>>17836117
it's generally agreed nowadays that we all have an "unconscious" mind which acts autonomously, out of our control. (if we had control, it would be conscious.)
well jung had a way of labeling sections of that unconscious mind.
for example, the grand sum of all the qualities which you reject in the process of becoming a functioning member of society is tantamount to another human being, living autonomously in your unconscious mind and acting out in your worst moments. jung calls that entity your "shadow".
within that shadow lives all of your feminine qualities (if you're a normal, healthy boy), or all of your masculine qualities, (if you're a normal, healthy girl). jung calls the entity that is composed of these qualities your "anima (female) or animus (male)".
the process of becoming a mature adult - and in a way the whole purpose of life and the function of religion - involves multiple stages where you dump a fresh set of qualities into the unconscious mind, and then dive back in and retrieve them when you develop the emotional fortitude to handle them.
this is what jung called "integration".
the subprocess of integrating your "anima/animus", specifically, is in mundane terms the process of learning how to handle the qualities of the opposite sex. as a man, this is how you develop tolerance for passivity and gentleness without becoming cowardly and catty, and at the same time it's how you conquer your fear or even obsession with the opposite sex.
and a lot of that group of qualities is learned from your parent of the opposite sex. and it affects how women handle discipline and how men handle pleasure. and throughout history, this process has been made manifest in dreams and in myths and any creative activity - deeply psychological endeavors where the unconscious is able to speak out.
