The Physical is related to health, integrate consciously the energy of the opposite gender/1.part

Marketa Juristova

I find it amazingly interesting how precise knowledge our ancestors had and how much wisdom is hidden in old proverbs, sayings, proverbs and even in the words themselves. Today, folk wisdom would be something like this: 'Most diseases, except sexually transmitted ones, are psychosomatic'. And perhaps this information would not be far from the results of recent medical research. On the one hand, it's good that we know this, but on the other hand, it's a problem to get a free appointment with a psychotherapist these days.

If you've read any of my articles on dreams and the unconscious, you probably already know where I'm going. To another piece of folk wisdom, which is, "The best way to help yourself." Articles, books, and courses on how to improve your mental well-being, learn to think positively or meditate, or how to be successful at work and in life in general abound. I think all these useful publications and exercises have one thing in common, they teach you (among other things) how to be in tune with yourself, how to be the best version of yourself. This is also very important in my opinion, and of course it is related to the psyche and therefore the health of each person. I just have a small reservation, you are not on your own, or actually you are, but not quite as much as you might think.

I'll start from the beginning. I'm sure you've wondered where the human soul comes from when a new person comes into the world, emerging from the unconscious?

In essence, yes. When a baby is born, its self is of course only unconscious, it forms as a new, as yet fully submerged iceberg in the ocean of the unconscious. Consciousness emerges gradually, and at about three years of age the child becomes aware of itself as a separate entity. But the human soul is not only female or only male; it has the energy of both sexes within it. According to physiology (as a rule) then one kind of energy - personality prevails and the person identifies himself as a boy or a girl. This personality is then conscious and the energy of the opposite sex remains in the unconscious. Jung called the unconscious inner personality of the male anima, and the inner personality of the female animus. It may seem strange to you, but the development of these inner energy-personalities is very important, because they reflect the conscious life of the individual, his relationships with other people, of course mainly in partner relationships, but not only in them. Jung calls these inner personalities archetypes, we can imagine them as patterns of typically masculine and typically feminine behaviour.

"The anima is the personification of all feminine psychological tendencies in the male psyche, such as vague feelings and moods, prophetic premonitions, receptivity to the irrational, capacity for personal love, a feeling for nature, and last but not least, a relationship with the unconscious." Marie-Louise von Franz

Jung argued that if a man is unaware of his feminine side, his anima can completely control and destructively influence him. The nature and personification of the anima is mostly shaped by the mother. If the mother's personality arouses negative feelings in the son, the anima tends to manifest itself in an irritable, depressive manner, suppressing self-confidence. Addictions, such as alcoholism, or gambling, or suicidal tendencies are typical examples of such negative influences (the anima then represents the so-called "femme fatale"). Conversely, when a man becomes aware of his feminine energy, he is inspired to his own wholeness and radiates a natural inner strength.

How to integrate anima? It needs to be given limits, so it is a matter of inner self-discipline, discipline, the ability to command "enough". It's a bit like taming the wild beasts, dressage inside the male mind. But it has nothing to do with how we treat women in real life. An example of a mastered anima is a man who is said to be a gentleman.

By contrast, the inner masculine aspect in a woman's unconscious, the animus, is something like a conviction, a fixed opinion that is often related to the personality of the father.

"The father gives his daughter's animus a special colouring of irrefutable, unquestionable 'true' opinions-narratives that never include the personal reality of the woman herself, as she is." Marie-Louise von Franz

A woman in the thrall of her animus may be blocked in her views of how things "should be" (activists and various conscious fighters for any rights should be very careful), but she may also plot coldly, succumb to semi-conscious destructive moods, or perhaps decide to keep her children together and not allow them to enter into a partner relationship. The Animus jealously keeps his wife, as it were, alone in the world of inner convictions; for example, alcoholics drink alone, with only their destructive Animus.

Every woman has personal experience of the manifestations of her animus, she is just not always aware of them. Often it's a stubborn conviction in an argument, a feeling that I'm right and the other person just has to understand. If we are able even in this situation to begin to think and admit that we may be wrong, we begin to integrate the animus. When we still realize that the animus' jealous attempt to isolate "his" wife is just a certain misunderstanding of the situation (things may be different than they first appear) and perhaps a lack of self-awareness, because the animus really does love us very much, we have a tremendous loving creative energy available in the unconscious. Just as working with the male anima is more like dressage, the female animus needs to be mastered with compassion (even to oneself!) and friendship (even to oneself!).

Remember the fairy tale The Beauty and the Beast? That's actually the story of a woman and her animus. If you are said to be a lady, your animus is most likely well integrated. You can be sure that a married couple of a lady and a gentleman have an anima-animus pairing in the unconscious.

Anima and animus are actually "inhabitants" of the unconscious, they are even like our ambassadors and lobbyists in the collective unconscious. When I had my first lucid wish vision, my animus appeared to me as the man at the gate, the person who guards the boundary (of consciousness and unconscious).

"At that moment, people started leaving the park and I joined them. We walked through a gate in which stood a young man who looked somewhat familiar to me, but I didn't know where he was from. As I passed him, he grasped the last links of the fingers of his hand with the last links of the fingers of my right hand. Our fingers dug into each other for a few seconds, it was like a strange kind of greeting. Then when I woke up, I could still feel the touch in my fingertips."

I am convinced that it is highly desirable that these truly magical energies work with us. Not only for mental and physical health, it is good to have these entities as a dear friend or girlfriend. Try smiling at them in the mirror in the morning for starters, you will have a nicer and healthier day.