In this short course, we will explore the archetype of the mother in her many aspects and its effects on our psyches. Worship of the goddess as mother can be found throughout history and in myriad cultures. The mother archetype is at the heart of many, if not all, spiritual experiences as well as at the center of our personal psychology. We will examine this archetype though art, poetry, myth, fairy tales, dreams, fantasies, and personal experience.
In his seminal work The Great Mother, Erich Neumann demonstrates that the primordial images of the mother are deeply set in the human psyche. Neumann recognizes how the archetype manifests in both its nurturing and terrifying forms.