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Mother Archetype XI – Teenage Crisis – Libido

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Before wrapping up this series, a pit-stop is due. Not touching upon an important phenomenon would make this whole series incomplete. What we have been talking about in this whole series is really million shades of Libido and its dynamics. Now the question will follow naturally – what Libido is.

These days Libido, almost without exception (and sadly!), is used to refer to sexual drive. This definition in fact owes its roots to the the early years of Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytical theories. Interestingly, with time he changed his definition of Libido. He described it as life instinct, which is responsible for all sorts of urges and drives we feel, which also includes, obviously the sexual drive. Yet, in general use, Libido, over time, got reduced to the sexual drive.

Featured Image:
Inside the head of a teenager

SCULPTURE: Drunkness of Bacchus and Faun by Michelangelo.
Greek-Roman God Dionysus – symbol of Libido in erotic sense
(a.k.a state of mind, purpose and meaning of teenage years)

“The Dionysiac religion contained orgiastic rites that implied the need for an initiate to abandon himself to his animal nature and thereby experience the full fertilizing power of the Earth Mother. The initiating agent for this rite of passage in the Dionysiac ritual was wine. It was supposed to produce the symbolic lowering of consciousness necessary to introduce the novice into the closely guarded secrets of nature, whose essence was expressed by a symbol of erotic fulfillment.”

Jung, Carl Gustav. Man and His Symbols . Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

the image is taken from Internet

Libido Is Not (Only) Sex Drive

On the contrary, Jung introduced a broader understanding of Libido. He described it as totality of psychic energy. The laws of energy apply to it as well – it never disappears, always changes its form. As usual, in front of the lucidity of his mind, I do not know if someone can object this definition.

Usually, the widely practiced and generally accepted analytical psychoanalysis schools offer detailed description of the transfer of Libido during the first half of life – namely from mouth to anal to genital organs etc.  But they notably fail to explain the mental processes happen in the second half of life or anything that is not about erotic love. For example, the feeling of Empathy that especially gets upper hand in our mind in the second half of life. Even the love we feel for our own kids and parents. Or our mental set-up not to cease hoping for better, believe in magic, seek guidance of supernatural powers, need for spirituality etc. All these are part of life instincts and equally important urges in certain periods of human life. We know only too well that disregarding these urges may lead to tragic results and broken destinies.

To sum up, Jung, (I think) rightfully, understands Libido not as sexual force solely, but as totality of psychic energy. For him, the unconscious itself is this energy, it is part of nature. It is not a dirtbag for incompatible desires and fears only as regarded in Freudian psychoanalysis. It holds them too, but also is source of life growing germs too. He may have agreed with Freud when it is about the first half of life. He asserts that in the second half this energy gradually retreats from erotic life, diverting itself towards empathy, non-erotic love and spirituality. Not so good news, such transformations of this energy never happens slowly and quietly. They are tumultuous psychic processes and we experience them as existential crisis – namely, the second one would be mid-life crisis.

Libido and Teen Suicides

Specifically, in our Mother Archetype series, what we talked about was mostly the dynamics of Libido during adolescence, or teen years. This is one of the most transformative and most difficult to handle periods we experience as humans. This is a period, I guess both geniuses would agree on it – when Libido moves to the genital area. This is the phase of procreation and as Jung says, time to dive in and fully rejoice the carefully guarded secrets of nature. Put it plainly, walking erection and baby-making in full force. Yet this transformation doesn’t come as a prize. At this period, Libido – the psychic energy, through mental efforts of each individual, should detach itself from the safe zone of the childhood, the mother (the instinctual safe harbor and infantile bond) and channel up to the next phase.  This detachment would mean “breaking off” the shell of family protection to build an individual personality. Mythologically speaking, this process would mean to symbolically die to the previous self and reborn into a new life full of creativity and potential, but with great deal of uncertainty and doubts as well.

How would it feel?

Compare it to losing oneself in an unknown forest at night in some unknown spot on Earth and frantically trying to find the way home. Or waking up to find oneself in the middle of ocean with no land in horizon and all the while learning to swim, trying to stay afloat and finding harbor. Frustration beyond explanation, right? This is a mentally and physically quite destructive process. Rebirth and re-discovery of self should pass thru destruction, rule of thumb! Failing to go through this mental transformation is basically shrinking away from responsibilities of new life and hanging on to what becomes agonizing already. No wonder, currently we hear about so many cases of adolescence suicide, depression, obsessions with immoral behavior (a quick resort to hide from uncertainty), addictions, drugs etc. Lack of conventional wisdom, guidance and consumerism takes this whole process to a whole new painful level.

To round up Jung’s thoughts on it, the individual, who manages successful transformation (and we are talking about a process that lasts for years), would return to make part of the community not as a shadow of someone, but as “citizen” – equal member of the city, motherland, tribe, community whatever one belongs to.

For the myriad forms of transformation in boys and girls, check out the Mother Archetype to find your own type.

The next and last post will be about Incest – why sexual relationship between the same blood relatives is taboo and self-occurring source of guilt and shame. Why are we built in this way? Is Incest a problem or solution?

Mother Archetype I
Mother Archetype II – Son Lover of the Mother Goddess
Mother Archetype III – Don Juanism
Mother Archetype IV – Homosexuality and Impotence
Mother Archetype V – Exaggerated Maternal Instinct
Mother Archetype VI – Home-Wrecker With a Mission
Mother Archetype VII – Shadow Daughter
Mother Archetype VIII – Mom Hater
Mother Archetype IX – Part Human, Part Supernatural
Mother Archetype X – Motherland
Mother Archetype XII – Incest: Problem or Solution?

Mother Archetype IX – Part Human, Part Supernatural

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Jung’s warning was not to limit or reduce the phenomena of mother to human proportions. It would strip off the multilayered meaning and misplace that huge burden on the shoulders of a fragile human being. This archetype is bigger and beyond us. It carries both the wisdom and wicked of the nature and the memory of evolution. It is part of us, but also not us. We project this archetype on anything that nourishes and provides safe nest – such as House, Home, City, Church, Mosque and all other homes of God, land, cave, moon and sometimes even tree. She is the dwelling of spirit.

Basically, she is a forming agent of our identity and sense of belonging. But anything that traps us in our shell is also Mother. In negative aspect, it chains our arms to our old-identities. But it doesn’t end here. Just like nature she represents deep layers of obscurity, darkness and ambiguity, even death. The negative symbols portraying the Mother are depth, darkness, night, death, coffin, sea dragons, monsters etc. All are the characters we over and over see in myths and fairy tales, maybe sometimes in our dreams and definitely in religious texts. The wrath or kindness of this archetype very much depends on our attitude towards it.

Ironically, our professional success, bank account etc. doesn’t concern her. The evolution of our soul is what is in her agenda. The more we fail to realize it, the more hostile this force becomes towards us. Then the more miserable our life becomes. Naturally, sense of meaninglessness and depression follow next. Yet, coming in terms with it may mean major transformation in our mind, behavior and life. Easier to say, in fact this is our fear – letting go old attachments and identities and being born into new unknown skin.

Read other posts of the series:
Mother Archetype I
Mother Archetype II – Son Lover of the Mother Goddess
Mother Archetype III – Don Juanism
Mother Archetype IV – Homosexuality and Impotence
Mother Archetype V – Exaggerated Maternal Instinct
Mother Archetype VI – Home-Wrecker With a Mission
Mother Archetype VII – Shadow Daughter
Mother Archetype VIII – Mom Hater
Mother Archetype X – Motherland
Mother Archetype XI – Teenage Crisis – Libido
Mother Archetype XII – Incest: Problem or Solution?

Photo: Unsplash.com

Mother Archetype II – Son Lover of the Mother Goddess

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As we said in the previous post, first we’ll talk about mother complex in sons, later in daughters (at infancy daughter-father relationship is the topic!). In the first years of infant’s life Mother is the safe heaven (warm container and nourisher). In the dark layers of our mind this tender bond of early childhood is registered as a perfect union. Jung has collected many examples – paintings, carvings etc. and labeled this relationship as “Son Lover of the Mother Goddess”. When we say lover, obviously we understand a sexual relationship. Yet in that dark land sexuality means more than just a sexual union (that too). Sex is the most representative example of instinctuality. Symbolically, it means a very strong bond – like one can’t exist without the other (by the way, many times it has the same meaning in dreams too – just a tip, if you ever happen to have that sort of dream, do not take it literally).

This perfection lasts until when? Puberty!  Intense changes start to take place in the psychic landscape of a son and a long lasting drama ensues. We all know how turbulent this period is for both boys and girls. Always, the least wanted kid at school has the “coolest parents” and life can’t be more miserable – we all have been there, right? Interestingly, this drama is even nastier inside our head, what gets to the surface is in fact just a tip of the iceberg. Again because this is never only about just a mother and her son.

Jung, C.G, (1956) Symbols of Transformation, pp205

Destined to separate

Did we say in the previous post that the psyche was like the Great Mother to our fragile rational mind? Now we are getting into a bit of dark forest. Let’s put it this way – in the early years of life human baby lives mostly an instinctual life (in other words, without the conscious mind) and develops cognitive mind slowly (and laboriously), right? As baby grows along the years of childhood, the conscious mind grows too. Putting it in a fancy word, at some point, plateau is hit. “The container”, the Great Mother (the unconscious) can’t hold it any more. Or, let’s say, the fruit is ripen now and the tree brunch can’t hold it any more, it is destined to fall, to get separated from the mother tree. I think I am getting too poetic here. Let’s come back to our topic.

Eventually, to grow further the conscious mind seeks to differentiate and separate itself from the dark mass/the unconscious. Obviously, the Great Mother gets mad and fights back. But it doesn’t end there. The fragile conscious, on one hand wants to stay in that safe heaven. While leaping into unknown territories, a.k.a life ahead feels dreadful, staying in is now more harmful bordering on neurosis. One hand pushes forward, another hand pulls back – and a bloody battle ensues within the unconscious content. That irritability and confusion the teenagers feel is just a shadow of the bloody battle going deep inside. However, if this process doesn’t happen, it is worrisome too….Stay for more…

Read other posts of the series:

Mother Archetype I
Mother Archetype III – Don Juanism
Mother Archetype IV – Homosexuality and Impotence
Mother Archetype V – Exaggerated Maternal Instinct
Mother Archetype VI – Home-wrecker with a mission
Mother Archetype VII – Daughter in Shadow
Mother Archetype VIII – Mom Hater
Mother Archetype IX – Part Human, Part Supernatural
other Archetype X – Motherland
Mother Archetype XI – Teenage Crisis – Libido
Mother Archetype XII – Incest: Problem or Solution?

Lamb – Not Your Usual Animal

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What’s in there for me: An eye-opening fact that would make us think twice before making “religiously discriminating” statements. Here it goes – To our consciousness Lamb maybe only a household animal, but not for the unconscious. Just to scratch the surface, Lamb, at least for the descendants of Abrahamic religions, is a symbol of humility, willingness to surrender to higher power or higher order. It symbolizes acceptance of and repentance for shortcomings and malevolent deeds. The sacrifice of Lamb means to symbolically exterminate the aspects of human nature that have tendency to inflate to the point that may hurt others. For example, our anger, ego, jealousy, self-importance, among others. It is a mechanism of our psyche to keep our worldly attachments in control.

This post makes part of the post “The Secret Stories for Symbols“. Click the link to read more about the wonderfully secretive nature of the symbols. 

Full post starts here

Me and the Lamb

These days, when one talks about Lamb as sacrifice, automatically our mind associates it with Islam. Does this symbol really belong to Islam only? From what I found out, absolutely NO.

While in Argentina when I started these studies, one of the things I was surprised to find out was that one of the names of Christ was also The Lamb. He himself represents sacrifice in this case.

Lamb in religious symbolism together with symbols of Evangelists. Group of four elements is typical in religious depictions. Photo: Internet
The Lamb together with symbols of Evangelists. In general, group of four elements is typical in religious depictions. Photo: Internet

Currently I live in Rome and this place is just heaven for those interested in evolution of thought. Just by walking down the street one can learn so much by carefully observing monuments. This city is also home to the oldest catholic churches, which still carry old facade paintings. This is what I love about Rome. History is live here. Cut to the chase, about 4 blocks from my home there is an old church. Over the façade of this church there is an image of the Lamb right at Christ’s foot. After seeing this I started to inspect the facades of other churches. Interestingly, I found a handful of them with similar illustrations. So this has been a recurrent symbol.

The Secret Story of Lamb

True, The Lamb is almost a forgotten image in Christianity these days. However, I guess, everybody knows that it is a very living symbol in Islam. It is a symbol of Muslim holiday Eid-Mubarak. Again, it is a symbol of sacrifice. Also, Torah mandates Jews perform sacrificial ritual of Paschal Lamb on the eve of Pass Over (Pasqua).

To sum up, to our consciousness Lamb maybe only a household animal, but not for unconscious. Just to scratch the surface, Lamb, at least for the descendants of Abrahamic religions, is a symbol of humility, willingness to surrender to higher power or higher order. It symbolizes acceptance of and repentance for shortcomings and malevolent deeds. Sacrifice of Lamb means to symbolically exterminate the aspects of human nature that have tendency to inflate to the point that may hurt others. For example, our anger, ego, jealousy, self-importance, among others. It is a mechanism of our psyche to keep our worldly attachments in control.

Why such a bloody ritual? Pain in body makes soul suffer and suffering is fundamental for spiritual growth. Just like a famous expression goes: Light enters through wound.  That’s why normally religious rituals are violent and harsh.

This post makes part of the post “The Secret Stories for Symbols“. Click the link to read more about the nature of the symbols.