Submitted by Kismet on
The anima and animus are two contrasexual archetypes crucial for individuation and to progress towards the Self in Carl Jung’s analytical psychology, they are the archetype of life and archetype of meaning, respectively.
The anima is the personification of all female psychological tendencies in man, while the animus is the personification of all male psychological tendencies in woman. They form part of the collective unconscious, as archetypes or collectively inherited patterns of behaviour, which are autonomous, making them particularly difficult to integrate into one’s personality.
The integration of the shadow, or the realisation of the personal unconscious, marks the first stage in Jungian psychology. Without it, a recognition of anima and animus is impossible.
Shadow integration is the ‘apprentice-piece’, while the anima or animus is the ‘master-piece’.