Every person has a clear image of the mother, that's how archetypes work. Whether the image is based on their own mother or the one they dreamed of, it's there. And usually within this depiction of the mother is a woman with children. But just like any woman with children knows, there is so much more to her than how many children she has, if she has any at all.
This is the heart of the Mother archetype: a Jungian pattern that has far less to do with parenthood than we assume, and far more to do with creativity itself.
What Is the Mother Archetype?
The Mother, in her balanced state, is nurturing, compassionate, protective, loves unconditionally, and most importantly is a source of creativity. She is best represented by Mother Earth, who offers all this and more to us freely and without expectation. It's through Mother Earth that we have food to sustain us, materials to build and create, and the nature she provides is what keeps us sane. Whenever life doesn't feel right, I suggest finding Mother Earth to lean on and ask for directions. She has much wisdom to give.
The Dark Mother: What Happens Out of Balance
Of course, this love for Mother Earth can be skewed if you weren't born to a Mother in balance but instead experienced the dark mother. The Dark Mother is possessive, cold, and cruel. But the Dark Mother isn't the one I want to focus on.
Why the Mother Archetype Isn't About Children
The Mother archetype, in all her glory, is accessible to all, male and female, but especially to women. Like the many myths of the holy grail, there is a knowing that women carry something sacred and mysterious inside of themselves: the ability to create and form life. And while our society only points to this power in terms of children, there is so much more to it. Creativity is a force that moves us. It's the changing of the seasons, it's the development of an idea, it's awakening to what is wrong with the world and choosing a way to participate in dismantling it.
The Myth of Demeter and Persephone
My favorite myth of Demeter and Persephone is a great example of the creative power of a mother. Demeter, a mother determined to find her missing child, creates havoc by not allowing the crops to grow until they are reunited. When Persephone is returned, she may bring the spring with her, nature's creativity, but it's her mother who claimed her power and created the seasons. It's Demeter who brought justice.
Dolly Parton as a Modern Mother Archetype
It might be more helpful to look at a modern example of the Mother. The best modern Mother figure I can think of is someone you probably knew and loved: a woman with no children of her own but who fought for kids around the world, claimed her power early on, and sang about how others can find that power too. This Mother is none other than Dolly Parton. In her close knit community, they referred to her as the Dolly Mama, because she's the one you went to when you needed advice.
Of course, Dolly wasn't just this one archetype, as none of us are a single archetype. She was the Crone, the Artist, Sovereignty, the Rebel, and the Lover, but I love her as the Mother. She created a roadmap for women to find who they truly are and not let anyone take that from them. To create without abandon and to use that creative power to change the world. She was the queen of creative rebellion.
Finding Creative Source Through Grief and Painters Block
Since Dolly's death, I've been listening to old podcast episodes with her, looking for a map to discover this creative rebellion. To take from her what she so freely gives: permission to be yourself and the fight to do what's right. This has been a struggle for me over the last few months as my creativity has been in incubation, painters block if you will. And so I consume more of what might guide me, from Dolly Parton interviews to books and podcasts on spirituality, a place I've felt a bit in limbo over.
A Meister Eckhart Quote on Creativity and Nothingness
On my own journey to finding creative source, I came across this Meister Eckhart quote: "I once had a dream, even though a man, I dreamt I was pregnant, pregnant with nothingness. And out of this nothingness, God was born." I haven't been able to stop thinking about it, and because of it I created the painting that starts this letter as a reminder that even when we are blocked or lost or floating in limbo, there is something forming inside of us, a universe that started as nothing. If we wait long enough, we might just birth something divine.
Find the inspiration and roads maps you need with art that's medicine on your walls in the Modern Magic shop.