Page 15 - My Indigo Sun March 2025
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When the puer is active or dominant, this They often live in apartments instead of
eternal youth thrives on excitement, dealing with the hard responsibilities of
adventure, discovery and novelty. owning a home. This young boy child can
Having the spark of inspiration in their be alive and kicking in the unconscious of
souls, they are also creative, talented a woman. As a part of her own Animus,
and visionary. They long for and dream the contra-sexual dimension of her
about limitlessness, the infinite psyche as my dream demonstrated, so
possibilities of youth and the intoxicating this is not just about men.
desire to fly high above the ground,
hover over mountain peaks which As with everything, by the law of
symbolizes not having to come down to opposites, there is an eternal dance
earth. Strongly puer consciousness also between the puer aeternus (eternal youth)
has an attraction to birds like Eagles who and the senex (wise old man or rigid old
fly high. Eagles made me think of John age). They are opposites, yet they need
Denver who wrote the song Rocky each other. The puer brings vitality,
Mountain High, Colorado who died in an imagination and a sense of possibility,
airplane crash. He likely carried the puer while the senex offers structure, discipline
aeternus archetype within him. Marie to make something happen in the world
Louise Von Franz wrote in Puer Aeternus and wisdom to appreciate what has
that many do become pilots and die endured from making commitments.
young instead of dying from old age. Without the senex, the puer can become
lost in fantasy and escapism into dreaming
Another theme in the puer aeternus is a their life away. Without the puer, the senex
man who embodies a strong Mother can become rigid, cynical or oppressive.
complex that manifests as a hard time Jung and Hillman both explored this
making commitments as that would be tension — how the puer resists time and
too final, too grounded, too real. Elusive, responsibility, while the senex resists
ambiguous and evasive about what they change and spontaneity. In a healthy
want, they display a rather introverted psyche, they balance each other: the
separation from the reality going on senex grounds the dreams of the puer,
around them. and the puer keeps the senex from
becoming lifeless and rigid.
These men are youthful in appearance,
quite charming and great lovers, yet they Capricorn, ruled by Saturn (senex), is the sign
sidestep the weight of marriage, children, that embodies self-control, discipline, and long-
mortgages and the humdrum of dinners term planning. Gemini, ruled by Mercury (puer),
with the in-laws as that requires realism thrives on curiosity, adaptability, and
and maturity. playfulness.
My Indigo Sun -15
