On the other hand, besides the archetypal image of the father, the personal father image also has a significance, though it is conditioned less by his individual person than by the character of the culture and the changing cultural values which he represents.  There is a broad resemblance between the mother figures of primitive, classical, medieval, and modern times; they remain embedded in nature.  But the father figure changes with the culture he represents.

• father image
• mother image
• nature
• society
• culture
• character
• other

In relation to the ego, the mother image has both a productive and a destructive aspect, but over and above that, it preserves a certain immutability and eternality.  Although it is two-faced and can assume many shapes, for the ego and consciousness it always remains the world of the origin, the world of the unconscious.  In general, therefore, the mother represents the instinctual side of life, which, compared with the changing positions of the ego and consciousness, proves to be constant and relatively unalterable, whether it be good or bad, helpful and productive, or hurtful and terrible.

• consciousness
• ego
• mother image
• life
• unconscious