Mother archetype
The mother archetype , also called great mother or primordial mother , is one of the most important archetypes in Carl Gustav Jung's analytical psychology . The father archetype corresponds to him on the male side .
Characteristic
It stands for the notion of a woman giving birth and giving protection, which is anchored in the male unconscious , but also has ambivalent and negative (“ nefaste ”) aspects, such as the destructive, devouring mother. Characteristic for “the maternal” are “the kind, the cherishing, the bearing, the growth, fertility and nourishing”, “the wisdom and the spiritual height beyond the understanding”, “the magical authority of the feminine”. The archetype stands for a “place of magical transformation, rebirth”, for “the helpful impulse, the secret, hidden, the dark, the abyss, the world of the dead”, but also the “devouring, seductive, poisoning, the frightening and inescapable ".
In boys, the mother archetype is closely related to the anima , another important archetype that embodies the feminine traits in the man's psyche. The separation of the anima from the mother archetype is an important step in the male development process.
Manifestations
As manifestations on an everyday level, Jung names the personal mother, stepmother and mother-in-law , wet nurse and nanny ; in addition there is the ancestor , the white woman of folk myths. On a higher level, the maternal anima archetype is reflected in all forms of female deities , from Isis , Cybele , Astarte , Parvati , Mitra and Al-Lāt through Gaia and Demeter , Hera , Athene and Aphrodite to the Christian Mother of God . The great goddess of Chaldea was called Magna Dea.
But abstracts such as church (“Holy Mother Church ”) and university ( alma mater ), the (own) country or city are mentioned, as well as heaven and earth , forest , sea and standing water , matter , the underworld and the moon . In addition, there are fields, gardens, rocks, caves, trees, springs, deep wells and the Christian baptismal font as “places of birth and procreation” . Other characteristics of the mother archetype is "useful" for young animals such as cow and rabbit, as well as many flowers, especially if they act as "blood vessels" (Rose, Lotus ) or mandalas are addressed, as well as ever any - to the womb reminiscent - Hollow form like pot, oven or the (screw) nut .
Ambivalent mother archetypes are especially the goddesses of fate that can be found in many cultures, such as Parzen , Norns or Graien . All devouring or entangling animals such as dragons , snakes and large fish (cf. Jonas and the whale ) are regarded as nefaste mother archetypes, as well as the grave , the sarcophagus , the depth of water , death, witches and night morris as well as all kinds of " Child horror ".
Effects
The mother archetype unfolds its effect on the one hand in dreams , there especially in its fast form, for example as the sea devouring the dreamer. But the myths , legends and fairy tales of all peoples are full of goddesses , wise women, witches, dragons, enchanted forests and gardens, mysterious caves, fountains and the like. The mother archetype experiences a special, somewhat redundant expression in the form of the water woman or mermaid and mermaid . The - successful - detachment of the anima from the mother archetype is addressed in particular in the common fairy tales and legends in which a knight has to kill a dragon (i.e. a mother archetype) in order to win the hand of a princess (= anima ).
In more recent fiction, the great mother , the mother archetype, is thematized in particular in Hermann Hesse's novel Demian , where he appears as "Frau Eva".
Pathological consequences
According to Jung , the child often projects the mother archetype, which is inherent in the collective unconscious of people, onto his personal mother or her representative and thereby ascribes characteristics to her that are not attached to her. This could lead to the development of childhood neuroses and, in particular, favor the development of a mother complex . Similar effects are to be expected if the developmentally required separation of the anima from the mother archetype does not succeed.
According to Jung, the resulting mother complex could lead, among other things, to homosexuality , Donjuanism and impotence in boys , and to maternal hypertrophy in girls (“mothering” their own children), excessive erosion, and an excessively close bond with their own Mother, but also to their complete rejection.
Quote
“My mother was a very good mother to me. She had great animal warmth, was tremendously comfortable and very corpulent. She had an ear for everyone; she also liked to chat, and that was like a lively babble. She had a marked literary talent, taste and depth. But that was not really expressed anywhere; it was hidden behind a really lovely fat old woman who was very hospitable, cooked excellently and had a good sense of humor. She had all the traditional opinions one can have, but on the other hand an unconscious personality appeared in her who was unimaginably powerful - a dark, tall figure who possessed inviolable authority - there was no doubt about it. "
"Are my mother and your love is my slavery."
literature
- Carl Gustav Jung : The Psychological Aspects of the Mother Archetype (1938). In: CGJung: The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious , ed. v. Lilly Jung-Merker u. Elisabeth Rüf. Collected Works , Vol. 9, Half-Vol. 1. Walter, Zurich 1954, pp. 89–123.
- Erich Neumann : The great mother. A phenomenology of the female form of the unconscious . Rhein-Verlag, Zurich 1956. ISBN 3-530-60862-9 .
- Edwin Oliver James : The Cult of the Mother-Goddess. An Archaeological and Documentary Study . Praeger, New York 1959.
- Bernard A. Lietaer : Mystery of Money. Emotional meaning and mode of action of a taboo . Riemann Verlag, Munich 2000. ISBN 3-570-50009-8 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Franz Alt (Ed.): From father, mother and child (insights and wisdom from CGJung). 2nd Edition. Walter Verlag, Olten 1989, ISBN 3-530-40791-7 , pp. 48-58.
- ↑ Carl Gustav Jung: Memories, Dreams, Thoughts by C. G. Jung . Ed .: Aniela Jaffé . 2nd Edition. Walter, Olten [u. a.] 1984, ISBN 3-530-40734-8 , pp. 54 .
- ↑ Otto Schweitzer: Pier Paolo Pasolini, Hamburg 1986, p. 12