The Archetypes of the Anima and Animus

In a woman her contra sexuality is masculine and governs her rational thinking function and we call this the Animus.

In a man his contra sexuality is feminine and governs his irrational feeling function and we call this the Anima.

The archetype of the Anima/Animus forms a bridge between our personal unconscious and what Jung refers to as the Collective Unconscious. 

Under normal circumstances the masculine and feminine will be modelled on the first imprint in the child’s life of the masculine and feminine – the father and mother.

One of the differentiating qualities which Jung identified between the animus and anima is that the animus has a multiplicity to it whereas the anima appears more in the singular.

A good example of this is the fairytale of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs– who are all animus manifestations, psychologically speaking.

>Tarzan , the unconscious primitive but physically vital masculine.

>James Bond , suave man of the world.

>Steve Jobs or Richard Branson , integrated masculine, strong, creative, attractive but more androgynous.

>Barak Obama ,integrated evolved masculine epitomising secular values in their most evolved form.

>Mahatma Ghandi or Nelson Mandela , the masculine which now brings the spiritual component into the world, transcending the mundane and secular but without denying it.

>Christ , Mohammed , Buddha, the conscious spiritual incarnation of the masculine, the unconscious masculine.

The animus when it is integrated in a healthy female psyche would typically imbue the following qualities:

🪄Good rational and logical ability.

🪄Ability for clear non attached thought.

🪄Ability to construct by sustained effort and application.

🪄A strong centre.

🪄Good external strength in the persona.

🪄Bridge to knowledge and creative thought.

🪄Problem solving.

When the animus is displaced or overwhelms the female psyche it may exhibit some of the following symptoms:

❌Know it all behaviour.

❌Bullying.

❌Sadism.

❌Controlling.

❌Loud.

❌Inability to effectively and meaningfully relate.

The Anima, naturally, is originally based on the boy’s image of his mother and this later evolves with his relatedness to more mature romantic relationships.

>Brooke Shields in her original virginal role as a teenage star, pre sexual feminine

>Marilyn Monroe, the fully developed sexual diva

>Jackie Kennedy or Eleanor Roosevelt , the mature feminine supportive wife, mother, nurturer

>Margret Thatcher , strong, intuitive leadership with some sacrifice of the feminine

>Evita Pero, the feminine in a strong leadership role but still feminine on bearing and orientation

>The Virgin Mary , the true transcendent iconic female, no longer of this world

🪄Self soothing, self nurturing and self loving.

🪄Access to creative inspiration.

🪄Strong centre and contained inner life.

🪄Capable of empathy.

🪄Able to make value judgements beyond the realm of pure rationality.

🪄Access to feeling life.

🪄Good relatedness.

🪄Happy.

❌Uncontained, constantly seeking external affirmation.

❌Lack of creativity.

❌Moody.

❌Bitchy.

❌Poor relatedness, behaviour in relationships designed to isolate the person from others.

❌Masochistic.

❌Greedy, grasping.

❌Self centred.