Lisa Marie Rankin [00:00:00]:

Welcome back to the Goddess School Podcast, where we reclaim the mythic, the magical and the meaningful, one archetype and one story at a time. Today we're diving into a topic that blends myth, Jungian psychology, fairy tales and romantasy into a powerful idea. You are not just the princess, you are also the prince. You are both the king and the queen. In this episode, we're going to explore what young meant by the anima in animus, why you need a sacred union between your inner king and queen, and how to bring these inner forces to life. Because your inner king and queen are powerful complementary energies that when they come together, can bring all of your desires to life. Ready? Let's dive in. Welcome to the Goddess School Podcast, a space for women who want to reclaim their story on awaken their archetypal power and live mythically.

Lisa Marie Rankin [00:00:59]:

I'm Lisa Marie Rankine, author, teacher and your mythic guide. I help women step beyond self help and into soul work by weaving together Jungian psychology, storytelling, ritual and feminine wisdom traditions. In each episode, you'll find personal reflections, mythic frameworks and soul stirring conversations designed to help you re enchant your everyday life and become the heroine of your next chapter. This isn't about fixing yourself. It's about becoming the woman you are meant to be. The veil is parting. The ship is setting sail. Let's begin.

Lisa Marie Rankin [00:01:43]:

In fairy tales, the maiden is often saved by a man. Sleeping Beauty is kissed awake by Prince Charming. In Bluebeard, the youngest sister is rescued by her brothers. And even in Romantasy, like a court of mist and fury, Feyre is saved by Rhysand, our favorite Morley Gray, Shadow Daddy. If you want to hear more about shadow daddies, you can check out episode 27. Now, a lot of feminists might bristle at this. Like, why is it always the man who saves the woman? Personally, I'm not bothered by it. In fact, I love the idea of being protected and supported by a strong, grounded man.

Lisa Marie Rankin [00:02:22]:

But we're not here just to debate tropes. We're here to go even deeper. Now, when we look at these stories through a Jungian lens, the story changes completely. Because suddenly you are not just the maiden, you are actually every character in the story. Your sleeping beauty and the prince who kisses her awake. You're the helpless sister and the fierce sword wielding brothers. You're the queen, the witch, the wounded and the savior. Fairy tales, modern myths, are not literal.

Lisa Marie Rankin [00:02:57]:

They're symbolic maps of your inner psyche. Carl Jung gave us the concept of the anima and the animus. Our inner feminine and our inner masculine. So let me just take a moment to break those down here. Jung said that a man's inner feminine, he called it the anima, was a connection to his inner world. So you can think of that as his creativity, desires, intuition, and emotional life. Women, he said, have an animus, and that's really their inner masculine. And it's arc way we interact with the external world.

Lisa Marie Rankin [00:03:34]:

This would be our ability to take action, create boundaries, protect ourselves from predators, and bring our creative ideas, life. Now, I know some people don't like this gendered language, but for me it works. It feels mythic, symbolic, and helpful. And just like any good archetype, these inner energies exist on a spectrum. So there's all different variations of an anima or an animus. And I like to think of it as a spectrum. You know, sometimes we use that word toxic to explain the more negative. I also don't like the word negative qualities of masculine and feminine, but I like to think of it as a spectrum of immature to mature.

Lisa Marie Rankin [00:04:17]:

So let me give you some examples. The immature feminine could be insecure, needy, manipulative, vain. The immature masculine, however, might be weak, checked out, flaccid. Don't you love the term in this context? Or. Or overly dominating and rigid. But the mature versions of the feminine and masculine, of the anima, animus, they are powerful and they are complementary. This is sort of the point. It's where we want to get to so we can reclaim our sovereignty and our power.

Lisa Marie Rankin [00:04:57]:

Now, many of you know I've been loving using romantasy as a way to explain some of these concepts because again, these romanticies are like modern myths. They reflect what is going on in the collective unconscious and they show a great range of archetypal figures for us to work with. And again, as I said at the very beginning of the podcast, you are not just one character, you are all the characters. They're really a map of the psyche. So if you have read A Court of Thorns of Roses, which is really a fantastic series by Sarah J. Maas, I suggest you read it. It's fun, but there's just so much thought provoking, goodness and ability to imagine, you know, a new reality in there, definitely check that out. But she gives a great example of the spectrum of the animus.

Lisa Marie Rankin [00:05:49]:

So I will go through a little of the examples and don't worry if you haven't read it. Hopefully this will still just give you kind of clues or a symbolic way of interpreting the animus. So we start off with Feyre's father. And Feyre is the heroine of a court of thorns and roses. And her father is really ineffectual. He doesn't try to protect or to try to feed his daughters. In fact, he sends young Feyre out to hunt in the forest to feed the family. So we can think of him as kind of this very ineffectual animus.

Lisa Marie Rankin [00:06:24]:

He's passive, absent. He leaves his daughters to carry the weight. And then Feyre moves on to Tamlin, the high lord of the Spring Court. Now, he is much more effectual than the father, but he's also very overbearing. He's protective to the point of suffocation. It's really his way or the highway. But then we come to Rhysand. Rhysand is our shadow daddy, but he's really also the idolized version of the inner masculine.

Lisa Marie Rankin [00:06:57]:

He is both wise, strategic, brave and supportive. He teaches Feyre to read. He gives her safety and space. And he creates the container in which she can rise into her own power. He provides her with the structure so she can become more of who she is meant to be. But here's the most important part. Rhysand isn't just a dream man, although he is kind of dreamy, but he is a mirror of what your inner king can become. So when we look at the relationship between Rhysand and Feyre, Feyre is not less powerful than Rhysand.

Lisa Marie Rankin [00:07:34]:

In fact, I think she's more powerful if we look at the Acotar series. But he encouraged it. He gave her the container. He taught her to read. He had her, taught her how to wield her magic. He made her train so she would be ready in battle. He also created that container where she could relax in a watery ease and connect with her feminine desires. And that's really such a beautiful example, example of what we are trying to create internally.

Lisa Marie Rankin [00:08:07]:

Now, here's how I like to look at it. You have an inner queen and you have an inner king. The queen is your desires. She might whisper to you your longings. She knows what turns you on, what lights you up and what matters. Now, if you have been in survival mode for a time, or you're not used to putting your needs or desires first, you may feel a disconnect, connect a bit of disconnection from your inner queen. But don't worry, she is there just waiting for you to take notice. And your inner king, that's the part of you that is going to create the condition to make your queen's desires real.

Lisa Marie Rankin [00:08:50]:

So if your queen says, I want to prioritize my art. Your king will build out a calendar that protects your studio time. If your queen says, I want to feel healthy, radiant and strong, your king might wake you up at 6am in the morning for your daily walk, cook nourishing meals, and turn off Netflix by nine. The king offers discipline in service to what it is that you actually want. Now, many of the women who are likely listening to this or in my community come to me because they are interested in bodying more of the feminine, which I totally get, because our culture really values masculine qualities over the feminine. So, for example, we value the analytical, think in mind, reason over feeling, intuition. We often look at external benchmarks of success to determine how worthy we are. And there's this sense of moving forward in a linear fashion, whether it's climbing up the corporate ladder or, you know, getting a set of grades, as opposed to a sense of discovery and curiosity and what's next.

Lisa Marie Rankin [00:10:03]:

So it makes sense that many women are like, okay, I'm tired of that way of living. I want to embody more of my feminine. But here's the thing. To embody more of the feminine, we do need a strong masculine container. The analogy that I like to give is you could have these beautiful bouquet of flowers, but without the vase, you're just gonna have flowers and water all over the countertop. So we need to establish that inner king. So sometimes women resist the idea of discipline because it sounds punishing, rigid. I often hear people say, oh, I just wanna listen to my body, rather than I wanna.

Lisa Marie Rankin [00:10:42]:

Than making themselves go for a walk. So discipline can sound like overly masculine in the worst way. But here is every flaming that I love. What if discipline wasn't control, but it was discipleship? Not obedience to someone else's rules, but devoted service to your own sacred vision that is your inner king. He doesn't overrule the queen. He serves her. And as Marianne Woodman. So just a little bit more about discipline.

Lisa Marie Rankin [00:11:14]:

She's an author and Jungian analyst. She has written discipline is a bad word in our culture. People associate it with having to do what they're told. But discipline is quite a lovely word. It comes from the same root as disciple, and it means seeing yourself through the eyes of the teacher who loves you. I really love that quote. So I encourage you to think about what you want, what you desire, and then what it takes to get that. Because there is going to be an element of discipline in there.

Lisa Marie Rankin [00:11:45]:

And discipline isn't to overrule you. It's so you can get what it is that you Actually, actually want. Now, let's take a moment to talk about boundaries. Because your inner king is also the part of you that is going to set and create boundaries. A lot of times we think about boundaries as walls to keep others out or to keep the stuff that we don't want out. But what if instead we saw them as moats around the castle and we didn't focus so much on what we wanted to keep out, but we focused more on what it is that we wanted to protect. So when I often hear people talk about boundaries, I'll hear things like, he can't talk to me like that I have boundaries, or she can't just take advantage or borrow money from me. But here's the thing.

Lisa Marie Rankin [00:12:33]:

People can do whatever they want to do. Boundaries about are about you and what you will or won't allow. They are about protecting the vision you have for yourself in your life. So if you want to spend more time developing your creative endeavors, maybe it's a book, maybe it's artwork, then you're going to need to create boundaries to protect your time and your space. If you want to prioritize your health, run a 5k, get in better shape, you're going to have to set boundaries, maybe even with yourself, so that you can dedicate the time to do this. Boundaries are all about protecting the vision you have for yourself in your life. So you can think of it as your inner king builds the moat, raises the drawbridge, and holds the line so your queen can create, rest and reign. Your boundaries protect your queendom.

Lisa Marie Rankin [00:13:27]:

When your inner king and queen are working together, it's the alchemical marriage, the sacred union within. They are not competitive. They don't battle, they are complementary. Together, they're going to bring your life into balance. The queen fails, the king acts, the queen dreams, the king executes. The queen wants, the king protects. It's not about becoming someone else. It's really about integrating all parts of you.

Lisa Marie Rankin [00:13:55]:

And the good news is, you don't have to be rescued. You already have the devoted king within you. Now, I know this concept, it can seem a little abstract at first, but this is a concept I use with many of my private coaching clients. And it really resonates with them because it helps them connect with their desires, what it is that they want, and then also take radical responsibility for creating the conditions that can bring their desires to life. So I, before we close, I wanted to give you a few prompts, and you might even want to take your journal out if you can, and reflect upon these to meet These different parts of yourself. So with your inner queen, consider what do I desire most right now? And don't try to qualify or diminish your desires. Whatever you want, just write it down. And I, we.

Lisa Marie Rankin [00:14:54]:

We've read this book called Unbound by Cassia Urbaniak in Enlivened. It's a great book. And she talks about desires as desires just are. We don't choose our desires. Our desires come to us. So keep that in mind when you're thinking about what you desire. Because so many women I talk to were like, oh, I don't need much. I just need this.

Lisa Marie Rankin [00:15:18]:

And I just want to feel safe and like, yes, that's great. But if there is something you want, connect with that. That's gonna connect you to your shakti, your animating life force. So what do you desire right now? Consider what lights me up, turns me on, makes me feel alive. This is your inner queen. This is your inner juice zest for light. And then, as you consider your inner king, how can you honor that desire? How can you bring it to life? Is there a structure, boundary, or focus that is needed? How can you support your inner king, appreciate him so he can get the job done? That's another point, too, is, you know, sometimes as we resist discipline or resist doing what it takes, that's kind of like telling our inner king, no, we don't want you. We're not interested.

Lisa Marie Rankin [00:16:11]:

And of course the king is going to stop trying. The king's going to stop going away. So when we do create structure, boundaries, discipline, it's important to congratulate, appreciate your inner king for doing that. He is doing that in service of you. So imagine what could happen in your life if your inner king and queen came together. They were these complementary forces within you to connect you to your desire and then create the structure to bring to life. Well, beautiful ones, I hope this was helpful. I hope this was resonant with you.

Lisa Marie Rankin [00:16:46]:

I hope this gives you a new way of looking at the forces within you. Now, if this episode stirred something in you, I would love it if you could share it with a sister, leave a review, or come find me over on Substack, where we dive even deeper into archetypes, myth and magic. And until next time, may your king be Claire, your queen be radiant, and your castle be. Be sacred. See you soon. Thank you for joining me for this episode of the Goddess School podcast. I hope it sparked your imagination and expanded your vision for what's possible. If you're ready to explore these concepts more deeply, reclaim your personal myth and live with greater creativity and enchantment.

Lisa Marie Rankin [00:17:31]:

I invite you to join me inside enlivened my Divine Feminine Mystery School and sacred community where we bring these teachings to life through ritual, story coaching and of course real world action. You can find the link to learn more in the show notes. And remember, the Goddess isn't a deity outside of yourself. She's an aspect of your highest self. You are the Goddess. Until next time