This post is part of a series I’ll be creating aimed at helping men dig deeper in to the 4 core masculine archetypes.
Deep within the masculine consciousness, the King archetype reigns supreme.
The King archetype is order and structure. The King is generative and wise. King energy helps us channel kindness, clarity and honesty. It is the master masculine archetype, balancing the other three masculine archetypes (Warrior, Love and Magician).
Allowing ourselves to embody the King, we access a higher purpose. When we tap into this archetype, we act in service of our community. This commitment to a cause greater than our selves is transpersonal: it reaches beyond our personal self. In this way, the King also represents the link to the divine.
At work, or at home, the King archetype helps us lead our lives in deep alignment with our values.
The King also has a dark side. The shadow of this archetype is the Tyrant and the Weakling. The Tyrant acts from fear. He is abusive and exploits others. Deep down, a sense of worthlessness consumes this shadow archetype. This points to what lies at the core of the Tyrant: the Weakling. The Weakling lacks everything the King possesses: calm, centredness and structure.
We've most likely experienced both the mature and shadow expressions of this archetype. Both in ourself and in others. By connecting to the mature expression of the King, we can begin to develop this capacity in ourselves.
The core ideas in this post originate from the book King, Warrior, Magician, Lover by Robert Moore and Douglas Gillette. The book explores the four primary masculine archetypes, both their mature and shadow expressions. I’ve developed tools to apply these concepts, after using them in both my personal and coaching practice.
Journal prompts are a tool that help us to meditate on an archetype and how it may be showing up in our life. Because archetypes are universal patterns, we all relate to them in some way. You may already find yourself highly attuned to the mature expression of an archetype. In other cases, you may uncover areas where the shadow expression of an archetype is active.
I’d suggest spending 20 - 30 minutes with these prompts. Write as intuitively as possible, without editing. This freeform approach increases the chance of you accessing insights you otherwise wouldn’t.
Mature King Prompts
- Who or what am I in service to?
- What am I grateful for?
- What contributions of mine come from a power greater than myself?
- What gifts have teachers in my life given me?
- Where in my life can I bring order and structure?
- How can I support the growth of those around me?
Shadow King Prompts
- Where in my life am I unwilling to be wrong?
- What fears contribute to my resistance to being wrong?
- What expectations do I have of others that I don’t apply to myself?
- Where in my life is it important that I’m in charge at all costs?
- What do I feel I’m owed?
- Where in my life do I inhabit a victim mentality?