Carl Jung: For the animus when on his way, on his quest, is really a psychopompos, leading the soul to the stars whence it came.

"For the animus when on his way, on his quest, is really a psychopompos, leading the soul to the stars whence it came.

On the way back out of the existence in the flesh, the psychopompos develops such a cosmic aspect, he wanders among the constellations, he leads the soul over the rainbow bridge into the blossoming fields of the stars.

You see, the mythological idea was that man originally came down like a shooting star, a spark of fire, from the infinity of space, and fell into a created form and became a definite isolated little flame.

That gave rise to consciousness which is an isolated light in the night of the infinite spaces.

But when that creation of a human being is fulfilled, the animus does not press on to further generation or shaping of matter.

He begins to detach himself, to fall out again; he goes back to his origin, to the interstellar spaces where he once more walks among the stars.

We don't know whether there is any definite abode there, but according to mythology, the testimony of the consensus gentium, the heavenly mansions, the abode of the souls of the deceased are somewhere out in interstellar space.

It is therefore quite natural that even in very modern people one still encounters the same symbolism- whatever it means.

It is of course metaphorical, but we have no other than symbolic means to express such an idea." ~~Carl Jung, Visions Seminar, Page 1229.