“Is it possible my lover is not the man I thought him to be? Does he see me at all?
Am I projecting my own inner man onto him?"⁠ ⁠

— Marion Woodman, The Pregnant Virgin: A Process of Psychological Transformation

What is this workshop about?

I first really started thinking about the animus not through books, but through my own anger. Through the conviction with which I sometimes defended opinions that, looking closer, weren't really mine at all: things overheard, inherited, borrowed, yet sounding inside me like undeniable truth.

Jung called this figure the animus: the inner man that, in his theory, every woman carries. But the more I work with this idea, the clearer it becomes that it isn't only about women, or only about a masculine figure living inside them. It's one of the basic energies every person carries, regardless of gender: the capacity to act, to discern, to decide, to assert yourself in the world. And it's exactly this energy that many of us, in modern life, have a fairly complicated relationship with.

Other women in depth psychology have explored this same territory. Emma Jung, Carl Jung's wife and an analyst in her own right, traced how this inner figure moves through four stages of development: from raw physical power to deed, from deed to word, and finally to meaning.

Marion Woodman, who worked with the body and the voice as closely as she worked with the psyche, insisted that masculine and feminine aren't about biology at all, but two kinds of energy present in all of us, and that an unlived, shadow animus quite literally tightens a woman's throat, keeping her from speaking in her own voice.

Who this is for

• Women curious about Jungian archetypes who want to feel the theory, not just read it

• Women who'd like to look differently at the "masculine," both in themselves and in the world

• People who've done "parts work" or similar and want a mythic, less clinical container for it

• Anyone who has ever felt like there's a version of themselves they haven't met yet

  No background in Jungian theory or somatics is needed, just a willingness to be in your body.

When: 29th July | 7 pm - 9 pm CET / 6 - 8 pm UK
Duration: 2 hours
Where: Online (Zoom link sent upon registration)

Sliding Scale Pricing: €25-40

What to prepare:

• Paper and something to write with

• A little space to stand and move

• An open, unhurried two hours

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this therapy? No. This is a creative and somatic exploration, not a therapeutic relationship. It can still be moving, sometimes surprising, but I'm not treating anything, and you're not required to process or resolve anything.

I don't know anything about Jung. Is that a problem? Not at all. You'll get everything you need to work with the four archetypes in the session itself. This isn't an academic seminar.

What if the embodiment part feels intimidating? It's simpler than it sounds. There's no performance, no audience judging you. You can work as small or as big as feels right, even a shift in posture or breath counts.

Do I have to share what I write with the group? Never required. You'll always choose your own level of sharing.

What if difficult emotions come up? The container is designed to be safe and paced. You control your own process. We establish "too much" signals and you can always pause, step back, or work at your own depth.

Will I have access to the recording? Yes. The recording will be available after the workshop.

We either fear it and push it away, or it takes over and speaks with our own voice, handing us its verdicts as if they were our own conclusions. This shapes more than which men we're drawn to and how we relate to them. It shapes how we relate to everything we've learned to call "masculine": structure, power, money, directness, physical strength. And, more importantly, it shapes how we treat those same qualities in ourselves, the ones we exiled to the shadow long ago because somewhere along the way we were told they weren't proper, or feminine, or safe.

This workshop is an invitation to meet that figure directly. We'll start with theory: how it forms, how it moves from inner tyrant to ally, how its projections confuse us in our relationships with real people. Then we'll move into practice: active imagination and somatic, process-oriented work, so we meet it in the body rather than only in thought.

What the participants say

"Today, this truly felt—more than ever—like a ‘space where everything is allowed,’ and that was incredible: to be myself, to do or not do, to listen inwardly, to allow myself to pause and slow down. It was deeply supportive.

Also, some of the things you said—like how even when you’re in your head, you’re still in your body, still feeling—helped dissolve that split between mind and body.

And the dialogue between different parts of myself—the wild one and the controlling one—it felt good to acknowledge both, to honor their wisdom, and to feel gratitude.”

- Tatiana (Psychologist, Commercial editor)

"I'm so grateful for meeting you and our small group. The sessions were a breath of fresh air for me.

Since then, I see things differently, including myself. The rushing has gone, and my energy has increased. I wouldn't say life became easier, but my internal programming - how I look at everything - has changed. There's more neutrality and beauty now.

What changed after the sessions: my gaze became different. My language became different. Not just words, but gestures, breathing, silence.

The most valuable thing - your guidance, your attention, the material itself, and how you presented it.”

- Larisa (Massage specialist, teacher, somatic practitioner)