I define the Archetypal Death Mother as harmful and traumatising energy which comes to us from a person, institution, culture, or nation state that we would naturally expect to nurture, protect and support us.
In its most extreme form, the archetypal Death Mother might consciously or unconsciously want us dead; in a less extreme form, feel ambivalent or indifferent about our existence, and/or want a part of us dead.
Sometimes there is no intention to harm – rather the archetypal Death Mother arises because whoever, or whatever, should be doing the nurturing, simply doesn’t have the resources to do so.
Regardless of the form which the Death Mother takes, the bottom line is that we are not welcomed into life by those we should be able to trust.
The archetypal Death Mother exists not only in the outer world of other people, institutions, cultures and nation states, but also in the inner world of our own minds and bodies. Sometimes the inner Death Mother comes to consciousness; more often than not it is hidden in the unconscious. Either way, we bring harmful and traumatising energy to ourselves, and are unable to be a trustworthy, supportive and nurturing presence in our own lives.
An understanding of the Death Mother helps us to recognise and address this traumatising energy.
(c) Daniela F. Sieff, February 2022.
To cite this please use: Sieff, Daniela F. Sieff (2022) “A Brief Introduction to the Archetypal Death Mother’ Last Modified February 28, 2022. https://danielasieff.com/the-archetypal-death-mother/
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