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The bestselling, widely heralded, Jungian introduction to the psychological foundation of a mature, authentic, and revitalized masculinity.Redefining age-old concepts of masculinity, Jungian analysts Robert Moore and Douglas Gillette make the argument that mature masculinity is not abusive or domineering, but generative, creative, and empowering of the self and others. Moore and Gillette clearly define the four mature male archetypes that stand out through myth and literature across history: the king (the energy of just and creative ordering), the warrior (the energy of aggressive but nonviolent action), the magician (the energy of initiation and transformation), and the lover (the energy that connects one to others and the world), as well as the four immature patterns that interfere with masculine potential (divine child, oedipal child, trickster and hero). King, Warrior, Magician, Lover is an exploratory journey that will help men and women reimagine and deepen their understanding of the masculine psyche.
At this time of writing, The Mobi King, Warrior, Magician, Lover: Rediscovering the Archetypes of the Mature Masculine has garnered 9 customer reviews with rating of 5 out of 5 stars. Not a bad score at all as if you round it off, it’s actually a perfect TEN already. From the looks of that rating, we can say the Mobi is Good TO READ!
PDF King, Warrior, Magician, Lover: Rediscovering the Archetypes of the Mature Masculine with FREE MOBI EDITION!
In the early 1990s, the late American Jungian theorist and psychotherapist Robert L. Moore (1942-2016; Ph.D. in psychology and religion, University of Chicago, 1983) of the Chicago Theological Seminary stepped forward publicly to counter political-correctness zealotry to the best of his ability with his account of the four masculine archetypes of maturity.Years later, the misogynist Donald Trump (born in 1946) stepped forward publicly to launch his 2016 presidential campaign against, in part, political-correctness zealotry. To this day, Moore’s account of the “shadow” forms of the masculine archetypes of maturity stand as the most perceptive way to psychologically profile President Trump and his most ardent supporters, as I will explain momentarily.Then I will also profile Pope Francis, because he offers us a very different profile.For the record, Moore also postulates four parallel feminine archetypes of maturity, and he further postulates that all human persons have both the four masculine and the four feminine archetypes of maturity in their psyches.Moore and his co-author Douglas Gillette detailed his account of the four masculine archetypes of maturity in a series of five self-help books published in the early 1990s. In my estimate, Moore and Gillette’s 1990 book King, Warrior, Magician, Lover: Rediscovering the Archetypes of the Mature Masculine is their best book because it provides the most comprehensive overview of Moore’s account of the masculine archetypes of maturity.Now, both the masculine and the feminine Warrior archetypes, for example, include two “shadow” forms that Moore and Gillette colorfully name the Sadist and the Masochist. Their names for the “shadow” forms of the other three archetypes of maturity are also colorful. In contrast with the eight colorfully named “shadow” forms of the archetypes of maturity, each archetype of maturity has only one optimal form, but the optimal forms are not given colorful names – each is just known as the optimal form of the archetype of maturity in question.However, according to Moore and Gillette, certain people might oscillate alternatively between the two “shadow” forms of one or more of the archetypes of maturity, but without ever learning how to access the optimal form(s).Now, the archetypes of maturity (masculine and feminine) involved in proper assertiveness (in Robert Alberti and Michael Emmons’ terminology in their widely read self-help book Your Perfect Right, 10th ed. [2017]) are the masculine Warrior archetype and the feminine Warrior archetype. However, as we just noted, Moore and Gillette also claim that each archetype of maturity involves two “shadow” forms and only one optimal form – equivalent to the mean between the extremes used by Aristotle in his way of operationally defining the four cardinal virtues – and, in effect, also equivalent to Alberti and Emmons’ way of operationally defining proper assertiveness. As Alberti and Emmons operationally define and explain proper assertiveness, it involves what Aristotle refers to as the cardinal virtue of courage -- and what Moore and Gillette refer to as the optimal form of the Warrior archetypes (masculine and feminine).DONALD TRUMP AND HIS MOST ARDENT SUPPORTERSBut can men and women today live out their entire adult lives stuck in the “shadow” forms of the archetypes on maturity? Yes, they can. For example, in my estimate, Donald Trump has most likely lived his entire adult life(1) stuck in the Sadist “shadow” form of the masculine Warrior archetype of maturity,(2) stuck in the Tyrant “shadow” form of the King archetype of masculine maturity,(3) stuck in the Detached Manipulator “shadow” form of the masculine Magician archetype of maturity, and(4) stuck in the Addicted Lover “shadow” form of the masculine Lover archetype of maturity.When we turn our attention to Trump’s most ardent supporters, we should remember that Moore’s account of the human psyche postulates that both men and women have both sets of four archetypes of maturity in their psyches. Consequently, both Trump’s male supporters and his female supporters are projecting exactly the same “shadow” forms of the four masculine archetypes of maturity in their own psyches onto him is response to the four “shadow” forms of the masculine archetypes of maturity that he is projecting. In this way, they have fallen in love with him – just as Hitler’s most ardent supporters fell in love with him. Mussolini’s most ardent supporters fell in love with him, Stalin’s most ardent supporters fell in love with him, and so on.However, in American politics, candidates for elective political office strive to attract voters to fall in love with them and vote for them. But most American candidates for elective political office usually attempt to project more positive impressions of themselves than Trump attempts to. With Trump, what you see on the campaign trail is what you get if he is elected.Now, when Trump turns his attention to women, he appears to like women who are (1) stuck in the Masochist “shadow” form of the feminine Warrior archetype of maturity, (2) stuck in the Weakling “shadow” form of the Queen archetype of feminine maturity, (3) stuck in Detached Manipulator “shadow” form of the feminine Magician archetype of maturity, and (4) stuck in the Addicted Lover “shadow” form of the feminine Lover archetype of maturity.In general, this profile of Trump’s four “shadow” forms of the feminine archetypes of maturity in his psyche is probably the typical profile of them in the psyches of most male misogynists. Moreover, the typical profile of most female misandrists probably includes the equivalent constellation of four “shadow” forms of the masculine archetypes of maturity in their psyches.But Trump appears not to like women who are simultaneously stuck in the Sadist “shadow” form of the feminine Warrior archetype of maturity and also stuck in the Tyrant “shadow” form of the Queen archetype of feminine maturity – which is how I would profile former secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton, his Democratic opponent in the 2016 presidential election. In general, most male misogynists will tend to dislike women who manifest simultaneously both the Sadist and the Tyrant “shadow” forms of the two crucial feminine archetypes of maturity.An American man who is stuck in the Masochist “shadow” form of the masculine Warrior archetype of maturity and also stuck in the Weakling “shadow” for of the King archetype of masculine maturity would probably never be a presidential candidate.But certain American women who are stuck in the Sadist “shadow” form of the feminine Warrior archetype of maturity and also stuck in the Tyrant “shadow” for of the Queen archetype of feminine maturity might become presidential candidates.For further discussion of Trump’s psychological make up. See the American psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Dr. Justin A. Frank’s 2018 book Trump on the Couch: Inside the Mind of the President (Avery/ Penguin Random House).Also see the American television critic James Poniewozik’s 2019 book Audience of One: Trump, Television, and the Fracturing of America (Liveright Publishing/ Norton).POPE FRANCIS AND HIS AMERICAN CATHOLIC CRITICSIn my estimate, I would profile Pope Francis as(1) accessing the optimal form of the masculine Warrior archetype of maturity,(2) accessing the optimal form of the King archetype of masculine maturity,(3) accessing the optimal form of the masculine Magician archetype of maturity, but(4) stuck in the Impotent Lover “shadow” form of the masculine Lover archetype of maturity (because of his celibacy).Hey, three out of four optimal forms of the masculine archetypes of maturity isn’t bad.When we turn our attention to profiling Pope Francis’ constellation of the four archetypes of feminine maturity in his psyche, we need to take into account his personal devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, a common devotion in the Roman Catholic Church, and his fondness for using mother imagery in reference to the church itself. In my estimate, he was able to use his positive orientation toward the feminine in his psyche to leverage his own personal psycho-spiritual growth and development to learn how to access three of the four optimal forms of the masculine archetypes of maturity in his psyche.For further discussion of the kind of inner work with the feminine archetypes of maturity that I am referring to here as being involved in Pope Francis’ own personal psycho-spiritual growth and development, see the American humanistic psychologist Jean Houston’s 1992 self-help book The Hero and the Goddess: The Odyssey as Mystery and Initiation (Ballantine Books).By way of digression, I should note here that it is hard work for adult women to learn how to access the optimal forms of the four feminine archetypes of maturity – and it is at least equally hard for adult men to learn how to access the optimal forms of the four feminine archetypes of maturity in their psyches. However, one example of an adult man at least attempting the kind of inner work with some optimal forms of the feminine archetypes of maturity in his psyche is Dante’s famous portrayal of the character Beatrice in the Divine Comedy. The character Beatrice is based on his fond memory of his boyhood encounter with a girl named Beatrice. My favorite scholar, the American Jesuit Renaissance specialist and cultural historian Walter J. Ong (1912-2003; Ph.D. in English, Harvard University, 1955), describes Dante-the-poet’s “apotheosis of Beatrice” in his 1951 essay “The Lady and the Issue” that he reprinted in his 1967 book In the Human Grain: Further Explorations of Contemporary Culture (Macmillan, pages 188-202, at 192). Ong’s choice of the word apotheosis to describe the character Beatrice is apt. The word apotheosis contains the Greek word theos, meaning god. So Ong is accusing Dante of making the character Beatrice into a goddess. But this is consistent with Jean Houston’s discussion of the inner goddess in our psyches.Also see the American Jungian psychotherapist Edward C. Whitmont’s 1982 book Return of the Goddess (Crossroad).Now, I want to discuss a bit further here the Denying “Innocent” One “shadow” form of the masculine Magician archetype of maturity. In all honesty, I suspect that many Roman Catholic bishops involved in covering up instances of priest sex abuse were themselves stuck in the Denying “Innocent” One “shadow” form of the masculine Magician archetype of maturity – and I suspect that this was also the case with Pope John-Paul II.Before the enormity of the sex-abuse and cover-up scandal emerged in public awareness, perhaps most practicing Catholics were also stuck in the Denying “Innocent” One “shadow” form of the Magician archetypes of maturity. No doubt the enormity of the scandal has shaken the faith of practicing Catholics in their bishops and in their church. Consequently, they face the challenge of learning how to access the optimal forms of the Magician archetypes of maturity (masculine and feminine) – rather than just switching from their “shadow” form to the bipolar opposite “shadow” form (the Detached Manipulator forms).But the abusive priests involved in the sex abuse of underage victims were themselves most likely stuck in the Impotent Lover “shadow” for of the masculine Lover archetype, because of their attempts to practice celibacy – a practice dictated by church custom. When those priests engaged in sex abuse of underage victims, they momentarily flipped from the Impotent Lover “shadow” form to the Addicted Lover “shadow” form.Most of us are stuck simultaneously in four “shadow” forms of the archetypes of maturity, even if we occasionally alternate from one “shadow” form to the bipolar opposite “shadow” form. But the goal should be to switch from a given “shadow” form of one archetype of maturity to the optimal form of that one archetype of maturity – if we can. But each pair of bipolar opposite “shadow” can be likened to an inner Scylla and Charybdis. Consequently, the market for self-help books is not likely to vanish in the near future.However that may be, even though I think that Pope Francis is a beautiful man in many ways who is setting a good example for faithful Roman Catholics, I would be remiss if I did not mention here that he has evoked strong expressions of hostility among certain American Catholics. But I see those hostile American Catholics as stuck in the culture warrior profile involving (1) the Sadist “shadow” form of the Warrior archetypes of maturity combined with (2) the Tyrant “shadow” form of the Royal archetypes of maturity (the King and the Queen archetypes).In general, I see all American Catholics and all other Americans who posture as culture warriors as manifesting those two “shadow” forms of the archetypes of maturity – not the optimal forms of those two archetypes of maturity. As the example of assertiveness training shows with regard to people stuck in the Masochist “shadow” form of the two Warrior archetypes of maturity, people stuck in one “shadow” form need to struggle mightily to avoid flipping into the bipolar opposite “shadow” form and, instead, learn how to access the optimal form. The optimal form of the two Warrior archetypes of maturity involves accessing a healthy sense of anger, as distinct from various unhealthy expressions of anger. The optimal form of the two Warrior archetypes of maturity involves Aristotle’s virtue of courage.For further discussion of Pope Francis’ life, see the English journalist Austen Ivereigh’s 2014 book The Great Reformer: Francis and the Making of a Radical Pope (Henry Holt), and also his new 2019 book Wounded Shepherd: Pope Francis and His Struggle to Convert the Catholic Church (Henry Holt).For further discussion and defense of Pope Francis against his hostile American Catholic critics, see the new 2019 book Discovering Pope Francis: The Roots of Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s Thinking, edited by Brian Y. Lee and Thomas L. Knoebel (Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press Academic).
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