A note from Jamie: This entry is part of a series, called King, Warrior, Magician, Lover: An Introduction to the Mature, Masculine Archetypes.
As I welcome new and returning men into the upcoming fourth cohort of the Creative Masculine Leadership Program, I’m inspired to share wisdom that has proven for so many of us, regardless of gender, to be essential.
This post is the first in a series featuring quotes and concepts from the book King, Warrior, Magician, Lover: Rediscovering the Archetypes of the Mature Masculine, by Robert L. Moore. First presented as audio tapes by Robert Moore at the University of Chicago, and presented by Moore and Douglas Gillette, the book builds on Jung’s understanding of the archetypal self, but goes deeper into helping us understand the fundamental dialectical oppositions built into the dynamics of the deep self.
In the Creative Masculine Leadership Program, we explore these concepts and work to develop the necessary skills and sense of confidence to express ourselves fully and land our impact as it was intended to land. If this feels relevant for you, I’d love to invite you to consider joining this year’s cohort. Visit the Creative Masculine Leadership Program Page to find out more and get in touch. I hope this information serves you as well as it’s served so many in our community.
We found, as these men sought their own experience of masculine structures through meditation, prayer, and what Jungians call active imagination, that as they got more and more in touch with the inner archetypes of mature masculinity, they were increasingly able to let go of their patriarchal self and other wounding thought, feeling, and behavior patterns and become more genuinely strong, centered, and generative toward themselves and others - both women and men.” ―
The Shadow Magician
When beginning to shift out of addictive and limiting belief patterns as you begin your healing journey, one of the ways to focus your energy is to embody an archetype.
Learning about the traits of each archetype helps us understand ourselves and experience ourselves in new ways.
In his book, Moore says this about the manipulative tendency of the Magician archetype’s shadow:
“This is the man who thinks too much, who stands back from his life and never lives it. He is caught in a web of pros and cons about his decisions and lost in a labyrinth of reflective meanderings from which he cannot extricate himself. He is afraid to live, to ‘leap into battle.’ He can only sit on his rock and think. The years pass. He wonders where the time has gone. And he ends by regretting a life of sterility. He is a voyeur, an armchair adventurer. In the world of academia, he is a hairsplitter. In the fear of making the wrong decision, he makes none. In his fear of living, he also cannot participate in the joy and pleasure that other people experience in their lived lives. If he is withholding from others, and not sharing what he knows, he eventually feels isolated and lonely. To the extent that he has hurt others with his knowledge and technology—in whatever field and in whatever way—by cutting himself off from living relatedness with other human beings, he has cut off his own soul.”
