The Anima and Animus

Jung used the word anima for the feminine soul image in a man, and animus for the masculine one in a woman: the inner figure most unlike our conscious self, which leads us toward the unconscious. Beebe placed it at the fourth seat, the inferior function: the one we are worst at, most ashamed of, and most drawn to. Many today read it beyond gender, as the soul image: the other inside.

It is where we feel clumsy and naive, and also where we idealize: we often admire, or fall for, people who are strong where we are weak. Under heavy stress it can take over completely, which Naomi Quenk called being "in the grip".

Its shadow is the Demon or Daimon, seat 8: the same function facing the other way, the deepest and most dangerous place in the type.

Approach it gently, in small doses and with humour. Grant placed its development around midlife, and it never becomes easy, but each small step brings a sense of meaning far bigger than the effort.

The call to adventure, and Campbell's meeting with the goddess: the inner figure that calls the Hero away from its comfort. Campbell, a reader of Jung, drew his goddess close to the anima.

How all eight seats fit Campbell's story: The hero's journey within.