Claiming and Embodying the Magician Archetype

The magician weekend in Cincinnati was the most powerful one, yet. This whole process of The Integral Warrior keeps unfolding, and all I have to do is get out of my own way and be a conduit for what wants to emerge.

After we dive deep into each archetype, we examine and own both the light and dark sides of our archetype. We  anchor the awakening with both cognitive and experiential realms, through gross, subtle and causal states of consciousness, enabling us to fully grasp and comprehend how these aspects play out in our lives.


Only now, they begin to play out consciously, giving us choices around how we respond rather than react.


These initiation statements are where the men claim their ownership and embodiment of the archetype.

I was so blown away by the initiation statements the men wrote for the Magician Archetype, the 3rd Initiation, that I asked for permission to share them anonymously. I was incredibly touched at how deep the men went in their processes and the results show in these statements. They said yes, and although I haven't received all of them, yet, here's a couple of samples....I'll add more as they come in.

"I am the Magician and the Shamanic Priest and I vow to utilize that powerful aspect of my masculine being for the betterment of my global tribe. I will continually refine those magical powers and apply them at every opportunity to increase awareness in others to better understand the magical powers they have. In doing so I will  strive to raise the level of consciousness of the collective – beyond the corporate world and the obsolete and destructive patriarchal rulers of this world. My intent will be to guide where and when I can to demonstrate that we are all one with each other and that it is only in one unified spirit we will be able to transition into a better place."

 "It is with Love, Compassion, Integrity and Honor I enter into this contract and invite the universe to present the opportunities for me to give back. I now welcome those opportunities and will not make excuses to pass them up. It is my time!"

"I claim the Magician archetype.  I claim the knowledge that the Magician has access to and the power to unlock it.  I uphold the power of the mediator and communicator of hidden knowledge, the healer, teacher, and contemplative. I keep my inner eye fixed on the Self and the "Diamond Body" we each have within us.

 

I seek the power of the shaman to obtain my full expression of the Magician archetype, as guardian of esoteric knowledge and technician of sacred power, I agree to accept the powers to solve the problems that arise before me. Like the King I will save space to have the capacity to care, like the Warrior I will have the capacity to fight and like the Lover I will have the capacity to value someone enough to fight for them.

 

When the Magician energy manifests, I will begin to quest for knowledge, growth, expansion for m self and to model myself for others as I go through life and I will claim my rightful place as an elder of the community and teacher."

I acknowledge and embody the archetype of the Magician. The seeker who fearlessly enters the dark place in search of knowledge, truth and transformation. I claim that part of myself that seeks out ever deeper levels of wisdom to transform the unknown into beliefs and ideals, and then moves forward into true knowing by experiencing.

I acknowledge that part of me that discovers my gifts, then immediately employs them for the good of mankind. That guides, and leads, ad initiates others by example and purposeful action.

I vow to more fully explore and develop this magical aspect of my self to know without question that this lifetime made a significant contribution to mankind’s evolution.

I claim the Magician archetype.  I claim the knowledge that the Magician has access to and the power to unlock it.  I uphold the power of the mediator and communicator of hidden knowledge, the healer, teacher, and contemplative. I keep my inner eye fixed on the Self and the "Diamond Body" we each have within us.

I seek the power of the shaman to obtain my full expression of the Magician archetype, as guardian of esoteric knowledge and technician of sacred power, I agree to accept the powers to solve the problems that arise before me. Like the King I will save space to have the capacity to care, like the Warrior I will have the capacity to fight and like the Lover I will have the capacity to value someone enough to fight for them.

When the Magician energy manifests, I will begin to quest for knowledge, growth, expansion for m self and to model myself for others as I go thru life and I will claim my rightful place as an elder of the community and teacher.

 

I am honored  and humbled to carry this work forward...work that is so desperately needed at this time on the planet.

Image from the Arthur Sussman Gallery

Archetypes and the Tea party Women (or, Being Female Does Not make You a Feminist)

I saw a great bumper sticker the other other day: it read, "it's the stupidity, stupid." No where does that seem more evident than the current crop of women Tea Party candidates: Uber-conservative, fanatically religious, most of them completely unqualified to hold office, and dangerous.

The conservative right is happy for 'sexy' female candidates so long as they don't demand abortion rights, maternity leave, equal pay and equal sexual pleasure.  The 2010 Republican campaign is an attempt by the old order to reinstall its rejected program. Key to this effort is the promotion of “sexy” female candidates, the “new” conservative woman, whether Tea Party or Republican. She is a showpiece, a fig leaf, covering the impotence at the heart of the Tea Party’s politics of rage.

When, and how, did it become fashionable for women candidates to start being creepy? Women like the anti-masturbation candidate Christine O'Donnell, Sharron Angle (who tells Hispanic students they might be Asian and encourages Hispanics to stay home from voting), former WWE wrestling Exec Linda McMahon, to name a whacked-out few, and the self-promoting Sarah Palin who broke her vow to the Alaskan people by resigning as Governor so she could make money....lots of money. When did candidates like Meg Whitman, who is spending $140M of her own money on her California Gubernatorial bid, and Carly Fiorina, the ousted HP CEO who left with a $21M severance package suddenly become "outsiders?

What's going on here, and how do these women fit into our collective shadow?

There are a couple of archetypes at play, here. One is the Concubine to the Shadow King, with the female candidates playing the role of the concubine to the Shadow King, who is really the patriarchy. The Shadow King manipulates from the background, and the concubine plays out her role by allowing herself to be manipulated. In David Deida's model, this is the eternal first-stage woman, who models herself after the men she serves, but is only granted power through those men. She may or may not be fully aware of her role, but she has also assumed the mantle of the patriarchy. She does what she is told to hold on to what she thinks is her power. As long as she follows the rules, she can stay in "power."

The second archetype showing up here is the active and passive shadows of the Magician. The active shadow is the manipulator, or the Sorcerer's Apprentice. They have not mastered their technology (in this case, knowledge) or themselves, and their partial development is capable of wreaking havoc (example: Christine O'Donnell's claim of being a constitutionalist, but being unaware of Separation of Church and State). Although the magician archetype is neither masculine or feminine, the manipulator is the epitome of first-stage feminine.

The passive shadow is the Denying Innocent One: one who wants the power but who refuses to accept the responsibility inherent in the role of the magician. The Magician's power needs to be controlled and channeled by the other archetypes: the discipline of the Warrior, the compassion and values of the Lover, and the big-picture capacity of the King. If it isn't, then the magician becomes the charlatan.

This why I believe "men's work" is so important. First stage men, including candidates who are no better, with their hyper-masculinity, is what these women are emulating. Second-stage men, with their overly-feminized masculine are of no use, here, either. Until we have third-stage men embodying and modeling what the mature masculine looks like, in it's many emerging forms, with hearts wide open and their own fully integrated inner masculine and feminine, women will continue to model the only form of masculine they have in front of them: The patriarchy.

And ultimately, we, you and I, are to blame. We fell for this crap. We have successfully been dumbed down. That's why I started this out with the bumper sticker, "It's the stupidity, stupid."