current balance of the masculine and feminine energies in your life and what needs further development?