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	What Are These Mysterious Things Called The Anima And The Animus? Part 1 by Nancy R. Fenn Be My Astrologer Real Astrology by a Real Astrologer
Astrology, Tarot, and Self Improvement for the New Age.

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What Are These Mysterious Things Called The Anima And The Animus?
Part 1
by Nancy R. Fenn

Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

These are Jungian terms used to describe parts of the psyche. They are etymologically related to words like "animated" and "animous" and "animosity".

The word animus in Latin means soul, spirit or courage. You can see that if we use the word "animosity" to mean "bitter hostility or open enmity; active hatred", as according to the dictionary, then the "courage" aspect of the animus or soul is being emphasized and has "gone wrong". This is a key to understanding the woman's animus, her inner male.

The word anima is more lately derived and may be the matter of going back and adding a feminine Latin ending to animus, to become anima. This represents the inner female found within the psyche of a male.

Jung himself did not expect everyone to understand his concepts of the animus and the anima, and particularly not men, I think, but we can explore this concept and gain much self knowledge as we endeavor to understand it to the best of our abilities.

My favorite Jungian writer is Marie Louise von Franz, as most of you know (!) Somehow I like it when a brilliant, rational woman with a PhD describes things having to do with relationships because when the men do it, they have a set of unspoken assumptions that can leave me feeling like I'm left out in the dark. Often they seem to be writing just to each other, as well. This was the case for many centuries anyway.

Von Franz usually says it clearly. This is how Von Franz explain the animus in a woman.

THE ANIMUS

"The male personification of the unconscious in woman -- the animus -- exhibits both good and bad aspects, as does the anima in man. But the animus does not so often appear in the form of an erotic fantasy or mood [like the anima]; it is more apt to take the form of a hidden "sacred" conviction.

When such a conviction is preached with a loud, insistent, masculine voice or imposed on others by means of brutal emotional scenes, the underlying masculinity in a woman is easily recognized. However, even in a woman who is outwardly very feminine the animus can be an equally hard, inexorable power.

One may suddenly find oneself up against something in a woman that is obstinate and cold. [emphasis mine]

According to von Franz, these are some of the favorite themes of the Animus.

"The only thing in the world that I want is love, and he does not love me."

"In this situation there are only two possibilities -- and both are equally bad."

Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

See more fine articles by Nancy Fenn in our Seers and Sages section and our Coaches and Counselors section.

Nancy R. Fenn is an astrologer and intuitive consultant in the San Diego area. She enjoys working with intuitives, creatives and visionaries to help them discover their vision for the future and their mission in life. She has an international clientele and maintains a website full of good resources for astrologers of all levels. Nancy is also the Introverts' Coach providing support and resources for the eight different types of introverts. Introversion is a legitimate personality type and not a failure to be an extrovert.

You can find Nancy at: Be My Astrologer, The IntrovertZ Coach, Be My Guide, I Design Webpages.

Nancy invites all introverts to take the Six Weeks' Online Self Discovery Course, a course designed by introverts for introverts. Raise your awareness, heal and understand yourself better, recover your positive identity and raise your self esteem. Click through to: Introverts' Self Discovery Course for more information.

I never even thought about whether or not they understand what I'm doing . . . the emotional reaction is all that matters as long as there's some feeling of communication, it isn't necessary that it be understood.
~ John Coltrane ~
Born September 23, 1926

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Last updated March 18th, 2008

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