Lover Within: Accessing the Lover in the Male Psyche

Robert Moore & 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. Interestingly, the media reviews of these books got better and better as each volume was published. I think this reflects more on the editorial reviewers than on the quality of the books! This last book of the series is, of course, on the Lover 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 lover differs considerably from the Don Juan or Casanova image)--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. Thus, I disagree with the Beetles, love isn't all you need! 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, methods, etc. Thus, they insert some sociological/anthropological considerations into the fray. I found this book uplifting and see the glass as half full; while we have made great strides in certain respects (as a civilization), we have also paid a price in losses along the way. 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.