Symbol Watcher

Many people in this country have shouldered Sarah Palin with a heavy burden — container for the archetype of the Great Mother.    

The Great Mother is a myth that originates at the very beginning of human consciousness.  From Sophia (the wisdom of God) to the Virgin Mary to the Mesopotamian demon Lilith (a bringer of disease and death), the Great Mother is at once container, cherisher and guardian of life, as well as ruler, possessive controller/destroyer and seductress. 

Depending on our individual feelings concerning Sarah Palin’s personal life and political positions, we seem to have thrust some — if not all — of the Great Mother’s expansive powers onto Gov. Palin.

The Great Mother as life bringer and protector is exemplified in Palin not only because she’s given birth to five children but because she’s “pro life.”

As mayor of Wasilla, governor of Alaska and vice-presidential nominee, we see Palin as carrying out the Great Mother’s role as ruler over fertile lands.

For some, the former beauty pageant participant and RNC-blessed “Hot Babe” is the quintessential Great Mother as seductress.

When we learn Palin supported the bridge to nowhere, then pulled the plug on the project and used the earmarks for other projects . . . when we hear that Palin has fought and will continue to fight the influence of special interest groups . . . when we read that Palin asked a former Wasilla librarian how one would go about banning certain books from the school library . . . when we hear the allegations that Palin used her position as governor to try and get her former brother-in-law fired from his job as an Alaska state trooper . . . it is easy to understand how she becomes the possessive controller/destroyer aspect of The Great Mother.  

It’s quite a load we’re asking Sarah Palin to carry, isn’t it?  Of course, she seems to be bearing it willingly (perhaps to some extent unwittingly?) in exchange for the prospect of securing greater power and influence.

Our need to connect to the energy of The Great Mother archetype has caused our society to place this weight on Gov. Palin, but it is ignorant of us to expect that she can successfully be all that is The Great Mother.  She will never be light enough or dark enough.  An archetype is a psychic collector of a particular aspect of human experience throughout the ages.  Sarah Palin is simply too small to contain its entirety.

– Writeye

Posted on September 13th, 2008 under Current Events, Jungian Psychology • Tags: Great Mother archetype, psychological projection, Sarah Palin, Sarah Palin Great Mother Projection. •  Print This Post •  Email This Post • RSS 2.0 feed • Leave a response, or trackback