> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.descentpress.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Soul-image - URL: https://www.descentpress.com/index/soul-image/ - Published: 2026-09-05T04:40:52.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-10T02:26:51.000Z - Description: Soul-image names the representation, in dreams or other unconscious products, of the inner personality—usually contrasexual. Related: anima / animus; soul; projection; persona; symbiosis. - Author: Jae Botávn - Tags: #index, #Import 2026-09-04 23:45 ## 1\. Etymology **Soul-image** names the **representation, in dreams or other unconscious products, of the inner personality—usually contrasexual**. Related: [anima](https://www.descentpress.com/index/anima/) / [animus](https://www.descentpress.com/index/animus/); [soul](https://www.descentpress.com/index/soul/); [projection](https://www.descentpress.com/index/projection/); [persona](https://www.descentpress.com/index/persona/); symbiosis. --- ## 2\. Plain summary Wherever an impassioned, almost magical relationship between the sexes thrives, Sharp says a projected soul-image is usually at work—and because such relationships are common, the soul is often unconscious. The image is typically projected onto a person of the opposite sex (idealist woman / “depraved” saviour-fantasy; man / prostitute as soul crying for succour). When consciousness itself is identified with the soul, the soul-image more often becomes an aspect of the [persona](https://www.descentpress.com/index/persona/)—projected same-sex, grounding some homosexual patterns and parent-transferenes, with defective outer adaptation and over-orientation to inner processes. Many relationships begin on projected soul-images; symbiotic, they often end badly. **Examples (exhaustive house list for this Index lemma — common soul-image motifs named across Jung’s essays and standard Jungian lexica; not a claim that Jung’s CW contains only these):** contrasexual inner personality image; magical relationships as projection; saviour-fantasy / haloed prostitute; persona-as-soul-image when identified with soul; same-sex projection path; symbiotic bond; kinship with [anima](https://www.descentpress.com/index/anima/) / [animus](https://www.descentpress.com/index/animus/) / [soul](https://www.descentpress.com/index/soul/) / [projection](https://www.descentpress.com/index/projection/). --- ## 3\. Academic elucidation In analytical psychology soul-image is the **projected archetypal image of the inner (often contrasexual) personality**. Lexica (Sharp dedicated head; Samuels via anima/animus / soul) supply paraphrase Do not invent loci. ## 4\. Lexicon **Sharp (1991)** > Soul-image. The representation, in dreams or other products of the unconscious, of the inner personality, usually contrasexual. … Wherever an impassioned, almost magical, relationship exists between the sexes, it is invariably a question of a projected soul-image. … Many relationships begin and initially thrive on the basis of projected soul-images. Inherently symbiotic, they often end badly. (Sharp, 1991) — cites CW 6 ¶809, ¶811. **Samuels, Shorter & Plaut (1986)** — no dedicated *soul-image* head; route via anima/animus / soul: > (no head) --- ## 5\. CW concordance — sample, not exhaustive > For a man, a woman is best fitted to be the real bearer of his soul-image, because of the feminine quality of his soul; for a woman it will be a man. Wherever an impassioned, almost magical, relationship exists between the sexes, it is invariably a question of a projected soul-image. Since these relationships are very common, the soul must be unconscious just as frequently… > (Jung, 1921/1971, CW 6, p. 649, ¶809) Dual [anima](https://www.descentpress.com/index/anima/) / [soul](https://www.descentpress.com/index/soul/) untouched. > If the soul-image is not projected, a thoroughly morbid relation to the unconscious gradually develops… For an idealistic woman, a depraved man is often the bearer of the soul-image; hence the “saviour fantasy”… > (Jung, 1921/1971, CW 6, p. 651, ¶811) Dual [projection](https://www.descentpress.com/index/projection/) / [persona](https://www.descentpress.com/index/persona/) untouched. --- **See also:** [soul](https://www.descentpress.com/index/soul/); [anima](https://www.descentpress.com/index/anima/); [animus](https://www.descentpress.com/index/animus/); [persona](https://www.descentpress.com/index/persona/); [projection](https://www.descentpress.com/index/projection/); [spirit](https://www.descentpress.com/index/spirit/); [splitting](https://www.descentpress.com/index/splitting/). ## References Jung, C. G. (1971). Psychological types \[Definitions\]. In H. Read, M. Fordham, G. Adler, & W. McGuire (Eds.), *The collected works of C. G. Jung* (R. F. C. Hull, Trans.) (Vol. 6, pp. 649, 651, ¶809, ¶811). Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1921) Samuels, A., Shorter, B., & Plaut, F. (1986). *A critical dictionary of Jungian analysis*. Routledge. Sharp, D. (1991). *Jung lexicon: A primer of terms & concepts*. Inner City Books. ---