The ancient world had a much different perception of the role of the feminine, and what powers that femininity may apply to the quest for authentic love. Today's woman is perhaps more attuned to "hunting for a man," rather than actually "attracting" him.

"Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?" While this may be the story of Snow White and her wicked mother, it is also a question which demonstrates a woman's passive acceptance of the opinions of her unconscious Animus.

"Am I Fat?"

Why does this question seem so familiar? Why does it always get a laugh on the comedy shows?

Because it is universal. And this universality should be a clue to the origin of the question, the critic himself, The Animus. This very universality is a kind of proof, also that the Animus is a function of the Collective Unconscious, and not a personal thought or behavior. This should adequately prove the existence of these figures. Tthough they may not visible in everyday life, the Quest for Authentic Love demands we seek them out to make them visible.

The magic of Love exists in this discovery: The Animus becomes transformed once he is made conscious. He becomes her "helper" instead of the usual hindrance to Love. He will do the seeking for her, without her conscious participation (or hunting!) and on the beat of Venus' transit to some planet in her chart, she will be approached by Mr. Tall-Dark-Handsome. This is proved from experience. In plain-speak, this is the work of psychoanalysis, made simple. The astrology, a feature which Jung might have added had he lived another 20 years, is another help toward personal consciousness of Love's authentic demands. Astrology helps to define the difference between instinct and compulsion, returning to women a deeply individual response to her life.

These psychoanlytic principles are the discoveries of CG Jung and his wife, not my own. But, having used their work as a springboard to my own success, I can readily suggest that it is possible for other women to find deep satisfactions in authentic Love, finding the meaning of their lives as women, and allowing the women around them to also feel similarly inspired. In other words, this material becomes a "disinfectant" of our conscious attitudes, affected by too many close encounters with the material of the unconscious, without the knowledge to counteract the forces that seem so personal: They are indeed not personal. Not every of her thoughts actually originate from her.

What I describe belongs to the grand scheme, the Collective Unconscious, from which women must retrieve their own powers in Love, consciously.

What are the feminine powers?

In the 21st century, the news is pockmarked by reports of violence and anger. Hate dominates the headlines. Seeking out the more tender aspects of human connection seems lost in this conundrum. Now more than ever in this temperamental place so massacred by extremes, the need for "relaxation response" and the hormonal balance achieved by sexual fulfillment becomes urgently "medicinal."

As an astrologer I teach women to retrieve their forgotten feminine "strengths." But before we even mention the word "passivity," women must realize how these strengths have been allowed to go lost somewhere hidden. Historic traits and traditional roles have lasted many thousands of years in women, and yet they seem to have disappeared from the contemporary scene. Passivity, silence, deep forgiveness, once the great redeeming powers of love in women, have become passé. Yet, they are not "dead!"

Instead, these vast assets of femininity have retreated to a deep place, hidden in the unconscious. This is the residence of the Master, an unknown slaver. The feminine powers which used to serve Love in the world, now serve this very "Master," in the hearts of women. This Master is the critical voice, the list-maker and the destroyer of relationships.

The inner Master, this voice of anti-relating is that of an unconscious figure in the psychology of women. This is a masculine figure, the veritable "Animus" described by CG Jung and his wife, Emma, in their work on the psychology of the Collective Unconscious. This Animus figure has gained in his claim on women. Millions of women listen to him, having become passive to his voice and commands even while their conscious attitude speaks in the tones of Alice's Queen of Hearts, "Off with her head!"

The typical woman is thus already married to this hidden figure! She is faithful to him but not to her human counterpart. Women's formerly conscious passivity is subverting her own needs for Love by serving the very figure that may thwart it.

As a result, women have lost some of their "edge" in relationships and attraction. This Animus will cause her to feel inadequate without the least bit of mascara, and criticize her as if she were supposed to be perfect.

"Am I fat?" Any woman who looks into the mirror may be asking herself, or anyone standing near, this same question. She may voice it in a way that seems familiar. In fact, most of us have heard this same question, spoken in the same tone, over and over. The meaning behind it says, "Do you love me, are you attracted to me?" But the fact of the spoken word does something. It seems to negate the positive response! Their listener is motivated to answer in a way that may or may not be truthful, but which will appease rather than inform.

It is a trap which creates isolation. But this trap can be sprung by force of character: Our willingness to honestly listen to the Inner Dialogue, through dream analysis, provides a guide to fulfilling relationships.