Archetypes of the
Animus and Anima
Carl Jung wrote at length about the Anima and the Animus, which he identified as corresponding centers of the personal unconscious in men and women. Whatever a person does not successfully integrate into the developing ego, he explained, is gathered and stored in one or the other, hidden away from the ego's conscious awareness.
Furthermore, since the gender with which a person typically identifies is usually of primary importance-- whether that be male or female-- qualities of the opposite gender will stand out among the characteristics that have become organized deep beneath the surface of consciousness, in direct polarity to that of the emerging ego. For this reason we speak of the Anima as the unconscious feminine aspect of a man's personality, and of the Animus as the equivalent unconscious masculine side of a woman's.
These contrasexual aspects of the psyche do not seem to have anything to do with the sort of people that we find sexually attractive-- that is, whether we are attracted to members of the opposite gender or our own. This is because our psyche actually embraces both genders, and is made whole by means of the Anima and Animus despite the conditioned responses of the developing ego.
The various forms of the unconscious represented by the Anima and Animus have been mapped out by many of Jung's students. Toni Wolff, in her Structural Forms of the Feminine Psyche (1956) identified the primary aspects of the Anima as Mother, Puella, Amazon and Medial Woman; Edward Whitmont, in The Symbolic Quest (1969) supplied the masculine equivalents within the Animus as Father, Puer, Hero, and Wise Man. What follows here is a general description of these fundamental forms, with the cardinal directions of the compass provided to orient the reader to this particular map of the psyche. In certain cases alternative terms have been substituted for those suggested by Wolff and Whitmont, to emphasize the equivalence of their characteristics.
The Parent
The northern direction indicates an attitude that is shaped by objective association, as typified by the traditionally absolute authority of parents within the family or political rulers within the tribe or community, who tend to connect with others in terms of their formal roles of authority.
The archetype of the Father as parental Animus supplies structure and order, and is identified with the ideal leader as protector, lawgiver, and provider of social conventions and values. Negatively he can be harsh or dogmatic, and can view women and children as dependents or subjects to be ruled, rather than as truly autonomous individuals. Mythic associations to the Father include Moses and Saturn.
The archetype of the Mother as parental Anima supplies protection and nourishment, and is identified with homemaking and child-rearing. She will tend to consider the man in the role of family breadwinner rather than as an individual, and she can expect her children to adopt her values and fulfill her demands rather than allow them to experience life as self-determining individuals. Negatively she can be possessive, overprotective, and interfering. Mythic associations include Demeter and the Moon.
The Companion
The southern direction indicates an attitude that is shaped by subjective association, as typified by the individual and personal relationship of the companion and playmate, who connects with others more casually through peer relationships and informal activities.
The masculine archetype of the Puer is polarized to the Father, acting as a friend, brother, son, or lover. He is more concerned with individual expression and fulfillment than with social or collective roles and demands. Dynamic and extraverted, he seeks an experience of his own personal identity rather than attempt to establish a social authority by assuming a particular role. Negatively he becomes the puer eternus, the Peter Pan who would not grow up. Mythic associations include Dionisos and Mars.
The feminine archetype of the Hetaera (or Puella) polarizes itself to the Mother, acting as confidante, sister, daughter, or lover. She too is oriented towards active personal relationships and the unfoldment of herself and others as individuals, striving to express love and personal interaction rather than be restricted within family or social structures. Negatively she becomes the concubine or "kept woman" who is kept from growing. Mythic associations include Juno and Venus.
The Champion
The western direction indicates an attitude that is shaped by objective individuality, as typified by the competent champion, who interacts with others in terms of the most immediate impersonal relationships through teamwork and competition.
The archetype of the Hero represents the collective aspect of the masculine that seeks outward achievement and social recognition. His goal is to establish himself in a social or political context through great accomplishments, rather than to discover his personal identity by more subjective means, or to engage in transformative interpersonal relationships. He typically views others, especially women, as either partners in his success or obstacles in his path. Mythic associations include Hercules and Apollo.
The archetype the Amazon represents the collective aspect of the feminine whose individuality is fulfilled through social involvement and responsibility rather than through mothering or interpersonal relationships. Objective and efficient, she relates to others-- especially men-- either as a welcome peer or as a worthy adversary, rather than as the wife or lover. Negatively, she can be officious and insensitive to the emotional needs of relationship. Mythic associations include Atalanta and Pallas Athena.
The Guide
The eastern direction indicates an attitude that is shaped by subjective individuality, as typified by the impersonal hierarchical relationship of the teacher or healer, who interacts with others in terms of the largest impersonal relationships through insight, empathy, and inspiration.
The archetype of the Sage (Wise Old Man, Medial Man, or Magus) represents the shaman or spiritual elder of the tribe who mediates between the individual and the collective, connecting the individual, here and now, to the eternal and infinite All. He is the mentor and philosopher who is attracted to the realm of ideas and metaphysics rather than to the authority of the Father, the passion of the Puer, or the ambition of the Hero. Mythic associations include Chiron and Pluto.
The archetype of the Crone (High Priestess, Medial Woman or Sophia) represents the deeply subjective, intuitive, nonpersonal aspect of the feminine, the oracle that is open to the subtle and intangible aspects of life. Negatively she can represent the loss of personal identity and discrimination through an absorption into ethereal realms, while positively she can objectify and articulate unconscious and unseen worlds in ways that establish the inspirational healing of individual significance. Mythic associations include Vesta and the Pythoness at Delphi.
Opposites attract; why this is true, especially for men and women, has long been a fascination. Plato in his Symposium told of how human beings were originally considered by some to be androgynous, without opposing genders; in time they were split apart by the gods, men from women and women from men, in punishment for an Original Sin. This fall from grace, this Original Cleavage is recapitulated in the psychic separation of the feminine ego from its Animus-- and as well the masculine ego from its Anima-- at some point during childhood, perhaps at childhood's end. The word "cleavage" is used here in it's fullest ambiguity, for it is perhaps the only word in our language that is its own antonym: to this day, husbands and wives are instructed to cleave unto one another in marriage, even as their Original Parents were (apparently) cleft apart.
As the man's personality matures and evolves over time, and as his conscious identity becomes increasingly tangible and articulate, his Anima (as the unconscious feminine consort to his masculine ego) becomes proportionally rich, alerting him, attracting him and ultimately making him vulnerable to certain kinds of people, and all without his quite knowing why. Similarly, as a woman grows, and as her ego develops specific qualities and characteristics, her Animus (as the unconscious masculine consort to her consciously feminine identity) becomes increasingly complex, making her vulnerable to particular kinds of people as well. It should be noted that people who find members of their own gender sexually attractive will still polarize themselves with their lover when they "fall in love". Psychological gender identification is defined by more complex matters than simply by the gender that we find sexually attractive.
Romantic relationships are formed largely out of the expectations that have been generated by these unconscious aspects of the psyche. We restless human beings will always yearn to feel complete, and sense that we are indeed frustratingly near being complete when near a person that reminds us in some way of our own Anima or Animus. These are the illusions of being "in love", a static and unconscious condition, a trance-like addictive state that is quite unlike the more dynamic and conscious activity of loving another person for who they actually happen to be.
After a sufficient period of time such relationships may season from a romantic fascination to a mature collaboration. As the illusions of being "in love" become replaced by a more conscious awareness of the reality of one another, significant opportunities to discover and recover unconscious aspects of ourselves begin to arise within the relationship. This introduces a personal purpose for the relationship: to awaken ourselves, and to expand our identification from a reductive obsession upon one particular archetype to an incorporation and consolidation of the entire pantheon.
Stirring ourselves out of the narcissism of infatuation, we may now begin recognizing the origin of our fantasies deep within ourselves as calls for a general psychological healing. By reclaiming our projections upon the person that we love through the dynamics of encounter and confrontation, frustration and consideration, it is possible to make ourselves whole in the presence of one another. This healing is, arguably, the greatest and finest use of the human capacity for the experience of love.
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This article previously appeared in The Observer Quarterly: volume two, issue one (Fall 1998).