I recently read a book of Jungian archetype psychology,
He: Understanding Masculine Psychology. Amazon.com: He: Understanding Masculine Psychology (Perennial Library)… It was about man's quest for the "Holy Grail" and his relationship with his anima or inner woman. There were a couple of ideas that stood out to me. It said that if a man is to find the Grail he must never seduce nor be seduced by woman. What is meant by this is that a man should not succumb to his moods, positive or negative. But this idea of avoiding seduction with women has been falsely interpreted literally throughout history. According to this psychology, much of the historical hatred of women as well as men's problems with women can be attributed to man's problems with his own anima. The anima appears ugly and challenges him, and he is more than happy to project it onto the woman in his life. When a man's shadowy anima clashes with a woman's shadowy animus, things get ugly. I have found it to be true in my own relationship. He gets seduced by his bad moods and it makes me angry and combative.
Some men are easily in tune with their anima. The book said that for some men (introverted/feeler men), their path is different from most and that is perfectly legitimate. I think that the anima represents the Feeling function and the animus represents the Thinking function. As a T female, I identify with both the female gender and the animus. One thing that was confusing to me, it said that women are always in a mood and that is normal and natural. But I wish I could better follow the advice in the book of
not getting seduced by my moods! It must refer to the feeling Achilles heel of the T and the superior feeling ability of the F. I have trouble understanding. But I would like to read the
She and
We books by the same author too; maybe that would help clarify it.
I would like to know other people's thoughts on the anima and animus.