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the spirit of Animus


If you look up the word ‘animus’,
a common simple definition for it is
‘a strong feeling of dislike or hatred’.

But, as Borges said in his Prologue to El otro, el mismo,
"It is often forgotten that (dictionaries) are artificial repositories,
put together well after the languages they define. The roots
of language are irrational and of a magical nature."


The first use of the word in this hostile sense isn't, in fact,
found until the 16th century: before that it’s much more
purely reflective of its Latin source, meaning ‘rational
soul, mind, life, mental powers; courage, desire".


Going still further back, one begins to touch the
magical nature of animus with its proto-Indo-
European root of Ane,’to blow, to breathe’; two
strikingly similar words with the same ancestor are
the Greek anemos, ‘wind’, and Old Irish animm, ‘soul’.

Another relation is anima, ‘life, breath, soul;
a current of air’. From this comes animale
‘living being, thing that breathes’ and animate,
‘to fill with boldness or courage, give life ~ breath ~ to.’

here’s an Animus pinterest board if
you’d like to share some inspirations…

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(above: Nils Udo, Peter Doig and Jason deCaires Taylor.)

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If you'd like to reach an artist who's part of
Animus, please see their listing on the Animus
artists page
for contact details.

If you find this difficult for any reason, just
try me & I'll see if I can find them for you!

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© shenpen chökyi 2016