The Dark Animus

Whenever [the] drive for wholeness appears, it begins by disguising itself under the symbolism of incest, for, unless he seeks it in himself, a man’s nearest feminine counterpart is to be found in his mother, sister, or daughter. [“The Psychology of the Transference,” CW 16, par. 471.]

https://carljungdepthpsychology.wordpress.com/category/incest/


My father had forever deserted me, leaving me only memories which set an eternal barrier between me and my fellow creatures … [His] unlawful and detestable passion has poured its poison into my ears, and changed all my blood, so that it was no longer the kindly stream that supports life but a cold fountain of bitterness corrupted in its very source. It must be the excess of madness that could make me imagine that I could ever be aught but one alone; struck off from humanity; bearing no affinity to man or woman; a wretch on whom Nature had set her ban.

http://www.laurakkerr.com/2013/01/27/loveless-sexual-abuse/


The vampire is a religious figure like the Christian devil, but older than Lucifer, and more truly depicting the dark image of Christ. The vampire myth reverses the symbolism of the Eucharist. Therefore, the Vampire archetype and the Redemptive archetype (Christness) are polar opposites of the same archetypal energy. They emerge from the collective unconscious as a dividable pair. One enters the ego space while the other takes up residence in our personal shadow. Both are great forces which we all must bring to consciousness and confront.

http://jungian.info/library.cfm?idsLibrary=9


The Animus in this woman has one goal, and that is to pull her away from life and cut her off from it. He prevents this woman from entering a spiritual life and keeps her focused on the material physical world… When the feeling life (Eros) is missing, the result is someone who pursues and values only the intellect, resulting in a stiff attitude, lacking warmth and feeling.

Since the Animus involves the Will to Power vs Eros (feeling), facing the Animus head on is futile. The woman must cleverly outwit and avoid him. Women cannot fight the Animus by killing him, they can only catch him and escape. The internal conflict that the Animus creates is overcome by walking out of it.

Being Animus possessed implies inflation, since the Animus is an archetype and belongs to the collective unconscious. The standards used by the Animus are collective standards and no individual is able to attain them. The benchmark the Animus uses to criticise is too high for a normal human being to live up to. The Animus always knows better, but in assuming this position the woman is only inflating her own abilities. When she finds herself saying or thinking “You should be doing this” with herself or others, it would be wise to counteract this Animus position by taking on a humility and admitting that you don’t know everything, that you may very well be a failure.

The Animus is often very impatient, making the woman feel that she has to make up her mind immediately, to act straight away, instead of waiting for her psyche to bring forth the proper new development. The truth is that for women it often takes years for the new development to emerge. However difficult it is to stay within this space of tension, resist the temptation to move immediately and give your psyche time to process and create the solution.

The Animus is a demon who wants to pull the woman away from life, cut her off from it. That is why she must run away and not get trapped by it.

http://appliedjung.com/animus-possession/


The negative aspect of the animus may show [up in dreams] as the seducer, the man who imprisons or leads her into danger or tortures or beats her.

A strange passivity and paralysis of all feeling, or a deep insecurity that can lead almost to a sense of nullity, may sometimes be the result of an unconscious animus opinion. In the depths of the woman’s being, the animus whispers: “You are hopeless. what’s the use of trying? There is no point in doing anything. Life will never change for the better.”

To be in conflict with the man, or unable to make real physical and pleasurable contact with him, suggests difficulty in meeting what may have been a painful or threatening experience of father or some other man. This can lead to lack of ability to make clear judgements, and lack of decisiveness… Actual relations with men will be difficult, or entered into simply as a duty. Emotional or intimate merging is threatening because it brings the woman close to the conflicts and pain connected with father/man. Sex may be possible but not a close feeling union.

Like the anima, the animus does not merely consist of negative qualities such as brutality, recklessness, empty talk, and silent, obstinate, evil ideas. He too has a very positive and valuable side; he too can build a bridge to the Self through his creative activity.

… The fact that the animus figure in the dream is double suggests that the burglars personify a psychic factor that is dual in its effect, and that could be something quite different from these tormenting thoughts... Next the dream reveals that the veiled burglars are actually disguised artists, and that if the dreamer recognises their gifts (which are her own), they will give up their evil intentions.

http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/archetype-of-the-animus-jungs-view-of-the-male-in-the-female/