JP- Animus and Anima

Presented by Bradley A. TePaske, Ph.D.

Jung recognized that the qualities we tend to associate with gender, are not, in fact, unique to a particular gender. Every individual carries capacities within, often undiscovered, that don’t align with their conscious gender identity. Jung referred to these energies as contrasexual. Specifically, he called the archetypal masculine in the unconscious of a woman the animus, and the archetypal feminine within the unconscious of a man, the anima. In this class we will study these concepts, both their meanings and functions, and explore whether and how they might (or might not) be useful in contemporary times. The class will include examples from women’s dreams showing the development of the relationship between dreamers and their contrasexual other.

Learning Objectives:

• Explain what is meant by animus.
• Explain what is meant by anima.
• List 2 ways an individual might work to develop a relationship with their contrasexual other.
• Give an example of how the idea of the contrasexual other might (or might not) be useful in contemporary life.

Bradley A. TePaske, Ph.D., is a Jungian analyst trained at the C.G. Jung Institute of Zurich (1978-82) and an archetypal psychologist strongly influenced by James Hillman. His work in the history of religions has focused on Gnosticism, Hindu Tantra and Shamanism. He is the author of Rape Ritual: A Psychological Study (Inner City Books, 1982) and Sexuality and the Religious Imagination (Spring Journal Books, 2008) and numerous papers including the recommended “Gender Equations: Experiences of the Syzygy on the Archetypal Spectrum.” A member of the C.G. Jung Institute of Los Angeles and husband of fellow analyst, Arlene Landau, Brad is also an active accomplished graphic artist, an amateur ornithologist, paleontologist and maven of the Earth Sciences.