The Universal Male

In our unstable world, with a recent social preponderance of doubt and fear, the Universal Male is needed now, more than ever, to help usher in the new global cosmological view of the world. But, as men, how do we get there?  How do we become a fully integrated Universal Man?  Many men do not have a clue of where to begin.  We, as a gender, often feel lost.  Men are fragmented and often isolated and fearful of themselves, their own power, and the power of other men.  This has created a rift or a schism right down the center of the actual idea and purpose of manhood, which is to guide you towards your own truth and power for the betterment of the whole. It is time to rise above, and this article will help you to understand how to begin.

The first step towards becoming a Universal Male is to “know thyself.”  And the first step towards that knowing is to explore all facets of your being.  This article offers a glimpse into a perspective that will attempt to create a call to action towards an understanding of the full integration and even the Initiation of Men.  The first section will explore all four aspects of our being as defined by the Physical, Mental, Emotional, and Spiritual, with a focused attention on male needs.  The second section will explore the related ideas of the male archetypes that include the Warrior, Magician, Lover, and King and the importance of integrating and initiating each of these.

THE ATHLETE

Be an Athlete.  The athlete involves himself in a true understanding and attention to his body as a temple that is to be revered and optimized.  He delves into the personal understanding and attention to his physical body as to how it works and how it should be maintained optimally.  In essence, he maintains his body in perpetual fluxing health.

The Universal Male understands the importance of the gentlemanly sportsman, testing yourself and your limits and doing so with honor and dignity in the face of extreme odds and adversity.  The true Athlete exercises the inner competition and the complexities of individual achievement and triumph over the perceived limits of the self.  The Athlete is one with his body, understands his body, so as to make it work for him and his endeavors towards his true Purpose.

The Universal Male is athletic when he walks along the street or attempts to sprint along it.  This is not a physical test or comparison to others as much as it is your personal attempt at being an Athlete within your own physical context.  Be sure to define what your limits and abilities are and then, simply, test them and expand upon them.  Assess the situation, strive to learn more about your body, and test your limits again.  Men need to be tested and pushed beyond their limits, often.  In any context, you will therefore be an Athlete, and complete one of the first ideals towards becoming a Universal Male.

Take Action:

• Contribute to your body on a daily basis, incorporate movement into your routine if only for five minutes. I find the best time to accomplish most things is in the morning.  I simply get up ealier and make my morning routine a little longer to allow me to incorporate some form of exercise, meditation, and spiritual activity.

• Find a personal trainer and learn how to train safely and effectively.

• Breath.  Simply focusing on your breath can bring profound changes for your body.  Yoga and Pranayama are excellent systems that can teach you how to move and breath.

• Get out in Nature.  Men need to connect with the outdoors.  Quench that primal desire to connect with a fundamental part of your ancient make-up.  Build a fire.  Set a flame to a part of your soul that can only be reached through a convalescence and commune with nature.

• Get Back to Your Dietary Roots. Patients always ask what the best diet would be for them.  The simple answer is to eat, explore, dine, cook, and surround yourself with foods that are closest to Nature.  The more processed a food, the further away from this ideal.  Eat organic foods, whole foods, and a variety of them, with the intention of interfacing with the benefits and energy of the food for the purpose of moving you closer to realizing your true Purpose.  Once focused in on your Purpose, then the decisions that you make will naturally move towards better choices in all things in your life, including your diet.

• The Man Test:  In the 1920’s, Earle Liederman, a notable strong man and physical culture aficionado wrote a book called Endurance.  Liederman explains that every man should possess a level of physical fitness to save his own life in an emergency.  He describes five fitness benchmarks that indicate whether a man is capable of achieving this in a pinch.  See if you are up to the test:

• Swim at least half a mile or more

• Run at top speed two hundred yards or more

• Jump over obstacles higher than his waist

• Pull his body upward by the strength of his arms, until his chin touches his hands, at least fifteen to twenty times

• Dip between parallel bars or between two chairs at least twenty-five times or more

But I don’t have time!  

Most of the activities and suggestions within this chapter are not overly time consuming.  You must make time by seeing the actual need as just as important as all other activities you perform in your day.  I often ask my patients, “Did you brush your teeth today??”  And of course, I receive a very strange look and the quick exclamation of “Of course!”  If this was seen as a priority, you can find time to make these changes and make anything a priority.  Why did you brush your teeth?  Because you see the benefit of brushing them, you have weighed out the actual pain of not brushing your teeth, and every morning, you don’t even think about how much importance you have built around the activity of brushing your teeth that you perform this activity without fail.  This is what needs to be done with these other activities.  You have to explore the depths of yourself and truly understand the importance of doing it and the pain of not.

THE MENTALIST

The Universal Male understands, within his very soul, the importance of learning and exercising the mental intellect.  Learning is a lifelong process and layers of thought and understanding must be laid down continuously.  When our true Purpose as men is understood, we will make our way through the efforts of thought and learning to fulfill our mission.  The newest understandings of neurology and the study of the brain shows that it is very plastic and capable of learning new things, despite age and even direct brain damage.  One of the best ways to keep the mind sharp throughout life is to simply keep learning new things.

The Classical Education

One of the best ways that any man, at any age, can enhance his intellect and understanding of the world, is to read and study the classics.  A “classic” is a work that is so prolific that it is worth studying over and over again in depth.  This type of education teaches you think to lead allowing you change the world around you.  The Universal Male knows that in order to truly understand the world, the greatest literary works must be studied and brought to a relative perspective of the times to serve his Purpose.

Studying classical texts such as Homer’s Iliad or Plato’s Republic brings you in touch with greatness.  With the classics, you explore an in depth and original look at history, which allows you to understand where you stand today.  A constant study of the classics allows you become well-versed in a variety of subjects, as the curriculum is vast, and easily accessible.  And as the times change, so do the perspectives we place on the classics when we read and study them.

Take Action:

Start reading the classics.  There are many lists and some resources are provided at the end of this chapter.  Start by finding twelve classic books from various subjects of philosophy, psychology, religion, law, and history and commit to reading one classic a month.  Go beyond your limits and seek out the truth.

Learn something new everyday.  Set aside time daily to explore a new subject.

Study a new language.  Start with Rosetta Stone or take a conversation course at a local college.  Studying a language helps you to understand a culture and alternative ways of thinking.

THE EMOTIONAL SELF

Connecting with the Subconscious

Why do some men fear their emotions?  Could it be that we are not connected with our subconsciousness.  Subconsciousness provides symbolic clues to who we are and what our Purpose is.  We fear our emotions because they are a direct link to the subconscious and we are no longer typically connected to the subconscious.  It is our conscious, rational thought that we solely rely upon in our technological age where Neitzsche tells us “Dead are all the gods.”  We believe we have pulled open the curtain to our myths and revealed the true Oz and now rationalism and direct conscious experiences are the portal to higher understandings.  This has all been at the expense of our connection with the subconscious and its guidance.  Carl Jung explains that science has a way of dehumanizing us, leaving men to feel isolated and alone, because “he is no longer involved with nature, he has lost his emotional ‘unconscious identity’ with natural phenomena.”  And now, the torrents of the emotions, which are our closest direct experience with the subconscious, are things to be feared instead of things to guide us.

Take Action:

Write about your emotions.  Keep a journal, something private, and just practice.  Explore your emotions, whatever they may be.  When mastered, all emotions have the potential to serve, even anger.  Honor your emotions.

Journal about your dreams.  Look for patterns and various symbols.

Share a secret with someone, or your personal dreams, particularly with a man.  Place yourself in a position of vulnerability.  Share your secrets with other men.  Find impeccable men that you can share these ideas with.

Get out into nature.  Connect with the natural surroundings.  Sit and meditate.  Listen.

YOUR SPIRITUAL CENTER

“The most depraved type of human being is a man without a Purpose.”  Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

Connection with Your Universal Spirit

Health is derived from an understanding of spirit.  If someone does not have an understanding of their spirituality then they can never really be healthy.  Spirituality is a process of connection with a higher power, a source outside of yourself, that moves through you as a Primal Will, and ultimately connects you with the rest of humanity and the universe itself.

Recognizing Your Purpose:  Providence

Throughout this chapter, the concept of Purpose (with a capital “P”) has been presented.  I have seen so many patients who have come to me for help with how they are feeling believing there must be something physically wrong with them, when it all was surrounded by a lack of Purpose.  Finding your true Purpose is the Universal Male’s prime goal, from which this well-spring all activities and choices flow.  Once a Purpose is discovered and chosen, then the rest of your life will have more understanding, depth, meaning, and joy.  Your true Purpose motivates your core, aligns your body, gives you a relativism about the world around you, your past choices, your current choices, and all choices moving forward.

Purpose tends to abide within your spirit and it is, therefore, your connection and relationship with spirit that allows you to see clearly towards this Purpose.

Take Action:

• Explore your Purpose.  Take time to sit down and explore what you truly want.  What would you do if money was not part of the equation?  What are you most passionate about?

• Chose a Purpose.  Simply decide on something that you seem connected to.  It does not have to be your singular Purpose but moving towards something is the first step.  This is living your life with Purpose, even if you have yet to find out exactly what that Purpose is.  But any Purpose, no matter how trivial it may seem at first, will impact the world if you truly align yourself to it and place your entire being and efforts into it.

• Connect with your Maker, your God.  Chose a spiritual path and commit to it.

More on Purpose…The Universal Male as the American Male

What does it really mean to be an American?  Or, rather, what did it used to mean to be an American?  This country was founded on principles that were understood and propagated by Universal Men; men who were integrated in their thought about the world.  And from this perspective, the brilliance of America was born.  If we understand the principles that forged a new type of citizen called an American, we can better understand ourselves as men, and be willing to discover the deeper Purpose that resides in all of us.

Oliver Van DeMille, founder and former president of George Wythe University and the author of A Thomas Jefferson Education, outlines the underlying principles that defined an American that also provides a foundation for the Universal Male.

The Five American Ideals

1. Freedom

2. Georgics

3. Providence

4. Liber

5. Public Virtue

DeMille argues that as Americans, we still understand the concept of freedom, but even this ideal continually suffers attack.  However, the remaining concepts are, as he explains, the Four Lost American Ideals…

Georgics

This is a word that means “owner.”  Americans defined themselves as striving to be owners, particularly of property, and specifically an independent owner versus a dependent employee.

Providence

This is a belief and understanding that all individuals possess a true Purpose, given and set by a higher power.

Liber

Americans possessed an education, based on the Classics, that led them to know not just what and when to think, but how to think.  Our typical education in America teaches us only what to think.  Liber education is an in depth American education that teaches you how to think to prepare you to lead and fulfill your Purpose.

Public Virtue

The literal foundation upon what all other ideals rest and rely upon…voluntarily sacrifice of personal benefit for the good of society.  Our Founding Fathers & Mothers all possessed this American ideal, and understood that the ideals of America were more important than themselves.

As Americans today, we come from a long line of founders that understood these concepts and lived them daily.  They lived these ideals as “Purpose” and laid the foundations for other lofty ideals that have made the world a better place and this country the greatest experiment that the world has ever seen.

Take Action:

• How can you start today by incorporating all the aspects of these American Ideals into your life?

• Are you striving towards being an “independent?”

• Do you know your Purpose and are you moving towards it?

• Are you seeking out the wisdom of the Classics?

• Are you sacrificing for the betterment of the ideals of those around you?

INITIATION

“Previous cultures throughout history always intended authentic masculine initiation. But their vision and their cultural context of the world was necessarily limited. Since the first earthrise photograph from outer space, we have entered a new mythological era. For the first time in human history, we have before us the possibility of authentic masculine initiation – an initiation into the global brotherhood.” –Dr. Robert Moore Coauthor of King, Warrior, Magician, Lover

Men need initiation.

Initiation, when done properly, teaches you about death, your own death, which prepares you to focus on the moment and release into its grandeur.  Initiation is about transferring an experience versus simply transferring knowledge.  Knowledge by itself is in fact dangerous without an understanding of its practical experiential application.  All the excellent teachers I had forced me to experience the information they were attempting to expose to me.  Maleness must be experienced.  Men need to be faced with challenges, fear, insult, and mistakes.  It is the mistakes that drive men to be good, not simply the avoidance of wrong.

Initiation takes men through a process of shedding the many layers of social construct such as name, family position as son, social status, and career choice.  This allows a man to reintegrate into simply being himself and even more importantly shows him that he is interconnected to the community and the world.  The initiation is something that must be done willingly, without hope of success through the process, which properly symbolizes death, then allowing for a re-birth.  Initiation is a process of freeing the man from bondage, so as to recognize that his true essence is the same as that of the world around him, therefore forever protecting him throughout his journey.

A passage from Richard Rohr’s book, From Wild Man to Wise Man, describes the importance of initiated experience for men:

“In almost all cultures men are not born; they are made.  Much more than for women, cultures have traditionally demanded initiation rites specifically for the boys.  It is almost as if the biological experiences of menstruation and childbirth are enough wisdom lessons for women, but invariably men must be tried, limited, challenged, punished, hazed, circumcised, isolated, starved, stripped, and goaded into maturity.  The pattern is nearly universal, and the only real exceptions are the recent secular West.  Historically, the program was clear.  The boy had to be separated from protective feminine energy, led into ritual space where newness and maleness could be experienced as holy; the boy had to be ritually wounded and tested, and there experience bonding with other men and loyalty to tribal values, and then have something to give back.  The pattern is so widely documented that one is amazed that we have let go of it so easily.  The contemporary experience of gangs, gender identity confusion, romanticization of war, aimless violence and homophobia will all grow unchecked, I predict, until boys are again mentored and formally taught by wise elders.”

THE MALE ARCHETYPES

“Four Mighty Ones are in every man.”  William Blake, The Four Zoas

The male soul has been expressed by many, throughout the ages, to contain specific archetypes that include the Warrior (Body), the Wise Man (Mind), the Lover (Emotional Self), and the King (Spiritual Awareness).  Richard Rohr explains that any complete male initiation must include a synthesis of all four aspects of a man’s soul.  We see this concept expressed in the work of Jungian psychologist Robert Moore.  The first section of this chapter provided the foundation of body, mind, emotions, and spirit to make the full transition into an integrated and initiated Universal Male.  This second section will explore the male archetypes and provide some simple steps at beginning the initiation process.

The Warrior:  The Energy of Disciplined & Assertive Action

“Nothing is so strong as gentleness. Nothing is so gentle as real strength.”  Frances de Sales 

This is the integrated Warrior, responsive to his calling with decisive action and will, disciplined over time with training and vision, and ripened with spiritual belief and virtuous fortitude.  The chivalrous Knight, the noble Samurai, the monks of the Shoalin temple, are but a few examples that this archetype embodies.

This Warrior energy is present in every man, but not every man has cultivated it presence and balanced it within his life for his own benefit and those around him.  We see examples of its imbalance all the time.  When the Warrior energy is in excess or without context, we see senseless aggression and violence.  Young men that join gangs to attempt to tap into this energy, but without guidance from an Elder teaching discipline and boundaries, leads to an over-powering Warrior energy without purpose or wisdom.  The weakly cultivated Warrior leads to those hiding behind a guise of non-violence, that very often leads to an overpowering passive aggression that expresses itself in unyielding and even violent social activism.  Non-violence is among the most virtuous and difficult acts.  It often takes more courage to hold the frequency of non-violence than to react instantly into violence.  But practicing non-violence without honoring and supporting the strength and wisdom of the Warrior nature of man, leads to an unseen dark violence.  Men must practice controlling their aggression by accepting their aggressive nature and cultivating it within a context of control, direction, love, and peace.

Initiating the Warrior:

The first step is to take action.  Move forward, make a decision, embolden yourself to a cause and move towards it.  Take up a fight, any fight, and do it with honor and balance.  Get involved in your community, politics, church causes, something that you believe in and can stand up for.  Do not fear your Warrior nature, but embrace it.

Understand the dark side of the Warrior so as to avoid it.  When the Warrior is over-active, it leads to a sadistic abusive nature.  We tend towards abuse of others and even ourselves.  I see this all the time in practice.  When the Warrior is under-active, it leads to an inactive, passive with most abuse centered toward ourselves, lacking the will to complete even the smallest tasks.

The Wise Man/Magician/Scientist:  The Energy of Initiation, Knowledge & Transformation

“The wise man in the storm prays to God, not for safety from danger, but deliverance from fear.”  Ralph Waldo Emerson

Knowledge is for the few.  Wisdom is for everyone, the community.  The Wise Man, Magician, or Magus, is the “learned one”, the Doctor, who uses his life to search out the various truths about existence to better those around him.  It is not often that many men possess facts and knowledge, whether it is about baseball or politics, but have little idea of how to transform those thoughts and ideas for the betterment of all.

Be studious, explore and expand your mental capacities, and your current biases.  Allow your mind to help you to focus your intention and prepare you for the journey.  However, the mind must be developed, but to the extent and purpose of letting it go.  The mind must be transformed from just a door or barrier to a door-way that transports you to the higher aspects of your true self that is all-pervasive.  The mind must be quieted so as to hear the true voice.  This is not done by reading more, studying more.  It is done through silent meditation and prayer, a time of unhindered reflection.

Initiating the Magician

• Learn to mediate.  The goal of meditation is to silent the mind so as to hear the wisdom and direction of the true self, to transform your current understanding into something new.

• Start by sitting in the morning, before going to work.  Sit and breathe.  Do not try to mediate, just clear your mind and focus on the breath.  Once you are breathing, silently with your eyes closed and body erect, you are meditating.  Answers come when the mind is silent.

The Lover:  The Energy of the Collective Consciousness 

“The true lover always feels in debt to the one he loves.”  Ralph W. Sockman

The energy of the Lover is not just for women.  Too often, men do not believe that the Lover has anything to do with manliness, but the male Lover is one of the most potent male energies that exists.  When fully developed, the male Lover archetype can move mountains and change the world.

The Lover is the energy of sensuality, of sensory perception and integration, honing in on all forms of stimulus from the outside world and celebrating it with passion and zeal.  My partner can cry at the dawning of the sun and in the same moment can become enraged by an injustice she witnesses on the street, with a passionate recognition of the moment and an intense emotion coursing through her veins.  When she feels she does so with passion and with her entire body.  It is a beautiful example of the sensuous Lover nature that so many women possess and so many more men fear.

When you fully feel the world around you and particularly your own body, you truly begin to empathize with others.  When a man is not properly accessing and nurturing this Lover energy, then he is closed off to himself, his relationships, his Purpose, and the world itself.  The Lover is the energy of the Jungian concept of the “collective consciousness” where the thoughts, experiences, and even feelings of all people collectively abide within an accessible realm and the sensitive male.  Possessing this Lover energy has practical applications for understanding the world around you to the point of empathizing with all living things.  It really is a beautiful concept.

Embrace and celebrate the feminine

I have learned an important lesson about the feminine:  The more I focused on my own masculinity versus shunning it, the easier I accepted the energy, beliefs, and positions of other men and women.  This has been a particularly important lesson in understanding women, realizing now that my own masculinity is not threatened or reduced by accepting the wonderful oceanic tides and tempests of the female spirit.  Men fear the feminine because they are uncertain if their own masculine nature will stand up to its mysteries.  Once I started developing my masculine core, I was set free to explore not only the feminine nature of my partner, but my own feminine nature.  I have learned that the more I focused on my own masculine nature, the more I was drawn to the fluctuating nature of the feminine that I was previously perplexed by.  The understanding of one automatically creates a vacuum of space that is filled with the recognition of the other.

The feminine within most men is there but hibernating and hiding because it was told, long ago, to go to sleep and to go away.  But this energy can be cultivated and used to enhance the very maleness you seek to improve.  And we are instinctively attracted to the feminine, whether it is the beautiful form of a woman, the earthy hops within a cold beer, the scent of the air of the mountains, or the vastness of the ocean that beckons so many men to brave its waves.  The feminine is the energy that literally keeps you alive, pulsing through your veins and coursing up your spine.  By connecting with the feminine within you, it does not mean you are becoming a woman.  On the contrary, your connection with the feminine will only embolden your masculine side, assuming you are connecting and initiating that masculine aspect of also.

Men believe that they need to push the feminine away because they believe it should somehow make them more manly, when it actually does the opposite.  Men fear the feminine when they are actually wanting and needing feminine energy around them all the time.  To make the problem more complicated, men not only fear the feminine, but when uninitiated into real manhood, they end up fearing real men.  This is the perplexing situation of patriarchy.  The patriarchal dominance the globe has experienced for millennia is an immature and unevolved expression of maleness that leads to abusiveness, but patriarchy has nothing to do with real initiated maleness in all its zeal and power.

The feminine movement and feminism was a direct and reasonable response to this patriarchy, not necessarily to the concept of the masculine or even men directly.  But feminists in their zeal have sought to throw the proverbial male baby out with the bath water, taking it to a level that does not support any true male development when men, women, and the world are in dire need for a truly integrated, initiated, and masculine male.  It is the truly integrated male, who understands all aspects of his being that will provide healing and direction for the world.

Initiating the Lover

• To heal and to learn to transcend into understanding about yourself beyond simple assumptions you must first “know your limitations” and second “you must be willing to ask for help.”  As a physician, I find women can do this far more easily than men.  Men assume they have no limitations or they have not pushed their own limits challenging themselves, accepting basic mediocrity, and never asking for assistance.  The tribe, the lodge, the fraternity, the village, the family are all aspects of men being in groups to be able to ask for assistance as well as provide it.  Ask for help.

• Write a love letter.  Emote on a page, even if you do not plan on delivering it.  Express yourself.  Try writing it in your own handwriting, which is a more personal and tactile process.

• Touch things.  Do exactly what you have been told not to do since you were little, and touch everything you see.  Touch the walls, touch things at stores, touch your partner, sit on the floor, roll in the grass, play in the sun, and just feel it.

• Get a massage.  Find a massage therapist who you can develop a standing professional relationship with, and commit to at least a once a month massage.  The massage sessions, if you allow it, can teach you to let go and appreciate the sensations of your own body, and that it is ok to feel them.  This can be profound if you let it.

• Make love without climaxing.  Focus on your partner and the moment of sharing.  Hold back on achieving orgasm and revel in the moment.  When holding back on your orgasm, you discipline your internal energies and actually build upon them.  This initiates the Lover in you as you focus more on the act of love making than the inevitable end result.  Try this for a week, with each night making love without climaxing, and then, on the seventh night, you could be in for the climax of your life.

The King/Father:  The Energy of Honorable & Integrated Process

“The King goes as far as he may, not as far as he could.”  Spanish Proverb

This is one of the most important aspects of the male soul.  I believe it is an amalgamation and integration of the other three aspects with a final higher sense of awareness and direction.  This is an integrated man, the Universal Man, fully aware of his power, having mastered it, and, even more importantly, capable of utilizing it for the common good.  King Edward of England, the legendary King Arthur, King David of Judaism, and the kingly Jesus of Christianity, all possessed this integrated energy that led their people to higher understandings, personal liberation, and particularly affirmation and validation of their existence.

The King has separated himself from his ego.  He is then able to channel and bestow his light upon those around him.  The King is an ordered and centered energy that emanates from a selfless core, and validates the completion of manhood as a fully integrated psyche.

Crowning the King:

• The first step in realizing your true King archetype is to accept that the King nature is not for or about you, but about the collective around you.  You must understand that the true cause of your Kingly power is not your own ego or will but that of a larger Primal Will moving through you.

• The next step is to be sure you have fully completed all the other steps prior to this one.  You must integrate all aspects of these archetypes into your life.  It does not mean that you may not have a preference to one or two of them, but all four must be cultivated over time.  Have you integrated and honored all the various archetypes and aspects of your being? Over the next week, ask yourself if you possess each of these male archetypes.  Which ones are you lacking in?  Which ones are excessive or incomplete?  You may find that you naturally have an inclination towards one aspect, but be sure to focus on the areas of underdevelopment.

• Ask yourself if you have validated those around you, your spouse, lover, children, or coworkers?  They look for this in you.  They look for your kingly blessing.  If you have trouble with this, your own ego could be keeping your Kingly nature from realizing its potential, leading to an inflated tyrannical approach to those around you.

• For an activity that truly defines the King nature, ask yourself “What have I done today for my grandchildren?”  By enacting goals that focus on not just those around you, but on those that may not even exist, truly separates you from your own ego and allows you to perpetuate an instinct of human preservation and sacrifice.

• Seek out a form of male initiation that resonates with you.  Refer to the resources at the end of the chapter for more information.

Bringing it All Together

When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man I put away childish things. – I Corinthians 13:11

There is a common trend with developing all four aspects of your soul.  There is a cultivation of each prime aspect of the male soul, and then a process of letting it go.

• You must first face the strength and intensity of the Warrior to learn to control it.
• You must first accept your own personal bliss and pleasure, and let it go, to be the Lover.
• You must cultivate and expand your mind, and master it by letting it go.
• You must integrate yourself completely as the King, for the sake of others, and let it go by humbly bowing to a Higher Power.

Richard Rohr outlines his Five Promises of Male Initiation and this makes an excellent synopsis of our journey into the idea of initiation.  The integration of the male soul through initiating the major archetypes prepares you and further teaches you of these following five truths.

1. Life is hard…but your Truth and Purpose will set you free and lead to joy.  “If your truth does not set you free, it is not the truth at all.”

2. You are not that important…but the knowing of your Creator validates you.  “You are declared important; you can not declare yourself important…If you have no foundational significance, you must constantly attempt to self-signify and self-validate.  Everyone then is a competitor and rival.”

3. Your life is not about you…but through your understanding of your spirituality and Purpose, life itself becomes about you.  “In the spiritual life, what we think we are doing is actually being done to us.”

4. You are not in control…but you don’t need to be anyway, once you surrender to the Collective and find your Purpose.  “If we can not control the biggies, life and death, why should we spend so much time trying to control all the lesser outcomes?”

5. You are going to die…but life and love are eternal.  “It is an eternal life already within us that makes us imagine such an impossible thing as eternal life.”

Why do we need the Universal Male?

In a wonderful editorial written in 1966 by Lindsey Williams, he be-cries the need for the Universal Man of the Renaissance era to emerge once again.  It is a call to arms of sorts, as I attempt here, as he describes the lack of rugged individualists among soft and dependent Americans that is no different 44+ years ago as it is today.  We saw then, as we do today, the need for great men to guide us back towards liberation and a renewed approach towards humanism.  He describes the central qualities of these great men of the Renaissance as possessing the “four C’s”, namely Curiosity, Creativity, Craftsmanship, and Consideration.  Fervent Curiosity of all subjects, Creativity for the benefit of the common man, Craftsmanship with an ability to create and wield their own tools, and Consideration and courtesy towards all men and women creating a new culture of tolerance and social consciousness.  Lindsey summarizes the four central concepts of the Universal Man as knowledgeable, versatile, capable, and helpful, and it relates directly towards the four archetypes of man previously explained here.  The knowledgeable and curious Magician, the versatile and creative Lover, the capable craftsman Warrior, and the helpful and considerate King.  These archetypes, just as Joseph Campbell and Carl Jung assured us, have risen from the primordial centers of our psyches to be repeated over and over again in story and symbol throughout all cultures and all time.

The Universal Male has always been needed, by every culture, of all times, and it is so today.  Will you be that Universal Male?  Will you do it for your family, your community, your Self?  Will you rise to the occasion and integrate your very soul towards the highest cause of human freedom?  You, sir, are needed!  And the ancient lineages of men beckon you today, expecting you to rise up and take your rightful place within the Kingdom…

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY & RESOURCES:

This bibliography and resource section briefly lists the many texts and authors used in this chapter.  It also provides a list of resources, easily accessed on the World Wide Web, that offer male initiation rites.  More traditional forms of male initiation can be achieved through the military, certain religious acts and ceremonies, and individual family traditions.  One may wish to seek more, and I offer a few resources.  I do not endorse any one particular type of male initiation, but rather encourage the curious and prepared male to explore these resources (and inevitably others that are not listed) and find what speaks to you the most.  The list, of course, is by no means exhaustive.  Good Luck.

The work of Joseph Campbell including:

The Hero with a Thousand Faces

The work of David Deida including:

The Way of the Spiritual Man:  A Spiritual Guide to Mastering the Challenges of Women, Work, and Sexual Desire

It’s a Guy Thing:  An Owner’s Manual for Women

Website:  www.dieda.info

The work of Richard Rohr including:

Adam’s Return:  The Five Promises of Male Initiation

From Wild Man to Wise Man

Website:  www.malespirituality.org

The work of Robert Moore, PhD including:

King Warrior Magician Lover: Rediscovering the Archetypes of the Mature Masculine

Website:  www.robertmoore-phd.com

The work of Ken Wilber including:

Integral Spirituality

Integral Life Practice

Website:  www.integrallife.com

Naturopathic Medicine:

The American Association of Naturopathic Physicians:  www.naturopathic.org

Naturopathic medicine has laid down a philosophical medical paradigm that seeks to observe the individual within a universal context that includes body, mind, emotion, spirit, and community to better serve the entire health need, which ultimately heals everyone involved, even the doctor and those individuals around the patient.  Naturopathy is the response to the current conventional medical paradigm that lacks the understanding of the true need for integration of being on all levels.  At the core of the Naturopathic philosophy is a belief in the initiation of the soul that guides us to better health and keener understandings about ourselves.

Male Initiation Resources:

• The ManKind Project:  www.mankindproject.org:  “The ManKind Project (MKP) is a non-profit, educational organization, with the stated purpose to support men in leading meaningful lives of integrity, accountability, responsibility, and emotional intelligence.”

• Freemasonry:  The Arizona Grand Lodge at http://www.azmasons.org  or any Grand Lodge of a particular state.  “The mission of Freemasonry is to promote a way of life that binds like minded men in a worldwide brotherhood that transcends all religious, ethnic, cultural, social and educational differences: by teaching the great principles of Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth: and, by the outward expression of these, through its fellowship, its compassion and its concern, to find ways in which to serve God, family, country, neighbors and self.”

Other Resources & Bibliographic References: