When a person first starts to look at his or her dreams, one of the first archetypes to appear is the shadow.  Eventually, after the shadow makes its appearance, a woman will often encounter the animus.

Like the shadow, the animus is one of many archetypes of the collective unconscious.  However, unlike the shadow, the animus is always male and is only found in the psyche and dreams of women.

The animus has the potential of going through four stages of development. 

At the first stage, there is the materialistic male.  At his worst, he is almost animalistic in his desires.  At his best, he is the muscular hero.  The animus is often shown as a group of rough, rugged or dangerous men or the leader of this group.  This is especially true at this stage of development. 
 


At the second stage, the animus is either a romantic lover of the man of action.



At the third stage, the animus is a "man with a message."  He could appear in a woman?s dream as a professor, a political leader, a preacher or (perhaps less likely) even a doctor.






The fourth stage of development is usually reached after a period of "soul-searching" and self evaluation.  At this stage, the animus becomes a spiritual guide.  The animus is often someone who we don?t normally think of as being a religious figure.  I suspect that pagan deities that were worshipped by our ancestors can also be symbols of this final stage of development.

Here we see the Dalai Lama, Carl Jung, Odin and Loki.