A good example of the Terrible Mother archetype is the black-skinned Hindu goddess Kali. Her eyes are described as red with absolute rage, her hair disheveled, and small fangs sometimes protrude out of her mouth. She is often shown naked or just wearing a skirt made of human arms and a garland of human heads.
Healing a Negative Mother Complex
As the image of a “personified affect” fueled by an archetypal core, the mother complex is especially powerful. In its negative aspect it may arise from a mother who was experienced as uncaring, attacking, possessive, withholding, absent, or wounded.
Famous examples of the Mother Archetype are: Virgin Mary. Mary Poppins. Lady Diana.
The “mother” archetype represents a woman's maternal instinct, the desire to create life and to provide physical, mental, and spiritual sustenance. Unlike “the lover” which inspires a woman to procreate, the “mother” is driven by the actual idea of motherhood.
The archetypal Death Mother symbolizes women whose behavior or feelings threaten the lives of their children. Western culture, however, believes that women evolved to love their children instinctively and selflessly, and that women who abandon, neg- lect, harm, or kill their children are unnatural.
Mother goddesses in many faiths were often both deeply creative, literally creating the creatures and people who populated the Earth, and unabashedly destructive, by mercilessly destroying those who displeased them. Including their own children. The Mother archetype is still associated with raw power today.
The Mother Archetype
Regardless of whether she has children or not, the loving Mother is a universally understood archetypal image. She cares deeply for those around her and gains great satisfaction from being able to nurture others. Out of all 7 Feminine Archetypes, the Mother is the most heart-centered archetype.
A femme fatale (/ˌfɛm fəˈtæl/ or /ˌfɛm fəˈtɑːl/; French: [fam fatal]), sometimes called a maneater or vamp, is a stock character of a mysterious, beautiful, and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, deadly traps. She is an archetype of literature and art.
Cinderella represents two mother archetypes, the wicked stepmother and the fairy godmother. But, this paper will more focus on the wicked stepmother represents a woman who is not the rightful mother, but is also not a nurturer of the child. It is a projection of neglect and a loss of a true mother in the child.
There are twelve brand archetypes: The Innocent, Everyman, Hero, Outlaw, Explorer, Creator, Ruler, Magician, Lover, Caregiver, Jester, and Sage.
Mommy issues are known as psychological challenges, stemming from strained relationships with mothers or mother figures during the formative years. These challenges can manifest as negative self-image, trust issues, and emotional difficulties in adulthood.
All cultures and religions in the world have various images of the dark side of the feminine archetype that carries positive as well as negative and dark projections, such as Eve, Lilith, Medusa, Kali, Black Madonna, Mary Magdalene, Isis, etc.
Traditionally defined as an unmarried woman, she is young, naïve, free-spirited and untainted by the world, the Maiden represents the innocence, independence, and individuality of childhood. She lets her instincts guide her and often experiments creatively in one way or another.
The Muse, the Mother, the Wild Woman, the Healer, the Sacred Wife (or Lady of Balance), the Alchemist (Queen of Death), the Wise Woman, the Midwife, the Visionary, the Mystic, the Warrioress, the Lover and the Priestess.
Biologically, life stages of a typical woman are divided into infancy, puberty (adolescence), sexual maturation (reproductive age), climacteric period, and post-climacteric (elderly) years.
Feminine archetype #1: Maiden
The Maiden (or Virgin as she's sometimes known) has an innocent, youthful, playful spirit. She has a passion and excitement for life, is bursting with energy, and ready to take on the world single-handedly.
The parallel between the lunar cycle and the feminine cycle is made through the four phases of the moon and the four periods of change that the woman goes through over the course of her menstrual cycle. Archetypes represent the woman's four energetic states: the virgin, the mother, the enchantress, and the witch.
Compassion, love, and forgiveness are all attributes of the Mother Archetype. She has tremendous strength of heart and when she feels hurt, she sees those who hurt her through the eyes of understanding and forgiveness.
These are three essential aspects of the mother: her cherishing and nourishing goodness, her orgiastic emotionality, and her Stygian depths.
Common toxic parent traits include a lack of empathy with their children and inconsistency in expressing love, understanding, and warmth. This may be because they came from similar toxic families. Unfortunately, a lack of empathy can lead to a poor bond between mother and child.
A toxic mother creates a negative home environment where unhealthy interactions and relationships damage a child's sense of self and their views of relationships with others. Over time, it increases the risk of poor development in the child's self-control, emotional regulation, social relations, etc1.
A toxic mother-daughter relationship is a dysfunctional relationship that can be detrimental to your physical, mental, or emotional well-being. It can manifest in various ways and is not something that just develops out of the blue.