Dreamer's Refuge ב"ה

A Student of Sense and Nonsense

Anima, Animus and the Ouroboros

In the book ‘The Origin and History of Consciousness’ by Erich Neumann, he does a great job describing the Jungian interpretation of the Ouroboros. While being an infinity, the potentiality of feminine and masculine both exist in it; but the feminine is the forerunner to the masculine in the dualistic world.

So the totality is counted as a feminine, while the masculine is its offspring and lover. Paradoxically, it is both, and Feminine while it is contained in the Unconscious. While the Conscious is Masculine, and has the Feminine as its offspring, and sister.

This comes to the question of the Soul, and Spirit. Anima, and Animus. The soul of both men and women is feminine, and this is actually pointed out by Hasidic Judaism and Gnosticism. The soul is a “she”. And this makes sense as the soul is the ‘daughter’ of the totality.

 Our sages have said: “She is called by five names: Nefesh (breath), Ruach (wind/spirit), Neshamah (breath), Chayah (life) and Yechidah (singularity).”

Five Levels

I think the way this is broken down is so:

Men have the Anima, the Feminine soul/function itself which is unconscious, while the masculine spirit is extraverted and consciously expressed by the body, and the ego.

While in Women, the Animus is the Masculine spirit/function, which is unconscious, while the soul is extraverted and consciously expressed by the body, and the ego.

However, if you dig down enough, because the Soul is a reflection, or ‘star’ (spark) of the infinite, you will find the Masculine, and further the Feminine and further still the Masculine – ad infinitum . The same is true for the ‘Self’.

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