In Animus and Anima, Emma Jung describes the psychological meaning of the Animus and Anima as they relate to female and male consciousness respectively. Now Jung has some “bad press” in certain circles, yet there is a better way to understand him. To wit, spiritual events have corresponding psychical events; a way to picture them is to consider the psychic event as a projection of the spiritual. In this way, Jung, strictly as a psychologist, cannot infringe on spiritual topics. Emma Jung makes it clear at the outset:

I present the animus and its manifestations as realities, the reader must remember that I am speaking of psychic realities, which arc incommensurable with concrete realities but no less effective for that reason.

Obviously, this runs counter to the positivist position that consciousness has no causal efficacy and so it can be safely ignored in understanding the world. On the other hand, the notion is entirely compatible with Guenonian metaphysics as well as Hermetic philosophy. As for archetypes having a quasi-independent existence in the mind, this is also compatible. Guenon gives the example of the “dream” in which the self creates all the characters in the dream, who seem to have independent existences. A major aspect of Hermetic practice is to integrate all these separate “I”s into a unified Self.

Even secular philosophy is slowly adopting pansychism. Timothy Sprigge argued for it in the Vindication of Absolute Idealism. Others include Galen Strawson (the son of Peter Strawson), and Philip Goff, recently interviewed in The Scientific American. In traditional terms, this is the recognition that the Subtle Body is just as much a part of manifestation as the Gross, or Physical, Body.

Animus

Emma Jung, in order to define the Animus as masculine principle, uses Goethe’s Faust. Faust is dissatisfied with the translations of John’s Gospel that claim, “In the beginning is the word.” That does not fully express the Greek Logos. Faust instead proposes four steps: In the beginning were:

1. Power
2. Deed
3. Word
4. Meaning

Better yet, Power is “directed will.” These stages clearly require consciousness. Depending on her own development, a woman may experience the Animus in one of those four aspects. Emma Jung elaborates:

For the primitive woman, or the young woman, or for the primitive in every woman. A man distinguished by physical prowess becomes an animus figure. Typical examples are the heroes of legend, or sports celebrities, cowboys, bullfighters, aviators, and so on.

For more exacting women, the animus figure is a man who accomplishes deeds, in the sense that he directs his power toward something of great significance.

A man who rules over the “word” or “meaning” represents an essentially intellectual tendency because word and meaning correspond par excellence to mental capacities. Such a man exemplifies the animus in the narrower sense, understood as being a spiritual guide and as representing the intellectual gifts of the woman.

Mrs. Muir

The film The Ghost and Mrs. Muir is based on the novel by Josephine Leslie. Whether consciously and deliberately, or not, it illustrates the Animus, described by Emma Jung, in its fullness.

The young widow Lucy Muir moves to the English seashore only to discover that the cottage she rented is haunted by the ghost of Captain Daniel Gregg, a rough and tough seafaring man. Undaunted, she develops a relationship with him. His crude and direct manners contrast with her prissy upbringing. When challenged, he explains to her:

“I’ve lived a man’s life and I’m not ashamed of it. And no woman has been the worse from knowing me.”

The first thought is that if she is going to fall in love with a ghost, then why not the ghost of her deceased husband? In a moment of lucidity, she confesses to the Captain that, in truth, she did not really love him, and settled for him. He gave her first kiss and it was like a romance novel to her. In actuality he was not a very good architect, nor, for that matter, a good husband.

The Captain and she had many conversations. Clearly, the Captain is her Animus. Previously, she had been dependent on her father, then her husband and then her in-laws. He teaches her independence. He even renames her “Lucia”, a name suitable for a queen, better than the commonplace “Lucy”. So the Captain had Will and he accomplished Deeds, the first two stages in her awakening.

The Captain

Lucy’s relationship with the masculine Captain was not at all “toxic”. On the contrary, Lucy became independent, confident, and creative. When her stocks lost their value, she needed a source of income. The Captain suggested that she write his biography. Night after night they worked on it. Now the captain became Word and Meaning for her.

However, their relationship was becoming dangerously and inappropriately romantic. Alone with her thoughts, Lucy pondered, “Oh Captain, what have you done.”

Captain then encouraged Lucy to go out and even meet men. She was seduced by a slimy children’s book author, whom she met at her publishing house; I’ve met such authors and advise you to stay away. He promised marriage until Lucy fortuitously discovered that he was married with children! When the Captain learned of this, she feigned innocence; but he chided her: “No woman since Eve was ever caught unaware.”

The Captain concluded that it was time to leave Lucy alone. Before he left, he whispered to her in her sleep that he was only her dream. From then on, Lucy’s memory of him faded like a long-forgotten memory. She realized that she was the creative power behind the best-selling book she wrote. She never married again but grew old in that cottage by the sea. One night, she died peacefully in her chair.

Alchemical Marriage

Then Captain arrived to take her spirit away with him, making them both happy and fulfilled. Profane marriage ends at death, but the alchemical marriage is eternal. The psychological became the spiritual. The Captain gave life to Lucy; now Lucy gives life to the Captain.