(Jung 46) The ego is the center of the consciousness and the base of the individual's experience of subjective identity. The mother archetype has definite qualities of her own, such as, life giving, wisdom, and nurturing traits. Not all the traits of the mother archetype are good. There is the evil side of the mother archetype as well, such as, darkness, witchery and death. All these aspects are taken into consideration when it come to the mother archetype. Which leads me to my first example, Demeter. .
Demeter is from Greek mythology, and is known as the goddess of the harvest. Demeter is most known for the story of her daughter, Persephone, being taken away by Hades. Hades was the God of the underworld. The story is to explain why there are seasons and why these seasons are repeated each year. The myth is fairly simple, Hades takes Persephone away from Demeter. Demeter was so sad by this, that she neglected her duties as goddess of the harvest and all the vegetation died. Zeus, who was the God of all gods, demanded that Hades return Persephone to Demeter. Hades did do so, but not without first giving a pomegranate seed to her for her to eat. This seed would make Persephone return to Hades in the underworld for four months each year. Thus giving the world its four months of winter, when no harvest shall grow. Demeter goes through the same cycle of turmoil every time her daughter leaves. Although Demeter, as a woman, appears to have the ability to give life with the harvests and child, she also has the ability to take that life away. This is one of the greatest distinctions of the mother archetype. To associate Demeter with life giving qualities, one can only expect the opposite in return. Her depiction of power of the growth to the harvests is simply man's representation of his own views on woman and their ability to give life and the awareness of taking that life away. The comparison of the seasons, with Demeter, is also man's view on life.