“…human problems are not something people have, but something people are” (James Hillman, Insearch: Psychology and Religion, 16).

Do not try to transform yourself. Move into yourself. Move into your human unsuccess. Perfection rapes the soul.
~Marion Woodman

One of our faithful volunteers is digitizing a lecture by Katie Sanford titled “Redemption of the Feminine”. The animus is a necessary and healthy archetype active in a woman’s psyche and it is through dancing with her animus that a woman can come into greater conscious of herself and the dynamics of her psyche. The animus’ role is to be a counterpoint to the anima, one’s soul. The anima and animus seek dialogue, their seek communication and relationship and so developing a conscious relationship with each is vital.

Katie’s discussion in both of the tapes that comprise this lecture deals with the negative and positive aspects of the animus as a necessary and inevitable aspect of a woman’s psyche, while holding to the core idea of finding liberation and power in the central role of the anima.  Katie refers to Robert Bly’s work on the masculine psyche as a natural counterpart to her own work on the feminine psyche.

A couple of quotes for you:

“Either a man is going to be strong enough to stand who I am, or I am going to live alone.  And it’s a harsh choice!”

The Animus “is here and operating whether we like it or not, so we might as well get used to him.”

“The wonder is that the characteristic efficacy to touch and inspire deep creative centers dwells in the smallest nursery fairy tale-as the flavor of the ocean is contained in a droplet of the whole mystery of life within the egg of a flea” (Joseph Campbell, The Hero With a Thousand Faces, 4).

This image was taken at the old Roman Baths in Bath, Somerset, UK

Sulis is a deity who seems to emerge as a fusion between the mythologies of the Celtic peoples of Britain and the Romans. Sulis presided over the healing waters at Bath in Somerset.

She presided over both the waters and the sun, which most believe is because of the warm, sulfuric nature of the sacred waters at Bath. Because of the curative nature of the waters, pilgrims traveled from all over the Roman world for an experience of Sulis’ magical powers.

It is likely that the ancient people pictured the goddess as returning to the waters every night, infused the with healing powers of the sun. It is likely that they believed that this solar energy of the goddess was what heated the waters and gave them their healing properties. Because the narrative of solar deities often travels from the heights of the skies to the depths of the darkest waters, these stories are often understood (from a Jungian point of view)  as a soul’s journey through the process of individuation.

Icons which represent solar power were often cast into the wells, such as the sun wheel and phoenix.

There also seems to be a connection between the Celtic reverence of Sulis and the Roman goddess Minerva, which clearly indicates an understanding of Sulis’ medicinal properties.

“The Baltic region, comprising Lithuania, Latvia, Finland and Estonia, perhaps represents the greatest reponsitory of Old European beliefs and traditions. Here, pagan religion persisted not through millenium-old historic sagas but via oral traditions and customs that endured to the twentieth century. The Balts were the last pagans of Europe. Christianity came to Lithuania, not in the fifth century, as in Ireland, but at the end of the fourteenth century. In fact, it reached farming people some two to three hundred years later. As a result, the Christian layer of belief among the Balts is very thin” (Marija Gimbutas, The Living Goddesses, 197).

“There need be no conflict between mythical gods and those of religion, because myth never insists its gods are ‘real.’ They need no proofs and they do not depend for affirmation of their reality on the faith of their devotees” (James Hillman, A Terrible Love of War, 180).

In Greek myth, Niobe emerges as an image of pride in motherhood. Her story is often understood as a metaphor for natural phenomena related to weather, such as ice storms, clouds, and rain. One might suggest that she represents the tempestuous nature of motherhood itself, from pride in one’s children to the deep sorrow that a mother feels when she sees her children in pain or in need.

For more on Niobe’s myth:

http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/bulf/bulf13.htm