Post by tobyspringfield on May 4, 2017 13:55:48 GMT -5
I heard somewhere, can't remember where, that our Anima/Animus is a certain type in correlation to our shadow functions. Not sure if this is true or not?
Yes, oh I have so much to say on this that hasn't been really captured before. Thank you for making this thread!
tobyspringfield - So there are indeed many different interpretations of how the anima/animus concept of Jung relates to, or if it does at all, to type. I've abstained from making any premature correlation but in my eyes, thankfully i feel vultology has shed light on what this is without any "a priori" speculating.
The Polar, Fetishism & Personal Identity
An overwhelming pattern we see in types (as noted by Collo above) is that the polar function is critical to a person's psychological drama. And it either remains as their antithesis or it comes to embody their identity. Unfailingly, every type has a relationship to their polar which is either marked by a repression of it or a deep affiliation with it. Affiliation which may make it feel like their primary essence. Here are a few that are polarized:
FiSe Marissa Mayer = CEO of Yahoo TiNe Amy Cuddy = "Presence", a book about emotional engagement TeSi Rebecca Watson = Feminist & Activist TeNi Selena Gomez = UNICEF volunteer, charity worker NeTi Matthew Gubler = a packrat and collector of things NeTi Adam Savage = a collector (and maker) of various fantasy/sci-fi items SeTi Eminem = and any anti-sages NiFe = and any covert addicts NiTe = and any jesters/jokers SiFe = and silly clowns etc
I might say there is a type of fetishism toward the polar functions. Whether it's in the Ni-lead's addictive tendencies, or in the Si-lead's more lively and goofy side, or in the Te-lead's secret love of the sensitive and ethical.... the polar function is a channel into some "life force" that is missing within us. Some element that has been cast away into the shadows or unconscious. Some element that is unknown or unexplored within us. It is the muse, but it's also in a very real way: "us".
I also find that, generally, types experience great fulfillment when channeling their polar. For example for me, I find I have a kind of fetishism toward intense emotional experiences. Perhaps because I seldom feel myself truly letting go of emotional inhibitions, I will seek out media that contains poignant content. In a way to awaken what feels like a more void interior.
In the Jungian sense, to master the polar is to integrate the anima/animus into your psyche. Literally. Because if you're a high T type, then you're integrating the feminine principle (F) into you by converging with it. And if you're a high F type, you're integrating the masculine into your personality by harmonizing perspectives with it. In this sense, one could genuinely say the process of integrating the polar has some spiritual significance to the personality.
The Polar and Identity
The polar will be the other half of our identity. I am wondering if this might explain why Amsterdam you have sometimes felt like an FeSi? Or maybe why elly you sometimes feel far more related to Se? And perhaps even why bellabellas86 you feel far more resonance with the aspiration for emotional connection and intensity?
The anima/animus is what we chase after, and it's the part of us we long to be more of, if we have a proper connection to it. Because of that the polar may feel in some way like it's "our true self" or "our deepest self" because that is what the anima/animus is. In latin it means 'soul' or 'the vital principle'. So an SiFe may only show their silly side to those they feel comfortable with, or when they can feel it's ok to let loose. A TiNe may only share their emotionality and vulnerability with those who are deemed safe.
Yet I think we may sometimes forget our regular/mundane, default state of operation is also really 'us' and not just the pregnant core which we may feel most compulsion towards. Who we are most natively isn't something we're aiming for. It's what we already embody and what constitutes our second-by-second experience, rather than highlight moments we have. And so I find occasionally that people can forget what their default state is, and solely identify with their polar axis. But the greater truth is that both are us. And in some people the two converge elegantly, creating an entity that's just as much the primary as the polar both in psychology and in expression.
Post by tobyspringfield on May 4, 2017 17:11:26 GMT -5
I guess this explains my love - hate relationship with my Se. But I'm still very confused about the role our shadow functions play in our personality. Or if they exist at all. Well in MBTI community they state that the shadow functions of the TiNe for example are Te Ni Se Fi but not sure if this is true or not.
bellabellas86: I'm probably an Fe-dom, and regardless am pretty balanced between Fe and Ti, so I might be able shed some light on this:
Overall, I consider myself an emotionally neutral person who strives to be as objective and unbiased as possible when thinking and drawing conclusions. I'm very suspicious of reasoning that isn't rigorous and logically sound, and I value precision and accuracy in myself and in others. I tend to dislike prissiness and political correctness (I despise the genteel, though I ironically present as very poised and refined IRL), and aim to keep different lines of reasoning as pure and on-track as possible (moral arguments should be separate from factual arguments, personal arguments should be kept separate from universal arguments unless good grounds exist to universalize/personalize them, etc.). Obama, I think, is a parallel case, since despite his status as an F-dom, he's known by those close to him as a fairly detached, professorial figure and not a particularly emotional person. But of course, navigating the world of human dynamics is like breathing to me, and I think it's telling that I experience the use of Ti as a conscious act, though one which comes easily to me and which I'm able to engage in ably. I'm very much an extravert, but Ti lends a degree of intellectual conscientiousness and love of abstract reasoning that might not have existed otherwise.
Post by tobyspringfield on May 5, 2017 11:58:54 GMT -5
To be honest I ascribe to John Beebe's model simply on how the functions work. All the functions have similarities and differences that the mirrors personify ie. Ne looks like extroverted Ni and Si looks like introverted Se etc. So I guess these shadow functions could exist somewhere in our anima projection and be the reason why we get attracted so easily to our shadow types simply because it feels right. All is left is to find vultological proof of shadow functions. To YouTube!
My Fe-anima manifests itself in my tendency to become infatuated to people of opposite sex. Here's Wikipedia's article about limerence. It describes perfectly my obsession. Does anyone else have this?
I also have many features of what they in constitutive homeopathy (is that the correct term?) call "Natrum Muriaticum" type. I think in that type there can be seen something which seems Fe-anima.
