Also on the subject of Mother/Father
Here is a short explanation on the Mother/Father complexes in the chart. Which might help people (or not) try to fit a description to the Mother or Father using their birth chart. Just some ideas I found on the web.
Father complexes
The Saturn archetype is an element in the ‘Oedipal Complex’ which is one of control and domination. Saturn competed with his children and ate them as they were born so that he would maintain sole rulership over his dominion. He represents the ‘father’ complex, a father who is the disciplinarian, domineering and controlling who always knows what is better for his children. Sun is the hero father, the ‘hero’ complex, one who is courageous and brave. Jupiter is the generous and knowing father, Mercury is the smart, chatty father, Mars is the dynamic sporty father who is also impatient and aggressive, Pluto is the brooding father who is deep often having paranoid fits, explosive anger, powerful and controlling. Uranus is the outside father, always out saving other people’s problems not able to get close to their child. Neptune is the dreamer father with plans for the future that never get done. Chiron is the wise father often emotionally wounded but able to steer the child in the right direction. Venus too can be a father archetype, the sexually active father who thinks more of his own appearance than putting food on the table. Moon is the fussing father who is so identified with his children that they can’t go outside without an adult to supervise.
Mother Complexes
The Moon is the feminine Goddess, she is the archetype that gives us milk, the food for our body and nurturing love for our soul. When we do not get the nurturing that we need from our mother or mother caregiver we get ‘fixated’ or stuck in the need for love, a conflict within ourselves – “I want my mother’s love even though I know that I will be hurt by her.” This is the classic ‘double-bind’, damned if I do and damned if I don’t, a no-win situation. It is from this situation that we develop a complex, with the Moon it becomes a mother complex. For example Moon in Pisces shows a huge need for the person to be enveloped into the mother, into the universe, a protective escape from the harm of the world. The planetary aspects to the Moon show whether this will form a complex.
With Moon in aspect to Neptune the native needs a lot of affection and will become fearful of abandonment and expects nurturing and unconditional love. The mother complex for a man, if it develops, will be for a woman who is literally a mother, not necessarily just a lover (wash the socks, clean the car, put on the band-aid, kiss good night, etc.), the projection is one of the ideal mother / lover. Moon in a positive aspect with Venus is pleasant, getting along nicely with females and expecting affection. If it develops as a mother complex through planets in negative aspect to the Moon then it would manifest as needing a woman to do mother things while he goes out and plays around with other women. For a woman this aspect is one of needing a mother who shows her how to love, mother as a model of sensual femininity.
Moon in poor aspect with Mars is seen as an impatient, hurtful and aggressive mother. The complex is one of seeking pain, perhaps as a sadomasochist, “hurt me when you love me“. A mother complex for a woman manifests as controlling though punishment. Moon conjunct Saturn is a cold controlling mother, the complex would become one of seeking a mother figure who is depressing, demanding and domineering. In women the complex is one of seeking a nurturing love relationship despite knowing that she will be rejected. For a woman it becomes a complex in which she controls her partner through the giving and withdrawing of love.
Our standard “Mother Complex” is one in which the native needs a mothering partner or mother support figure, she may be an older woman or a woman with overbearing needs to nurture. The male projects his needs out into the collective unconscious and finds his match, a nurturing or manipulating mother figure. A woman needs to be aware that she may easily manifest this complex herself when the Moon is poorly aspected in her chart just as a man may manifest a father complex when the Sun is poorly aspected.