Τhe Dictionary of #Psychology and #Psychoanalysis Trends 3

 

The #Animus - The #Anima (Catherine Collin, 2012)

According to Carl Gustav #Jung (1875-1961), it exists as the masculine component of the female personality and as the feminine attributes of the male psyche, respectively. This is the 'other half', the half that was taken from us as we grew into a boy or girl. Both archetypes help people understand the nature of the opposite sex, and because they contain 'deposits of all impressions ever made' by a man or woman, so they, necessarily, reflect the traditional ideas of masculine and feminine. As these archetypes exist in our unconscious, they can affect our moods and reactions by manifesting themselves as either prophetic statements (Anima) or unbending rationality (Animus).

Art: One of the most fascinating examples of the effect of archetypes and symbols in modern painting is 'Summer and Winter' (2007) by fantasy and magic realism artist, Michael Parkes. The painting plays upon the concept of the opposite qualities of Summer-Winter, and the Animus-the Anima Archetypes: Winter (Animus) is represented by the melancholic middle-aged man dressed in formal black clothes, whereas, Summer (Anima) by the seductive young woman in white stockings, seating half-naked on top of the middle-aged man. Concepts such as optimism vs pessimism, rationality vs emotion, confidence vs insecurity, black vs white and extroversion vs introversion are, also, depicted in the painting.