Kumar, Nitika
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9007-0093
(2026)
Echoes of the divine feminine: embracing the wild woman in the Indian pantheon.
In:
Jungian Psychology and psychotherapy: Legacy and relevance: A Collective Monograph Based on selected papers presented at the International Scientific Colloquium Chisinau, May 15–16, 2025.
Free International University of Moldova, Chisinau, pp. 92-106.
ISBN 9785857483527
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Abstract
Although Hindu traditions in India are deeply goddess-centered, and Western mythology offers abundant representations of what Jungian analyst Clarissa Pinkola Estés conceptualizes as the Wild Woman archetype, sustained dialogue between these two symbolic fields remains limited. This study explores the convergence of these domains by examining how the Wild Feminine may be understood within the Indian— primarily Hindu—mythological imagination. Indian goddess traditions span a wide symbolic spectrum, from nurturing and benevolent to terrifying and destructive. These figures constitute a rich archetypal landscape that shapes feminine imagination and psychic possibility within the Indian cultural context. By placing Estés’s articulation of the Wild Woman in conversation with Indian goddess mythology, the study broadens the interpretive framework of Wildness beyond Western fairy-tale traditions. The paper examines the cultural mediation of archetypal structures, the cyclical life–death–life motif embedded in goddess narratives, the figure of Kali as a concentrated expression of numinosity and shadow, and the processes of domestication through which fierce feminine energies are symbolically contained. It argues that goddess mythology functions as an imaginal reservoir for the Wild Feminine and offers a culturally grounded pathway for understanding the archetypal dynamics of the Indian feminine psyche.
| Item Type: | Book Section |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Wild Woman | Indian Goddess | Divine Feminine | Duality | Life–Death–Life Motif | Jungian Archetypes | Cultural Mediation | Kali |
| Subjects: | Social Sciences and humanities > Arts and Humanities > Religious studies Social Sciences and humanities > Social Sciences > Gender Studies Social Sciences and humanities > Social Sciences > Cultural Studies |
| Depositing User: | Mr. Syed Anas Ali |
| Date Deposited: | 29 Jun 2026 10:46 |
| Last Modified: | 29 Jun 2026 10:57 |
| Official URL: | https://doi.org/10.54481/jpp2026.08 |
| URI: | https://pure.jgu.edu.in/id/eprint/11851 |
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