Let’s Bring Mama Out Into The Open
By user_dd
Let’s Bring Mama Out Into The Open

Here we are, entering into the season of celebrating our Mothers, amidst all the birth and renewal of Springtime. So, it’s a perfect time to take a look at our underlying assumptions that drive our values and ways of being. Specifically, with regard to the archetype of Mother, and what that may mean within a larger cultural context. 

Archetypal Understanding

First, let’s dive into what we really mean when we speak about the Mother Archetype. According to Carl Jung, the archetype of the Mother is first developed within the early childhood psyche. For him, he saw the maternal, motherly ideals as projections onto one’s primary caregiver (regardless of whether or not that individual is one’s biological mother). In sum, Jung established a sense of early childhood awareness of the archetype as one that provides sustenance, care, loving attention and comfort.

In essence, the Mother archetype encompasses all that cherishes and fosters growth, sustains and nurtures life, and breathes attentive awareness toward the surrounding environment. 

Assumptions

So, now that we have a more solid understanding of the Mother archetype, let’s go deeper still. What’s beneath all this? If you haven’t gotten the sense from our blog posts yet, we like to navigate the subconscious and bring what’s in the dark out into light. By illuminating some of the beliefs around the Mother, we can work to dismantle the part of us that takes the archetype for granted. 

By bringing this out into the open, my hopes and intentions point toward the embodiment and empowerment of Divine feminine energy through a deeper, nuanced understanding. The truth is that many folks have misunderstood the feminine. Through an irrational deduction, folks have generally equated the yin and yang to passive and active. The feminine being the former and the masculine being the latter. Many regard ‘being in your feminine’ as being soft and caring, gentle and unobtrusive.                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Altruistic and Holistic Augmentation 

In actuality, the feminine couldn’t be further from passive. It’s time we clear some things up. There’s been a big mixup and we now get to augment our understanding. Being ‘in your feminine’ is hardly a passive thing. It requires a lot of energy to be receptive and aware enough to hold a container. Cultivation of this receptivity can take years of refinement and discipline. There is nothing passive about this receptivity; while the feminine is often less associated with ‘action’, there is indeed an action done while holding a container. There is a need for deep work, observation, sense making and continuous calibration in real time. 

So, after a brief skim on the surface, how does this feel? Do we think we can adjust our baseline understanding of the feminine Mother archetype? Perhaps we can depart from the active/passive dichotomy and move into recognizing the energetic exchanges that are actually at play. Only then can we truly encounter the depth of love and active compassion the Mother archetype of the feminine has to share.