The Mother Architype

Today we are looking at the biblical typology of Motherhood.

Like we did for Fatherhood and masculinity we are going to look at 2 archetypes:

The good example of motherhood and femininity and the bad example of motherhood and femininity.

What is amazing is just how similar in effect these mother and father are.

Both the good father and good mother train and equip their children for life.

And both the bad father and bad mother incapacitate their children for life.

Yet as similar as the effects are, the METHOD of each is shockingly opposite.

To Recap:

The Archetype of a bad father is The Tyrant.

He uses fear and intimidation to bully his children into submission.

The archetype of the good father is The Old, Wise man.

He equips his children through the imputation of wisdom, discipline and compassion.

And he is willing and ready to sacrifice himself for his family.

Now lets turn to Mothers.

The pathology of woman is remarkably different from men.

And we see this very clearly in the bad mother compared to the bad father.

The Devouring Mother

At first glace the Devouring Mother sounds the same as The Tyrannical Father who eats his children.

Both parents eat their children - that is: Prevent their children frown growing up.

The difference is in their respective motivations.

The Tyrannical Father’s motivation for stopping his children from growing up is POWER.

He wants to keep his power and he sees his maturing children as threats to his power.

This actually makes identifying him very easy. He is a bad man and he is motivated by greed and lust for power.

The devouring Mother is just as bad, but its much harder to identify.

Why?

Because the devouring Mother is not motivated by power, greed or lust.

The devouring Mother is motivated by Love.

This actually makes the devouring mother more dangerous than the tyrannical father.

Yes BOTH kills their children, but only one does it with a kiss.

Lets explain what is going on:

A Mothers love for her children is legendary. Even in the bible God says that he will love and comfort His people as a MOTHER loves and comforts her children.

He says that even as a MOTHER cannot forget her children, He will never forget His children.

Isaiah 66:13 NASB 2020

13 “As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; And you will be comforted in Jerusalem.”

Isaiah 49:15 NASB 2020

15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child And have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you.

The reason for this love is obvious: Children need years of extended and almost constant care and only great, great love can motivate a mother for that long.

The need for this extended care is very intresting:

God created us in His image and to know Him.

Reflecting the intellect, reasoning not to mention self examination skills means that God had to give us very big brains.

A baby’s head is 1/3 of a babies weight.

The problem with big brains is that they need to fit inside big heads; and big heads do not fit through birth canals.

The only solution then is for most of the growth to happen outside the birth canal.

A consequence of this is that unlike other mammals who can run an hour after birth, we need more than a decade of post birth care!

But then something goes wrong.

The Mother, spending years protecting her child from the snakes, lions and wolves suddenly realizes:

Her precious baby will one day go out into this evil world alone.

To her the world is divided into predators and prey; and her infant is the prey.

Its a thought she cannot bear, so what does she do?

She infantilize’s them.

She keeps them young and naive.

How?

1: Mother knows best.

Disney used the Devouring Mother Archetype when they created Rapunzel's Mother.

Listen to the lyrics of their song:

You want to go outside? Why, Rapunzel! Look at you, as fragile as a flower Still a little sapling, just a sprout You know why we stay up in this tower

I know but

That's right, to keep you safe and sound, dear Guess, I always knew this day was coming Knew that soon you'd want to leave the nest Soon, but not yet

But

Shh! Trust me, pet Mother knows best Mother knows best Listen to your mother It's a scary world out there Mother knows best One way or another Something will go wrong, I swear Ruffians, thugs, poison ivy, quicksand Cannibals and snakes, the plague

No! Yes! But

Also large bugs Men with pointy teeth, and Stop, no more, you'll just upset me Mother's right here Mother will protect you Darling, here's what I suggest Skip the drama Stay with mama Mother knows best

Got ahead, get trampled by a rhino Go ahead, get mugged and left for dead! Me, I'm just your mother, what do I know? I only bathed, and changed, and nursed you Go ahead and leave me, I deserve it Let me die alone here, be my guest! When it's too late, you'll see, just wait Mother knows best

Mother knows best Take it from your mumsy On your own, you won't survive Sloppy, underdressed, immature, clumsy Please, they'll eat you up alive Gullible, naive, positively grubby Ditzy and a bit, well, hmm, vague Plus, I believe gettin' kinda chubby I'm just saying 'cause I wuv you Mother understands Mother's here to help you All I have is one request

Rapunzel? Yes? Don't ever ask to leave this tower again Yes, mother I love you very much, dear I love you more I love you most

Don't forget it You'll regret it Mother knows best

In the real world this is:

1: Constant unsolicited advice.

The bible is clear on how valuable good advice is:

Proverbs 19:20 NASB 2020

20 Listen to advice and accept discipline, So that you may be wise the rest of your days.

And a mother’s advice can bring life.

Proverbs 1:8 NASB 2020

8 Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction, And do not ignore your mother’s teaching;

Advice is excellent, but only when it is asked for.

The only unsolicited advice we should give is when sin is involved.

Outside of rebuking sinful behavior, the teachings we gave as we raised them should be sufficient.

Only if and when they ask for help should we help.

2: No Boundaries.

An overprotective mother sees her children's lives as belonging to her so she does whatever she wants.

Unannounced visits are classic signs.

Demanding special treatment for her children.

Doing things for your child that you know your child is fully capable of doing.

Making your children feel guilty if they choose happiness outside of their mother.

What are the consequences?

Oedipus.

Oedipus is a Greek legend about a hero named Oedipus.

He saves the city of Thebes from a terrible sphinx and is given the throne.

He is set up to become a mighty man.

The problem is that his mother ruled with him. He became so infatuated with her and fell in love with his own mother.

She ends up killing herself and Oedipus rips out his own eyes, loosing the throne and all his potential.

This is what the devouring mother does. She makes her children totally dependent on her. Then eventually she dies, leaving her children blind, helpless and lost.

Unable to fulfill their purpose.

Who in the bible do we see manifesting this behavior?

They dont have to be evil, love is their motivation.

I thought long and hard about this from a biblical character point of view.

I think a good example of this kind of behavior can be seen in the life of Rebekah.

Rebekah

Rebekah is not a terrible person. She was the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob who became Israel.

But we see signs of a devouring mother in her relationship with her son Jacob.

You remember that she loved Jacob and helped him steal the blessing from his brother Esau.

Look at the following observations:

Genesis 27:5–17 NASB 2020

5 Now Rebekah was listening while Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game to bring home, 6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Behold, I heard your father speak to your brother Esau, saying, 7 ‘Bring me some game and prepare a delicious meal for me, so that I may eat, and bless you in the presence of the Lord before my death.’ 8 So now, my son, listen to me as I command you. 9 Go now to the flock and bring me two choice young goats from there, so that I may prepare them as a delicious meal for your father, such as he loves. 10 Then you shall bring it to your father, that he may eat, so that he may bless you before his death.” 11 But Jacob said to his mother Rebekah, “Behold, my brother Esau is a hairy man and I am a smooth man. 12 Perhaps my father will touch me, then I will be like a deceiver in his sight, and I will bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing.” 13 But his mother said to him, “Your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get the goats for me.” 14 So he went and got them, and brought them to his mother; and his mother made a delicious meal such as his father loved. 15 Then Rebekah took the best garments of her elder son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. 16 And she put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. 17 She also gave the delicious meal and the bread which she had made to her son Jacob.

1: Who approached Jacob with this advice to trick Isaac? Rebekah.

2: Who prepared a meal Jacob was capable of preparing himself? Rebekah.

3: Who even went so far as to dress Jacob in Esau’s clothes? Rebekah.

After Esau is robbed he is angry:

Genesis 27:42–45 NASB 2020

42 Now when the words of her elder son Esau were reported to Rebekah, she sent word and called her younger son Jacob, and said to him, “Behold your brother Esau is consoling himself concerning you by planning to kill you. 43 Now then, my son, obey my voice, and arise, flee to Haran, to my brother Laban! 44 Stay with him a few days, until your brother’s fury subsides, 45 until your brother’s anger against you subsides and he forgets what you did to him. Then I will send word and get you from there. Why should I lose you both in one day?”

1: Again who is giving Jacob unsolicited advice? Rebekah.

2: Who is the only one being selfish and worrying about what will be lost? Rebekah.

Genesis 27:46 NASB 2020

46 And Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am tired of living because of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth like these from the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?”

Who is now putting her children on a guilt trip and threatening to kill herself if one of them leaves? Rebekah.

I want you to notice that even good, godly woman can manifest this evil.

So an important factor then is:

How can Mothers prevent an Oedipus tragedy?

There is actually a very simple prevention for this:

Return to normal after children.

Before a mother was a mother she was a wife.

During pregnancy and for a few years after birth, motherhood consumes her.

But very soon the baby becomes an infant, and before you know it the infant is a child.

Mothers who remain mothers and never return to wives are almost guaranteed to infantize their children.

Look again at Rebekah: Was she being a good wife to her blind husband? Of course not, she was to busy doing everything for Jacob.

Conclusion: