The King Within: Accessing the King in the Male Psyche - Softcover

Robert Moore; Douglas Gillette

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0913552666 ISBN 13: 9780913552667

Publisher: Chicago Theological Seminary dba Exploration Press, 2007

Synopsis

In this pioneering contribution to masculine psychology, Robert L. Moore, a Jungian psychoanalyst, and Douglas Gillette, a mythologist, examine the inner King-one of the four archetypes of the male psyche. Asleep-as far as Ego-awareness is concerned-for untold generations, the King at the center of every man's soul is now returning to consciousness. His return is heralded by many men's growing sense of empowered masculine authenticity and by their enlarged capacity to empower others: other men, their friends and co-workers, the women in their lives, and their children. The inner King integrates power and nurturing, firmness and caring, courage and creativity, self-affirmation and self-sacrifice. From his central position between the world of imagination and the world of action, the King within challenges every man to take up his own scepter, to dream dreams, and to make them come true. This new revised and expanded Text Edition of The King Within recounts, as did the first edition, the many gifts the King can bestow on men. It also offers expanded discussion of techniques for accessing and regulating the King's powerful energies. Most importantly, it presents, for the first time, a 47-page description of the 16 configurations in which the four archetypes appear in men's personalities. This additional section includes newly created graphics that illustrate Robert Moore's ground-breaking "Structural Psychoanalysis," a new and vital integration of psychoanalytic and spiritual theories that will help men achieve a full and authentic maturity-so as to steward a new and better world into being.

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews

Calling itself ``an operator's manual to the psyche'' of men (and a guide to their ``hard-wiring'' for women), this is also a firm if rather theoretical response to critics who charge that men's movement gatherings and exhortations are silly, reactive, and shallow. Moore (Psychology and Religion/Chicago Theological Seminary) and Gillette (a pastoral counselor) write about ``the king within''--a psychological potential that each man apparently carries--with authority and total conviction, discussing the four Jungian archetypes (``King,'' ``Warrior,'' ``Magician,'' ``Lover''), recalling their many representations in ancient and modern cultures, and examining associated patterns of energy that empower men. Readers expecting descriptions of sweat lodges and exotic rites of passage won't find them here. The authors focus on myth and ritual as psychological skills in the quest for the king within, a mature man who strives to achieve creativity and make a positive difference in the world. Although Moore and Gillette acknowledge a variety of failed specimens, from weaklings like-- they say--King Arthur and Jimmy Carter to ``Shadow Kings'' like Caligula and wayward CEOs, they concentrate on identifying positive qualities (caring, courage), on learning how to tap into them, and on empowering others to do the same. To the authors, the urge for power is no shame as long as it's channeled justly. Regrettably, Moore and Gillette rarely refer to contemporary situations and rely on alienating jargon: ``Since the fully manifested King experiences a passionate union with the Anima...Queen, a man can experience the deep Self approaching the Jungian exemplum, but his Self is likely to be asymmetrically masculine.'' For a more accessible, reality-oriented view of similar territory, try Samuel Osherson's Wrestling with Love, reviewed below. (But those attuned to the authors' approach should note that a follow-up title, The Warrior Within, is due out in August.) (Eight pages of color photos; 50 b&w photos--not seen.) -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Publishers Weekly

Only men's movement enthusiasts are apt to follow the authors' Jungian prescriptions to access the inner energy symbolized by the archetype of the liberating, life-giving king.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Chicago Theological Seminary dba Exploration Press
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0913552666
• ISBN 13: 9780913552667
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320