The nature of woman is more closely related to the irrational, and this makes a woman better able to open to new inspirations from the unconscious.
Many myths and fairy tales tell of a prince, who has been turned into an animal or a monster by sorcery, being saved by a woman.
This is a symbolic representation of the development of the animus toward consciousness.
Often the heroine may ask no questions of her mysterious lover, or she is only allowed to meet him in darkness.
She is to save him through her blind faith and love, but this never works.
She always breaks her promise and is only able to find her beloved again after a long quest.
As the anima does with men, the animus also creates states of possession in women.
In myths and fairy tales this condition is often represented by the devil or an “old man of the mountain,” that is, a troll or ogre, holding the heroine prisoner and forcing her to kill all men who approach her or to deliver them into the hands of the demon; or else the father shuts up the heroine in a tower or a grave or sets her on a glass mountain, so that no one can get near her.
In such cases, the heroine can often do nothing but wait patiently for a savior to deliver her from her plight.
Through her suffering, the animus (for both the demon and the savior are two aspects of the same inner power) can be gradually transformed into a positive inner force.
In real life, too, it takes a long time for a woman to bring the animus into consciousness, and it costs her a great deal of suffering.
But if she succeeds in freeing herself from his possession, he changes into an “inner companion” of the highest value, who confers on her positive masculine qualities such as initiative, courage, objectivity, and intellectual clarity.
Like the anima in a man, the animus also commonly exhibits four stages of development.
In the first stage he manifests as a symbol of physical force, for example, a sports hero.
In the next stage, in addition he possesses initiative and focused ability to act. In the third stage, he becomes “the word” and is therefore frequently projected onto noteworthy intellectuals, like doctors, ministers, and professors.
On the fourth level, he embodies the mind and becomes a mediator of creative and religious inner experiences, through which life acquires an individual meaning.
At this stage he confers on a woman a spiritual and intellectual solidity that counterbalances her essentially soft nature.
He can then act as a liaison connecting her with the spiritual life of the time.
When this occurs, women are often more open to new, creative ideas than men.
That is why in the past women were often used as mediums able to make knowledge of the future available to the world of the spirit.
The creative courage in the truth conferred by the animus gives a woman the daring to enunciate new ideas that can inspire men to new enterprises.
Often in history women have recognized the value of new creative ideas earlier than men, who are more emotionally conservative.
The nature of woman is more closely related to the irrational, and this makes a woman better able to open to new inspirations from the unconscious.
The very fact that women normally participate less in public life than men do makes it possible for their animus to act as a “hidden prince” in the darkness of private life and bring about beneficial results. Marie-Louise von Franz, Archetypal Dimensions of the Psyche, Page 322-323
