The Soul and the Anima

Abstract

Jung encounters the feminine in himself in the form of his soul, whom he meets in various attractive forms in different visions. The feminine also often stands for embodied meaning and love in Jung’s experience. Jung works imperfectly with his love-hate relationship with his soul, but succeeds to the extent that he avoids the extremes of response. The Buddhist Brahmavihara meditations are explored as a practical way of working with the unbalanced demands that may accompany love for the projected anima/ animus.