About Her
The woman with this as her dominant archetype is warm, loving, and protective. She’s the one others run to when the world feels too harsh. She is honest, reassuring, and always ready to give her sage advice.
Her goal is to create life and help maintain it. Whether she is a literal mother or not, she does everything she can to ensure life thrives around her.
Her Role
Heart-centered and compassionate, the mother archetype represents the feminine principles of creation and care. Her existence provides the blueprint for the mindsets and behaviors that shape who we are and how we show up in the world.
Through the mother figure, infants learn basic needs fulfillment, emotional regulation, and the ability to form healthy attachments. This lays the foundation for healthy emotional development, empathy, and the ability to connect with others.
The mother archetype is the single most powerful archetype in this series. Without her, there is no us. Even if she’s not your dominant archetype, her energy runs through every decision you make.
Her Sexuality
There is a delicate dance within the sexuality of the mother archetype. She can be incredibly nurturing and attentive to her partner in the bedroom but she must be careful not to forsake her own need for pleasure in the process. Within her sexuality, we find the ability to dive deep into our sexual desires. She is the warm, safe place we relinquish our inhibitions into as we dissolve into our primal selves. She is the sacred space we want to worship and defile. But in the midst of all of our expectations of her, she must learn to hold space for herself, her pleasure, and her own dissolution process.
Her Highest Form
With the energy of sustenance, creation, and transformation, in her highest form, the mother archetype is the embodiment of the divine mother.
As the divine mother she is the keeper of unconditional love and compassion and the fertile ground from which all creation blossoms. She is creative and kind, with a ferocity that is equally as generous when it comes to protecting her loved ones. The divine mother reminds us of the many roles a woman must play in the growth and evolution of life.
Her Shadow
The mother archetype, as described by Carl Jung, represents the universal, nurturing, and protective aspect of femininity. However, like any archetype, it has a shadow side, a collection of repressed or denied aspects that can manifest in negative ways if left unintegrated. In the shadow of The Mother archetype we find:
- Control Issues: shows up as being overly protective and controlling, suffocating the independence and growth of those around her. This can manifest as manipulation, guilt-tripping, or physical restrictions.
- Abandonment: is expressed as neglecting or abandoning those in her care, driven by fear of attachment, anger, or self-absorption. This can lead to emotional neglect, physical abandonment, and/or abusive behavior.
- Critical: being critical and judgemental, especially towards those she deems as not living up to her expectations. This can be damaging to self-esteem and create an atmosphere of fear and shame.
- Martyrdom: manifests as extreme self-sacrifice to the point of martyrdom, neglecting her own needs and desires to please others. This can lead to resentment and ultimately burnout.
- Unhealthy Feminine Expression: represents a distorted view of femininity, emphasizing dependence, passivity, and emotional manipulation. It can also manifest as an overly sexualized or competitive persona.
The Mother Wound
Transgenerational trauma, known as the "mother wound," manifests in mothers as a combination of cultural pain and the unhealthy ways they have learned to cope with it. This legacy of trauma is passed on to her children, with the female child taking the brunt of the impact.
The “mother wound” is rooted in who our mother thought she needed to be to survive. Her survival instincts were directly related to who her mother was taught to be in order to do the same.
Considering society and its treatment of women, you can begin to imagine all of the ways women have had to contort themselves to fit into roles that weren’t reflective of them and the impact that it had on those in their care.
Healing the “mother wound” lies in our ability to:
- Acknowledge and verbalize the hurt that our mother caused.
- Allow ourselves to feel the full weight of our anger and disappointment without guilt.
- Turn inward to uncover the habits, mindsets, and behaviors we created to deal with that hurt.
- Take the time to unlearn unhealthy coping mechanisms and replace them with healthy ones.
- Reparent our inner child in the energy of the divine mother.
Her Take Over the World Team
The Huntress will keep her connected to her the power and strength of being a woman outside of motherhood. In return, the mother will enhance the huntress's ability to sustain life and nurture her creations. She will teach her warmth and how to remain connected to her heart center.
The passionate and creative Lover can bring joy and sensuality to the Mother's life, reminding her of the pleasures of life beyond nurturing others. The mother will teach the lover the power of love beyond physical attraction. She will teach her staying power and the unconditional aspects of love.
The Queen offers the Mother stability and structure, grounding her nurturing instincts with clear goals and direction. This can help the Mother avoid burnout and maintain her own strength while caring for others. Conversely, the Mother's nurturing nature can offer emotional support and grounding to the Queen, reminding her of the human element in her leadership and decision-making.
Your Inner Mother
We connect with the mother archetype when we embody her loving qualities for ourselves and others.
We do this for ourselves by:
- Engaging in self-care.
- Being gentle.
- Creating a kinder inner narrative through shadow work and affirmations.
- Enforcing healthy boundaries in our relationships.
- Nurturing our dreams from seedlings to full expression.
- Expressing our creativity.
- Nourishing and loving inner-child with all of the kindness we can muster.
We connect with her energy through our relationships with others by:
- Volunteering our time.
- Checking in with our friends and family members.
- Raising children.
- Caring for plants, animals, and other life forms.
- Listening, Offering Reassurance and Guidance when needed.
- Showing up for people.
- Loving without expectation.
And there you have it, a glimpse into the ever-evolving tapestry of the Mother Archetype. But wait, what's that lurking in the shadows? Could it be the Huntress Archetype? Swords drawn, shields raised, we'll delve into the fiercest feminine force next! Click Here, brave souls, and prepare to battle your own inner dragons.
