Chapter 4 Jung: Analytical Psychology 115power and lead tragic lives, constantly running into “bad luck” and reaping harvests
of defeat and discouragement for themselves (Jung, 1954/1959a).
In Memories, Dreams, Reflections, Jung (1961) reported a dream that took
place at the time of his break from Freud. In this dream his shadow, a brown-skinned
savage, killed the hero, a man named Siegfried, who represented the German people.
Jung interpreted the dream to mean that he no longer needed Sig Freud (Siegfried);
thus, his shadow performed the constructive task of eradicating his former hero.
Anima
Like Freud, Jung believed that all humans are psychologically bisexual and possess
both a masculine and a feminine side. The feminine side of men originates in the
collective unconscious as an archetype and remains extremely resistant to con-
sciousness. Few men become well acquainted with their anima because this task
requires great courage and is even more difficult than becoming acquainted with
their shadow. To master the projections of the anima, men must overcome intel-
lectual barriers, delve into the far recesses of their unconscious, and realize the
feminine side of their personality.
As we reported in the opening vignette in this chapter, Jung first encountered
his own anima during his journey through his unconscious psyche soon after his
break with Freud. The process of gaining acquaintance with his anima was Jung’s
second test of courage. Like all men, Jung could recognize his anima only after
learning to feel comfortable with his shadow (Jung, 1954/1959a, 1954/1959b).
In Memories, Dreams, Reflections, Jung vividly described this experience.
Intrigued by this “woman from within,” Jung (1961) concluded that
she must be the “soul,” in the primitive sense, and I began to speculate on the
reasons why the name “anima” was given to the soul. Why was it thought of as
feminine? Later I came to see that this inner feminine figure plays a typical, or
archetypal, role in the unconscious of a man, and I called her the “anima.” The
corresponding figure in the unconscious of woman I called the “animus.” (p. 186)
Jung believed that the anima originated from early men’s experiences with
women—mothers, sisters, and lovers—that combined to form a generalized picture
of woman. In time, this global concept became embedded in the collective uncon-
scious of all men as the anima archetype. Since prehistoric days, every man has
come into the world with a predetermined concept of woman that shapes and molds
all his relationships with individual women. A man is especially inclined to project
his anima onto his wife or lover and to see her not as she really is but as his per-
sonal and collective unconscious have determined her. This anima can be the source
of much misunderstanding in male-female relationships, but it may also be respon-
sible for the alluring mystique woman has in the psyche of men (Hayman, 2001;
Hillman, 1985).
A man may dream about a woman with no definite image and no particular
identity. The woman represents no one from his personal experience, but enters his
dream from the depths of his collective unconscious. The anima need not appear in
dreams as a woman, but can be represented by a feeling or mood (Jung, 1945/1953).
Thus, the anima influences the feeling side in man and is the explanation for certain
irrational moods and feelings. During these moods a man almost never admits that