This is the second part of two posts on the Classic version of Jung’s Anima and Animus theory in which I condense the information from Marie-Louise von Franz’s book Anima and Animus in Fairy Tales [1].

This post focuses on the malevolent, destructive, dysfunctional Anima and how that affects a man and also attempts to address the approach to take in order to integrate the Anima and thus render her benevolent and constructive.

In the classic version of Jungian psychology, the Anima is the man’s internal other, and the Animus is the woman’s internal other. In other words, if you are physically a man, you will have an inner Anima, a feminine image which guides and shapes the way you relate to women and the world at large. Whilst Post Jungian theory is in line with Post Modernity and more ambivalent about gender, the classical model, as described by Marie-Louise von Franz in this post, is still incredibly useful and very interesting. The information and knowledge that Marie Louise von Franz extracts from the Fairy Tales is fascinating.

As this post focus on the man’s relationship with his Anima, what needs to be understood is that this feminine image is unconscious, and has her roots in the relationship he had with his mother. A man’s experience of his personal mother puts the flesh on the inborn archetype of the Anima and both define his attitude towards women and the functioning of his inner feminine principal. In Jungian psychology, the first step is to individuation is integrating your shadow. After that follows the integration of the Anima and/or Animus.

Anima Possession:

When a man’s Anima is not integrated, it wreaks havoc in his life. The Anima possessed man is a spineless wimp who does not know when or how to take action in the world. He is moody and sulky and throws tantrums like a toddler. Although very passive, he totally overreacts to slights and confrontations. He is not appropriate in his actions, either he is paralysed and can’t find the energy to do what needs to be done, or he jumps into action when he should be thinking about it first. He is usually in a relationship with an Animus hound [2] who knows it all and makes all the decisions in the relationship.

The Anima possessed man is stuck in a fate that his repetitive patterns choose for him. The Anima spins a cocoon of fantasies and illusions. He repeats the same dynamics, dates the same type of women, and experiences the same resistance in the world again and again.

Any numinous experiences he has, she quickly attacks and he is left with a feeling that he experience was “nothing but”… She is a master of creating doubt and he finds himself always doubting his options and choices. He gets lost in contemplations and thinking and this is what prevents him from taking action. At night he dreams about his Anima, she appears in his dreams as a monster, attacking him, threatening him and dismissing him.

The Anima attacks the man’s inferior function, and to explain this I need to quickly divert to Typology. In Jung’s personality type model, each person has four functions, namely Thinking, Feeling, Intuition and Sensation. These four functions identify the way you relate to, and take in information from the external world. An individual will always favour one of the four as their superior function. To explain this, I will use the example of wanting to buy a new car. A thinking type will analyse the performance, fuel consumption, motor plan deal etc. A feeling type will evaluate which vehicle is best suited for his purposes. An intuitive will select the vehicle that he “knows” is right for him. A sensate will choose a vehicle that feels great to drive and is in the right colour. Now if you are a Thinking type, your inferior (opposite and underdeveloped) function would be Feeling (and vice versa). If you are an Intuitive, your inferior function would be Sensation (and vice versa). Coming back to the Anima, she always attacks the man in his inferior function. So where most men are thinking types, typically, his feelings will be poorly developed and here the Anima takes control. She plays his emotions like a fiddle. He is moody, sulky, throws tantrums and gets really upset. When he has the rare moments of happiness and elation and has a fabulous time, she quickly casts doubt and destroys the experience for him. And naturally, as a consequence, his evaluative ability tends to be poor.

Generally this man, who’s inferior function (feeling) trips him up all the time, experiences his emotions and mystical numinous experiences as a handicap. He finds himself disillusioned with his feelings and often tries to escape into the thinking realm, but this does not help his cause at all. He is afraid to trust his feelings and consequently makes a complete mess of his life.

Integrating the Anima

The Anima represents the divine aspect of the human being. She is a goddess that imbues everything with numinosity and mystery. The human being tries to bring the divine into the realm of reality and thereby reduce the mystery to the banal. This attempt to rob the Anima of her divinity is evident in the Western culture where the feminine is reduced to base and crude sexuality.

The Anima has fallen into the unconscious, especially in the protestant cultures, where the idealized feminine is projected onto the Virgin Mary and the dark aspect is projected out onto women who fascinate and capture the passions of a man, who then grants her the status of witch because he feels as if he has been bewitched.

The danger with Anima possession is when the man takes on an average, reluctant, undifferentiated attitude. His attitude towards risk is to avoid it, because he simply does not believe that anything he undertakes will succeed. This hopelessness opposes the hero within. As the Anima is an Archetype, to realise the Anima instinctively will release overwhelming emotions. This is why the man must develop his inferior function, to prevent the Anima from possessing him. To redeem the Anima, she must be allowed to reveal her divine nature.

Here are some guidelines for dealing with the dysfunctional Anima.

One of the main problems with the Anima is that she lies outside time. This results in men who act inappropriately for their age. They are either childish old men or wise young boys. This time related issue affects the man’s judgment in relation to action. He either totally overreacts to small matters, or does not act when he needs to in big matters. This must be opposed in the following manner.

The quick to react Anima:

When the man is riled up, emotional and has an urgency to react then and there, he must wait and put off his response to the given situation. Sleeping on it does wonders, and a new perspective will emerge. This man has gotten himself into many undesirable situations because of this need to react immediately and some perspective on the situation will allow him not to fall into the trap of repeating his neurotic dynamics unconsciously.

The Anima creates a pressing urgency to send the email, confront the person, phone immediately. This impulse must be resisted in order to change the Anima in the unconscious. Delay the excitement, delay acting on it, and it will lose its urgency and the man will tire of it.

With time and practice the man will be able to enter the situation consciously, without falling prey to the emotion. Once he is able to hold the opposites in consciousness, not to commit to any action, he will be able to integrate his Anima. This struggle is the battle for moral responsibility, the search for light and meaning.

The slow to react Anima:

When the man finds himself lost in ambiguity and at a loss on what to do, he needs to act. The Anima is an expert on implanting doubt. He must step into life to get out of this trap. He needs to act in some way. He must escape the repetitive pattern of getting excited about ideas and then discussing it to death until he is totally uninspired. He needs to develop a disciplined consciousness for solutions and directions. The correct attitude is to accept that it may not work, or that it is possibly not the right thing to do, but taking action anyway. One must take action based on the knowledge an understanding available at that point in time. Overcoming the Anima is through experiencing reality and the unknown, not talking about it.

Developing the inferior function:

The integration of the Anima requires the balance between the intellect and the instinct. One must not sacrifice the intellect for the Anima either, because this will also develop an unbalanced relationship with the Anima. Whatever the inferior function is, the man must engage it bravely and enter into it slowly. He must not use the inferior function to govern his external realm, but use it in the internal realm. As long as he tries to use his feeling function in the external realm, he will be heavy, slow, mystical and inarticulate. But if he turns his feeling function inwards, and allows himself to feel, no matter how silly or infantile, he will slowly develop his feeling function. This ability to think naively, without rules, allows the libido (energy) to rush forth and re-energize the psyche. But to give a voice to the unconscious inferior function, the man must learn to sacrifice the superior, ruling attitude of rules and structure, which is not easy.

Conclusion:

As with the Animus, the Anima is the bridge to the unconscious and the roadmap to this unconscious realm lies within the inferior function of the man. The ultimate goal of this journey is individuation, which is the most authentic and whole expression of an individual. Integrating the Anima and Animus is a vital aspect of this journey.

Until next time

Anja

[1] Von Franz, M. L. (2002). Animus and anima in fairy tales. D. Sharp (Ed.). Toronto: Inner City Books.

[2] Read the blog Animus Possession: Are you a ball busting bitch?