The many faces of a mother

The Mother is a universal persona/archetype which all can relate to; and a universal behavioural pattern coined by psychologist, Carl Jung.  Commonly ‘the mother’ is perceived in the positive of a ‘life-giver’, nurturing, loving, caring, patient, kind and compassionate. There are many faces of the mother from the ‘Mr. Mom’ the male that can be a wonderful mothering figure; to the divine mother often symbolised as Mother Mary or the earth mother, Gaia.  For every child there will be a mother.  Even if you didn’t know your birth mother, you will still have a person in your life that fulfils  the role of the mother for you.

Unfortunately, not all mothers fit into this positive functional persona.  Some through their own challenges have become ‘devouring’, creating children who find it difficult to mature due to guilt and dependancy. Some can be ‘abusive’ or ‘abandoning’ creating harm to their children. Another type focuses on their career over their children, which although to the mother can be fulfilling and be the role of provider; this can cause feelings of abandonment in the child, unless a mother figure is present in another form.  Then there is the stepmother often portrayed as ‘evil’ in old fairy tales.

Which mother have you experienced? And which one are you? Maybe it’s a combination? Know that every person/mother does the best they can with the experiences, the knowledge they have, and as they have been taught. Right now you can make the choice to be conscious and choose to be the mother that you wish to be, and forgive your mother for any experience/s which were other than positive.  It takes a willingness to rise above and improve upon the past, that you/we are able to break patterns, and in the case of the mother/child, family patterns.

This Mother’s Day find the mother within you and be compassionate and nurturing, and allow yourself to receive compassion and nurturing.  Find the mother figure in your life, and see, feel, know and hear them with a new perspective, understand each mother does the best they can in each moment.

If you would like to explore more about your own personas and/or how they can assist you to understand others, Sharon can assist. Just ask.

Reference: ‘Sacred Contracts by Caroline Myss’, ‘On the Nature of the Psyche by Carl Jung’