Dream: Mark and I have found a vacation home that we can come back to over and over again. It is spacious with many empty rooms. It’s full of possibilities. We are excited. This place gives us a good feeling. There’s a big bathtub. I fill it up and get in, feeling the water. This is a special place just for us.

Rodger explains that getting into the water shows that I am in my “essence”. I am dipping into the place in my self that is my true self or my soul self. It is often expressed in the dream through water.

Dream: I am in a big room with long tables. It could be a school cafeteria. A woman with long, wavy, dark hair (she looks like a younger version of me) comes up to me and says, “Hi, I remember you. I met you through your husband Mark.” I look at her for a few seconds and I realize I remember her too. I say, “Yes, I do remember you. Didn’t you have longer hair before?” I can tell that she is very pleased that I remember her. We stand there admiring each other, feeling a sort of love between us.

In this dream, I am getting reacquainted with a younger version of myself. Perhaps it is a part of me that I am beginning to reclaim and that is why the younger woman is so pleased that I remember her.

Dream: I am standing very close to a young man in his 20’s or so. I have an irresistible urge to hug him and so I do. It feels awesome but I think maybe I should pull away.

Not surprisingly, Rodger mentions that the man is the animus. I am starting to get when it’s the animus. In the dream, he is putting himself in a place where I can choose to connect with him and I do. I experience an amazing feeling of love coming from him but I think I should pull away. For my homework, I am to imagine myself hugging him without thinking about pulling away. There is much to learn about the animus archetype. As I develop a relationship with the animus in the dream world, the idea is that I can begin to feel a sense of love through him. Rodger tells me that the animus is a special archetype because he has an element of the divine in him. Through the animus, we learn to feel and give love. And as Rodger says…. being with the animus in your dreams is a template for being in the world. It will help me develop the capacity to love. All of this is very new to me. I find it fascinating! At the same time, I also find it hard to believe that the animus has an “element of the divine” in him. My thinking mind says this is a little far fetched but the feelings speak for themselves. The feeling of love that I feel through the animus is so indescribable, I let go of judgment about the who or what or where it came from. I allow myself to feel it.