The Magician Within: Accessing the Shaman in the Male Psyche

Rating:
Summary: Magical
Review: Robert Moore and Doug Gillette published a number of books on their theory of 4 male archetypes. The first is an overview entitled: "King, Warrior, Magician, Lover." They followed up this fine introductory work with a book on each of the 4 archetypes. This one is, of course, on the Magician Archetype. Each of the 4 books has a completely redundant section (worth reading once, anyway), but also has much material on the particular, titled, archetype. The names of the archetypes are defined a bit differently than society might define them (e.g. the magician differs considerably from the prestidigitator)--moving the descriptions into the worlds of psychology and mythology in which the two authors are well-versed. If you read one, it's best to read them all. Otherwise, you get a skewed view of the archetypes, the authors' works, and the theory they propose. I like this book very much. It provides not only description of the archetype but some ramifications and ideas as to how to implement or invoke it. They also point out that the present situation of mens' psychologal development (somewhat lacking) is due to the loss of ancient men's initiation rights and methods. Thus, they insert some sociological/anthropological considerations into the fray. I found this book uplifting and see the glass as half full. The authors provided the rationale and some means of implementation of the Mens' Movement. Not only are these books valuable to men, but they are, perhaps, even more valuable to women who wish to interact and support men. They are a wonderful addition to the literature and to humans understanding themselves and each other. By the way, Dr. Moore is associated with the C. G. Jung Institute of Chicago and many of his audio tapes are available for purchase (or rental to members). They're great! He is a fine speaker--I heard him in person when he came to Maryland some years back.