Anna Wrote: I see this middle-aged man as a symbol of potential and so of what you can “grow into”, once you have dealt with the second part of the dream.
It is a potential that is still unknown to you, reason why you perceive him as “I have the sense that the man is a relative, maybe”.
Well, I agree that I am the bridge between these two aspects or levels of my inner masculine/animus.
When I say that I perceive him as a relative it is precisely because he does feel familiar and known to me, as a "relative" customarily is. The feeling energy of the dream tells me he is a professional, intelligent, astute and mature man.
There is, however, something to be said about my not seeing him as "my partner" - and that may well have to do with the work I continue to do with lesser developed aspects of myself, as seen in the Gregory-Martin image.
I did also have a feeling energy or sense that there was something womb-like in connection with Gregory-Martin, that the unconscious was indeed giving me a developmental reference. So, what Tony offered helped here.
I do not see the animus as either/or, as in a potential I am growing into, but as a wholeness. The animus includes all the flavorings of the masculine my life has known. He has been shown to me in many varied colorings/dimensions through my dreams, from sage to beggar and from hoodlum to hero, etc.
Indeed, I am working on improving my relationship with this part of myself.
The good thing about the work with the animus is that once one has developed a good relationship with their unconscious, and has been years in the process, much of the work continues rather autonomously. Meaning the unconscious itself continues to seek its own integration with the self/Self. We need only be loving and compassionate (which includes deeply felt and experienced understanding) witnesses/partners.
The information on the four types was extraneous for me, as it is something I am quite familiar with ... along with our task of individuation. So, I had to weed through all of that to see what you might be offering that was new.
Just so you know, in case I might continue to share dreams here, I am many years practiced in working with dreams. I have an electronic dream journal that is over 500 typed pages long.
I used to share on dream forums all the time, earlier in the process. I generally do not any longer, as I do not feel a need for it. Once in a while, however, an odd dream will want a little more attention.
Clarity