Robert Moore and Douglas Gillette’s book “King, Warrior, Magician, Lover” is a book on psychological mature development of the self using Jungian psychology and theology as a framing device. It is a wonderful and succinct introduction to Jungian psychology, of which there is much to read, and is all-important for healthy pyschological development. It’s important to let a key section from the Introduction to the book speak for itself, with our own emphasis.
What is missing is not, for the most part, what many depth psychologists assume is missing; that is, adequate connection with the inner feminine. In many cases, these men seeking help had been, and were continuing to be, overwhelmed by the feminine. What they were missing was an adequate connection to the deep and instinctual masculine energies, the potentials of mature masculinity. They were being blocked from connection to these potentials by patriarchy itself, and by the feminist critique upon what little masculinity they could still hold onto for themselves. And they were being blocked by the lack in their lives of any meaningful and transformative initiatory process by which they could have achieved a sense of manhood.
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.
What the book describes is a psychological deconstruction of what it means to be a “man,” putting forward that a mature masculine man does not display harmful behaviors that will in the modern day be attributed to “toxic masculinity,” but instead is able to show positive traits such as love, empathy, and compassion. Importantly, it is important to understand that the ideas in this book can apply to the psychological development of both men and women. In our view, the book uses “masculinity” to describe mature pscyhological development, and the positive message and developmental habits described in the book can apply universally to all people once you have understood its meaning through its own language.
The book describes four archetypes that must be kept in balance in order to maintain a healthy psyche. Each of these archetypes, their progressions from the “Immature Masculine” to the “Mature Masculine”, and their shadows, are described in detail in the book. In our summaries below, we will describe the book in short as “KWML” for “King, Warrior, Magician, Lover.”
You can obtain a copy of “King, Warrior, Magician, Lover” here: https://www.amazon.com/King-Warrior-Magician-Lover-Rediscovering/dp/0062506064 (ISBN 978-0062506061)
We describe briefly the general philosophy KWML. Mature masculine development is broken down into four archetypes, as can be seen below.
Every masculine archectype described has a triune, or three-part structure in both their immature and mature forms. The goal of the KWML philosophy, which is a simple explanation of Jungian psychology, is to fully integrate each of the four archetypes into the psyche. An archetype can be said to be fully integrated when it is progressed from the immature, or “Boy psychology,” to the mature, or “Man psychology.” Across the bottoms of the three-part structure are bipolar dysfunctions, or “shadows” of the archetype. We will focus on a short description of what the shadow is, the attributes of the four archetypes with their dysfunctional poles in Man psycholoy, and the progressions one must man to move from the immature to the mature forms the archetypes.
It is important to have a basic understanding of “The Shadow”, which is key to Jungian psychology. Carl Jung had too much to say about the shadow to name. Here are some choice quotes.
The shadow is a moral problem that challenges the whole ego-personality, for no one can become conscious of the shadow without considerable moral effort. To become conscious of it involves recognizing the dark aspects of the personality as present and real. This act is the essential condition for any kind of self-knowledge.
― C.G. Jung, Aion (1951). CW 9, Part II: P.14
Man is, on the whole, less good than he imagines himself or wants to be. Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual's conscious life, the blacker and denser it is.
― C.G. Jung, Man and His Symbols
Bipolar dysfunction psychologically represents a lack of cohesion in the psyche, and thus it is possible for a boy or man to succumb to the positive or negative poles of bipolar dysfunction, which are described as “shadows” of the archetypes.
Below we offer short descriptions of the mature masculine and the positive and negative poles of bipolar dysfunction, which will be described in greater detail by quoting the source material below.
+ The Tyrant — The Tyrant is selfish, self-serving, exploits and abuses others. He demands adoration and is very hostile to criticism.- The Weakling — The Weakling lack centre and calm, and fears disloyalty from those around him.+ The Sadist — Those who endure much pain and inflict it on others, and spend their time attacking both tasks and those around them.- The Masochist — A pushover who allows themselves to be attacked and pushed around.+ The Detached Maniuplator — A “trickster,” he lords his cleverness over others and witholds key information to maintain their edge over others. Focused on “being clever” in a harmful way. (As often see on 4chan and Reddit.)- The Denying “Innocent” One — A victim of envy of others, detached from reality and uses his expertise to shrowd his lack of responsbility.