A World of Stories

As human beings, we live in a world of stories. We speak in stories. We see in stories. We even dream in stories.

“The world we experience as ‘out there’ is actually a reconstruction of reality that is built inside our heads.” – The Science of Storytelling

As that quote alludes to, our brains gather information about the world around us and reconstruct it into a coherent story that we can consciously understand and share with others.

This article is nothing more than a story about masculine archetypes that my brain has curated and constructed in a shareable fashion.

Archetypes

Archetypes are common stories that have been incorporated into the minds of humanity. The great psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Carl Jung said it best:

“The contents of the collective unconscious are archetypes, primordial images that reflect basic patterns that are common to us all, and which have existed universally since the dawn of time.” – Carl Gustav Jung

In this article, we’re going to explore the main masculine archetypes that manifest themselves all around us.

King, Warrior, Magician, Lover

This article is largely based on the incredible book written about the four masculine archetypes, King, Warrior, Magician, Lover: Rediscovering the Archetypes of the Mature Masculine. I highly recommend reading this book if the following information leaves your mind hungry for more.

King

The first male archetype is the King. The King shares much in common with the other masculine archetypes and can be thought of as the most powerful.

The king archetype brings order to chaos, establishing laws, structures, and systems. It stands against chaos and threats to the realm.

Certain roles in our society embody the king archetype more than others. Judges, politicians, fathers, CEOs, and business owners greatly embody the king archetype.

Order and Authority

Every king is endowed with the responsibility of keeping his kingdom in order. Bad kings allow their kingdom to fall into disorder and chaos.

The kingdom doesn’t have to be a kingdom in the literal sense. We can also view our bodies, our houses, and communities as kingdoms.

We see the king archetype manifested constantly in the stories that we perpetuate. I recently watched a movie called The Tree of Life, starring Brad Pitt. In the movie, Brad Pitt plays the father of a small family in Texas. He provides strict authority and order in his household. When he leaves the house to go on business trips, the order immediately collapses. In his absence, the mother allows the kids to do whatever they want in the name of fun. This leads to chaos and problems. When Brad Pitt returns home from his trips, order and authority is immediately restored. There are some great shots of the kids expressions changing in real time as they see their father returning home. They immediately stiffen up, adjust their posture, and fall into a more orderly state to greet their father. Brad Pitt’s character embodies the king archetype.

Masculine archetypes often clash with feminine archetypes. That clash is depicted beautifully in The Tree of Life. We see this clash in homes all across the world.

Leadership, Judgement, and Wisdom

King’s are responsible for making decisions that have grand effects on their kingdom and everybody within them. It requires great wisdom to make such decisions.

Contained within the Holy Bible is a section called The Book of Kings that explores the king archetype through several stories. Within it is a story about a young king named Solomon. He calls upon God to bless him with the ability to judge his people and discern between good and bad in the following verse:

“Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?” – Kings 3:9

He is asking God for wisdom. He knows that if he isn’t able to make wise decisions for his people, his kingdom will crumble. God is pleased by his request and grants him the wisdom he seeks. With this wisdom, Solomon is able to make good decisions and win the hearts of his people.

Shadow

There is a shadow side to every archetype and every trait of every archetype. The shadow side of the king is excessive rigidity, authoritarianism, and tyranny. If a kingdom becomes too orderly under a tyrannical king, as we see in authoritarian societies, it runs the risk of stagnation and deterioration.

Warrior

The warrior is another essential aspect of the archetypal male psyche. This aspect embodies strength, courage, and discipline.

The warrior sets boundaries, fights for causes he believes in, and protects those that need protection. He faces challenges, overcomes obstacles, and engages in battle if need be. The warrior is dedicated to justice, honor, moral integrity, and the protection of those he cares about.

A great example of a well known figure that embodies the warrior archetype in modern culture is Andrew Tate. He is a former kickboxing world champion and advocates for the restoration of the warrior ideals in western culture.

In western society, we have largely suppressed the warrior archetype in men. In schools, men are punished for something as innocent as making finger guns with their hands. They are taught that anything resembling aggression or violence is inherently bad. There is a dangerous side effect to this attack on the warrior archetype. When an archetype is suppressed within an individual or a society, the archetype is likely to rear it’s shadow elements. The shadow elements of the warrior archetype are needless destruction and chaotic violence. We see this shadow element manifesting itself in our society with the rise in mass shootings, especially at schools. It seems that this ruthless attempt to snuff out any manifestation of the warrior archetype in young men has backfired, quite literally.

Another dangerous force has taken a hold on western society. That force is video games. Video games have largely engulfed the masculine warrior spirit similar to how pornography and social media has engulfed masculine sexuality. Many men are directing all of their warrior inclinations towards video games where they receive the illusion that they are fighting enemies with their friends. This is why violent games like Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto are among the most popular video games among men. Unfortunately, since large numbers of men are directing their warrior energies towards a computer screen, they lack the physical strength or ability to engage in actual combat. The percentage of men age 17-24 that are eligible for military service is drastically declining, even while the military is simultaneously lowering the requirements for combat. This is a scary reality that we are dealing with as a culture. Men are becoming weaker and losing touch with their warrior spirit.

Magician

The third masculine archetype is the magician. The magician embodies transformation, creativity, wisdom, knowledge, and mastery.

The magician is a guide and a visionary. He uses the environment to influence others and navigate metaphysical realms.

The magician is inventive and resourceful. He has access to specialized and rare knowledge.

Comedians greatly embody the magician archetype. They engage in a form of mental magic. Musicians also strongly embody the magician archetype. They are able to construct collections of sounds that effect people on a deeply emotional level.

In addition, there are actual magicians in our society. David Blaine is one of the most prominent magicians of our era. He has performed several feats that seem humanly impossible. He never reveals whether or not there was trickery in his stunts. He also performs slight of hand card tricks where he utilizes misdirection and psychological manipulation. Magicians master the ability to manipulate human perception.

Another great example of a popular figure that embodies multiple male archetypes, including the magician archetype, is Conor McGregor. Conor is a highly successful fighter and former UFC champion. In addition to his incredible fighting abilities, Conor deploys psychological warfare to destroy his opponents. He also crafts incredible stories around his fights that keep the audience engaged and mesmerized. Conor used to predict the outcomes of his fights in advance with stunning accuracy. At the end of one of his fights during his rise to fame, he referred to himself as ‘mystic mac’ because of this ability. The application of the magician archetype to his fight career contributed to his propulsion to becoming the number one superstar in MMA and one of the most well known fighters globally.

Shadow

The shadow side of the magician archetype can be quite dangerous. It involves chaos and destruction.

A wonderful example of the shadow side can be found within the Harry Potter series. The dark arts of the Harry Potter story represent the shadow of the magician archetype. The dark arts entice individuals by offering them unheard power through access to dangerous and destructive spells.

Another widely known example of the magician’s shadow manifested in a fictional character is in a Batman villain, the Joker. The Joker uses tricks to promote chaos and destruction within society. It takes all of Batman’s strength to go up against this brutal manifestation of the magician archetype that we call the Joker.

Lover

The final masculine archetype is the lover. The lover archetype embodies passion, desire, joy, intimacy, connection, and pleasure.

The lover is primarily driven by love and a strong passion for life. The lover is sensitive to beauty in all of its forms.

The lover also has the ability to empathize and connect with others. Many of the traits of the lover archetype are considered feminine in nature.

Therapists, social workers, psychiatrists, and actors all embody the lover archetype.

Passion and Desire

The lover is often driven by passion and desire. We see this archetype pop up in many stories. A really great example of it is in the character Jay Gatsby from The Great Gatsby. Jay’s actions in the story are all driven by his desire and love for Daisy. In the story, Daisy is married to another man and Jay risks everything to get her back.

Another good example of the Lover archetype manifested is within the character Jim in the TV series, The Office. In the show, he has a great love for a receptionist that he works with, named Pam. Similar to The Great Gatsby story, his love interest Pam is engaged to another man. Jim takes great social risk in pursuing Pam while she is still engaged to this other man.

A great pop culture icon that embodies the lover archetype is Russel Brand. Russel is a very caring and empathetic person. He’s also very charming due to his overt sensuality and passion. However, in the past he has fallen into the depths of the shadow elements of the lover. In his life, the shadow elements manifested themselves as drug and sex addictions. Whatever archetype is strongest within you has the greatest propensity to destroy you.

Suppression

Because the lover archetype is feminine in nature, suppression of it is very common in men. Many kings throughout history have greatly suppressed their lover archetype. Thus, it took women that were extremely overt in their sexuality to ignite the lover within them. These kings were often overcome and manipulated by these types of women.

A great example of the suppression of the lover archetype is within the villain Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War. In the movie, Thanos is following out what he believes to be his destiny, which is to wipe out half of life in the universe. He has come to the conclusion that the universe is overpopulated and there aren’t enough resources to go around. He discovers that to achieve his ends, he must sacrifice his adopted daughter Gamora, who he loves deeply. This love for Gamora is driven by the lover archetype within him which is a very strong force. However, with the help of his other archetypes, he suppresses this love for Gamora and sacrifices her. Regardless of him being torn apart by this decision, he does it, in the name of his king and warrior traits.

Another prominent example of the lover archetype is in a famous figure, Tony Robbins. Tony Robbins is an author, coach, and speaker. He helps people develop tools and mindsets that empower them to live their best lives. Tony is driven by a deep love and passion for helping people due to experiences that he went through in his childhood. He values connection and intimacy and has achieved incredible philanthropic feats. Through his charities, he has provided nearly a billion meals to people in need. All of these remarkable acts of charity are driven by the highly developed lover archetype within him.

Sexuality

In Western society, male sexuality has been severely suppressed by cultural movements, pornography, religion, and many other forces. Men have been largely encouraged to adopt a more feminine sexuality. Conversely, females have been encouraged to adopt a more masculine sexuality. Masculine sexuality is more aggressive, impulsive, and abundant in nature. Feminine sexuality is more reserved, discriminate, and patient.

This inversion of sexuality in western society has created a whole slew of problems and confusion. One of those problems being a rapidly declining birth rate.

Shadow

The shadow aspect of the lover involves a loss of sense of self, a lack of boundaries, a fear of authority, and a fall into hedonism and impulsivity.

One of the oldest stories of all time involving the shadow elements of the lover archetype is the Odyssey. In the story, king Odysseus is sailing across the ocean and has to pass by an island that is inhabited by Sirens. Sirens are mythological monsters that pretend to be beautiful women with amazing voices. They lure in sailors that pass their island by singing seductive songs. Odysseus is warned about these sirens, so he blocks his men’s ears with beeswax and orders his men to tie him up to the ship. When he hears the songs from the sirens, he longs to escape and swim to the island. The sirens have the dangerous ability to ignite the lover archetype in any man and use it against them. This is one of the dangers of the lover archetype. It has the power to blind men into following passion and love with reckless abandon.

Incorporation

Having a deep understanding of archetypes is powerful for navigating and understanding the stories that drive humanity. As a man, it is very important to develop each masculine archetype within you to avoid falling prey to the shadow elements of any one archetype. It is also very important to acknowledge this propensity to fall into these shadow elements.

You also want to be able to be aware when the culture that you are a part of tries to suppress certain archetypes. When this happens, you may need to utilize the warrior archetype within you to fight back.

Further Learning

If you are hungry to learn more about the stories and archetypes that inhabit the collective human consciousness, I highly recommend exploring works from Carl Jung and Jordan Peterson. These two great individuals dedicated their lives to the study of the archetypal stories that lie within the fabric of our reality. Maps of Meaning and The Red Book are two of their greatest works on the topics.