May 17, 2023
“The mother goddess who has been ignored appears as a personification of hurt feelings, vanity, or resentment. She is the personification of feelings which have turned sour—milk which has turned sour—and that, I think, throws light on a problem that has a lot to do with the problem of women. It is why I have chosen this fairy tale for my discussion on feminine psychology. The source of evil and of things going wrong in women’s lives is often a failure to deal with and to get over hurt feelings, for hurt feelings open the door to animus attacks. The source of things going wrong, and of evil in women, in a tremendous number of cases, is that archetypal reaction of not getting over a hurt, or resentment, or a bad mood, through being disappointed in the feeling realm, and then being overpowered by the animus. Suddenly one is in an upset or possessed mood. It is very helpful to ask, “Where have I been disappointed or hurt in my feelings and have not sufficiently noticed it?” Then you will frequently find the cause. If you can get back to the origin of the hurt and where you have not worked it out, the animus possession will stop; for that is where it jumped in, and that is why in animus possession there is always an undertone of the reproachful hurt woman.”
Marie Louise von Franz, Feminine in Fairy Tales
