Jung recognized distinctive features in
the psyche of men and women. He analyzed these differences in his study of
the anima and animus. The anima is the personification of the feminine
nature of man's unconscious; the animus the masculine nature of a woman's
unconscious. Jung believes the woman's psyche to be the adverse and reverse
of the man's. He has often stated that Eros, or the principle of relatedness
and feeling is dominant in the female; that Logos, the analytical way, the
power to discriminate and judge is supreme in the male. Jung's theory says
that logic and objectivity are generally the main features of a man's outer
attitude, or at least regarded as ideals, and in a woman it is feeling. The
animus pole is frequently projected in different media as directed,
instructive, powerful, functional, balanced, and serious, while the anima
pole is projected as “fanciful, imaginative, colorful, poetic, light,
perceptive, decorative, and amusing. On a deeper level, the emotional
tension of the polarities within the masculine and feminine, their shadow
and transcendence. The shadow of the anima is noticeable as “irrationality
and chaos;” the transcendence as “inspiration and intuitive vision.” The
shadow of the animus is visible as “cruelness, cunning and brute force”, the
transcendence as “practical wisdom”. Jung asserts that these opposing
natures can come together in an individual's search for “selfhood,” which
represents a balance between the opposing forces within the personality.
This results in what Jung calls androgyny: individuals who have fully
developed both the masculine and feminine aspects of their personality. The
method by which these opposite natures can be reconciled into entirety is
called paradoxical unity.
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Jung claims “life is founded on the harmonious interplay of masculine and
feminine forces, within the individual human as well as without”. Jung
appear to imply that an understanding of these opposites within the self,
and within the larger sphere of society, is essential in order to obtain
peace and enlightenment within both, is necessary as a foundation for life
itself. Whether Jung's cited differences in the male and female psyche are
psychologically inherent or whether they have been inscribed on the
collective conscious by patriarchal dominance is debatable. Obviously men
don't have the exclusive right to logic and thought or women to emotion and
intuition.
Jung asserts that an overdeveloped animus manifests when a man accepts the
masculine role almost too thoroughly and everything feminine may become
forbidden. However he cannot change his nature entirely. There remains in
him his feminine side, and if this were subdued in favor of masculinity, his
anima may appear in irrational moods, in irritability or anger, and not
occasionally in sexual deviation, frequently linked with immature emotional
development. Robert Johnson’s in his interesting book, He, explores the
subject of masculine identity and inner psychology through analysis and
commentary on the myth of Parsifal and the search for the Holy Grail.
Johnson makes the point early on that myth is a collective expression of the
human unconscious, just as dreams are a personal expression. The Jungian
perspective he offers integrates the personal and collective through the
symbolism of dream and myth, extracting meaning for the individual from the
unconscious images that form the heart of the larger, mythic tales.
He, is a practical and well-written, intelligible analysis of the masculine
struggle for identity, meaning and individuation, presented though the
cautious study of the myth. There are a number of key concepts, precious to
Jungians, which are discussed in the book. Perhaps the most significant of
these is the emphasis on the proper relationship of the male with both inner
and outer femininity. The point is often made during the writer’s discussion
that one must be careful not to confuse the two.
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According to Johnson, one of the most
important recognitions a man can make psychologically is that there is a
powerful, inner aspect of femininity, which must be incorporated consciously
before true well-being, and wholeness can result for him as an individual.
This is often a difficult pill for a man to swallow. The myth guides the
interested reader through a kind of teaching process about the inner
feminine, the relationship of man to Spirit and God, and the kind of
suitable behavior required to make the promise of personal and collective
redemption (seen in the magical reclamation of the Grail) a reality.
Symbols in the He myth are the fisher king wound, the mother's clothes and
the red knight. The expression fisher king comes from the image in the myth
of the salmon (represents a symbol of Christ) being cooked on an open fire.
The young boy goes to reach for a piece of the salmon and is burned. As he
goes to put his finger in his mouth, he gets a taste of it and develops a
taste he will never forget. At this same time, he is touched by a symbol of
Christ, is wounded by it and drops it. The young man's name is Parsifal,
which means innocent fool. Parsifal desires to be a knight. Before he leaves
home to battle the Red Knight, his mother gives him three instructions:
respect all fair damsels, go to church daily, and not to ask any questions.
As Parsifal starts out on his journey he meets and fights the Red Knight,
wins the battle, as well as the Knight's armor.
The Red Knight is the shadow
side of masculinity the negative, potentially destructive side. To become
truly a man the shadow personality must be struggled with, but it cannot be
repressed. The boy cannot suppress his aggressiveness and win that way, for
he needs exactly that masculine power which is to be found in his Red Knight
shadow. So it is a matter of his ego becoming strong enough so that he
cannot be overcome by his rage but can use the power in it for conscious
purposes, that is, to overcome obstacles in his path and achieve his goals.
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