The Midwife Archetype

The Midwife is the archetype that emerges after the Mother and so is associated with the waning phase of the moon just after Full Moon. 

She is the mentor, the facilitator of other’s growth. She has gone through the personal transformation of birthing a child or a project and is now ready to reach out and help others. She is not a teacher or instructor but one who helps the other find the answers within. She provides support, empathy, and guidance to help lift up the other so they can take off on their own creative path. 

Having been through the great surrender of The Mother the Midwife is able to trust, to take a leap of faith and not need to always know the answer before moving forward. She is skilled at using her intuition and the wisdom of her body rather that always relying on her logical mind. 

The Midwife is able to make manifest that which is unseen. She helps with the emergence into physical form of the latent potential of the world. To some this seems miraculous but she has gained this ability from her deep ability to let go in the previous phase. 

The Midwife may work with a multitude of alternative or mainstream healing methods and may also be part of the corporate structure. Her modality is not important. What is key is that she helps facilitate others into the fullness of who they are. She is always on the look out for how to affirm others and assist in their flourishing. She benefits from the joy of watching others fly.

While The Mother may do these things with her children, The Midwife extends this helping hand out beyond her biological circle, beginning to move toward The Crone, who mothers the while society. 

The Midwife archetype is the end of the light half of the Women’s Wheel of Life. The moon is passing her fullness, just beginning to wane. The light is still strong but she is starting to move towards the dark half that will progress to death. 

As such The Midwife stands at a threshold. A transition from the fullness of pregnancy into new life and between the fullness of motherhood towards The Matriarch and eventually the Dark Mother. She is a gatekeeper. We must find how we can be of service to others before we enter into the Power and Wisdom phases of the Wheel.