The Nurturer Archetype
What do I mean that the Nurturer is at once “us but not us”?
What I mean is that, as an archetypal figure to our natural and cultural selves, the Nurturer is a composite relationship of us to ourselves and furthermore us to all around us. It is a modality by which we interact with ourselves and others in the world, as well as an expression of that interaction.
Let me tell you a story of myself that might more clearly illustrate what I’m talking about.
I was my mother and father’s first child together, and not even a few months after I was born, I came down with a fatal virus that covered me in blisters and nearly took my life. My mother tells me that my parents did all they could with the limited help of the doctors here in the United States before they finally found someone in Vancouver, Canada, who could legally administer an experimental vaccine they hoped would give me a (very small) chance of surviving.
That night, as my parents waited for news of any sign of recovery, or much more likely my death, my mother went out into the hall of the hospital and prayed that my life be spared, that she would do all she could to raise me by the highest principles and values she knew if only I lived through this. With great fortune, I did recover, and my mother continues to remind me of this story from time to time (which has made it extremely significant to me as my own personal myth, the legend of my own life).
This story has often so deeply touched me. On one hand is the little child, completely and utterly dependent on his mother, who commits herself to every arduous challenge it takes to rescue him from certain death. On the other hand is the mother herself, utterly helpless to provide whatever final necessary procedure that can give her child any possibility of surviving. In her helplessness, she turns and surrenders to something far bigger than herself, an ever greater nurturing force.
The Nurturing I wish to point out is instantiated in every aspect of this situation, with precious dependency and surrendering on one side, and divine care and love on the other.
Great Kelsey, I think the repression of the nurturer or Great Mother archetype is the root of the world’s problem now and for the last 6000 years or so. ‘Power with’ is a characteristic of matrifocal society, patriarchal being the ‘power over’ gang. The shadows that emerge due to the repression of the Great Mother archetype are fear and scarcity. Awareness of this is important so we can change it.
Hey, Howard! It sounds to me like we really resonate around a lot of the same principles concerning power and scarcity. I’d love to continue to hear more about your philosophy on these topics. Thank you, and hope you keep postin’!
As we grow we put more and more all the nurturing pieces together we received through life and the result is a complete new shine nurturer version that would only glow if we are able to be empathic with the ones that need from us. But there is always the moment of fail and there another story begins.
Thank you for your comment, sister Brenda ^_^
I want to make sure I understand you. Are you saying that we combine all our experiences of nurturing (being nurtured) over the course of our lives, into a nurturing energy that we have the potential of experiencing in wholeness and expressing (“glowing” from) if we’re willing to have empathy with ourselves over it? Also, would you say more about the idea of another story beginning where the one before it fails?
I wish I understood, but I do not.
Mom — I feel some sadness around the lack of clarity in this post for you. Would you let me know what parts were difficult for you to understand? Your feedback could potentially help me rewrite parts of the post that could bring greater clarity for others as well!