The Great Mother: An Analysis of the Archetype
Jan 2026 · Princeton University Press
Ebook
624
Pages
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About this ebook
A landmark account of the Great Mother as a primordial image of the human psyche
In this book, renowned analytical psychologist Erich Neumann draws on ritual, mythology, art, and records of dreams and fantasies to examine how the archetype of the Great Mother has been outwardly expressed in many cultures and periods since prehistory. He shows how the feminine has been represented as goddess, monster, gate, pillar, tree, moon, sun, vessel, and every animal from snakes to birds. Neumann discerns a universal experience of the maternal as both nurturing and fearsome, an experience rooted in the dialectical relation of growing consciousness, symbolized by the child, to the unconscious and the unknown, symbolized by the Great Mother. With a foreword by Martin Liebscher, The Great Mother is a profound and enduring work by one of the most brilliant thinkers of the twentieth century.
In this book, renowned analytical psychologist Erich Neumann draws on ritual, mythology, art, and records of dreams and fantasies to examine how the archetype of the Great Mother has been outwardly expressed in many cultures and periods since prehistory. He shows how the feminine has been represented as goddess, monster, gate, pillar, tree, moon, sun, vessel, and every animal from snakes to birds. Neumann discerns a universal experience of the maternal as both nurturing and fearsome, an experience rooted in the dialectical relation of growing consciousness, symbolized by the child, to the unconscious and the unknown, symbolized by the Great Mother. With a foreword by Martin Liebscher, The Great Mother is a profound and enduring work by one of the most brilliant thinkers of the twentieth century.
About the author
Erich Neumann (1905–1960), a psychologist and philosopher, was born in Berlin and lived in Tel Aviv from 1934 until his death. His books include Amor and Psyche, The Fear of the Feminine, and The Origins and History of Consciousness (all Princeton). Martin Liebscher is associate professor at the School of European Languages, Culture, and Society at University College London.
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