A Crisis In The Masculine Potential

It’s vital that men undergo ritual initiation into the structures of manhood in order to be a fully realized mature male. Men who do not have this opportunity apparently cannot “pull themselves together” in order to live as a full emotional, physical, cognitive and spiritual man.

The rites of initiation seem to go back all the way to the Cro-Magnon man who drew cave paintings of man hunting and conquering all types of animals and then performing primeval rituals. Anthropologists agree that these cave paintings were created by men to show young men the mysterious world of male responsibility and masculine spirituality.

It is fundamental to human beings to desire to move from a lower form of experience and consciousness to a more consolidated and structured identity. Young men want to move forward into adulthood with the pleasures and responsibilities that accompany it.

The passage into adulthood is typically marked by some rite of passage such as those viewed in movies where a boy is taken into the jungle and forced to endure hardships in order to emerge as a man.

In today’s society, the rites of passage can include recruitment into the military, gangs and prison systems. With the possible exception of military experience, these other rituals are negative and false because they typically involve unnecessary violence toward others and sometimes to the young man himself.

Real men are generative and nurturing, not irresponsibly violent or hostile so these rites of passage are not true to the male or society.

An important element to any ascendance into fully fledged male spirituality is the necessary death of the immature male ego. The boy’s old ways of thinking, acting and being must end in order for the mature male to emerge. The resulting personality then takes on the qualities of calm, compassion, clear vision and a concern for others, especially helping younger males make the transition into adulthood.

Modern rites of initiation lack a contained ritual process and the presence of a ritual elder, making the processes less than authentic. Sacred spaces typically separate the boys from others, especially women, in specially constructed huts, caves or temples or other similar structures in order to endure emotional and physical trials to learn submission to the mature male traditions.

The ritual elder is usually the man who holds vast knowledge of both physical and spiritual realms. In today’s society, the ritual elder is symbolized by the mature male which is in short supply today forcing the immature male to find his own way.

These deficits for males in today’s society can be corrected giving hope to the men who have not experienced the formal ritual and rite of passage.

The hope exists in “The Warrior’s Quest”.  Part of these 2 ½ day intensive is to bring out the “hard wiring” or blueprints inside each man.  This blueprint points a way to positive masculine personas. Carl Jung calls these blueprints archetypes.

According to Jung, these archetypes provide each person with a collective unconscious made up of instincts and energy inherited through genetics for many generations.

Archetypes are the foundation for all human behavior–thinking, feeling and reactions.

When archetypes go awry through negative encounters or flawed relationships with parents, religious leaders, etc, the young male is “crippled” mentally and creates a distorted psychological that arise to issues later in life.

Archetypes are exhibited as both male and female. Jungians believe that every man has a feminine sub-personality called the Anima consisting of feminine archetypes and that every woman has a masculine sub-personality called the Animus made up of masculine archetypes.

Therefore, all archetypes are available to men and women alike.

Archetypal psychology is only in its infancy and that as the study moves forward, it will benefit not only men but women too as interactions are hopefully altered to be more positive.

With the prevalence of gangs and the continuing fragmentation of families have probably injured the psyches of young people, especially males, where strong mature male elder figures are diminishing especially in certain economic and cultural strata’s.

It is interesting to note that as families are fragmented, young males, and some females, are reverting to initiation rites of their own making without the benefit of the ritual elder, which is counter to psychological advancement.

There has never been a time when the mature male archetypes dominate in human life and that the species has always been forced to live in a state of infantilism.

We have on our hands a crisis in the masculine potential.

The Kings, Warriors, Magicians and Lovers of ancient times who helped people navigate their lives are not accessible today at a time when they are desperately needed, this is why I created the 2 ½ day Warrior’s Quest.

The four masculine archetypes rise individually during different periods of time when their particular powers were necessary to move civilization forward. The challenge for today’s man is to integrate the four types into his own individuality to become fully functioning.

What’s important is for the men to conquer the shadow sides of their personalities and integrate fully the four mature male archetypes. Just as personalities do not develop overnight, any modifications will not occur quickly. The move toward the fully functioning mature male is a sometimes long but worthwhile journey for the man who desires fuller consciousness and deeper meaning in his life.

If the above resonate with you, take a closer look at The Warriors Quest HERE.  Make sure you download the complimentary e-book about continues the above discussion and how The Warriors Quest can help you live a life of power, purpose, passion and perseverance.