The Tyrannical Father/Devouring Mother Archetypes They are the narcissistic parent who dominates and consumes their children psychologically. Their children live to serve their needs and are punished for asserting themselves and wanting to become independent.
The “devouring mother” is co-dependent and “consumes” her children, particularly her sons, emotionally and psychologically. She seeks fulfillment through her children because the feminine mystique has convinced her that her identity is inseparable from her roles as wife and mother.
An archetype that lies on the more negative side of the spectrum, the "devouring" mother is known to reflect qualities that can by psychologically and emotionally draining. This mother archetype tends to love selfishly, and not selflessly.
The devouring mother 'consumes' her children emotionally and psychologically and often instills in them feelings of guilt at leaving her or becoming independent. She loves her children selfishly instead of selflessly and is emotionally manipulative making the child incompetent and dependent.
The Tyrannical Father/Devouring Mother come from Jung's interpretations of the shadow aspects of the father and mother archetypes. They are the narcissistic parent who dominates and consumes their children psychologically.
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.
“The devouring mother archetype is one that can be described as a woman who selfishly loves her children, “protecting” them from the real world to such an extent that they become permanent infants— incompetent wards of the mother for life.
As an archetype, the Dark Mother represents life, death, earth and sexuality, and deep transformational energy. She has been associated with nurturing, birthing, caring for children, the sick, the elderly, and the dying.
Jordan Peterson calls the pathological version of motherhood the “Devouring Mother,” since this mother devours her children's potential along with her own fulfillment. Peterson typically focuses this analysis on the danger of overprotection in our parenting, wherein we protect our children out of their own competence.
Example Sentences
He devoured everything on his plate. The lions devoured their prey. She devoured every golf magazine she could find. He watched intently, devouring the scene before him with his eyes.
Devour means to eat greedily and hungrily. The meaning of devour has grown to include the consumption of things other than food. If you sit down to start a book and look up ten hours later having turned the last page, you have devoured that book.
Freud suggested that boys who do not deal with this conflict effectively become "mother-fixated" while girls become "father-fixated." When someone says that a person has an Oedipus complex, it often describes an unhealthy attachment or dependence on their opposite-sex parent in adulthood.
In his “The Archetypes of the Collective Unconscious” Jung suggests that a daughter in a mother complex experiences an intensification of all maternal instincts. The negative side of this would be represented in a woman whose only interest is in childbirth. In this instance, the husband is of secondary importance.
The Wild Woman is perhaps the most dynamic, nebulous, and incomplete archetype of all. Depending on which Jungian psychologist you ask, the Wild Woman is instinctive and born of nature, or she is highly sexual and perhaps even vindictive, or she is ambitious, driven, proactive and aloof.
These are three essential aspects of the mother: her cherishing and nourishing goodness, her orgiastic emotionality, and her Stygian depths.
The seven female archetypes are the innocent (sometimes referred to as the maiden), the caregiver (sometimes known as the mother), the sage, the huntress, the mystic, the queen and the lover.
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.
In books, TV shows, and movies, the Maiden archetype is often portrayed as the “damsel in distress.” A young, kind, helpless female character who requires rescuing. And who comes to her aid? Usually a strong, handsome male hero. We see this story play out time and time again in Disney movies.
Common signs of a toxic mother include ignoring boundaries, controlling behavior, and abuse in severe cases. Toxic mothers cannot recognize the impacts of their behavior, and children grow up feeling unloved, overlooked, or disrespected.
Treatments. The only way to effectively treat the Devouring in the long term is to regularly drain a person's excess mana.
This can manifest in several ways. One common way toxic mothers overstep boundaries with their daughters is by micromanaging their lives. If your mother continues to dictate your appearance, career, or romantic choices, or even meddles in your life long after you've reached adulthood, that is a sign of toxicity.