Symbolic Life

Only domesticated animals misbehave; a wild animal never misbehaves; it follows its own natural law; there is no such thing as a good tiger that eats only apples and carrots! ~Carl Jung, Visions Seminar, Page 37

I don’t believe in the tiger who was finally converted to vegetarianism and ate only apples. My solace was always Paul, who did not deem it beneath his dignity to admit he bore a thorn in the flesh. ~Carl Jung, Letters Vol. II, Page 277.

The anima also has affinities with animals, which symbolize her characteristics. Thus she can appear as a snake or a tiger or a bird. ~ Carl Jung, CW 9i, para. 358

… the heavenly bride … is a typical anima projection … Spitteler also likens the “Lady Soul” to a tiger. (In China, the tiger is a symbol of yin.) ~Carl Jung, CW 13, Para 460, fn 14

I: “How can I love you? How do you come to this question? I see only one thing, you are Salome, a tiger, your hands are stained with the blood of the holy one. How should I love you?” ~Carl Jung, Liber Novus, Page 246.

Because when lost they [Spirits of the Dead] are as malicious as the serpent, as bloodthirsty as the tiger that pounces on the unsuspecting from behind. ~Carl Jung, Red Book, Page 342

Above there is the anima rationalis, to use the medieval term, and below the anima vegetativa, only life as such. The moment it becomes conscious, the two aspects will reveal themselves. So what enters into the soul of the child? A whole tiger or a half tiger? ~Carl Jung, Children’s Dreams Seminar, Page 416

God made the horse and the tiger to be what they are, but to us it has become more important to be Mr. So and So than to fulfil the primitive task of being a human being. ~Carl Jung, ETH, Page 192.