Table of Contents
The Warrior
We live in an age when people are uncomfortable with the Warrior form of masculine energy, and for good reasons. Women are uncomfortable with it because they have been direct victims of its shadow form. In the West, this is the age of “soft masculine” – a time when radical feminists are hostile against the Warrior energy.
But what is interesting is that those who are opposed to this energy are themselves under the power of this archetype. It is impossible to vote the Warrior out; it is an instinctive energy form. Ignoring will only submerge it underground.
To act decisively in any life situation, along with aggression, clear thinking, and awareness of mortality,we need training. The Warrior energy is concerned with power, skill, accuracy, and control (inner and outer). The Warrior energy wants to train men to their full potential, in their thoughts, feelings, speech, and actions. Unlike the Hero’s actions, the Warrior’s action are not overdone, not dramatic for drama’s sake.
The Warrior is also interested in mastering technology to reach his goal. He knows how to distance himself from his emotions. To others he seems unavailable or inaccessible.
The Shadow Warrior: The Sadist and the Masochist
The Warrior’s detachment from human relationships causes real problems. The sadistic Warrior’s cruelty is related to what is wrong with the Hero energy. The Shadow warrior carries to adulthood the adolescent insecurity, violent emotionalism, and the desperation of the Hero as he tries to make a stand against the overwhelming power of the feminine, which tends to evoke the masochistic or cowardly pole of the Hero’s dysfunctional Shadow. The man who is influenced by the Shadow Warrior’s bipolarity, unsure of his legitimate phallic power, is battling what he experiencing as the powerful feminine and against everything “soft” and relational. Even as an adult, he feels terrified that he will be swallowed up by it. His fear leads to brutality.
These people are the managers who stay at the office many hours after the rest have gone. And when they go home, they don’t sleep well. They do harm to themselves and to others who cannot measure up to their impossible standards. They can’t either, so they mercilessly abuse themselves. If you admit to yourself that you don’t take care of yourself, your physical and mental wellbeing, then the Shadow Warrior has got you.
Any profession that puts a lot of pressure on a person to perform his best all the time leaves us vulnerable to the shadow system of the Warrior. If we are not secure enough in our inner structure, we will rely on how we perform in the outer world to bolster our self-confidence. Any system that pressures us to perform at our best at all times leaves us vulnerable to the shadow side of the Warrior.
The man who is obsessed with succeeding has already failed. He is trying to repress the Masochist within him, yet he is displaying masochistic and self-punishing behaviors. The Masochist is the passive pole of the Warrior’s Shadow, the “pushover” and “whipped puppy” that is beneath the Sadist’s rageful acts.
Men are right to fear the Coward within them, even if they don’t have enough sense to fear their macho exteriors. The Masochist projects Warrior energy onto others and thus feels powerless. The Masochist possessed has no psychological defense, he allows others to push him around. We may never know the right time to quit an impossible relationship, circle of friends, or frustrating job. We know the saying “Quit while you’re ahead,” or “Learn to cut your losses.” But the compulsive personality, no matter how impossible the dream, no matter what the danger signs, will dig in and work harder. Under the power of the Masochist, we take abuse for too long and then explode in a sadistic outburst of verbal and physical violence. This oscillation between passive and active poles of the shadow is a typical feature of these dysfunctional systems.
Accessing the Warrior
When possessed by the active pole of the Warrior’s Shadow, we experience him in sadistic form. We will abuse ourselves and other. If we feel out of touch with the Warrior, we will be possessed by his passive pole. We will be cowardly masochists. We will dream but fail to act decisively to make our dreams come true. We will lack vigor and will feel depressed. And we will lack the capacity to endure the pain required to accomplish a worthwhile goal.
If we are in school, we don’t finish our assignments. If we are in sales, we won’t pick up the phone and start calling.
When we access the Warrior appropriately, we will be energetic, decisive, and courageous – we will be loyal to a greater good beyond our personal gain. At the same time, we need to use the energies of other mature masculine forms, including the King, Lover, and Magician.
If you are interested in reading books about unmasking human nature, consider reading The Dichotomy of the Self, a book that explores the great psychoanalytic and philosophical ideas of our time, and what they can reveal to us about the nature of the self.