Observations placeholder
Jung, C G - The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious - Anima and animus
Identifier
007818
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
Both are essentially about the same thing - the need for balance
A description of the experience
The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious – C G Jung
I shall begin with a brief statement: in the unconscious of every man there is hidden a feminine personality, and in that of every woman a masculine personality…..
A man therefore has in him a feminine side, an unconscious feminine figure - a fact of which he is generally quite unaware. I may take it as known that I have called this figure the "anima," and its counterpart in a woman the "animus." ….This figure frequently appears in dreams, where one can observe all the attributes I have mentioned in earlier publications.................
…primitive man, being closer to his instincts, like the animal, is characterized by fear of novelty and adherence to tradition. To our way of thinking he is painfully backward, whereas we exalt progress. But our progressiveness, though it may result in a great many delightful wish-fulfilments, piles up an equally gigantic Promethean debt which has to be paid off from time to time in the form of hideous catastrophes. For ages man has dreamed of flying, and all we have got for it is saturation bombing!