King, Warrior, Magician, Lover: Rediscovering the Archetypes of the Mature Masculine by Robert Moore and Douglas Gillette discusses in depth the four primal masculine archetypes. I’ve referred to the book often over the past few years. Lately, I’ve been noticing a need to draw on the archetype of the Warrior. I’ve spent a lot of my life being a “nice guy”, which is a symptom of the passive shadow warrior (the “masochist”). Symptoms of the masochist tend to include frequent bouts of rage. The warrior becomes angry when suppressed.
As the authors put the problem:
“…we will be cowardly masochists. We will dream but not be able to act decisively to make our dreams come true. We will lack vigor and be depressed. We wil lack the capacity to endure the pain necessary for the accomplisment of any worthwhile goal.”
Lately, I’ve noticed a seeming inability to make peace with the past. I think about times when I allowed other people to push me around, and my body responds with physical distress as if the scene were still occurring now. Reliving old anger has driven the clockwork of my decisions for too long. I asked myself today: what would be required to make peace with my past? I felt compelled to draw on the energy of the Warrior.
The instant intuitive response that came to me: I cannot change the past and I cannot change other people. However, I can begin to act swiftly where my old self would have acted like a coward. I cannot undo the past, but I can meet today with a new vigor. In showing the face of a new self, I can correct today’s injustices. Herein lies the key to making peace with the injustices of the past.
This morning, I ask myself: what does it look like to practice courage today? How might I begin practicing swiftness and decisiveness in areas where I used to hesitate? What pain am I avoiding that I might instead face with courage? How might I draw on the wisdom of the King, the cunning of the Magician, and the compassion of the Lover to guide my decisions in the moment, without hesitation?
Sometimes, I find it useful just to bring these questions into my day and look for openings to practice.
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