Mother Archetype

Like any other archetype, the mother archetype appears under an almost infinite variety of aspects. I mention here only some of the more characteristic:

First in importance are: CW9.1 ¶ 156

The personal mother and grandmother

Stepmother and mother-in-law

Then any woman with whom a relationship existsfor example:

A nurse

Governess

A remote ancestress

Then there are what might be termed mothers in a figurative sense. To this category belongs:

The goddess

Especially the Mother of God

The Virgin Mary

Sophia

Mythology offers many variations of the mother archetype, as for instance:

The mother who reappears as the maiden in the myth of Demeter and Kore

The mother who is also the beloved, as in the Cybele-Attis myth

Other symbols of the mother in a figurative sense appear in things representing the goal of our longing for redemption, such as:

Paradise

The Kingdom of God

The Heavenly Jerusalem

Many things can be mother symbols which arouse devotion or feelings of awe, as for instance:

The Church

University

City

Country

Heaven

Earth

The woods

The sea

Any still waters

Matter

The underworld

The moon

The archetype is often associated with things and places standing for fertility and fruitfulness:

The cornucopia

Ploughed field

A garden

It can be attached to:

A rock

A cave

A tree

A spring

A deep well

Various vessels such as:

The baptismal font

Vessel-shaped flowers such as:

The rose

The lotus

Because the magic circle or mandala implies protection, certain other things can be a form of the mother archetype such as:

Hollow objects

Ovens

Cooking vessels

The uterus

Yoni, and anything of a like shape

Added to this list there are many animals, such as:

The cow

The hare

Helpful animals in general

All these symbols can have a positive, favourable meaning or a negative, evil meaning. An ambivalent aspect is seen in the goddesses of fate (Moira, Graeae, Norns) CW9.1 ¶ 157

Evil symbols are:

The witch

The dragon

Any devouring and entwining animal, such as:

A large fish

A serpent

The grave

The sarcophagus

Deep water

Death

Nightmares

Bogies (Empusa, Lilith, etc.)

The qualities associated with the mother archetype are: CW9.1 ¶ 158

Maternal solicitude and sympathy

The magic authority of the female

The wisdom and spiritual exaltation that transcend reason

Any helpful instinct or impulse

All that is benign

All that cherishes and sustains

All that fosters growth and fertility

The mother presides over places of: CW9.1 ¶ 158

Magic transformation

Rebirth

The underworld and its inhabitants

On the negative side the mother archetype may connote: CW9.1 ¶ 158

Anything secret

Hidden

Dark

The abyss

The world of the dead

Anything that devours

Anything that seduces

Anything that poisons

Anything that terrifies

Anything inescapable like fate

All these attributes of the mother archetype have been fully described and documented in my book Symbols of Transformation. There I formulated the ambivalence of these attributes as “the loving and terrible mother”

Perhaps the historical example of the dual nature of the mother most familiar to us is the Virgin Mary, who is not only the Lord's mother, but also, according to medieval allegories, his [Christ's] cross. In India, “the loving and terrible mother” is the paradoxical Kali CW9.1 ¶ 158

Sankhya philosophy has elaborated the mother archetype into the concept of prakrti (matter) and assigned to it the three gunas or fundamental attributes; sattva, rajas, tamas: goodness, passion, and darkness CW9.1 ¶ 158

These are three essential aspects of the mother: her cherishing and nourishing goodness, her orgiastic emotionality, and her Stygian depths

The special feature of the philosophical myth, which shows Prakrti dancing before Purusha in order to remind him of “discriminating knowledge,” does not belong to the mother archetype but to the archetype of the anima, which in a man's psychology invariably appears, at first, mingled with the mother-image