Freud believed that the Greek myths of Oedipus and Electra symbolized psychological conditions. Oedipus killed his father and married his mother and Freud claimed this represented a boy’s incestuous desire for his mother and his jealousy towards his father. Electra desired her father and was jealous of her mother. A girl may therefore believe she has been castrated by her mother and is an incomplete male. According to Freud this gave rise to penis envy; the root cause of women’s so- called feelings of inferiority. Freud’s Oedipus complex theory is no longer accepted today but there is no doubt that the mother relationship is the first pivotal relationship in a child’s life and it should be a nurturing, loving and supportive one. Jungians associate her with the Great mother archetype that influences our psychological growth. Each of us has a fundamental, perhaps instinctive drive to bond with a woman at birth and if that bonding does not happen much of what would be considered normal development cannot or does not take place. So mother sometimes represents the survival instinct and what happens in those early years of trying to becoming independent of such needs. In a man’s life if these needs are not met this may result in dependent relationships with older women or inability to commit long term to a relationship. In a woman’s life her relationship with her mother will impact all other relationships and if it is lacking in some way she may find herself nurturing needy males or in forming unsatisfying relationships with both men and women. Scenarios involving the mother figure in dreams are therefore one way of working through and moving forward from these issues. Of course, a dream about your mother could also be just that: a straightforward depiction of the woman who gave us life. How she appears may point to issues in your upbringing or current relationship. Is she proud of you or angry?