Widow

The widow has lost her close one and has become solitary and self-determined. (In the past, the widow was essentially the only independent woman.) Instead of being two, she is one, an individual, not dependent on another – symbolically, she has withdrawn her projections and individuated. The word "individual" comes from Latin and means "indivisible"; the Swedish word for widow, änka, comes from the Old Swedish "enka", which means sole, alone, single.

The widow is used as a symbol for the independent feminine but also for the solitary. Independence, individuality, and solitude are symbols that belong together, as solitude in a certain sense is a prerequisite for individuation – one cannot rely on the support of the group and withdraws one’s projections. (Compare Orphan.)

Related symbols are virgin, whore, weak old woman, and warrioress. (Mysterium Lectures, p. 33.)

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