Category Archives: Empress/Isis

Has Your High Priestess Been Shortchanged This Year? (How to Fix)

Your High Priestess and Your Empress Archetypes – Are Both Their Needs Being Met?

Introducing Julie Marie Rahm, certified YUEN Mastery Practitioner and Instructor

Julie Marie Rahm, the Resultant, is a  certified YUEN Mastery practitioner and instructor.

Julie Marie Rahm, the Resultant, is a certified YUEN Mastery practitioner and instructor.

This week’s Guest Blog by Julie Marie Rahm, the Resultant, gives us insight on how to regain our center when we’ve over-extended ourselves by nurturing and caring for others.

Julie applies YUEN Mastery, the New Science of Achieving Immediate Results; a blend of insight and logic with a dash of quantum physics. The bottom line – if you’re ready to be free of stress and pain, if you’re ready for self-mastery, if you’re ready to know what’s really going on in the world, then read her articles or schedule a one-on-one results-guaranteed telephone consultation with Julie.

Note from Alay’nya: Curious about the Yuen Method? I was. And I had my own consultation with Julie just yesterday. Learn more about this method in this week’s post from the Alay’nya Studio (look for the link two days from now, Thursday, Jan. 30th), and in next week’s blogpost here in The Unveiling Journey. (I’ll put the link in when I write next week’s post.)

It’s been less than twenty-four hours, and I can already feel the life-changing difference!

Our Inner Empress – Feeling Good through Helping Others Feel Good

We’ve just come out of the Season of the Empress. She was our dominant energy from Samhain (October 31st) to Winter Solstice (December 21st).

Our Empress Archetype Is All About Connecting and Nurturing.

The Empress - Major Arcana Card III - from the Touchstone Tarot by Kat Black.

The Empress – Major Arcana Card III – from the Touchstone Tarot by Kat Black.

When in our Empress mode, we’re under the sway of the powerful neurohormone oxytocin.

As beautifully described by Dr. Shelley Taylor in The Tending Instinct, oxytocin makes us seek out and find pleasure in the warmth of human connection.

When we are pregnant and mothers of young children, we are awash in oxytocin, and it governs much of what we do until our children leave home and menopause arrives. (Usually, these two events more-or-less coincide, and check out Dr. Louann Brizendine’s book, The Female Brain.)

Our Empress Archetype Causes Us to Bond with Animals

We get a surge of oxytocin, a feel-good neurohormone, from playing with warm, furry animals. Photo courtesy Sciencephotos.com.

We get a surge of oxytocin, a feel-good neurohormone, from playing with warm, furry animals. Photo courtesy Sciencephotos.com.

If we are not maternal – by nature or by life-role – we often nurture animals. Nothing like cuddling up with our pet cat, or romping with our dog, to release a good oxytocin surge into our brains – helping us feel calmer, more soothed, and more happy with life. Meg Daley Olmert describes how oxytocin helps the human-animal bond in Made for Each Other: The Biology of the Human-Animal Bond.

Obviously, both men and women access the Empress archetype – think of the many men who are devoted fathers, or whose lives involve caring for people and animals. It’s the same neurohormone that gives all of us satisfaction in the human-human or human-animal bond.

Our Empress Governs the Biggest Feast-Days and Holidays of the Year

In our Empress mode, we get satisfaction from nurturing others - particularly during holiday feasts!

In our Empress mode, we get satisfaction from nurturing others – particularly during holiday feasts!

It’s no coincidence that our Empress time encompasses the two biggest feasting, family, human-warmth-and-connection times of the year – Thanksgiving and Christmas.

But what happens when our Empress is overextended?

This can happen so, so easily.

Our Empress is about caring; not about setting boundaries. Thus, when someone needs her, she often responds without saying, No, I need time for myself right now.

Sometimes, there’s a crisis during the holidays and people need more time than expected.

Sometimes, there’s too much travel; too many demands on our time.

Sometimes, people come to visit – and stay longer than expected, or we have the lovely misfortune of living someplace where everyone wants to visit us over the holidays!

At the end of this time – special though it was – we need time for ourselves.

Our Inner High Priestess – Intuitive and Contemplative

The High Priestess, depicted by Mari.

The High Priestess, depicted by Mari-Na.

Our inner High Priestess is all about regrouping.

During the darkest time of winter, she’s about staying in bed for an extra hour or so each day.

Instead of focusing on the needs and wants of others, our High Priestess wants to not focus at all.

Our inner High Priestess wants to drift in a quiet, calm, contemplative space – and being forced to focus on anyone, or anything, is painful to this aspect of our psyche.

After being an Empress (sometimes for too long), we need our High Priestess to recharge.

Did you get your High Priestess time this year?

If you’re a little low on your High Priestess, you can still nurture her – and thus nurture your whole self.

Read this Guest Post from Julie Rahm to find out how.

Instant Rejuvenation for Generation Empress – Guest Post from Julie Marie Rahm, aka The Resultant

Forget about being a Baby Boomer. Aren’t we in fact the Sandwich Generation, caught in the middle?

Our adult offspring have boomeranged back home. Also, our aging parents need daily attention. Thus, perhaps an even more fitting title for our generation of women is Generation Empress.

If you are like me, you find yourself for months on end in full-throttle Empress mode, caring for and nurturing family, friends, clients.

Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy my family, friends, and clients. However, spending all of our time in Empress mode causes us to stagnate in body, mind, and spirit. Flow stops and unevenness sets in between others and us. Where there is unevenness, there is struggle. Struggle leads to reactions of anger and frustration.

What’s an Empress to do? Read on.

First, restore flow and thus rejuvenate by investing at least five minutes in contemplative High Priestess mode every day.

How? I recommend awakening five minutes earlier than usual. Sit in bed with the lights out. Imagine your day unfolding perfectly to your design. Most others are still asleep, so you can connect without static to the Universe and the Universe can connect back to you, supporting your design.

Then, strengthen yourself for your day.

How? Imagine a bright point of light moving quickly up and down from the crown of your head through your spine to the bottom of your tailbone. Run the light up and down eight times while saying to yourself “strengthen and delete.” Throughout the day, “run the light” any time you need a boost!

As you incorporate those first five minutes into each day, be willing to be amazed.

Expect to feel stronger and be happier.

My clients from ages eight to eighty agree that “running the light” daily is life changing. May it be for you, too!

Does Your Inner Empress Need to Recharge? (Ask Julie!)

Julie Marie Rahm, M.S., is a Resultant who resolves problems for individuals, families, schools, organizations, and businesses. How? She applies YUEN Mastery, the New Science of Immediate Results; a blend of insight and logic with a dash of quantum physics.

Julie is a certified YUEN Mastery practitioner and instructor. She earned her B.S. in physics and mathematics at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and her M.S. in industrial engineering at Georgia Tech. She worked for the U.S. Navy and Department of Defense for 20 years before applying physics and engineering to the human body and the human condition. Find her online at Problems-Resolved.com.

Masculine vs. Feminine – Core Archetypes

Your Masculine and Feminine Core Archetypes: How Are They Different?

yin-yang-recursive

Have you wondered yet how much you really need the archetypes of the “other gender” in your life?

That is, if you’re a man, have you wondered how much you “really need” the four core feminine archetypes?

And if you’re a woman, have you wondered how much you “really need” the masculine qualities in your life?

If so, you’re not alone.

Yin and Yang not only embody classic masculine and feminine qualities, but each carries the “seed” of one within the other

 

The Core Masculine and Feminine Archetypes: A Quick Review

There are four each of the core masculine and feminine archetypes. Three of each are the “power archetypes” – those which we must understand and incorporate during our first adult life mastery journey. And one of each is a “reserve” or “battery power backup” archetype – designed to give us a bit of extra “juice,” or to give us a little “breathing room.”

Core archetypes octant chart - each archetype (each octant) corresponds to one of Jung's Psychological Types (discounting the introversion/extroversion distinction).

Core archetypes octant chart – each archetype (each octant) corresponds to one of Jung’s Psychological Types (discounting the introversion/extroversion distinction).

Four Core Masculine Archetypes

All the masculine archetypes are on the bottom half of the core archetypes octant chart above.

Notice also: the Thinking archetypes are on the right-hand-side (for both masculine and feminine archetypes), and the Feeling archetypes are on the left-hand-side (again, for both masculine and feminine).

  • Magician: (NTJ, or Intuitive-Thinking-Judging) Being a visionary, creating reality according to your “big dream,”
  • Emperor: (STJ, or Sensing-Thinking-Judging) Bringing your desired reality into fruition; building and stabilizing your “empire,”
  • Hierophant: (NFJ, or Intuitive-Feeling-Judging) Becoming a guru/guide, and
  • Green Man (a reserve battery archetype): (SFJ, or Sensing-Feeling-Judging) Escape to the “great outdoors,” breaking out of the molds that civilization puts on us.

Four Core Feminine Archetypes

All the feminine archetypes are on the top half of the core archetypes octant chart above.

  • Hathor (The “Love Goddess”): (SFP, or Sensing-Feeling-Perceiving) Reveling in sensual beauty and pleasure,
  • Empress: (NFP, or Intuitive-Feeling-Perceiving) Connecting, loving, nurturing,
  • High Priestess: (NTJ, or Intuitive-Thinking-Perceiving) Being contemplative and intuitive, and
  • Hestia (a reserve battery archetype): (STP, or Sensing-Thinking-Perceiving) “Mending and tending.”

We Often “Bundle” the “Other Gender” Archetypes in Our Minds

Some of the very good thinkers in archetypal psychology have suggested “bundling” of the “other gender” archetypes. Here are two examples:

Women Tend to “Bundle” Their Masculine Archetypes into Their Amazon Persona

The first person to do a good “psychology of the feminine” was Antonia Wolff, protégé (and later the lover) of Carl Jung. While Jung wrote many books, Ms. Wolff wrote only one – and it was more of a “pamphlet” than a book. However, Antonia Wolff’s book was the inspiration and “launch pad” for Dr. Toni Grant’s later book, Being a Woman – a book that influenced millions of lives. Wolff’s pamphlet, the Structural Forms of the Feminine Psyche, has been translated from the original German and is available to read online.

Wolff succinctly outlined the elements of feminine psychology into four different modes or dimensions:

  • The Hetaira (Companion) – corresponding to Hathor (The “Love Goddess”): In Wolff’s formulation, this Hetaira (Courtesan) archetype is defined in terms of and in relationship to men,
  • The Mother – corresponding to the Empress (Isis): Wolff describes this as “motherly cherishing and nursing, helping, charitable, teaching,”
  • The Medial Woman – corresponding to High Priestess: “The medial woman is immersed in the psychic atmosphere of her environment and the spirit of her period, but above all in the collective (impersonal) unconscious,” and
  • The Amazon – corresponding to the “bundled” masculine archetypes of Magician and Emperor: [whose] “interest is directed towards objective achievements which she wants to accomplish herself.”
Thracian Amazon woman with sword.

Thracian Amazon woman with sword.

When women simplify their inner masculine archetypes into the single Amazon, they lose valuable distinctions.

We see that Wolff’s Structural Forms include two masculine archetypes, bundled together into the Amazon.

She omits the Hierophant, which is a teaching/mentoring/coaching role. For Wolff, the Hierophant is subsumed into the nurturing aspect of the Mother archetype.

She also omits the Green Man from her “masculine archetypal bundle,” together with the Hestia archetype – which is a feminine one. None of these omissions are surprising when we look at them in more detail, which we’ll do in a later blogpost.

(Historical note: Did the Amazons Really Exist?.)

The impact for woman of a “bundled” collection of masculine archetypes?

If we were to think of our inner Amazon as just one archetype, we’d miss the significant distinction between being a creative visionary genius (Magician) and being the implementer of structure and order (Emperor) .

Yves Saint Laurent (right) and Pierre Berger (left).

Yves Saint Laurent (right) and Pierre Berger (left).

Think about this. During his most creative years, Yves St. Laurent had as his close associate Pierre Bergé. St. Laurent was the creative genius, Bergé was CEO and marketing.

Bergé and St. Laurent – the Emperor and the Magician.

When we are clear as to whether we are in “creative” (Magician) or in “sustaining” (Emperor) modes, we can better understand not only our roles and responsibilities, but also our strengths and weaknesses.

For about twenty years, I’ve been the lead creative scientist in two different companies. When I’ve been in “creative” mode, I bump into walls. It’s been vitally important for me to have others in the CEO (and COO and CFO) roles.

Similarly, creative geniuses in the performing arts – say, choreographers and conductors – need the support of an Executive Director to carry out the business responsibilities, and an effective Board of Directors to shape the organization.

Visionaries need Sustainers; Magicians need Emperors. Being clear about this distinction helps us understand how to shift gears and allocate not only our time and priorities, but our long-term attention within our professional lives.

 

Men Tend to “Bundle” Their Feminine Archetypes into Their Lover Persona

love2

When men simplify their inner feminine archetypes into the single Lover, they also lose valuable distinctions.

Just as women often “bundle” their masculine archetypes into one convenient catch-all Amazon, men similarly tend to “bundle” all of their feminine archetypes into one convenient Lover mode. In my recent blogpost, Moore and Gillette, King, Warrior, Magician, Lover – 2 1/3 Out of Four Ain’t Bad!, I analyzed the work of Moore and Gillette, whose book bundles the core feminine archetypes into the Lover.

 

“Bundling” is a Convenient Shorthand, But Doesn’t Solve the “Big Picture”

leaning-tower-of-pisa-facts

When we “bundle,” we tend to simplify too much.

An “unbalanced understanding” leads to being lopsided – like the Leaning Tower of Pisa!

For real life mastery, we need to know, understand, and cultivate each of our six core power archetypes (both masculine and feminine), and know how to use our reserve or “battery-power back-up” archetypes as well.

Each Core Archetype Comes in Both Masculine and Feminine Forms

Each archetype has its own masculine and feminine complements.

For example, the High Priestess also appears as the Sage, or Wise Man.

The Green Man appears in feminine mode as Artemis or Diana, the original “woman who ran with the wolves.”

Even those archetypes that would seem to be most gender-specific have their complementary realizations within the opposite gender. For example, the building and sustaining aspect of the Emperor is found in the Roman goddess Minerva, who sprang (fully formed) from the head of her father Zeus.

Think also that the passionate and free Hathor archetype finds her masculine complement in Dionysus, who was fond of both sex and wine. (Think of a “Dionysian feast”!)

The Best Strategy

The best strategy is to master each archetype, in order, one by one.

Casablanca.

Bogart and Bergman in Casablanca.

Ultimately, we need to combine – within ourselves – the strengths and values of each of our core archetypes.

Let’s keep in mind that we have an “end-game.” We’re shooting for a final stage (for this particular “journey”) of integration – being able to access and use each archetype at will.

If we desire to be creative, we need to have both our Magician and our High Priestess archetypes. the High Priestess gives us the opportunity to “fill our well.” (See Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way.

If we desire to lead effectively within any organization, we need the ability to “treat people warmly” and “treat issues coldly.” We need both our Empress and Emperor. (See Micheal F. Andrew’s How to Think Like a CEO.

For whatever tasks and challenges lie ahead, we need to access all of our potential. This is the fist stage in the path to personal mastery.


Alay'nya - author of "Unveiling: The Inner Journey"

Alay’nya – author of Unveiling: The Inner Journey

Very best wishes as you unveil yourself to yourself in your own inner journey!

Alay’nya
(Alianna J. Maren, Ph.D.)

Author of Unveiling: The Inner Journey
You are the Jewel in the Heart of the Lotus. Become the Jewel!

This Unveiling blog is the theory – archetypes, life journeys, integration. For the practicum, go to the Alay’nya Studio blog – body awareness, movement and dance, Fountain of Youth (energy circulation exercises), and more!

Resources

Connect with Alay’nya and the Unveiling Community


P.S. Learning about an authentic women’s pathway was important in my own breakthroughs.

Valerie Frankel has written several books on this subject; I’ve discovered them since writing my own book.

Check out Valerie’s works:

  • Did you grow up with Buffy? Is a sister, niece, or favorite student a Buffy fanatic? Help her learn how Buffy defines the Heroines’ Journey – and so much more! Read and give Buffy and the Heroine’s Journey: Vampire Slayer as Feminine Chosen One.
  • Ever wished that there was a book like Campbell’s “The Man with a Thousand Faces” – written for you? Your own heroine’s archetypal journey! What do myths, legends, fairy tales, and folklore from around the world have to say about you and your own journey? Valerie Frankel’s From Girl to Goddess is applicable at all stages of our lives.
  • Game of Thrones devotee? Valerie has other great books out. Check out Valerie’s Game of Thrones e-book on Amazon!

Kindle

Kindle


Valerie Frankel, Author of From Girl to Goddess, on Unveiling: The Inner Journey

What does Valerie Frankel, author of books such as From Girl to Goddess and Buffy and the Heroine’s Journey: Vampire Slayer as Feminine Chosen One, have to say about Unveiling: The Inner Journey?

Ms. Frankel notes:

“She approaches her topic with devotion but also practicality and a deep intuition of human relationships, explaining though personal experience as well as intense research how the archetypes work and how a woman can channel the lover, mother, amazon and mystic to be all she is meant to become. Teachings of Jung, Murdock, Starhawk, and more appear, from ancient myth to modern culture.

“This is not the hero’s journey but one specific to the woman, or rather, many women on many different stages of journeying.

Read this and more reviews of Unveiling: The Inner Journey.

 

Paper

Kindle

 


Copyright (c) 2013, Alay’nya (Alianna J. Maren, Ph.D.). All rights reserved.

Related Posts: Dynamics of Masculine and Feminine Archetypes

Core Archetypes Year-Long Study Guide – The "Big Picture"

Your Master Plan for Understanding and Integrating Each of the Core Power Archetypes

Suppose that you’ve been studying – and using – the power of archetypes in your life for a while now. What will make this year the year in which you achieve personal mastery? What will make this year your breakthrough year, and launch you to a new level of personal success and victory?

You may already understand that as we grow, we go through archetypal “growth stages.” Perhaps no one explains this better than Carol Pearson, in The Hero Within. She walks us through how we go from the not-so-empowered Innocent to the fully-empowered Magician.

You may also know, from reading Caroline Myss’s Sacred Contracts, that we simultaneously access and use several different archetypes. In fact, she has us select “current” and “desired” archetypes from a roster of a few dozen possibilities.

With all these great teachings, there is still something missing when we seek to fully capture the power of archetypes in our lives – the power to be in the right frame of mind for different tasks, relationships, and intentions. This “something missing” was actually laid out for us in the first seven cards of the Tarot’s Major Arcana.

A Master Plan That Goes Back Thousands of Years

The background story tells us that this knowledge actually has a much older provenance than we may have thought. The earliest known Tarot decks are several hundred years old. However, the Major Arcana are based directly on the twenty-two “pathways” connecting “spheres” (Sephiroth) in the Kabbalistic Tree of Life. The Kabbalistic written tradition goes back for hundreds of years; the oral tradition to perhaps a couple of thousand of years. And since the Tree of Life is the earliest known base for esoteric teachings in our culture, the origins may even be earlier. The Tree of Life is mentioned in the earliest known human writings.

In short, it is very likely that a certain “esoteric teaching” – based on mastering six core power archetypes – goes back at least hundreds, and possibly thousands, of years.

Three factors stand out when we undertake this “journey”:

  • The six core power archetypes (together with two reserve battery archetypes) match directly to three of the four “dimensions” used by Carl Jung in creating his Psychological Types,
  • There is a certain order for study and master, and
  • There is an “endgame” – that is, we don’t want to just master these archetypes in isolation; we desire the ability to pull on each one (or several) as needed. That is true mastery, and it is our goal as well.

 

What is Our Master Plan?

As with all big intentions, it helps us to have a “game plan.”

 

Our “game plan” is that over the course of a year, we will spend each semi-quarter on each archetype. Integration, we trust, will be something that we take up as we go along. (We may choose to repeat this study for a few years, each time gaining greater levels of insight and refinement,)

A second – yet very important – aspect of our “game plan” is that we’re tying in our intellectual and practical archetype study with our “lab work” – our daily practice of energy exercises and dance movements. We tie all of these together with the appropriate “season”, using the traditional Western esoteric approach of assigning and “element” to each “season.”

  • Winter: Season of Earth (pentacles, the physical body, a “feminine” season),
  • Spring:Season of Air (swords, the mind, a “masculine” season),
  • Summer: Season of Fire (rods, the spirit, a “masculine” season), and
  • Autumn: Season of Water (cups, the emotional realm, a “feminine” season).

 

Master Plan Overview

Each “element” has a set of qualities associated with it, and a particular focus of attention. Our archetypal study curriculum focuses on intellectual study combined with reflection and exercises that highlight each of the specific “archetypes” for the given semi-quarter. When we combine this with pathworking, we add in elements of spiritual discipline, emotional release work, energy cultivation exercises, and (of course) dance movements and techniques and choreography.

The archetypes that we will consider, are (in order):

Winter Quarter – Season of Earth (Pentacles, a “Feminine” Season)

  • High Priestess: Dec. 21 – Jan 31 Being contemplative and intuitive, a time for gazing into the fire, creating a “vision board” for the coming year, and being open to “dream-time”, and
  • Hestia (a reserve battery archetype): Feb 1 – Mar 20 Spring-cleaning – for our homes and our psyches; the classic “wax on, wax off” approach to opening our minds for insight and guidance.

 

Spring Quarter – Season of Air (Swords, a “Masculine” Season)

  • Magician: Mar. 21 – April 30 Being a visionary, creating reality according to your “big dream”, and
  • Emperor: May 1 – June 20 Bringing your desired reality into fruition; business plans, project management, process flows, stabilizing your “empire.”

 

Summer Quarter – Season of Fire (Rods, a “Masculine” Season)

  • Green Man (a reserve battery archetype): June 21 – July 31 Escape to the “great outdoors,” breaking out of the molds that civilization puts on us, and
  • Hierophant: Aug 1 – Sept. 20 Becoming a guru/guide for those younger than us – either in years or in skills and understanding.

 

Autumn Quarter – Season of Water (Cups, a “Feminine” Season)

  • Hathor (The “Love Goddess”): Sept. 21 – Oct 30 Reveling in sensual beauty and pleasure, and
  • Empress: Oct. 31 – Dec. 20 Connecting, loving, nurturing – sending out Christmas cards and gifts, holiday entertaining, time with family, friends, and loved ones.

 

Putting the Master Plan Into Action

For this coming year, each semi-quarter will be devoted to the appropriate archetype. I’ll offer resources and guidance, and as you feel led, you can follow up at will. Resources will include:

  • Guest Bloggers: Special invited guests for each different core archetype – Giving you insights from the “best of the best,” together with real-life stories from others who’ve achieved amazing results in different areas of their lives,
  • Suggested Readings: Links to books and online resources – Get greater depth, and
  • Exercises and Checklists (Strictly optional): What to do to get the most out of each archetypal focus.

From time to time, I’ll write about the integration process – how we can combine two or more archetypes to create “mastery” for ourselves in different life situations. I’ll also point the way to what happens after this level of mastery. (Yes, mastery comes in levels – and the whole work with archetypes is simply the first level. However, it’s the level where we need a good foundation before advancing to anything else.)

So here’s to you, with very best wishes for an absolutely awesome coming year!

Hathor or Hierophant – Who’s On Top?

Power Struggles Within Our Own Internal Archetypes – and Helping Our Love-Goddess Hathor to Win!

Have you ever wanted to make a life-change? I’m not just talking a cosmetic make-over. Not even a full-out, change-my-hair, change-my-wardrobe, change-my-life kind of life-change. Not even a get-a-new-job, get-a-new-boyfriend, move-across-country change.

I mean radical.

I mean a change that comes from inside, that router-roots out all our “icky-stuff” from the inside out. Something that is transformative. Something that is enduring. Something that sticks.

And oh, yes. By-the-way. Something that makes us so much happier.

Well, you’ve wanted this, I’m sure. And I’ve wanted it as well. In fact, that’s why I wrote the book, Unveiling: The Inner Journey.

Writing Unveiling, and even getting it published, and sharing it with you, has by no means been the culmination of my own Inner Journey. A waypoint, most certainly. Having enough “stuff” together to be useful to you – to give you a concise guide and reference; well, that too. (If 544 pages can be considered “concise.”)

But the truth is, as soon as I got Unveiling finished, I began going deeper into my own Inner Journey. I began to get more insights – and have incorporated many of them into my blogposts over the past six months.

But still, during all this time, I was desiring – craving – a deeper level of personal transformation.

And over the past few days, almost overnight, I’ve reached a new milestone. Had a breakthrough. And I want to share this with you.

A quick bit of background.

If you’ve been following this blog for the past six months, you’ve been learning about each of our six core power archetypes in detail. (A bit randomly, but with at least a little attention to most of them.) You’ve also been learning why and how each of these is important.

And here’s something important: You and I are not alone in our Inner Journeys. We’re desiring happiness. We’re desiring to know and bring to fullness ALL of who we are. And we’re desiring to fulfill – for each of us – our true “meaning in life.”

And the word is: People – people like you and me – have been wanting this throughout time. And those who have accomplished this are those whom we regard as Master Teachers.

The truth is; these Masters really do exist, and various ones have existed throughout time. And – a very long time ago – certain ones either discerned or had “given” to them the Kabbalah, which essentially is a guide to life-mastery. It’s a roadmap to the cosmos – and also to the core of our being. And over the years, the teachings of the Kabbalah were used to create the Major Arcana.

Where this relates to us is that the first seven Major Arcana Cards depict exactly this Quest for personal happiness and integration. (At least, the first stage. There are two others beyond this – for a different day.)

At first glance, the equation seems really simple. Master (access and cultivate) each of our six core power archetypes, and integrate these archetypes (be able to use them at will), and we’ll have each achieved the first level of Life-Mastery. We will each be the Master of our Fate. The Captain of our own Ship.

And, of course, somewhere along the way – our “ship will have come in.”

If it’s that easy, then where’s the problem?

Well, it’s simple. (And it’s not.)

Our inner archetypes are very real, and very powerful. Each is strong-minded, purposeful, and willful. And they each should be. We don’t want any wussies in there!

The challenge is that occasionally (more likely, way too often), the wrong archetypes get to “pull the strings.”

Let’s be clear about this.

Each archetype is very useful. Vital, in fact. We can’t do without a single one. (For a quick review, go to Your Six Power Archetypes – What Happens When One Doesn’t Function? and Mastering the Power Archetypes – Essential for CEOs and Strategic Leaders.

So to be clear – we need our masculine core archetypes. We need our Magician, for vision and inspiration. (Sometimes, our Magician keeps us up all night – writing that play, coming up with a new business venture.) We need our Hierophant, who teaches others. (This is our own, internal Obi-wan Kenobi, our own Professor Dumbledore.) And oh-my-God, we need our Emperor. Our Emperor gets the projects done on time, the groceries bought and put away, and the bills paid.

The challenge is: these three masculine archetypes tend to pull “power-plays” inside our heads, just as they do in much of the world around us. And the real challenge – the real stumbling block for many of us – is that, over time, we tend to believe them.

Let me back up a bit. Bear with me, this is important. This is one of the most important things you’ll ever get in this blogpost series.

There are certain times in our lives when we hit a crisis. A certain kind of crisis. This is the kind of crisis that happens when we’ve been in one of our feminine archetypes for a while, and totally revelling in it, loving being in that state, and just rejoicing in the juiciness, the flowingness, the freedom. Examples are: being in love. Giving ourselves lots of time for artistic creativity and play. Feeling very emotionally connected with others.

And then something happens that we perceive as a life-threat. And we react by pivoting into one of our masculine archetypes. Very often, we move into Emperor. We “rule” ourselves with harsh authority. The only things that we value, in this mode, are a form of hyper-masculinity – almost a caricature of the masculine. So we will spend enormous hours at work, but somehow not ever get ourselves the perks or rewards that come to our male colleagues. We’ll find reasons to not go on vacation. (If you’re familiar with Jung’s concept of the animus, this is it. This is an animus-in-charge type of living.)

And there’s something that we do that’s even worse, that’s even more self-defeating. Once we give (any or all of) our masculine archetype(s) power in our life, they tend to keep control. And “they” tend to make decisions that get us “locked into” the mode where they stay in control.

An example? One very brilliant businesswoman whom I know. Fabulously effective. Hard-working. Absolutely the first person with whom I’d “do a deal.” But she has confessed to me – more than once – that in her “heart of hearts,” she longs to do fashion design. She started out there, but somewhere along the way, took a detour. She recently bought a wonderful new set of dressy day clothes – really a whole new “wardrobe look” – at a very high price. Paying off this expensive set of clothes partially satisfies her need to create her personal aesthetic. However, it also forces her to stay in her Emperor-dominant job. She now has far less “wiggle room” for exploring a different career. Many, many little decisions like this add up. Her Emperor now controls her life.

(Quick – and important – little digression. There are times when we are on a Heroic Quest – an important life-journey. Getting an advanced degree. Starting a new business. Heavens, even writing a book! During these times, we must remain very diligent, and true to our Quest. But Quests are transitions. They lead us from one state to another. They have defined endpoints. Being in our one of our masculine modes – for a long time – is different. These are not questing, they instead become controlling. Learn to discern the difference!)

Returning to examples of how we react to a life-shock by “pivoting” into our masculine modes: Another woman, a dear friend, was in love. Her lover was powerful, influential, and wealthy. She was exploring and moving into her feminine modes when she met him. Especially, she was opening up her Hathor – her Pleasure-Goddess. Her long, russet hair played freely in the breeze. She wore long, flowing dresses. She was in love with life. Her lover desired those qualities that he saw in her. He promised “protection.” He pledged his heart to her – and promised to divorce his wife. (Whom he said, in the classic sense, did not “understand” him.)

A while later, he told her – it had all been a mistake. He was returning to his wife. The time with her had been wonderful, it had been incredible, it had opened his heart – he would always treasure the memory. But there she was. Out on her own. No lover, and no more mirage of the support of a lover.

Her Hathor felt alone and exposed. Defenseless and scared.

So what did she do?

The only thing possible. She reacted. She slammed down – hard – on her Hathor. She got a job where (she was kindly informed) it would be “best” for her if she put her hair up in a bun. And this new job drew heavily on her Emperor skills. Spreadsheets and checklists. Time management and deliverables.

And because her Hathor was scared (Hathor knows about play – not about defending the fortress), her Hathor submitted to the new lifestyle. It was about survival. And she still lives the dichotomy. When it comes to survival, she emphasizes her Emperor strengths – and disowns her Hathor.

I have done the same. In fact, I shut down – hard – on my inner Hathor when I was very young. And I won’t blame family, or society, or pubescent angst, or any one thing more than anything else. And I’ll fully acknowledge that I chose – I created – my life in order to have these experiences and to learn these lessons.

However this came about, though, when I was about twelve years old, I shut down hard on my Hathor. With a vengeance.

And it has been the hardest thing that I’ve ever done to claim her back.

As with my friends – and with many of you – being in one of my masculine archetypes has represented “safety.” Sometimes it was Emperor. (My least favorite.) Sometimes Magician. (I learned to become a scientific inventor, and wrote four patents. Ground-breaking and magnificent in scope, each one. And each now in the hands of others.) Sometimes a Hierophant. (I’ve taught in several universities, and had my own dance school for aabout twenty years.)

In each case, the masculine “mode” has vied to be “in charge.” Each has wanted to control my life – and very often, I’ve let “him.”

So as a result, I’ve spent years at work – becoming a strong scientist and inventor, and even (more recently) a good businessperson. And of course, sacrificed many evenings, weekends, and holidays to the masculine motif.

But I’ve been determined to “break through.”

And the method?

I’ve been deliberately cultivating my inner Hathor – and my inner High Priestess.

For the past year, I’ve been doing the kind of work that has paved the way. Sometimes it has been simply housecleaning – every corner of the house, every pile of paper, moving out piles of “stuff.” (This allows a new wind to come through. And it’s very hard for Hathor to play, or for my High Priestess to have calm insights, when things are messy and disorderly.)

I’ve been doing physical conditioning of all sorts – and with the warmer weather, I’ve been walking much more. (This has always been one of the best ways to let our High Priestess come through. Julia Cameron, in the Vein of Gold, recommends a Daily Walk.)

And I’ve been focusing on pleasure. (My favorite source for encouraging Hathor is Mama Gena’s works, particularly Mama Gena’s School of the Womanly Arts.

Prayer (or at least, quiet time and “listening-in”) and play: the two vital themes.

Also, forgiveness. I’ve been doing A Course in Miracles for several months now, and yes – the “miracles” have been happening. Shifts in how I think. Shifts in how things are happening in my life. More focus. More energy. The daily exercises are challenging, though. Most recently, they’ve focused on letting go of grievances – and this has been an essential component.

What I’ve found is that experiences with any one man – or even with an aspect of the world – reflect an attitude or a judgment that I’ve made inside myself. So if I’ve entered into a relationship with a man who does not really honor my feminine aspects (business or personal), it is because that man accurately reflects how I am not honoring my femininity.

What has helped me to put such full attention on making this breakthrough is realizing that being (dominantly) in the masculine modes – for so many years – has simply not been effective.

It’s as though my Hathor and other feminine modes have at some level sabotaged the inner masculine ones. They’ve not allowed the masculine modes to receive the full adulation and acclaim that their pre-eminance (at least in my life) would seem to have drawn.

And why should they? After all, this would be an imbalance.

So my Hathor and High Priestess – both very unhappy – have sabotaged the “authority” of the masculine. In many ways, over many years. (Including various “dis-eases” – to the point that I’m lucky to be alive!)

Through a concerted effort – culminating this last month – of having substantial “quiet time” when the various archetypes could work things out, we’ve finally agreed. Hathor is number one. She’s the Queen. She makes the important calls (and the not-so-important ones as well!).

High Priestess is the moderator. She’s the observer. She notes when the other archetypes are yielding to Hathor, and when they need to be brought to heel. She also lets Hathor know when it’s time to “go Emperor” for a while – when a project simply needs to be done. (And then there’s a little dialogue – a little, “How can we make this project as pleasurable as possible?” Because Hathor is always the one who is to be satisfied.)

Empress is important also – she’s the one who wants connection. Family, girlfriends, pets, gardens – she’s always about connecting. About the “feel-good” factor that comes from oxytocin. That comes from bonding. So she’s always important as well.

The “men in my life”? That would be my Magician, my Emperor, and my Hierophant. Three wonderful, loving, caring men – now that their roles are carefully defined. Each of them now “lives to serve the Queen!” (See P.S. note at bottom, on why they are the way they are.)

And unlike some men in times past who have professed this intention, now I expect it to manifest more happily and completely in my life. Because my internal “masculine modes” are living to “serve the Queen,” and NOT the other way around.

This has taken time. It’s taken a huge focus and push. It’s taken an immense amount of physical work – moving boxes, cleaning odd spaces, pruning bushes – while letting the inner “psychic surge” work its way out. And it’s taken letting all the “masculine modes” know that the Hathor-Queen is now in charge. To the point where they’ve all come and prooffered their crowns, and pledged fealty.

Darlings, this is the most exciting and wonderful adventure. And I’ll let you know how it unfolds, so stay tuned!

Yours in the “dance of life” – Alay’nya

P.S. – On “why men are the way they are” – even in our internal modes, or archetypes. They are that way because they have to be. It’s that simple. They (both men in their masculinity – and us, when we access our masculine archetypes) – are effective at least in part because they seize control. An Emperor governs and establishes his kingdom through taking control and mandating that which should be done. And of course, there’s some wooing and charming, and some alliance-building, to be done. But an Emperor governs. He rules. And to do this, he takes control. He has to.

Similarly, a Magician – if he is to make his creation “real” in the world, must seize every resource and tool, every ounce of personal energy, and every moment of time. Creative genius is real, and it requires total commitment, passion, and focus. So any of us, in our Magician-moments, is totally wrapped up in our creation.

And our Hierophant? Ah, that’s the most subtle of them all. Our Hierophant, after all, is Feeling-oriented. (Unlike our Magician and our Emperor, who are Thinking.)

But our Hierophant lives not just to coach and mentor and guide, but to facilitate our breakthroughs. Our Hierophant is like a Zen Master who knows when to slap the student on the side of the head – so that he can get a breakthrough. (Going through a curriculum, step-by-step, is much more Emperor than Hierophant. And designing the curriculum is more Magician.)

So if our Hierophant is so wonderful, what’s the challenge?

It is simply that he, like our other masculine modes, is closed-ended. He wants us to gain insights and breakthroughs – to develop our genius – within the system. Our Hierophant, much though we love him, is very structured.

Our Hierophant does not really understand our Hathor. He just doesn’t “get” her open-endedness, her focus on pleasure-in-the-moment. Her desire for play.

So here’s the conundrum. For our Hathor to come out and play – safely – she needs the structure given to her by her masculine modes; Emperor, Magician, and Hierophant. And at the same time, once these modes are “given an inch,” they each want to “take a mile.” They LOVE taking over our lives, and all societal messages support them.

How do we solve this?

By giving our Magician, Emperor, and Hierophant – most especially our Hierophant (who is indeed most Feeling-oriented) a mission. A sense of purpose. Something that appeals to their masculinity.

They exist to serve the Queen.

Do this, and their lives have sense and make meaning.

Fail in this, and no matter how many achievements they create, their lives are barren. (And they probably won’t really have the success that they’re desiring either.)

Do I have examples in mind?

Most certainly. (How to dish without naming names? Hmmm. And believe me, I’ll point the finger to my own life as much as to others … )

This is probably the most important lesson that we can learn. This, in fact, defines our mastery moment.

More in the next blog.

Finding Peace and Happiness Through the Power of Your Archetypes

Personal Happiness – Linked to Archetype Mastery and Integration

How happy do you feel, on an overall, consistent, across-the-year basis? (We’ll ignore the times that the dog’s thrown up on the new carpet.) How happy are you in specific areas of your life? This includes job, relationships, where and how you live, your friends, and other factors. And how much do you feel that you are in control of the evolving nature of your personal happiness?

That last one is crucial, isn’t it? It suggests that each of us, alone, is in charge of our personal happiness – and that we can do something to adjust our “happiness factor” along the way.

This isn’t a new question. In fact, I believe that the “happiness question” is what led certain people – sages and mystics, for the most part; certainly “seekers of truth – to receive the Kabbalah. I’m saying receive in a loose sort of way; I don’t think that the Kabbalah was discovered; and I certainly don’t think that it was invented. It seems to be the sort of thing that certain seers grew to understand – that they communed at some level with a higher wisdom. “Higher wisdom,” in fact, is what the Kabbalah is all about; it is a roadmap to God-consciousness. And it’s been around for a very long time; it was oral tradition long before Jewish scholars wrote about it in the Middle Ages. In fact, there is some research that suggests that the Tree of Life theme, central to the Kabbalah, predated even the formation of the Hebrew peoples.

This is not to get too far into historical dating; rather to support our central notion that our human search for happiness has been linked, for many millenia, to our search for connection with God. That is, we seek to experience the “God Within.” We seek to know God; personally.

Now we’re not going to get into religion here, and we’re not going to become Kabbalah students, either. (At least, not right now.) But we are going to note a very important point; one that I made in Unveiling, and one that many other scholars have made as well: The Kabbalah is the foundation on which the Major Arcana of the Tarot is based, and the Minor Arcana as well. We’ll concentrate, in the majority of these blogposts (as in Unveiling itself) on the Major Arcana.

The Major Arcana consists of 22 cards, or “Trumps.” Not the “Donald” sort of Trump, but rather, the notion of a major, big, important idea – the kind of idea that we call an archetype.

Now get this: There are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet (also in the Phoenician alphabet, and in the Pre-Phoenician as well – as in – in our very oldest Indo-European alphabetic system). There are 10 “Centers” in the Tree of Life, and while there are numerous possible “graph links” between them, there are only 22 connecting “pathways” defined in the Kabbalistic system. And there are, of course, those 22 Trumps or cards in the Major Arcana.

So for scholars in this area, the connection is clear – and has been clear for hundreds of years. The Trumps – the Major Arcana cards – correspond directly to the pathways, or to steps that we take enroute to knowing God.

So suppose that you were a seeker of knowledge, several hundreds of years ago. Perhaps even a few thousand years ago. And you had reached that point in your life – children grown, career stable – when you were asking yourself, “What next?” For all your success in the world (let’s presume that you were moderately healthy and wealthy, and let’s even throw in “wise” for a good measure), you felt there was something missing.

So you did what many men and women had done before you, and what many would do in the years thereafter. You went to your local Mystery School or Temple, and consulted with the best teacher that you could find; someone who was kind and gentle, and who seemed to emanate a sense of both loving-kindness and wisdom. In short, you set out in search of your own Obi-wan Kenobi or Yoda. And you asked your question.

And because you were not the first to do this (nor the last, to be sure), this kind, wise teacher spent some time talking with you, but then, ultimately asked you the question: Were you ready to take on the next level of life-study?

And your answer was, in all likelihood, yes.

Thus you found yourself, at the next time that their “academic year” started, in a class with people like yourself – and some not-so-like. There would have been other local business-people and professionals. There would be society matrons. There would be the occasional itinerant seeker-after-truth, whose whole purpose in life was to visit the various temples. But together, you would be undertaking the first steps in a course in God-realization, in personal mastery, and – ultimately – in happiness.

Now, here’s where the archetypes come in.

The Major Arcana are designed to have a single starting card representing you, setting forth on your “search for wisdom.” (And for personal happiness, for enlightenment, for the meaning of life, etc.) This card is called the Fool. (No real insult intended; this just means an open mind, a sense of lightheartedness, and – most importantly – that you’re not carrying a whole lot of “baggage” with you as you set forth on your journey.)

The remaining 21 cards are grouped into three sets of seven, and – this is where our connection to “happiness” comes in – the seventh card is a sort of “completion” of a life-journey-stage. That is, you attain a certain kind of happiness – unique to each journey-stage – as you reach the seventh card (or completion) of each stage.

Interesting idea, isn’t it? There are various kinds of happinesses. And they correlate to certain levels of life-mastery.

The very last card, called the World, shows a naked woman (sometimes a hermaphrodite – a being both man and woman, or combining the qualities of both genders), dancing in space, surrounded by a laurel wreath which contains the heads of four animals, each looking outward. These are the traditional four “powers” (lion, ox, eagle, and a human head as well). The central figure is lightly draped in a purple veil, she holds the two scrolls of knowledge in her hands, and she is simply – dancing. She represents complete joy and freedom; the successful completion of our life journey. And yes, she represents happiness.

But it is not as though we need to get through all 21 cards (or life-lessons) in order to experience peace, freedom, and happiness. At the end of each of seven-card sequence, we have a card that represents some level of integration, mastery and well-being, and – yes – happiness.

So the World card is the end of the whole journey. But prior to that, we have two other sequence-completion cards. They each represent completing a big portion of our life journey. It is somewhat like saying that reaching the World card is like getting your Ph.D.; before that, you get your Master’s degree, and before that, you get your Baccalaureate.

Everything that I’ve been writing about for the past several months – all of these blogposts on “archetypes” – has paved the way for you getting your “Baccalaureate in personal happiness.” This is what seekers-after-truth did hundreds and maybe even thousands of years ago. And it’s what you’re doing now, when you focus on archetype mastery and integration.

Now, here’s where things come together – at least for a while. There are six core archetypes in the first set of seven Trumps, or cards. These are the six “core power archetypes” that I’ve been writing about for several months, and which I’ve described in some detail in Unveiling (Chapters 7 and 11).

These archetypes are the ones that you would – essentially – have “gone to school” to study and master. Of these six “core power archetypes,” three are masculine, and three are feminine.

Masculine Core Power Archetypes:

  • Magician
  • Emperor
  • Hierophant

Feminine Core Power Archetypes:

  • High Priestess
  • Isis/Empress
  • Hathor (“Love Goddess”)

There are two other core archetypes as well; I call these the “reserve” archetypes, or the “rest and recharge” ones. They’re not a part of the set of six that you need to master, because they come to each of us more naturally and easily. These are Hestia (Goddess of Hearth and Home; essentially – the one who “keeps the fires burning” – and keeps our personal lives in good order), and the Green Man (the one who returns to nature for balance).

Now, here’s the summing-up point – where all these archetypes “come together.” The seventh Trump in this series is the Chariot. Essentially, at this point, you have it all “under your control.” You really, truly, literally do “have your life together.”

It’s a fantastic feeling. And also, for many of us, it’s hard-earned. Just as no college curriculum is easy for everyone – each of us finds some courses hard and some easy – getting to the Chariot stage, our first waypoint in our big life journey – is a huge completion. But it is at this point that we really do experience a very real sense of happiness.

This happiness doesn’t come from having developed any one particular archetype, but rather, from having them all – and having them in working order and in balance with each other.

Think about this. Many women reach their early forties with two archetypes that are almost over-developed; their Emperor (a big component of their inner Amazon, which they use not only on the job, but to organize their lives and their families), and their Empress (nurturing and caring).

But if that was all that we needed, why would so many of us feel – as our children leave home for college – that we’re eager to get back to ourselves? We seek to find those aspects of who we are that were pushed aside during career-building and child-rearing. In short, we’re ready to discover – and to integrate – those other core archetypes. And this is where we get our “happiness.” It’s not just in two or three, but rather in using all six (actually, all eight, since we call on our reserves from time-to-time). This is the basis for personal happiness. It is also a basis for personal freedom.

So here we are, at the beginning of a new year. (The Chinese and Druidic New Year, at least.) Why not make this a year of starting your archetypal discovery, mastery, and integration journey? Make this the kick-off point for entering your own “school of happiness” – and also well-being, awareness, and total life mastery? Join me, because I’m beginning aspects of my own journey along with you!

A Strong "Inner Amazon" – Our Most Powerful Ally!

Our “Inner Amazon” – Strength at Our Service

When Antonia Wolff, the protege of Carl Jung, intuited her understanding of the four “modes” that made up the feminine psyche, she did a great job of describing three “feminine” or “soft” archetypes, and one that she labeled the Amazon. She published her work as a pamphlet; Structural Forms of the Feminine Psyche.

Wolff’s delineation gives us a very useful way to “look inside ourselves.” Functionally, we each have eight core archetypes (four masculine, and four feminine), and six of these (three masculine, and three feminine) are our power archetypes. These are the ones – according to the Kabbalah (and shown visually in the Major Arcana) – that we need to cultivate in order to become a fully integrated person. (The remaining two, it seems, are those which we naturally use as “rest-and-recharge” modes.)

When we women “look inside ourselves,” we easily see our three feminine modes or archetypes; our wise, intuitive, and calm High Priestess, our loving and nurturing Isis or Empress, and our sensual, fun-loving, and playful Hathor or Love-Goddess. We can also easily discern our feminine “rest-and-recharge” mode; Hestia. This is when we clean house in order to clean out our heads.

Because we live in a masculine-dominant world, we see the masculine roles very easily as well. Thus, it is easy for us to discern when we are being in any of our three masculine power archetypes; our creative and visionary Magician, our organizing and managing Emperor, or our guiding and coaching Hierophant. We can also discern when we are in our masculine rest-and-recharge mode, or Green Man. (For women, the Artemis imagery is useful; think of Women Who Run with the Wolves.)

As a side note: If we were male, it would be easy for us to “lump together” our three feminine power archetypes into one. This would be a convenient kind of emotional shorthand. Moore and Gillette did this when they described the four core masculine archetypes as King, Warrior, Magician, Lover. In their “typology,” they’ve combined all three feminine power archetypes into one, and called it the Lover. Not completely accurate, but useful. Or rather, this is as useful a shorthand for men as it is for women to think about their inner Amazon. Each is a compound of three modes, but each of these “compound archetypes” has something in common.

So what is it that characterizes our inner Amazon, and makes her so distinctly different from our other three feminine power archetypes? And at the same time, we could be asking ourselves: What is distinctly different about the Lover “compound archetype” that makes it unique when compared with the three power masculine archetypes? (These are the Emperor, Magician, and Hierophant – Moore and Gillette missed this last one, and instead substituted the Warrior archetype – which is transition mode, not a power archetype. More on that in some future blog.)

The answer is simple. (Keep in mind, now, that we’re talking archetypes – overarching and really rather simple modes, and that we each have some aspects of each of these archetypes in us.)

The masculine archetypes are all Judging, to use Jung’s terminology. That means, they are all “come-to-closure” archetypes. (This is what Jung meant with Judging; this is not about being “judgmental” about people.) The feminine archetypes are all Perceiving; that is, they are more open-ended. They are open to possibilities and connections.

In short, the basic “male psychology” (each of the core masculine power archetypes) likes to compartmentalize-and-complete. The basic “feminine psychology” (each of the core feminine power archetypes) likes to connect-connect-connect. This insight is what led authors Bill and Pam Farrell to write their book, Men Are Like Waffles – Women Are Like Spaghetti: Understanding and Delighting in Your Differences.

So with all of this as a frame of reference, we now understand that what our inner Amazon does for us as women is to give us the masculine strength of “getting things done.”

And is this ever a useful gift!

One of the best things that we can do to empower our inner feminine archetypes is to have a strong Amazon living in service of our feminine core. She gets things done, she protects and defends, she provides strong boundaries. Within the boundaries that our Amazon establishes, we get let ourselves go. We can be soft and vulnerable. We can be as “diffuse” as we desire. We can connect-connect-connect – knowing that our Amazon put some structure around our connecting.

Our Amazon is valuable. She is our strongest ally. And the more that we cultivate her, the more we are able to let ourselves go safely into our feminine core. Sounds a bit contradictory, but worth considering. So why not make this a journal topic over the month of February? Re-ignite a hot, sexy, voluptuous love affair with yourself. And let your inner Amazon “live to serve the Queen”!

Moore and Gillette, "King, Warrior, Magician, Lover" – 2 1/3 Out of Four Ain’t Bad!

Moore and Gillette’s “Archetypes of the Mature Masculine” – Most (Although Not All) of the “Mature Man”

I’m enormously grateful to authors Robert Moore and Douglas Gillette for their in-depth and fascinating work, King, Warrior, Magician, Lover: Archetypes of the Mature Masculine. They do a great service to all of us – women and men alike. And as this book is a prequel to a further set of four books (addressing each of these specific archetypes in the masculine context), I suggest each of them for further reading.

I particularly like and appreciate that in their introduction, authors Moore and Gillette identify that the reason that we have a hard time cultivating mature masculinity in our culture is a combination of three factors:

  1. The breakdown of family, in which we all too often have a weak or absent father,
  2. Current lack of an effective “initiation ritual” so that boys can become men, and
  3. A “patriarchal system” that really is based on an immature, rather than mature, masculinity – and is thus wounding both men and women in our culture.

Their insights and exemplars are excellent; well-thought-out, well-worked, and well-explained. Their work can help men of all ages – and women as well as men – understand masculine psychology in depth.

What is missing? Only one of the core masculine power archetypes – and a somewhat “bundled together” set of the three core feminine power archetypes.


Kindle

Paper


As often happens in our culture, for all their insights and true wisdom – and even their reference to this role – Moore and Gillette do not make a point of the Hierophant archetype.

Let’s look a bit more closely, because they do implicitly identify the role of the Hierophant, throughout their book. From Chapter 1:

“Ritual process is contained by two things. The first is a sacred space and the second is a ritual elder, a “wise old man” or a “wise old woman” who is completely trustworthy for the initiate and can lead the initiate through the process and deliver him (or her) intact and enhanced on the other side.” [King, Warrior, Magician, Lover, p. 6]

Throughout their book, Moore and Gillette clearly acknowledge both the need for and the significant role of the Hierophant. The Hierophant is precisely this “wise old man” or “wise old woman.”

But it is entirely in keeping with our society’s loss of “initiation rites” that we don’t have much of a clue about what a Hierophant really is! That is, we can’t look at someone and say, “Yes, this person really has a realy strong Hierophant essence!”

It’s a blind spot.

But it’s also a solvable blind spot.

Because as soon as we “get a clue” that we should be looking for Hierophant-instances, they pop up all around us. For examples, see Are Hierophants Really Important” (MacDonald’s Thinks So!) and also Who and What is a Hierophant?.

The fact that we don’t have as strong a concept of the Hierophant as we do of the King and the Magician is yet one more instance of how in our society, we greatly need to identify and honor this role.

Now, I’ve said (in this blog’s title) that Moore and Gillette have “2 1/3 out of 4.” Yet they identify four core archetypes. What’s missing?

First, they’ve introduced the Warrior as a core masculine power archetype. What I’ve been showing in my last several blogposts is that our Warrior mode – the “who we are” when we are on a Heroic Quest – is a means of “getting there.” It’s a transition mode. Really, in our society right now, our Warrior-path is our initiation process.

Further, we need to call upon our Warrior-selves time and again. We do this every time we step out of safety and comfort and venture into something dangerous and new. (For relevant posts, see Hero or Hierophant? Warrior or Wise Man? and also The Hero’s Quest and the Hierophant: Part I.)

Ideally, we use our inner Warrior to break through some limitations in our self and take on a new level of power or leadership. But we don’t need to stay in our Warrior mode.

So now, what do we have?

Replace Warrior (a transition mode, a means of activating one of our core masculine archetypes) with Hierophant. Warrior is a transition. Hierophant is an end-state; one of the culminating “archetypes of the mature masculine.” This gives us 3 1/3 out of 4.

To complete that remaining 1/3? We need to acknowledge that the Lover is a bundling up of the three core feminine power archetypes; High Priestess, Empress (Isis), and Love-Goddess (Hathor).

This is not a bad bundling. For simplicity, the bundling of three core feminine archetypes into one (the Lover) works for men, just as bundling three core masculine archetypes (Magician, Emperor, and Hierophant) into one (the Amazon) works for women.

But as men move further into their own integration journey, they would do well to identify, cultivate, and own each of their specific feminine strengths – the wisdom and intuition of their inner High Priestess, their love for wife, children, and community (as Empress/Isis), and their ability to revel in physical love and sensuality (Love-Goddess/Hathor).

The balancing of all these for men is different than that for women. But for all of us, all six core archetypes are necessary – as well as the two “reserve archetypes,” which I’ve not yet discussed in detail. (These two aspects will be subjects of later posts.)

Very best wishes as discover and empower each of your core archetypes during your own inner journey!


Alay'nya - author of "Unveiling: The Inner Journey"

Alay’nya – author of Unveiling: The Inner Journey

Alay’nya
(Alianna J. Maren, Ph.D.)

Author of Unveiling: The Inner Journey
You are the Jewel in the Heart of the Lotus. Become the Jewel!

The Unveiling Journey blog details the theory – archetypes, life journeys, integration.

To experience your own Journey in a structured, safe, and gentle (yet effective) setting, visit Alay’nya’s website, and consider either a workshop with Alay’nya or one-on-one coaching.


Resources

Connect with Alay’nya and the Unveiling Community


Unveiling, by Alay'nya, currently has an overall five-star Amazon rating.

Unveiling, by Alay’nya, currently has twenty five-star Amazon reviews.

This blog series develops themes originally published in Unveiling: The Inner Journey, published by Mourning Dove Press.

Unveiling currently has twenty 5-star Amazon reviews, and has been recommended by luminaries:

  • Dr. Christiane Northrup – “This book is delightful”
  • Midwest Book Review, in Bethany’s Books – reviews by Susan Bethany – “highly recommended”
  • Nizana al Rassan, writing for (the now out of circulation) iShimmy.com – “a fascinating read with so much wisdom and solid advice.”

 

 


Julie Marie Rahm, aka America’s Mindset Mechanic on Unveiling: The Inner Journey

What does Julie Rahm, America’s Mindset Mechanic and author of Handle Everything: Eight Tools You Need to Live Well and Prosper have to say about Unveiling: The Inner Journey?

Julie writes:

Unveiling is the definitive guidebook for women who want to experience lives of joy and fulfillment, and who just want to exhale into each day. Alay’nya reveals powerful, personal stories of her own life journey to fascinating womanhood, sensuality, and self-acceptance in ways that struck me like a velvet hammer. Her fresh approach to living illuminated my own bind spots. It is impossible to read Unveiling without awakening to new and possibly shocking self-awareness. For women ready to make real and lasting changes toward enlightenment and bliss, Unveiling is a must-read..”

Read this and more reviews of Unveiling: The Inner Journey.


 

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Julie Marie Rahm, America’s Mindset Mechanic

Check out Julie Marie Rahm!

Julie Marie Rahm, America’s Mindset Mechanic and author of Handle Everything: Eight Tools You Need to Live Well and Prosper and also Military Kids Speak (great for parents, teachers, and coaches of military kids) uses a great technique that can help you clear energy blockages, ranging from those from this life through the influence of your ancestral karma. Connect with Julie at info (at) americasmindsetmechanic (dot) com to learn more about how she can help you.

Books by Julie Marie Rahm, America’s Mindset Mechanic

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Copyright (c) 2013, Alay’nya (Alianna J. Maren, Ph.D.). All rights reserved.
Blog originally posted December 13, 2011. Revised and updated, October 22, 2013.

Related Posts: The Hierophant – the Missing Archetype in King, Warrior, Magician, Lover