The Archetype and The Tarot: The Mother and Three of Pentacles
Through the Mother and Three of Pentacles, this week we’re being called to work together to bring about nourishment. Can we team up and share the load?
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The Mother Archetype
It doesn’t matter if we’ve ever birthed a child—or if we identify as male, female or anything else—each of us has the pattern of The Mother within us. A couple of months ago, I drew the Father card (see post here) and described a metaphor of a peach…the Child being the stone or seed, the Mother being the nourishment of the fruit’s meat, and the Father being the peach skin that contains the whole family. All three are needed as a unit for the perpetuation of life.
The Mother archetype is all about providing nourishment on all levels—everything from the primordial womb of existence itself, to the patterns of care we need in our everyday moments. This can be a very challenging and demanding archetype. Few things are as simultaneously difficult and rewarding as Motherhood; and few things ask us to confront our own vulnerabilities and need for care like being Mothered. Go gently this week. When the Mother card comes up, I believe we’re being called to take a look around ourselves and our lives to see what most needs nourishment right now.
In the light, the Mother is the great nourisher, a beacon of love in action. Possessing tremendous gifts of compassion and understanding, they sustain life not only by giving physical nourishment, but also through the channeling of love. This one knows that all the nourishing and love they do is so that the seed will eventually drop away and begin its own life. In the light, the Mother accepts this willingly and doesn’t put her own feelings or agenda ahead of what’s best for the seed. At the same time, the Mother in the light maintains their own sense of self; holding in balance their ability to give of themselves without losing themselves in the process.
On the shadow side, the Mother is unable to hold this balance. On one end, the Mother might withhold nourishment. Abuse or neglect would be an extreme of this, while a more subtle way might show up as a consistent pattern of putting their own desires ahead of what’s best for the seed. On the other end, the Mother over-nourishes, which could look like overprotectiveness or smothering. More commonly, however, this manifests as someone who loses their own sense of self. Not only can this result in a profound lack of self care, but it can also manifest as one who inadvertently keeps the seed overly dependent on them.
I want to be very clear here that this is not about shaming any mothers who do not have the resources (time, money or otherwise) to hold their own needs in balance with those of their children. Instead, these deep shadows are about coming to understand the (subconscious or unconscious) choices we make to not bring the Mother into the light.
Some questions to consider this week:
When we look around our lives, what is most in need of nourishment? (Ourselves? Someone else? A particular project or creative endeavor? Our homes? The Earth itself?)
How do we like to be nourished?
How do we like to nourish others?
What steps can we take to balance our own needs with those of the people in our care?
Three of Pentacles
In this card, we see a scene in a church or cathedral-looking building. On the left is what appears to be a mason standing on a workbench. On the right are two other people. One looks to be a priest or monk, probably the guy funding the operation; and the other, wearing a funky looking hooded cloak while holding what appears to be building plans or blueprints, is probably the architect. The three are engaged in conversation, presumably about the ongoing work in building the cathedral.
[Side note: that person’s interesting clothing really caught my attention and I couldn’t let it rest until I knew it’s significance. What I learned is that the hooded cape is called a chaperon and the tail on the hood is known today as a liripipe, both becoming very popular in Europe by the mid-14th century. In more modern times, the liripipe has become associated with scholars, which lends to the idea that the person wearing it in the card is educated and, likely, the planner or architect.]
To me, this card is all about the wisdom of collaboration. The three people in the card represent the three necessary aspects of every successful project: the plans (the scholar/architect), the resources (the priest/monk), and the worker (the mason).
When this card comes up, I think we’re being asked to invite more collaboration into our lives. Instead of taking on everything ourselves, can we share the duties? Can we offer our skills to someone else in need of a helping hand?
How does this pair work together?
I think this pair works together quite beautifully! If the Mother is asking us to look around our lives to see what needs nourishing, then I think the Three of Pentacles comes in and suggests we work with others to achieve that nourishment.
Last week we had the Companion and The Hanged One that, to me, felt like a call to get clear on whether we needed to receive friendship or radiate it outward. This week feels like an expansion of that. How can we collaborate to truly nourish ourselves and those around us? How can we share the task of Mothering—of being the peach meat—for our own lives and the world at large?
One thing that comes to mind for me specifically (and something I’ve been mulling around for a bit) is to offer a way to be collaborative with these Archetype and Tarot posts. Send me an email or a DM (our brand new feature here on Substack 🤗) if you might like to be a guest author here. I think it would be a really fun way to work together!
And let’s discuss all things Mother and Three of Pentacles in the comments below…I SO look forward to your insights!
Deep post Jenna! I find this combo intriguing. The mother as part of the triple goddess, maiden, mother, crone. (Three). In the not to forgone past families lived generationally. The elder/grandmother would help. The kids would learn my helping through chores. In the 3ofP it is not just three arbitrary people coming together. It is the three necessary components that make the project possible. For me this is deep message of the shadow showing up in our current times of how segregated/individualized we have become as a culture. This need to do it all ourselves, even the nurturing. These reading also provides the solution, a bringing it together in collaboration, which you stated. ❤️
When I think of the Three of Pentacles and motherhood, I think of the term “it takes a village” .. what do you think? Because moms need cooperation and collaboration with others to be the best they can to their kids.