The "Inner Other"

There's so much we can learn about ourselves from the people who appear in our dreams. In the Jungian way of looking at dreams, these women and men primarily represent aspects of ourselves. For a woman, the men in her dreams tell her about the 'masculine' aspects or energies that exist in her psyche, and for a man, the 'feminine'.

American Indian, Hyemeyohsts Storm, states a commonly held belief when he says, "Within every man there is the Reflection of a Woman, and within every woman there is a Reflection of a Man. Jung called these aspects 'anima' for a man and 'animus' for a woman. The anima personifies the feminine nature of a man's unconscious and the animus the masculine nature of a woman's unconscious.

To understand this concept, I have found it helpful to look at the masculine and feminine as principles. Jean Benedict Raffa expresses the differences between these principles in her book Dream Theatres of the Soul.

The feminine principle, she says, is focused on receptivity, relationship, & nurturance.  It manifests as an ability to 'be'... to contain, to wait, to hold. It's that part of us that is connected to our feelings and emotions and prefers to use mediation, compassion, harmony, and compromise in problem solving. Creativity is based on intuition, instinct, dreams, the imagination. 

 

A man's anima promotes the feminine principle of 'eros' (relationship, feeling) and helps a man reflect on his inner world. How this manifests in his life is dependent on his experience with the significant women in his life. If undeveloped or wounded, the anima can create much havoc in a man's life, making him oversensitive, moody, passive or wishy-washy.

The masculine principle is associated with activity... the ability to 'do'... acting on ideas, forging ahead, pursuing goals. It's that part of us that wants clear focus and rationality. It's an ability to create order, organization and structure from chaos. The creativity of the masculine principle is based on logic, thought, reason, theory and ideas.

The animus develops from a woman's inherited notions of maleness and through contact with all the significant men in her life. The animus helps a woman with decisiveness, discrimination, and bringing her creative impulses to fruition. If manifesting in a negative way, the animus can render a woman rigid, opinionated, critical and stubborn.

This is a really big topic in the world of dream interpretation, but even just knowing this much, helps us identify what energy or corner of our personality is being addressed by the different characters in our dreams.

You're probably asking at this point, "How does this actually show up in dreams?" A man's anima will be personified in a whole range of women, known or unknown, from child to wife to famous women. She may initially be young, troublesome or immature in dreams and eventually develop into sacred partner or guide. A woman's animus will show up as husband, baby, son, brother, friend or an unknown male. At first it might appear as threatening groups of men or mysterious stranger, and develop into her soulmate or spiritual guide.

Jung tells us that moving towards becoming 'whole persons' is dependent on bringing to consciousness these repressed aspects of our "inner other".... developing a relationship with them, allowing these aspects of our personality to work for us and help us evolve. This will also help us gravitate towards healthier relationships or improve difficult ones. I believe that the quickest and most effective way of recognizing our "inner other" is through our dreams.