The "Hierophant" as Guru/Guide

The Hierophant Archetype - A Way of Life, Not a Jungian Psychological Type

Last night, I was talking with my dear friend Artie. Somehow, the conversation swung around to Jungian Psychological Types, as expressed by the Myers-Briggs Type Inventory (MBTI). "I used to be an ENFJ," he said, "but now I'm much more an ENFP." He's right, but his comment brought a great insight to me on the relationship between our archetypal modes (Magician, Emperor, Hierophant, etc.) and our "Types" - usually denoted by the MBTI Type-coding such as "ENFJ."

This is important. Artie really has made a shift, over the years. When he was in his corporate career, he really was an ENFJ. His life and his world encompassed the three major masculine archetypes; Magician (NTJ), Emperor (STJ), and Hierophant (NFJ). (Artie was and still is an Extrovert, making him ENTJ, ESTJ, and ENFJ as he expressed each of those modes.) During his professional career, he really did have excitement, energy, and enthusiasm for each of these modes. He led teams that devised new technical approaches, several different times (Magician). He was effective as a team leader and as a project manager, getting projects funded and successfully accomplished, and leading performance demos and reviews for his clients. (All Emperor-related tasks.) And don't get me wrong, he loved each of these roles.

But what was the underlying base for his being? The "river" that flowed consistently through his personailty? It was always his Hierophant mode. He was, and still is, a born teacher.

During the earlier stages of his career, he expressed this as a lot of "career coaching." He also brought together interesting people, and created environments in which they flourished.

In all of these situations, Artie was still dominantly "Judging," or "J." That is, in all of his career roles, he was driven to "come to closure." He may have been coaching a junior member of the team, but the focus (for example) would have been on "how to put together a Powerpoint presentation that will wow the client."

Now, retired from corporate life, Artie is still a Hierophant. He is still a coach/guide/guru. But he is a lot more open-ended about this.

In part, this is because his life is structured differently. In retirement-mode, without the stringent performance demands of today's corporate world, he is able to shift into being more "Perceiving" (open-ended) than "Judging" (coming-to-closure). In a broader sense, he is also more separate from our overall cultural zeitgeist that is very performance-driven, and which tends to demand "Judging" behaviors from us, from childhood on.

In part also, Artie's shift is due to the kinds of people with whom he interacts. He does a great deal of what I'll loosely call "service work." He spends a lot of time just talking with people; being the "wise old man" with whom they can consult as they work out life issues. The people who seek him out the most are themselves a bit more "open-ended" in how they approach life - or at least they are in this mode when they seek out Artie.

So Artie is probably right. He has indeed shifted from being dominantly ENFJ to being ENFP. But according to our archetypal mode system, the NFP "mode" is what we call Hathor - playful and pleasure-seeking.

So is Artie dominantly in Hathor mode now? Becuase he has shifted from "closure" to "open-ended," does that shift his fundamental orientation - that of being a teacher - to being more of a pleasure-seeker?

Heavens, no!

Again, don't get me wrong on this. Artie would be the last one on earth to decline a good dose of pleasure and fun. He may even be more able to enjoy the "pleasurable" aspects of life more now than when he was younger. But at the same time, his fundamental orientation towards life - that which gives him meaning and purpose - that which helps him "define himself for himself" - that which gets him up and going in the morning - is not about "pleasure." Or at least, not about "pleasure" per se. It is about teaching. It is about connecting. It is about making a difference in the lives of the people who come to him.

His shift from "J" to "P" reflects a shift in the way in which he goes about being a Hierophant, but not the fact that - in his absolute core - he is a Hierophant.

But more on how this "shift" is expressed in a later blogpost.

Your "Inner Magician" - Part I

Your "Inner Magician" - Creative Fire

Freude, schöner Götterfunken,
Tochter aus Elysium!
Wir betreten feuertrunken,
Himmlische, Dein Heiligtum.

Lyrics by Schiller, later used by Beethovan in "Ode to Joy," Symphony #9.

Joy, beautiful spark of the gods,
Daughter of Elysium,
We approach, drunk with fire,
Heavenly One, your holy shrine.

Translated by A.J. Maren.

Creative fire! Genius! Divine inspiration!

It is moments like these in which we feel uplifted; exalted even.

Moments of inspiration, in which we are seemingly infused with the "fire of the gods," set us apart from the "dailiness" of living. They seem to redefine us and reframe our lives with new meaning. In such moments of creative passion, we really do feel ecstatic.

When we are consumed with the "inner fire" and totally absorbed with our creation, we are accessing our inner Magician.

Being in this mode - which can even take us to exaltation - is a transcendent experience. It can even become addictive! We desire to fulfill our creative potential to our utmost.

For this reason, many "creative types" have been willing to forego many of life's amenities. The mythology of the artist, starving in a garret in order to devote himself (or herself) to creative passion - there actually is some truth to these stories!

Thomas Edison

Not only does our "creative fire" give us some immunity to our body's (and even our psyche's) demands for comfort, this "fire" also embues us with seemingly supernatural powers of endurance. Thomas Edison, for example, was known to work around the clock for days at a time. He took short naps in which he recharged, and required relatively short sleep at night (only four to five hours).

In Jungian terms, our Magician mode is iNtuitive, Thinking, and Judging (NTJ). That is, we use our "intuition" to gain insight into what we desire; what we are creating. We leap beyond the "what-is-so-right-now" to "inwardly know" the final product, and then work backwards, filling in the details. A composer, for example, "hears" the music in his or her head at first, then writes down the melody, and then the full orchestration.

The Magician - The first of eight Core Power Archetypes
- Jungian Type NTJ

Our inner Magician is very much a "Thinking" mode as as opposed to "Feeling." "Feeling" modes are dominated by the neurohormone oxytocin, which induces bonding. The bonding can be with a spouse or lover, with a parent or child, with a group of friends, or even with a pet. Physical touch (cuddling, petting, grooming someone else) and even conversation all contribute to a warm, gooey, oxytocin-induced good feeling.

Our Magician mode operates on a more abstract and logical plane. When we are in this mode, we do not require connection with others. In fact, attempts by others for connection may seem like intrusions to our concentration; they become distractions that break our focus.

Ludwig van Beethovan, drawn by Klober

Finally, our Magician mode is definately a "Judging" state. This does not mean that we "judge" others, forming opinions of whether they are good or bad, or even opinions on someone's daily habits. ("Oh, Mary is always late," or "John always talks too loud.") Rather, it is a desire to come-to-closure. When in this state, we desire to see our creation emerge in final form. We want the invention to work, we want the symphony to be completed and performed, we want our newest marketing campaign strategy to be launched in all its glory.

Our inner Magician is the first "core power archetype" that we seek to access and master. As we gain competence in this realm, we define ourselves - and our creative gifts - uniquely. We become who we truly are. This is one of the most exciting and sublimely fulfilling of our core archetypes, of our personal "V8 power car engine."

The "Unveiling Archetypes" and the Jungian Dimensions

Eight Core Power Archetypes Correspond with the Psychological Types

The previous post presented the basic diagram for the Unveiling archetypes. Here it is again, for easy reference.

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 third 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
• The Unveiling Archetypes and the Jungian Dimensions - Eight Core Power Archetypes Correspond with the Psychological Types - 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 The Unveiling Archetypes and the Jungian Dimensions - Eight Core Power Archetypes Correspond with the Psychological Types blogpost on Tuesday, October 22, 2013. Original post December 29, 2011.

The Eight Core Power Archetypes

Mapping the Eight Core Power Archetypes to the Jungian System

The "eight core power archetypes" - our personal "V8 power-car engine."

One of the key points in Unveiling: The Inner Journey has been that we need all eight; we can't be rigidly stereotyped into just one. This is a significant departure from the line of thinking first popularized by the Myers-Briggs Type Inventory, which suggested that not only were we predominantly in just one of these archetypal modes, but that we stayed there all our lives.

 

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 second 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
• Mapping the Eight Core Power Archetypes to the Jungian System - 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 Mapping the Eight Core Power Archetypes to the Jungian System blogpost on Tuesday, October 22, 2013. Original post December 28, 2011.

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"?

The "Lord of the Rings": A Classic "Inner Journey"?

Frodo the Ring-Bearer, selected to convey the Ring of Power into Mordor where he can cast it into the fire, is weary on his journey. He is not yet into the dark lands, but already the responsibilities of bearing the Ring of Power wear heavily on him. Frodo and his band, the Fellowship of the Ring, spend their last moments traveling together as guests in Lothlorien. There, they meet the Lady of the Woods, the Lady Galadriel.



Lady Galadriel welcomes the group of travelers, and gives each a special gift along with an Elven cloak. To Frodo, she gives the Phial of Galadrial, which provides light during their journey. More than that, by touching the vial, Frodo can ease the corrupting power-thoughts induced by the One Ring. Similarly, the light from this vial (Phial) frightens away the voracious spider Shelob, whose web would ensnare him after he's entered Mordor.

The Phial of Galadriel also seemed to inspire both Frodo and his companion Sam to call out in the Elvish language. Frodo, in particular, called out a reference to Earondil the first time that he used the Phial against Shelob.

Just two days ago, I chanced to watch a segment of The Fellowship of the Ring, the first of The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy directed by Peter Jackson and released in 2001. This was the segment in which Frodo was brought before the Lady Galadriel. He was mesmerized by her ethereal beauty, and awed by her gift to him.



Rachel Pollack, in her book, The Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom, describes this first stage of our adult life-journey as the Worldy Sequence. This is the time in which we come to know, access, and integrate each of our core power archetypes. Two of these are like "reserve batteries," and I don't discuss them in Unveiling. The remaining six are our "power modes": we need each of them to gain our full adult powers.



If this is the case, the Frodo might be a stand-in for each of us. This is not surprising - each of us feels a bit "smaller" than others, and we are each daunted by life's challenges from time to time. And let's recall that the purpose of these "heroic" stories is to exaggerate contrast. We are not simply trying to introduce a new process or product into our company, we are saving truth and freedom by delivering the ring to Mordor and sundering the forces of darkness!

So what does Frodo's encounter with Lady Galadriel, the Lady of the Woods, mean to us? She would have to be one of the three feminine archetypes of our six core power archetypes. This means that she could represent the High Priestess (wisdom and inner knowing), the Empress (or Isis, love and nurturance), or Hathor (the goddess of pleasure and sensuality).

Really, there is not much of the "pleasure and sensuality" aspect in The Lord of the Rings! Hathor, as a choice for the Lady, is clearly out. Also, the Lady is a somewhat remote figure. She is not about warmth and nurturance. When we connect with our "inner Lady Galadriel," we are not getting the oxytocin feel-good surge that we get when we curl up with our dog, cat, young child, or our "special someone."

No, there is only one role for the Lady: she represents the High Priestess, or inner wisdom. And her gift to Frodo is precisely related to her role in his life; she gives him light, the ability see - and also to repel dark forces using this power of light.

This is reinforced with an earlier scene, in which the Lady pours water into a silver mirror-bowl, and invites Frodo to look within and see. This, very literally, is the role of the Lady in each of our lives. Our inner High Priestess is that aspect of us that gives us wisdom; she helps us "see rightly."

When we access our own inner High Priestess - our own Lady of the Woods, we gain not only vision and clarity, but also wisdom. Read about her in Unveiling: The Inner Journey, Chapters 7 & 11.



P.S. Who, in The Fellowship of the Ring, would represent the other two female power-archetypes? There are really only two other women of note that the Fellowship encounters during their travels; Goldenberry and Arwen. As a little test for yourself, why not research each of these two - and think them through in terms of the remaining two feminine core-power archetypes: the Empress (or Isis, in Unveiling terms), and Hathor. Which is which? And why? And do we need them? What roles did each play in The Fellowship of the Ring? What would the story be like without them?