The Mother Archetype: Dreams of "The Mother"

One of Carl Jung's predominant archetypes was that of the "Mother".

He writes in The Collective Works of Carl Jung:

"We have evolved in an environment that included a mother or mother-substitute. We would never have survived without our connection with a nurturing-one during our times as helpless infants. It stands to reason that we are "built" in a way that reflects that evolutionary environment: We come into this world ready to want mother, to seek her, to recognize her, to deal with her."

The mother archetype is our built-in ability to recognize a certain relationship, that of "mothering." Jung says that this is rather abstract, and we are likely to project the archetype out into the world and onto a particular person, usually our own mothers. Even when an archetype doesn't have a particular real person available, we tend to personify the archetype, that is, turn it into a mythological "story-book" character. This character symbolizes the archetype.

The mother archetype is symbolized by the primordial mother or "earth mother" of mythology, by Eve and Mary in western traditions, and by less personal symbols such as the church, the nation, a forest, or the ocean. According to Jung, someone whose own mother failed to satisfy the demands of the archetype may well be one that spends his or her life seeking comfort in the church, or in identification with "the motherland," or in meditating upon the figure of Mary, or in a life at sea.

Ah yes, "Mother".

For me personally this archetype has been so important that I have not been able to think of much else. I suspect the resolution of my feelings about mother and motherhood will take several years, if not longer to process, to sort out and to make peace. I am sure that many of you have similar feelings about the "Mother" archetype, motherhood, mothering and your own mothers. So for now, I will take care of myself and honor the past dreams that I have had of my own mother. This includes the struggles that I have had in mothering myself, and the dream of the "Great Mother" from last summer.

Last year, my mother became very ill. She had been sick on and off for some time but this was different. This was the first signs of the decline. My life which had been busy supporting her needs for a few years, had taken a darker turn, now demanding more of me than I imagined. My work and own health were effected greatly and I eventually left my job.

During this time of great stress, I began to read more about ancient mythology. And, I was once again inspired by the works of Carl Jung, who I had largely not considered in the work I was doing as a clinical therapist working with children. After reading about The Goddess Nut (as seen above in my book) I fell asleep on my sofa in the afternoon and I had the following dream:

"There is a lake nestled in a woods -the water is salt water and I walk into the water with two native( first nations) people- a male and female in dark hooded clothing.This is peaceful and I am delighted that I see this lake in my dream. The man and the woman seem to be supportive and safe but we don't speak-there is an understanding they are "my guides", In the water, I see a whale in the water, it swims by and I am not afraid-the dream pans to an underwater view and I can see my legs through the green water.

Then I see a large, long, thin woman in the water and she reaches up to pull me in. (I am really frightened) and resist going under the water as she grabs at me with large crab like hands. I bite deeply into her little finger."

It was the great Mother herself ! Dark, mysterious from the dark depths of my unconscious, the goddess of the night. I was disturbed by this dream and the power she had over me..."I loved my mother", I thought. Nut indeed, I was resentful and feeling overwhelmed and wrapped around her little finger. She has always had me wrapped around her finger. Then, I began to think about myself and my own resistance to motherhood. I have always felt afraid, deep down, that I would be engulfed or swallowed up by motherhood. My mother was a very powerful woman and I was often engulfed by her darker side.

I then realized that although the great mother was formidable, she also reminded me that I too can be strong and powerful, the goddess I am. I didn't need to be biting towards my mother or myself. I could walk into the depths of my imagination and enjoy the peace of my spirit. I do not need to walk alone in my life there will always be my guides, there will always be my protectors. I am complete.

Its interesting to note that Carl Jung had a great fear of his own "dark mother". He saw two distinct people or archetypes in her, and this fear of the feminine aspects of himself propelled him to become the brilliant psychologist and scholar that he was. Like Jung, we all face the mother archetype within ourselves and in others each day. By looking for the goddess behind the mother, helps us to balance the feminine and masculine aspects of our psyches. We need to embrace both the nurturing and the powerful aspects of our feminine selves in order to reconcile to the masculine aspect of who we are.

Peace,

Colleen