What Jung meant by anima and animus
The anima and animus are among the archetypes Carl Jung described in the collective unconscious. Jung observed that each person carries within them an inner image of the opposite: in a man, an unconscious feminine figure he called the anima; in a woman, an unconscious masculine figure he called the animus. These are not the same as gender or sexuality. They are inner presences, built up from personal experience and from the deep archetypal layer of the psyche, that carry the qualities a person has not consciously developed.
The anima
In Jung’s account, the anima carries a man’s relationship to feeling, imagination, intuition and the inner life, the capacities a traditionally masculine upbringing often leaves undeveloped. When it is unconscious, the anima tends to show up in moods, in fascinations and infatuations, and in a certain touchiness or sentimentality. Brought into consciousness, it becomes a source of depth, relatedness and creativity, and a bridge to the unconscious itself.
The animus
The animus, correspondingly, carries a woman’s relationship to focus, conviction, agency and thought. Unconscious, it can appear as rigid opinion, harsh inner criticism, or an argumentative certainty that seems to come from nowhere. Made conscious, it becomes a capacity for clarity, purpose and the ability to stand one’s ground. As with the anima, the aim is not to be rid of it but to be in conscious relationship with it.
Projection: falling in love
The anima and animus are felt most powerfully in projection. Falling in love almost always involves projecting this inner image onto a real person: we see in the beloved the very qualities our own unconscious opposite carries, and the intensity is extraordinary. It is also why early passion so often fades. As we come to know the real person, distinct from the projection we placed on them, the image is gradually withdrawn, and the relationship must find its footing on something more real. Understanding this can transform how a person makes sense of their attractions and their disappointments.
Integration and individuation
For Jung, the work is to withdraw these projections and come into a living relationship with the inner opposite, rather than either repressing it or being unconsciously driven by it. This integration is a key stage of individuation, the lifelong movement toward wholeness, and it follows naturally from the work of meeting the shadow. As the anima or animus is integrated, a person becomes more complete, more able to love realistically, and more connected to the Self, the organising centre of the whole psyche.
A note for today
Jung’s language of masculine and feminine belongs to his era, and it is easy to get caught on the terms. The deeper idea he was pointing to endures regardless of gender: that each of us carries a disowned opposite within, that we tend to meet it first by projecting it onto others, and that owning it consciously is part of becoming whole.
Exploring your own inner opposite
Much of this work happens below the level of everyday awareness, which is why it is difficult to do alone: the anima or animus is, almost by definition, what we cannot see in ourselves. A Jungian analyst offers a relationship in which these inner figures can be recognised, particularly as they appear in dreams and in the patterns of our relationships, and gradually integrated. This is central to how Jungian analysis works. The Jungian Confrerie is the practice of Dr Philippe Jacquet, offering Jungian analysis in central London and online worldwide.