What are Anima and Animus According to Jung?

Anima and animus, simply put, are archetypes of the collective unconscious.

In Jungian psychoanalytic theory, they form a couple of opposites also called a syzygy.

What is Anima Archetype?

Anima archetype is the woman in man, meaning the emotional part, Eros, which obviously is much less developed. It also governs the relationship between man and woman.

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What is Animus Archetype?

Animus archetype is the male part of the women psyche. More precisely, it is the thinking function, reason, obviously identified with the Logos.

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Jung Quote about Anima and Animus

Woman is compensated by a masculine element and therefore her unconscious has, so to speak, a masculine imprint. This results in a considerable psychological difference between men and women, and accordingly I have called the projection-making factor in women the animus, which means mind or spirit. The animus corresponds to the paternal Logos just as the anima corresponds to the maternal Eros. But I do not wish or intend to give these two intuitive concepts too specific a definition.

I use Eros and Logos merely as conceptual aids to describe the fact that woman's consciousness is characterized more by the connective quality of Eros than by the discrimination and cognition associated with Logos.

In men, Eros, the function of relationship, is usually less developed than Logos. In women, on the other hand, Eros is an expression of their true nature, while their Logos is often only a regrettable accident. It gives rise to misunderstandings and annoying interpretations in the family circle and among friends. This is because it consists of opinions instead of reflections, and by opinions I mean a priori assumptions that lay claim to absolute truth. Such assumptions, as everyone knows, can be extremely, irritating. As the animus is partial to argument, he can best be seen at work in disputes where both parties know they are right.

Men can argue in a very womanish way, too, when they are anima-possessed and have thus been transformed into the animus of their own anima. With them the question becomes one of personal vanity and touchiness (as if they were females); with women it is a question of power, whether of truth or justice or some other "ism" - for the dressmaker and hairdresser have already taken care of their vanity. (From Portable Jung, The Syzygy: Anima and Animus, Penguin Books, 1976, pages 152-153.)

Questions about Anima and Animus:

• How I recognize anima and animus?
  Animus and anima are encountered during the Jungian analytical process through dream interpretation.
   
• Are they real persons? They can be people from the immediate environment, from society - politicians, teachers, athletes, artists, etc. - or they can be historical or religious-mythological figures, even symbols.
   
• What are the benefits of recognizing anima and animus?
  Confrontation with anima and animus is the second step of the individuation process. Generally speaking, it leads to the conscious integration of these archetypes.
  Since in the Jungian psychoanalysis they signal often neurotic problems on the emotion/reason plane, anima-animus are very important on the therapeutic plane.
   
• How can I find more about anima and animus in dreams?
  Explore our email course on Jungian dream interpretation to find more about anima and animus archetypes. You may start right now.

Further Resources:

About the syzygy anima-animus read the article published in "The Portable Jung", Penguin Books, 1976.
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