The Mature Man Archetypes
Archetypes are used to create a framework upon which a mature and integral masculine force is developed. Most problems men face in the modern world are caused by the man himself not being in touch with the primal masculine energies that reside within them. Although every man possesses both masculine and feminine energy, modern men are socially encouraged to develop their feminine energy at the expense of their masculine. Thus, causing a dystopia in personal, professional and hierarchical relationships.
The Mature Masculine consists of four Archetypical energies structured in three separate parts. The full and highest expression part as well as two bi-polar dysfunctional (shadow) parts. Successfully integrating the two dysfunctional parts enables men to attain the fullest expression of each archetype thereby creating a life of purpose, fulfilment and an otherworldly sense of oneness.
However, in order for a man to mature, it has to evolve from its immature version. These immature archetypes are referred to as Boyhood Archetypes. Like their mature counterparts, each of which comprises three parts. Exploring the boyhood archetypes can be helpful for two reasons. First, it reminds a man to never lose sight of that energetic and enthusiastic boy who resides within him. This allows us to enjoy life more freely as well as relate to other boys he comes across from a place of connectedness as opposed to judgement. Secondly, it makes a man aware of childish thoughts and behavioural patterns into which he still unconsciously falls and thus hindering his journey into manhood.
Moreover, a great deal of common mundane problems men face these days, is due to subconsciously letting their boyhood in control of making decisions. These men haven’t fully moved on to harnessing their full mature potential. Therefore, most adults think, act and feel like teenagers. Or boys pretending to be men. In this two parts series, I explored the boyhood archetypes in the first part and now I am going to explore the mature masculine archetypes.
The Lover is the first archetype to be developed in an adult male as the adolescent who adventured into the Hero’s Journey is now back to where he started. Being back gives the adult to share what he has learned through his undertakings. And the first lesson is the sense of belonging he feels when he is back. That feeling of being home. Therefore, the Lover seeks to create a family, to develop powerful and healthy relationships, a deeper connection with spirituality which is the love, respect and nourishment of himself. The lover is out and about to experience life to its fullest. As such he is attentive to his feelings and emotions, ideals and sensuality which allows him to experience all areas of life through inputs from all senses (touch, taste, smell, hearing and vision). Thus, the man is now able to connect with everything and everyone around him. The power of tapping into the Lover archetype provides a man with the ability to be creative and insightful, to empathise and connect with others. Such sensory capabilities allow him to enjoy the pleasures of life such as good food and drinks, arts and other people. Moreover, it produces a boundlessly hunger to seek for meaning and purpose in life, passionately. However, if a man is unable to integrate the Lover successfully, he gives birth to the shadows.
The Addicted Lover is endlessly looking for one thing, person or experience which will allow him to feel whole in the future. The Addicted Lover can be either a gatherer of stuff, people and experiences or he can become obsessed with one thing, person or experience. In the former case, the man has everything one can hope for but lacks a philosophy, meaning or purpose which brings it all together. Hence, he feels broken up instead of whole. In the latter, the man gets so obsessed with the one thing that it brings more disarray than happiness.
The Impotent Lover has lost sight of the colours, textures, scents, sounds and appetite for life. Thus, he feels dull, emasculated and mediocre inside. The Impotent Lover is unable to feel joy, desire, drive and passionate in all areas of life. Unlike the Addicted Lover who lacks structure and boundary, the Impotent Lover creates too many rules to live within. The number of rules can be so great that it blows up in destructive ways like addiction to porn and drugs. The Impotent Lover then experiences bursts of Addicted Lover.
Integrating the Lover archetype properly enables a man to be driven by the harnessed emotions he has allowed himself to feel. Harnessing these emotions can be achieved by being fully present, experiencing things, people and events in a deeper way, using all five senses. Thus, transforming life’s mundane everyday activities into indulgent rituals of worthiness. Another way of accessing the Lover archetype is to make it a priority, a necessity, to engage in artistic activities that bring out passion. Arts will bring inspiration and joy into one’s life.
The Warrior’s energy provides a man with unrivalled power that can be harnessed to reach personal, professional, marital, spiritual and whatever goals a man may have. It is fuel to enter and win worthy battles, conquer greatness and leave an eternal legacy. In order to harness such power, a man must cultivate some characteristics as follow:
Aggressiveness: effort, energy, initiative and strength.
Purposefulness: the cause towards which aggression will be applied
Mindfulness: being alert and awake, to keep observant, student and planner of every decision. He is aware of the inevitability of death, hence every moment counts.
Adaptability: ability to use his mindfulness and strategic thinking to decide where he will strike, to show his detachment from a certain battle tactics and to improvise on the fly should surprises arise.
Minimalism: carrying only what is truly essential both physically and psychologically, so he can move quickly and swiftly. Therefore, being able to adapt and overcome potential threats.
Decisiveness: making decisions and undoubtedly moving on without regret. A Warrior is instinctively confident due to his excessive training routine.
Skilfulness: extreme competence in deploying the technology of his craft to reach his goals. Warriors are skilful, powerful and meticulously accurate.
Loyalty: purpose for which he fights and lives. Unlike the Hero, who fights to test his abilities and impress himself and others, the Warrior fights for something beyond himself.
Discipline: having self-control both physically and emotionally. The Warrior chooses his behaviour as opposed to letting the situation dictate how he acts and feels. Discipline has to do with the Warrior’s willingness to withstand pain. He sees pain as weakness leaving the body and mind, therefore the only pathway to true physical and psychological strength.
Emotional Detachment: mental clarity and single-minded purpose. It is the Warrior’s ability to detach from fearful and doubtful thoughts derived from his own feelings.
Creative Destruction: letting go of or breaking off of what is no longer serving, in order to make room for new things and fresh beginnings.
The Sadist: This is the active shadow of the Warrior archetype. This shadow instils men to be permanently detached emotionally from everyone and everything. The Sadist is fierce with everyone and expects nothing but perfection from himself and everybody else. Like the Grandstander Bully his cruelty comes from his own insecurities. The embodiment of this shadow archetype is the workaholic man who takes pride in his work habits to the expense of his family and his own wellbeing. His ability to withstand pain enables him to grind it out to the top, thus distracting himself from not knowing what he is working for. Although this energy can lead to the top, once he reaches the ultimate peak, he feels empty, lost, bitter and lonely.
The Masochist: This is the passive shadow of the Warrior archetype. Like the Coward, the Masochist feels powerless, boundless and would try to become whoever his boss or wife wants him to be. Although he complains about the pain which relationships impose upon him, he kind of enjoys it in hopes that it is making him stronger. Until one thing pushes him over the edge, and it behaves like the Sadist and distils psychological or even physical abuse.
In order to integrate the Warrior archetype successfully, a man should engage in some sort of martial art or physical activity, make decisions, meditate, disregard other’s opinions of what he should or should not do. Discovering core values and devising a plan can bring purpose to a man’s life as well as strengthen improvisation and resilience skills. Establishing habits and rituals to strengthen discipline and getting rid of clutter in all areas of life.
The Magician’s energy is predicated upon the desire to master the use of a secret knowledge to manipulate tools as to control certain components and create desired outcomes. Such knowledge refers to everything which is not trivial to the average human being. To acquire it, it is required great strive and perseverance. Whether such knowledge allows men to conduct surgery, design and construct bridges and skyscrapers, create and profit from the stock market, direct a movie or defend an interpretation of the law, he is harnessing the power of the Magician. It is basically putting into practice the concept of “as above, so below” which in my interpretation means to bring our shapeless thoughts, imaginations and dreams into something tangible, concrete and real. Reflection, introspection and intuition are amongst the great characteristics of the Magician. If the Warrior makes decisions and acts on them, the Magician floods the Warrior’s deliberations with health and coherence. The more the Magician studies, contemplates and experiments, the better he can fuel the Warrior’s vision with incredible accuracy. Although knowledge and truth have been made available to everyone, effective mastery comes from small incremental advancements of a given depth of knowledge. A man first learns reading and writing, then sum and subtraction, then he learns how to calculate electrical currents until he knows enough to design and construct a power plant.
The Magician is the alchemist of all areas of life. If the Magician’s energy is integrated into a man, he finds ways to transform his failures into opportunities to learn, grow and become a greater man, capable of handling greater frustrations and disappointments. The Magician archetype can also be seen as the connection between the divine/spiritual world and the physical/material world. Only the magician is able to make very complex and complicated situations become easy to grasp by using different intellectual techniques such as that of metaphors. Thus, beginning the process of initiation, the process of going from being an apprentice to becoming a master. In modern times the Magicians can be seen in the figures of teacher, tutors, mentors, coaches and other professionals alike. This concept of mentors does not only apply to professional endeavours, but it is also used to initiate a boy into manhood. Many adults have grown up lacking such mentorship, hence feeling lost, self-absorbed and adrift. This way, they manifest the two shadow archetypes.
The Detached Manipulator portrays himself as being the Magician in his fullness, but he withholds secrets, therefore, he fails to initiate his apprentices fully. Detached Manipulators are usually fearful of making the wrong decisions and therefore they make no decisions. They are afraid of suffering and therefore they refrain from participating in the pleasure created by others. As he withholds knowledge from people, he lives a life of isolation and despair.
The Innocent One is the passive shadow of the Magician archetype. He wants the power, the acknowledgement and prises that the Magician archetype can bring. However, he is not willing to put in the work required or even take the responsibility that comes with such power. He wants to become a master without undergoing all the steps mastery requires. The Innocent One not only gives up on his goals, but he also does not want others to accomplish theirs either. Thus, he diminishes any successes others may gain out of envy.
The King archetype is the most important of all mature masculine archetypes because it encompasses the Warrior, the Magician and the Lover in perfect synchronicity. In order to integrate the King archetype in its wholeness, a man must have conquered the other three mature archetypes in their fullness as well. Therefore, this is usually the last archetype to be developed which gives a man the crown and dominance of his full godlike potential. The King is energetically, physiologically and geographically centred as he is the agent of the Gods, who has the power to bring heaven to earth. The King brings order to the chaos, he unites diametric forces. His overarching perspective of the big picture allows him to have the confidence and motivation to calmly act as opposed to hysterically react even when chaos ensues. Furthermore, he is fully conscious of his core values, hence when crisis unfolds, he is absolutely certain as to where he stands. Adding such unwavering core values to his life experience enables the King to do the right thing, at the right time for the right reasons. In other words, the pure personification of integrity.
The King is also in charge of protecting his Kingdom from negative influence. Whether it is your home, your workplace, your country or your life. In order to protect your Kingdom, you must be able to access the power of aggressiveness to keep it whole. Moreover, by accessing such aggressiveness to protect his kingdom, the King is securing law and order. Hence, the King establishes laws, structures and principles by which everyone must abide so the kingdom can flourish and succeed. For a kingdom to flourish and succeed, the King must create opportunities and inspire ingenuity for everyone, including himself. The King understands his power and influence, so he sees empowering others to live their full potential as beneficial to the overall health and fertility of his kingdom. The ultimate duty of the King or any kind of leader is to distribute blessings to those whom he led. The act of blessing is the act of acknowledging and honouring his people for their achievements. By noticing those who are worthy of receiving the bless of the King, the King is not only acknowledging the greatness of his people, but also empowering the people of his kingdom to advance his principles, his philosophy and therefore creating a legacy that will live far beyond his time.
The Tyrant truly believes that he is the centre of the universe, power is scarce and therefore instead of blessing others who succeed, he tears them down to keep his power absolute. The Tyrant either sees people as threats that need to be put down or as objects to be exploited for his own benefit. The Tyrant would not think twice before throwing family, friends and collaborators off of a cliff.
The Weakling is the passive shadow of the King archetype. Unlike the Tyrant who seeks absolute power at all costs, the Weakling resigns all of his powers and responsibility to others. He may have suffered from abuse in childhood, and as an adult he refuses to take control or exert his power. As such, the Weakling tends to be distrustful of others and believe that everyone is out to take him down. Interestingly enough, the King shadows work in conjunction. Thus, behind every aggressive Tyrant lies a scared and insecure Weakling as well as behind every sulky Weakling there is a Tyrant waiting to come out of the shadow.
I hope this quick two-part series has given you some useful insights on areas of life you could give some attention to for a better quality of life. I also hope that this snippet into the world of archetypes has inspired you to learn more about them. The ideas on this post were extracted from the book King Warrior Magician Lover: Rediscovering the Archetypes of the Mature Masculine by D. Gillette and R. Moore. A couple of other interesting pieces of literature that I would recommend are The Hero Within by Carol Pearson and The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell.