Moore and Gillette, "King, Warrior, Magician, Lover" - 2 1/3 Out of Four Ain't Bad!

Moore and Gillette's "Archetypes of the Mature Masculine" - Most (Although Not All) of the "Mature Man"

I'm enormously grateful to authors Robert Moore and Douglas Gillette for their in-depth and fascinating work, King, Warrior, Magician, Lover: Archetypes of the Mature Masculine. They do a great service to all of us - women and men alike. And as this book is a prequel to a further set of four books (addressing each of these specific archetypes in the masculine context), I suggest each of them for further reading.



I particularly like and appreciate that in their introduction, authors Moore and Gillette identify that the reason that we have a hard time cultivating mature masculinity in our culture is a combination of three factors: (1) The breakdown of family, in which we all too often have a weak or absent father, (2) Current lack of an effective "initiation ritual" so that boys can become men, and (3) A "patriarchal system" that really is based on an immature, rather than mature, masculinity - and is thus wounding both men and women in our culture.

Their insights and exemplars are excellent; well-thought-out, well-worked, and well-explained. Their work can help men of all ages - and women as well as men - understand masculine psychology in depth.

What is missing? Only one of the core masculine power archetypes - and a somewhat "bundled together" set of the three core feminine power archetypes.

 

Congratulations - You've Found One of the Top Blog Posts in The Unveiling Journey

Congratulations!

Whether by luck or by design, you've come to the fifth most popular blogpost in The Unveiling Journey since the blog was started in 2007. (The six "most popular" blogs are selected by statistics current as of October 22, 2013.)

Since then, we've moved the entire blog series to a new location.

Here are some great reading choices:

• The Unveiling Journey - the most recent blog (we keep getting better!),
• Six Top Blog Posts for The Unveiling Journey - top six as of October 22, 2013 - gives links to this blog post plus five more (including the one I'd recommend the most), and
• Moore and Gillette, King, Warrior, Magician, Lover - 2 1/3 Out of Four Ain’t Bad! - the rest of this post (the one that you started reading here just now).

 

Why the Transition to a New Blog Site?

• Better Intralinking: You'll find related blogposts easier (look at the end of this post on the new site for good links),
• Better Categories and Tags: Interested in a related topic? Want to see what else is covered? Look in the right-hand sidebar on the new site - check out the Categories (main topics) and Tags (people, books, events, and sub-topics), and
• Improved Resources: Look for a Resources Page (main header menu); it will give you a different kind of access to related topics - from the antecedents (books inspiring this ongoing work) to future directions.

 

See you over there - and thank you!

 

Alay'nya (Alianna J. Maren, Ph.D.)

 

Post edited and content moved to The Unveiling Journey website, specifically to the Moore and Gillette, King, Warrior, Magician, Lover - 2 1/3 Out of Four Ain’t Bad! blogpost on Tuesday, October 22, 2013. Original post December 13, 2011.

Hero or Hierophant? Warrior or Wise Man? (Part I)

Heroic Journeys: A Part of Our Growth Path (But Certainly Not the End!)

A dear friend and colleague - someone who is already successful with her own business - is on a Heroine's Quest. She's forming a new business - one that is much more in line with her core heart's desire - and one which has potential for being solid and profitable. Yet it will not take advantage of the government regulations, her advanced degree, or the well-identified corporate needs that give her current business such a solid and stable base.

Nevertheless, she feels impelled towards her new calling, and launching her new business.

Another colleague - someone whom I love and respect dearly - is at the peak of her career with a major organization. She has respect. She has influence. She is comfortable with, and intimately knows how to "work," her current organization. She is financially - and organizationally - secure. Yet she is also preparing to leave her "nest" and start a new business.

Anytime that we leave the comfort of our known, safe, and familiar surroundings to take on a new venture, we are "questing." And in order to find the strength and courage to leave known, safe, and familiar, we have to posit ourselves as Heroes (or as Heroines - this blog is gender-indifferent).

There's a huge amount of emotional charge that we get by identifying ourselves as a Hero on a Quest. This defines our role, and gives us ego-identification. It pulls us out of being a "cog in a machine." The sense of difficulty and danger becomes galvanizing and even energizing. We know who we are in the sharp crispness of taking on an "impossible dream" - which perhaps even involves conquering certain "forces of evil."

Heroic Quests are alluring - and they are necessary. Without them, we would never find the courage to buck the status quo, to step out from the norms, and to do - very literally - "great things." All the great adventures of humankind have sprung - one way or another - from such Heroic Questing.

Yet there is a danger hidden within the addictive nature of such quests. We can use them as a means of repeating life-stages through which we've already gone, and often with great success.

One man whom I know, let's call him Theo (yes, the same "Theo" from Unveiling) had a brilliant military career, from his youth to retiring - with high rank and numerous accolades. He then had an equally stellar career with a well-known company, and then - with a band of comrades - started his own company, which became very successful. Theo's unique insights, his tenacity and will, his total dedication to his cause, was a significant element in his company's growth.

Theo has had a great career; a culmination of Heroic Quests.

And yet, there is an Achille's heel to such exploits.

Ponder on it. (I'll take this story up in the next blogpost.) But ask yourself: Is there a potential downside to repeating a known "success pattern"?