King Warrior Magician Lover - Review

Guest Post by Keith Claridge

A few weeks ago, I felt the urge to refresh my memory on the Magician archetype. So, I pulled out King Warrior Magician Lover from my bookcase, read the chapter, then ended up re-reading the whole book again!

BUT FIRST A CONFESSION: I’m not the manliest man in the world. I’m a sensitive soul, with quite a strong feminine energy compared to most men. It has its up sides and downsides, like anything in life really.

For someone like me, it’s about getting my balance right by honouring both the masculine and feminine in my life. Veering one way or the other, I start to act up and behave out of character.

There have definitely been times in my life where I’ve strayed too far into my feminine energy, which left me emotional and weak. I lost my sense of grounding and tumbled into depression.
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Remembering to honour and tap into my masculinity is important. It's what keeps a man grounded and action focused.
So, that’s where I’m coming from as I share my thoughts with you about King, Warrior, Magician, Lover.

The Four Archetypes Of Masculinity

King, Warrior, Magician, Lover is based on the work of Carl Jung and the archetypes he created. Moore and Gillette talk about the four archetypes of masculinity that are a part of all men. The four of them create a balanced masculinity.

As well as the four positive archetypes (referred to as the Mature masculine archetypes, the book digs into shadow archetypes as well as boy archetypes (referred to as the immature Masculine archetypes).

There are separate detailed chapters on each of the four archetypes as well as examples of behaviour and mindset.

To summarise very simply:

The King is about order and authority
The Warrior is about action
The Magician is about insight
The Lover is about pleasure

​Each one of these are as important as the other and complement the other three.
 
The goal is to develop and live in the mature masculine while having the awareness of when and how we, personally, slip into the shadows.
 
Understanding what is going on in our souls helps us create an intentional and more powerful life experience.
 
The book is very well written and a good length at 156 pages. I find some books are often a little too long and feel they could probably be 10-20% shorter. The authors make their points and move on.
 
Each chapter is descriptive and gives examples from both history and fictional stories.
 
King, Warrior, Magician, Lover will definitely give you “AHAAA” moments, as you see yourself in the different mature, shadow and immature archetypes.
 
There is a quote on the cover by Michael J. Meade which reads, “A bold map for traversing the Masculine Psyche” and it definitely is that.
 
Even though it was written thirty years ago, with the conversations around Masculinity and toxic Masculinity this book is still relevant today. 
 
Masculinity itself is definitely not toxic, in fact it’s powerful and life affirming when we access the four mature archetypes. The toxicity comes when we live within the shadow archetypes.

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“True humility, we believe, consists of two things. The first is knowing our limitations. And the second is getting the help we need.” ~ Robert Moore  King Warrior Magician Lover

Should You Read it?
In a word ... YES!

It is definitely one of those books you could read every year and get immense value from as you travel through life and face  its many challenges. Every time you read it, something different will jump out and speak to you.
 
Personally, this book helps ground me back into my masculinity and assists me in accessing fully the King, Warrior, Magician and Lover while being aware of the shadow and immature archetypes.
 
It helps me remember to have order and take authority in my life; to be a man of action and pair it with insight. It reminds me to take pleasure within the life I’m creating.
 
All men should own this book and read it at least once.

"An exciting view of masculinity, one rooted not in domination but in creativity and empowerment of the self and others."--New Age Journal

​Available on Amazon

Author

Keith Claridge is a writer and creator of Soul Renegade Coaching. Join him on Facebook