The Four Archetypes of the Mature Masculine: The Lover

The Lover in His Fullness

When you hear the word “lover” you probably think of romance and sex.
But there are many types of love–a love for family, for friends, for God, and for life itself–and the Lover archetype passionately seeks
after them all.
The Lover is the archetype of emotion, feeling, idealism, and sensuality. Like the word “lover,” sensuality is often exclusively
associated with sex but really has a far broader application. Being sensual means opening up and using all of your senses in all areas of
your life–touching, tasting, smelling, hearing, and seeing–or in other words–experiencing as many dimensions of life as possible, as
often as possible.
Thus, when a man taps into the Lover archetype’s energy, he feels alive with vim and vigor and connected to the world and those
around him. A man in touch with the Lover archetype feels deeply, whether those feelings are of joy or pain.
The Lover is attuned to the mysterious forces underlying our everyday existence; this is the archetype that fuels a man’s spirituality,
and the one in which the Muses reside. When we get those flashes of inspiration or sparks of creativity, that’s Lover energy
manifesting itself in our lives. A man who takes time to develop this archetype will experience those hunches, insights, and
premonitions more frequently than men who don’t.
A man who has fully developed the Lover archetype in his life is also often adept at reading people and social cues. He’s empathetic
with others and understands how to get along and connect with a wide variety of people.
Because the Lover is so alive and sensual, he enjoys all of life’s pleasures, whether it be good food and drink, beautiful art, or
gorgeous women. This is the archetype that spurs our appetites. But these hungers aren’t just for “baser” pleasures like sex and food,
but for a life of meaning and purpose. And in seeking the freedom to passionately pursue these ends, the Lover can see limits and
rules as constraining.
This is why the Lover archetype has a unique relationship to the other three archetypes of mature masculinity. While the Lover’s
energy seeks to be boundless, the King, Warrior, and Magician archetypes provide a man with structure and discipline. Thus the
Lover’s passion fuels and powers these three life forces, and in turn, they channel and harness the Lover’s energy in a healthy way
and towards worthy goals.
You can find the Lover archetype in myths and rituals that span culture and time. The Greek god Dionysus presents perhaps the most
salient example. Dionysus was the god of wine, merriment, art, passion, and sex. His followers believed that when a man became so
overcome with emotion that he appeared mad, Dionysus was to blame. The yearly festival held in his honor each spring was a ritual
inspired by the Lover archetype: lots of drinking, lots of dancing, lots of theater, and lots of sex.
A modern story that exemplifies the Lover archetype is Zorba the Greek. Zorba is a man who lives life fully. He’s earthy. He loves good
food and drink. He dances his heart out. Zorba understands that for a man to be truly free, he needs to have a deep emotional life; he
needs a little madness:
That’s a man who has a healthy dose of the Lover archetype in his life.
The Lover archetype is usually the first that develops in a man. Look at most young men and you see that they’re often ruled by the
passionate Lover archetype. They’re looking for new and exciting endeavors, they develop intense romantic and sexual relationships,
and they’re filled with youthful idealism. Their experiences are marked by an acute intensity.
The Shadows
Remember that each archetype has both a pinnacle, which represents the fullness of the archetype, and a bi-polar shadow split.
These shadows are the result of the archetype not being integrated into a man in a healthy and coherent way. The two shadows of
the Lover archetype are the Addicted Lover and the Impotent Lover.
The Addicted Lover
If the other archetypes do not harness the Lover’s energy, the Addicted Lover shadow can result.
A man possessed by the Addicted Lover is, as Moore puts it, “eternally restless.” He’s forever searching for that one thing, person, or
experience that will make him feel truly alive. But whether it’s because he has overinflated expectations, or because he doesn’t even
know what he’s searching for in the first place, the vague hunger that endlessly hounds him is never satisfied.
The Addicted Lover falls in love with every girl he dates, and then wallows in despair when she dumps him. He’s constantly getting
ideas for inventions or businesses that will make him rich, but he never works at them long enough to get them off the ground. His
apartment is cluttered with junk he bought on a whim and never used. His passport is filled with stamps, but he doesn’t feel any
happier than we he left home to travel the world.
The Addicted Lover is a collector–of experiences, possessions, or women. But without any structure, any overarching life philosophy
to connect the things he collects, his life feels fragmentary instead of whole. Without a channel through which to run, the Lover’s
energy dissipates into a million directions.
The flip side of this shadow is the man who takes all of the Lover’s energy and focuses it on one thing. He can become so obsessed
with the objects of his desire that instead of bringing joy, they bring destruction and ruin. Perhaps you know a man who became so
involved in a vice, a project, or even a hobby that it ruined him financially and destroyed his relationships. That was a man possessed
by the Addicted Lover.
I think Jay Gatsby from The Great Gatsby (my favorite book, by the way), is a perfect example of a man possessed by the Addicted
Lover. He longs for the wealthy Daisy Buchanan for his entire life. He’s addicted to the idea of being with Daisy and spends his life
amassing a fortune through criminal activity just so he can be with her. But in the end, Daisy disappoints Gatsby. The real Daisy didn’t
match the fantasy of her that Gatsby had obsessed about for years. If you read the book, you know what happens to ol’ Jay Gatsby in
the end. Lesson learned: being possessed by the Addicted Lover leads to ruin.
The Impotent Lover
The Impotent Lover shadow arises when a man is out of touch with the Lover archetype in its fullness. While the Lover in his fullness
sees the world in vivid colors and textures, the Impotent Lover only sees gray. Men dogged by the Impotent Lover archetype feel
depressed, flat, and dead inside. Nothing brings them joy anymore. They’ve lost their passion for life. Relationships, whether romantic
or platonic, struggle and falter for the man possessed by the Impotent Lover. Libido is non-existent in these men, as is their sex life.
While the Addicted Lover does not give himself enough structure, the Impotent Lover can arise in a man who disciplines himself too
much. This is often the case with devoutly religious men, who, going far beyond the admonishments of their faith, laden themselves
with overly prudish rules, and feel shame when “indulging” in life’s pleasures. The energy of the Lover archetype builds up behind this
dam of limits, and without a healthy channel to pursue, sooner or later it bursts forth in destructive ways, like addiction to porn. The
Impotent Lover becomes the Addicted Lover.
The Warrior in His Fullness
Moore says that “The characteristics of the Warrior in his fullness amount to a total way of life, what the samurai called a do
(pronounced ‘do’). These characteristics constitute the Warrior Dharma, Ma’at, or Tao, a spiritual or psychological path through life.”
What are these characteristics? Let’s take a look.
Note: While here we use the language of the martial warrior, the characteristics can be applied to any man’s life mission, whether
civilian or true solider.
Aggressive
If you look up the word “aggressive” in the dictionary, these are the definitions you’ll find:
1. characterized by or tending toward unprovoked offensives, attacks, invasions, or the like; militantly forward or menacing
2. making an all-out effort to win or succeed; competitive
3. vigorously energetic, especially in the use of initiative and forcefulness
Of the three definitions, the first is most popular in modern culture. Something unprovoked, out of line. Notice how often “overly”
precedes “aggressive” in common parlance. Aggression may also bring to mind military policies a person does not agree with. In
general it has a negative connotation.
But true aggression should be thought of in the context of the second two dictionary entries. Effort. Energy. Initiative. Force.
Aggression is a neutral tool that can be harnessed for either ill or good. How it is channeled makes all the difference. A man who does
not harness his aggression at all picks a fight with everyone and about everything; his relationships fail and he is stunted in his
personal development. The man who reins in his aggression too much becomes the stereotypical weenie Nice Guy–proper aggression
turns into passive aggression. He is too “polite” to go after what he wants, and he’s seething inside because of it. A man who has
successfully integrated the Warrior archetype harnesses his aggression as the force that pushes him to compete to be the best and
moves him ever forward towards his goals.
Purpose
Of course that proper use of aggression presupposes that a man has goals that he’s striving towards in the first place. A man has to
have a clear and definite purpose in life, or he will feel lost and restless, like he is drifting along instead of marching ahead.
Mindful
The mindfulness of the Warrior is two-fold. First, he is always alert and awake, ever vigilant. He has keen situational awareness. He
never lets complacency lull him to sleep; instead, he is always watching, observing, studying, and planning. Secondly, the Warrior is
mindful of the finiteness of life and the inevitably of death, and he purposefully contemplates that death. His courage is rooted in the
fact that he is not afraid to die. Life’s shortness brings clarity to his mind. He knows that any minute could be his last so he makes
every day and decision count. Carpe diem!  becomes his battle cry.
Adaptable
During the Revolutionary War, the Continental Army knew that it could not match the man and fire power of the British. So instead of
facing them down on a field for a traditional battle, the minutemen took to the woods and launched surprise hit and run attacks on
the enemy. This is the way of the Warrior; he is a guerrilla fighter. When he’s up against great odds, he bucks convention and uses his
cleverness and his strategic intelligence to find creative ways to turn the tide in his favor. He is an efficient fighter–he studies the
weaknesses of his opponents and concentrates his strikes there. He is flexible and able to respond to change by shifting tactics on the
fly.
Minimalist
The key to successful guerrilla warfare is the fighter’s ability to travel light. While the traditional force has power in its superior
resources, those resources also weigh and slow them down. The guerrilla fighter strips away all superfluities and excess baggage; he
carries only what he needs and is thus quick and nimble, able to be two steps ahead of the enemy.
Decisive
In times of peace or crisis, whether for big things or small, the Warrior is able to boldly make decisions. He doesn’t stand there shilly-
shally, wondering what he should do, scared of choosing the wrong option. He is calm and cool under pressure. Once he makes a
decision, he unhesitatingly moves on it because he does not live in regret. The Warrior is able to be so decisive because he trains so
thoroughly for these moments; he is prepared. He thinks about all possible contingencies and what he would do in each situation
before the crisis arrives. When the crisis does come, his mind and body already instinctively know what to do.
Skillful
Part of the Warrior’s confidence in his decisions is rooted in his supreme competence. Accordingly to Moore, “The Warrior’s energy is
concerned with skill, power, and accuracy.” The Warrior “has absolute mastery of the technology of his trade…the technology that
enables him to reach his goal. He has developed skill with the ‘weapons’ he uses to implement his decisions.”
Loyal
If you remember, the Hero is the boyhood archetype which matures into the Warrior archetype. Part of this maturation process
centers on a shift in a man’s loyalties. Moore argues that “The Hero’s loyalty…is really to himself–to impressing himself with himself
and to impressing others.” The Warrior’s loyalties, on the other hand, “are to something beyond and other than himself and his own
concerns.” The Warrior’s loyalty centers on “a cause, a god, a people, a task, a nation–larger than individuals.” The Warrior has a
“central commitment” around which he organizes his life. His life’s purpose is rooted in ideals and principles, which naturally strips
away superfluities and pettiness and brings his life great meaning.
Disciplined
The Warrior has mastered himself in body and mind. His power is rooted in self-control. He knows when to be aggressive and how
aggressive to be.  He is the master of his energies, releasing them and pulling them back as he chooses. He decides the attitude he will
take in a certain situation, instead of letting the situation dictate how he feels. Unlike the boyhood Hero archetype, the Warrior
understands his limits; he takes calculated instead of unnecessary risks. His discipline also frees him of a fear of pain. Feeble,
mediocre men believe all pain is bad. The Warrior knows there is bad pain and good pain. He is willing, even eager to withstand
psychological and physical pain on the path to his goals. He’s the kind of man who subscribes to the “pain is just weakness leaving the
body” philosophy; he relishes difficulty because it makes him stronger.
Emotionally Detached
Not all the time, but when he is in Warrior mode. To complete his mission, the Warrior must be emotionally detached–from the fear
and doubt generated by his own feelings, from the intimidation emanating from his enemy, and from the “shoulds” and demands put
on him by friends and family. The Warrior needs the kind of mental clarity that only comes from single-minded purpose, or as Moore
puts it, “The Warrior needs room to swing his sword.”
Switching off that emotional detachment when away from the mission represents the great challenge for the Warrior. The inability to
do so can result in one of the Warrior’s shadows.
Creative Destroyer
The Warrior is the archetype of destruction. However, the Warrior in his fullness only destroys in order to “make room for something
new and fresh and more alive.” His is an act of creative destruction–he doesn’t tear things down simply for the pleasure of doing so.
We call upon the Warrior archetype when we quit bad habits and replace them with better ones or when we get rid of people in our
lives who bring us down and surround ourselves with people who edify.
The Shadows
The Sadist. As just discussed, men in touch with the Warrior archetype have the ability to detach themselves from emotions and
human relationships. While detachment provides a man with much needed focus on important tasks, when it becomes a
man’s permanent state, the Sadist shadow controls a man’s psyche.
This is why soldiers, who have a mission-minded attitude while on deployment, can find it very difficult to adjust to life back home
and find their place in their families, which are based on emotional needs and currents–the stuff the solider has been used to setting
aside. The mission-focused life freed him from human pettiness–and returning to it can be grating. This is also true of lawyers,
ministers, doctors, politicians, and other men who may be married to their job–shifting from mission-mode to domestic-mode can be
difficult for them.
As the name implies, the Sadist can be cruel, even to those most vulnerable. He disdains the weak. A commanding officer in the Army
may try to rigidly run his family in the same way that he led his troops. The Sadist creates unattainably high standards for himself and
those around him. When a child comes home with a less than perfect grade, a father influenced by the Sadist will put her down and
berate her mercilessly. A man with positive Warrior energy would have kindly shown disappointment, but then offered to help his
daughter study for the next exam so she could ace it.
The Sadist’s disgust at weakness is linked to the boyhood Hero archetype. The Hero tries to break away from his mother and from
feminine energy in general as he seeks to become his own man. But adult men who are still insecure about being “man enough”
project this insecurity onto others. He hates what he fears is within himself.
According to Moore, men possessed by the Sadist also tend to be workaholics. They’re the men who take pride in working all night at
the office and coming home at 7AM, only to leave for the office again an hour later. They’ll choose work at the expense of health and
even family. They take the Warrior’s comfort with pain to an extreme and grind it out to get to the top. But they’re doing it because
they really don’t know what they want out of life, and constantly working distracts them from this fact. Once they do reach the top,
they often feel empty, lost, and bitter. But many Sadists simply burn out before they even get there.
The Masochist. The Masochist is the passive shadow in the tripartite Warrior archetype, and its attributes closely parallel those of the
boyhood Hero archetype’s cowardly shadow. A man possessed by the Masochist feels he is powerless. He is a push-over who has no
personal boundaries and will let others walk all over him. He may hate his job or the relationship he’s in and complain about it, but
instead of quitting, cutting his losses and moving on, he digs in and tries harder to be who his boss or girlfriend wants him to be and
takes even more abuse. Because while he might complain about the pain, he really likes it. This is the man who enjoys being the
martyr.
An archetype’s bi-polar shadows often work together against a man. Men under the Masochist’s influence will take the disrespect
others dish out without fighting back or asserting themselves. Then one day something, maybe a criticism from his wife, pushes him
over the edge and he “explodes with sadistic verbal [and sometimes even] physical abuse.”
The Characteristics of the Magician in His Fullness
Intellectually Curious/The Holder of Hidden Knowledge
As Moore puts it, “The Magician is the knower.” What does he know? “Secret and hidden knowledge of all kinds.” While this kind of
knowledge sounds very esoteric, and it can be, Moore is simply referring to any kind of knowledge that is “not immediately apparent
or commonsensical.” It is knowledge you learn in degrees, its mastery takes great effort and diligence, and the reward is to be able to
dwell in a realm that the average man does not have access to. Moore argues that:
“All knowledge that takes special training to acquire is the province of the Magician energy. Whether you are an apprentice training
to become a master electrician and unraveling the mysteries of high voltage; or a medical student, grinding away night and day,
studying the secrets of the human body and using available technologies to help your patients; or a would-be stockbroker or a
student of high finance; or a trainee in one of the psychoanalytic schools, you are in exactly the same position as the apprentice
shaman or witch doctor in tribal societies. You are spending large amounts of time, energy, and money in order to be initiated into
rarefied realms of secret power. You are undergoing an ordeal testing your capacities to become a master of this power. And, as is
true in all initiations, there is no guarantee of success.”
As you go about your studies or the day-to-day duties of your profession, you probably don’t feel like you’re acting in a “realm of
secret power.” But take a step back and consider it—whether it’s how to set a bone or repair a carburetor, you probably can do
things that to others are completely obscure and shrouded in mystery.
A Master of Technology
A few months ago I bought an iPad. I love it. The first time I swiped across its screen, I felt like I was using some sort of magic gazing
mirror that granted me access to an infinite amount of knowledge right at my fingertips. One minute I can be reading a biography of
Winston Churchill and the next I can be watching a free video lecture about Churchill on YouTube. The iPad, along with other tablet
devices, are great examples of science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke’s third rule: “any sufficiently advanced technology is
indistinguishable from magic.”
And indeed, the Magician is a  “master of technology.” When men learn the secret knowledge of how the world works, and use that
knowledge to harness its laws, energies, and forces in order to manipulate them into practical tools and systems, they’re accessing
Magician energy. Inventors, scientists, and just simple tinkerers are examples of “masters of technology. It’s funny how we often
imbue our most famous inventors and creators with almost supernatural qualities. Newspapers dubbed Thomas Edison “The Wizard
of Menlo Park,” legends sprouted up about Nikola Tesla and his power over electricity, and recent obituaries about Steve Jobs would
often refer to his creations as almost magical.
Becoming a master of technology doesn’t require that we invent a device like the iPad. Instead, we simply need to create. There’s a
concept in the Western esoteric tradition of Hermeticism that the goal of man should be to live the principle of: “as above, so
below.” It’s sort of similar to Christ’s admonition in the Lord’s prayer to “make on earth as it is in heaven.”
Several interpretations exist as to the meaning of “as above, so below,” but the interpretation that I like is that it means making our
amorphous thoughts, imaginations, and dreams a reality. In order to accomplish this, we must use all the knowledge and tools at our
disposal. In short, we must become masters of technology.
Reflective
The Warrior is the archetype of action. But he gets his marching orders from the Magician. This is the energy that powers healthy
introspection. When you’re facing a tough decision, your deliberations on which course to take are powered by the Magician. His
power comes from thoughtful reflection and meditation; the Magician is like an excellent chess player; the more he experiences and
studies, the more he is able to see life like a chess board, envision all the possible moves, and predict with good accuracy where those
moves will lead. This ability also generates a man’s hunches and gut feelings and the spontaneous decisions he makes in a time of
crisis.
Reticent
In today’s society, information has been greatly democratized, and people expect everything there is to be known to be available to
every person. If you tell someone that certain knowledge is sacred, secret, or just too advanced for them to understand, they’re
typically deeply offended and automatically assume that you’re up to something suspicious. But great teachers throughout history
understood that knowledge and truth must be taught “precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a
little.”  Effective learning must be done in degrees–each advancement is earned by the mastery of the previous step. Each concept
builds on the other, until a person has acquired perfect knowledge.
Those who try to jump into the deep end without first learning to swim can drown. For that reason, men accessing Magician energy
are reticent about the knowledge they possess, only sharing it with the earnest student who continually proves he is a worthy of the
knowledge he seeks.

Alchemist of Life
The alchemists of antiquity sought to find a way to turn the baser elements into gold. And this inclination to turn a sow’s ear into a
purse is a vital current in the Magician’s stream of energy. When the Magician archetype is integrated into a man, he looks for ways
to turn disappointing situations and setbacks into opportunities to learn, grow, and become a better man.
Spiritual Mediator
As Moore puts it, the Magician “understands the link between the unseen world of the spirits–the Divine World–and the world of
human beings and nature.” As the mediator between these worlds, the Magician has the ability to explain complicated spiritual ideas
in ways others can easily grasp. If you’ve ever talked to a friend who used a simple metaphor to resolve your doubts, that was the
Magician energy at work.
Initiation and the Modern Obstacle to Accessing Magician Energy
There are two main roles that the energy of the Magician flow through—the initiate and the initiator. Or in the other words, the
mentee and the mentor.
As we just discussed, Magician energy drives us to obtain hidden knowledge. But contrary to the popular adage about professional
magicians—that they never reveal their tricks—a man truly animated by the mature Magician archetype is eager to turn around and
share what he has learned with others. He desires to elevate the serious and earnest seeker to his level.
This is why the lack of magician energy in modern culture is really at the heart of the issues many men are having today. There is a
lack of mature men who have made a rite-of-passage themselves available to initiate other men into the “secret knowledge” of
manhood. Dads and granddads, uncles and cousins, used to teach their sons and other young men how to act, dress, and behave like
a man. But a lot of men have grown up without such a mentor these days and thus feel lost, directionless, and adrift.
This is not only true when it comes to being initiated into manhood, however, but also applies to a man’s professional path as well.
For the most part, gone are the days of guilds and intimate apprenticeships, and trade schools have fallen in popularity. Men are in
fierce competition with each other and are looking out only for themselves, thus there is often no one willing to initiate a man into his
vocation. It is telling that apprenticeships have been replaced by internships; instead of getting initiated into the job, interns are made
to do the undesirable grunt work of others and then cut loose when their temporary stint is up.
That many men have an unfulfilled hunger for initiation into some kind of secret knowledge can be evidenced by the soaring
popularity of pick-up and seduction artists who promise, for a few hundred or thousand dollars, to teach initiates the secrets to
scoring lots of ladies. And a lot of guys who can’t find mentors otherwise are willing to pony up big time dough to hire them. On the
surface, the popularity of the PUA movement is due simply to the desire to want to be great at picking up chicks, but I think it’s really
a manifestation of this deeper hunger to be initiated into a secret realm, to have knowledge that others don’t. And actually you see
this kind of language used in a lot of PUA forums—people talk about the different levels of knowledge you gain, and how only 10% of
people who study the subject ever really understand it, etc.
I know a few guys that have gotten something out of some of these classes and books. Mainly, they’re learning basic social skills they
just didn’t pick up as kids. However, I don’t think young men can fully satiate their hunger for initiation into manhood in the pick-up
artist scene for a few reasons.
First, most PUA gurus are nothing more than internet marketing hucksters that prey on a young man’s sexual insecurity  in order to
make a buck. Instead of being in touch with positive Magician energy, many PUA coaches are possessed with the Magician’s shadow,
the Manipulator. The initiation into manhood that these gurus offer lacks the gravitas and depth of an initiation from men who have
fully developed the mature masculine within themselves.
Second, the manliness of PUA devotees is constantly defined in the context of women–they are consumed with thinking about
women– how they think, how they can be manipulated, how to talk to them, where to meet them, and so on. But manhood is not
about women. Look at any great man of the past–none of them made women their main focus. Instead, they concentrated on
mastering a more significant subject of hidden knowledge, one which created a real and lasting legacy for them.  Their success then
naturally attracted women to them, without the need for any special gimmicks.
The Shadows of the Magician Archetype
The Detached Manipulator
The Magician in his fullness desires to initiate other men into his knowledge, bringing them up from degree to degree so that they can
become better and happier men. The Manipulator Shadow poses as the Magician in his fullness–he teases would-be initiates with the
prospect of learning his secrets, but he does not give them all his knowledge. He withholds things from them in order to feed both his
pride and his pocketbook. Shadow Manipulators charge their seekers a ton of money with the promise that the student can become
just like them, but don’t give away the real secrets to doing that, and especially the secret that they often can’t become just like
them, because their own success was due to x,y, or z factor that won’t happen to anyone else.
The internet has created an army of Shadow Manipulators. Everywhere you look there are hucksters promising you the secrets to
bedding women, losing weight, making money online…if you’ll only buy their $200 eBook.
Shadow manipulators play a prominent role on our cultural stage as well. Wall Street bankers, politicians, ad agencies, and media
pundits are all absolute experts in getting a following by sharing some of the story, but not all of it.
Another aspect of the Manipulator is his cynical detachment from other people. I see this Shadow in guys too often. They’re the ones
who, when confronted with their inability to commit to anything, be passionate about anything, or enjoy any pleasures in life, will
retort with “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Moore summarizes this man’s issues very well:
“This is the man who thinks too much, who stands back from his life and never lives it. He is caught in a web of pros and cons about
his decisions and lost in a labyrinth of reflective meanderings from which he cannot extricate himself. He is afraid to live, to ‘leap into
battle.’ He can only sit on his rock and think. The years pass. He wonders where the time has gone. And he ends by regretting a life of
sterility. He is a voyeur, an armchair adventurer. In the world of academia, he is a hairsplitter. In the fear of making the wrong
decision, he makes none. In his fear of living, he also cannot participate in the joy and pleasure that other people experience in their
lived lives. If he is withholding from others, and not sharing what he knows, he eventually feels isolated and lonely. To the extent that
he has hurt others with his knowledge and technology—in whatever field and in whatever way—by cutting himself off from living
relatedness with other human beings, he has cut off his own soul.”
The Innocent One
The Innocent One is the passive pole of the bi-polar shadow. A man possessed by the Innocent One shadow wants all the power,
glory, and status that comes with harnessing the Magician archetype in his fullness, but he isn’t willing to put in the work or take on
the responsibility that said power, glory, and status requires. They see another man doing something really cool, and decide they
want to do it too. These are guys who get super excited about a new hobby, or faith, or career path–their excitement is absolutely
coursing through them–but after the easy part has passed (coming up with the name of the band, buying a skateboard, designing the
start-up’s logo), they realize how much “dead work” is required to get really good at the cool thing, and they give up.  Men haunted
by the shadow of the Innocent One want to be millionaires, but aren’t willing to toil and work years to achieve it. They want to play
guitar like Django Reinhardt, but they give up guitar lessons after just a few weeks. They want to be spiritual, but without all that
prayer, meditation, and scripture study business.
But the Innocent One’s shadow behavior doesn’t stop there. Because a man in touch with the Innocent One can never attain or
achieve his goals because of laziness, he doesn’t want others to achieve their goals and ambitions either. He becomes a stumbling
block to others simply out of envy. A man possessed by the Innocent One begrudges the success of others and does all that he can
to diminish it. Theodore Roosevelt despised this type of man. To him, a man possessed by the Innocent One was “one of those cold
and timid souls, who know neither victory nor defeat.”