EmpowerMen

Robert Moore’s Recommendations From “A Study in Masculine Psychology” Lecture Series (1989)



MOVIES TO WATCH


Zorba the Greek - Portrays Lover archetype energy

Women in Love (D.H. Lawrence adaptation)

Sons and Lovers (D.H. Lawrence adaptation)

The Rainbow (D.H. Lawrence adaptation)

Play Misty for Me - Shadow Lover

Last Tango in Paris - Shadow Lover

Dangerous Liaisons - Shadow Lover

Sea of Love (Al Pacino)

Nine and a Half Weeks

All That Jazz (Bob Fosse story) - “Beauty and death of the artist, starkly portrayed”

Fellini’s 8½

Angel Heart - Archetypal shadow

Arabian Nights

Internal Affairs (Richard Gere) - Shadow lover/sociopath portrayal

Apocalypse Now - Eroticization of warrior/battle, lover contamination

Breathless (Richard Gere) - Aries power lover energy

Terminator - Warrior archetype without the Lover

Equus - Depressed psychiatrist avoiding the sensuous horse within

King David - Integration of masculine energies, King in touch with Lover energy



BOOKS TO READ

Core Texts

King, Warrior, Magician, Lover by Robert L. Moore and Douglas Gillette (Chapter 4 on Lover)

Inner Work by Robert Johnson - Active imagination techniques


Mythology & Archetypes


Gods in Every Man by Jean Shinoda Bolen - Dionysian archetype, Ares chapter

Creative Mythology by Joseph Campbell

Cosmos and History by Mircea Eliade - Symbolism of the center

The Old Enemy by Forsyth - Combat myth



Anthropology and Evil


Archetypes: A Natural History of the Self by Anthony Stevens



Poetry & Literature

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell by William Blake

Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman

The Portable D.H. Lawrence

Gita Govinda (The Love Song of the Dark Lord) by Jayadeva - Medieval Hindu erotic poetry

Robert Browning’s poetry



Hindu/Eastern Traditions


The Teachings of the Compassionate Buddha by Kenshi

Shiva: The Erotic Ascetic by Wendy Doniger (formerly Doniger O’Flaherty)

Sexual Secrets - Kama yoga traditions



Psychology & Healing

Treatment of Alcoholism and Other Addictions: A Self-Psychology Approach by Jerome Levin

Drama of the Gifted Child by Alice Miller

The Quest for Identity by Alan Wheelis

Encounters with the Soul by Barbara Hannah - Active imagination

Generative Man by Don Browning

Eric Erikson: The Growth of His Work by Robert Coles



Ritual & Anthropology


Purity and Danger by Mary Douglas - Ritual and taboo

The Ritual Process by Victor Turner - Liminality



Psychoanalytic Theory


Life Against Death by Norman O. Brown

Love’s Body by Norman O. Brown

Civilization and Its Discontents by Freud



MEN TO ADMIRE FOR THEIR ARCHETYPE ENERGY


The Lover Archetype - “Communion of Saints”

Musicians (Deceased):

Hank Williams, Senior - “Died at 29, knew about the lover archetype”

Elvis Presley - “The King of Love”

Jimi Hendrix

Jim Morrison

John Lennon

Louis Armstrong

Chuck Berry



Artists & Writers:


Vincent Van Gogh

Oscar Wilde

D.H. Lawrence - “Knew more than most about the archetype of lover”

Walt Whitman

William Blake

Robert Browning



Actors:

Richard Burton - “Priest and high priest of this energy”



Historical/Legendary:

Casanova



Living (at time of lectures):

Robert Bly - “Carrying the lover for men everywhere today”

Willie Nelson - “Knows about the relationship between the lover and drinking”



Mythological Figures

Greek:

Dionysus - Lover archetype in Greek mythology



Hindu:

Shiva - “So full of himself erotically”

Krishna - “Lover par excellence, Lord of the dance”



Christian:

Christ - As divine lover, “birth in the world of love”



The King Archetype

King David - Integrated lover energy with king energy, “more adequate picture of fullness of male self than Jesus”



ADDITIONAL RESOURCES MENTIONED


Music to Experience


Rock and roll (general)

Rolling Stones - “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction”

Country music - Hank Williams, Willie Nelson

Gospel music - Lover energy in evangelical traditions

Krishna Bhajans - Praise music

Wagner - Used in Apocalypse Now



Conferences & Organizations

Robert Bly conferences - “Richer combination of masculine self”

Ally Press Center (524 Orleans Street, St. Paul, MN 55107)

New Warrior Weekend - Men’s work

Greenpeace - “Rainbow Warriors”



Practices Recommended

Active Imagination - Dialogue with inner archetypes

Dance - Any form, especially African dance, modern dance

Poetry - Reading and writing

Martial Arts - For warrior development and discipline



Notes from Robert Moore

“A man who neither reads nor writes poetry has a long way to go in his own development and certainly in his development as a lover.”

“If you’re having trouble with your lover, take dance lessons.”

“Go to a Bly conference and come to carnival” - Experience of shameless play and display

Recommended getting the Ally Press catalog for men’s events and poetry selections

3 hours ago (edited) | [YT] | 4

EmpowerMen

We are living through what Sam Keen called “a modern masculine madness” - and many of us are desperately looking for the exit.

The Corporate Battlefield

Our work environments have become psychological war zones. When daily life is framed with military metaphors - strategy, tactics, objectives, competition - we activate the Warrior archetype within us. But this constant deployment comes at a devastating cost.

As Keen writes in Fire in the Belly:

“When our work environments are infused with military metaphors… this will activate the warrior part of your psyche, and an over-stimulation of this function for too long can create an imbalance. The price we pay for deployment in such endless battles is the inevitable burnout.”

We become both sadist and masochist - driving ourselves into the ground with punishing hours while neglecting everything that makes life worth living.

The Deeper Wound

But self-care routines won’t fix what’s really broken. The crisis runs deeper than burnout:

When we spend the majority of our days doing work that drains the life out of us, with no fucking meaning to it, just clocking in and clocking out to pick up a paycheck to pay the bills, this will drain the life from you and drag all of your archetypes down into their passive poles. In other words, you will be fucking depressed.

We’ve traded authentic masculine development for corporate success. We’ve replaced the Hero’s Journey with climbing the ladder. And as Robert Bly observed, we’re raising generations of men “soft and lacking in thunder and lightning.”

The Way Forward

Gillette and Moore remind us in King Warrior Magician Lover that the Warrior energy cannot simply be voted out or repressed:


“Like all repressed archetypes, it goes underground, eventually to resurface in the form of emotional and physical violence, like a volcano that has lain dormant for centuries.”

The way out of this modern masculine madness is found within. Not through more productivity hacks or hustle culture - but through reclaiming the full spectrum of mature masculine energy.

What are you willing to sacrifice for corporate success? And what might you gain by choosing a different path?



Sources:

Fire in the Belly (Sam Keen, 1991)

King Warrior Magician Lover (Gillette and Moore, 1990)

2 days ago | [YT] | 34

EmpowerMen

"The power which creates is the power which fragments, goes into all this staggering diversification, begins to split in such ways that you even get tremendous encounters with the demonic and the evil."

Dr. Robert Moore



Creation myths across cultures reveal a universal truth: the same energy that builds worlds also tears them apart.



Moore argues that human beings have always understood this dangerous ambivalence. The creative force within us is not domesticated. It's numinous. Loaded with power that can either generate life or fragment into chaos.



This is why ancient peoples developed elaborate rituals. Not to worship gods, but to contain and channel archetypal energies that would otherwise destroy them.



Modern men have lost this understanding. We've been taught to deny our grandiosity, to suppress our creative power. The result? Chronic depression. Addiction. Fragmentation.



The work is learning to touch this power without being consumed by it.



Listen to the full lecture: From Chaos to Cosmos: Creation Myths and the Quest for a Centered Self

6 days ago | [YT] | 1

EmpowerMen

Your shadow is destroying your relationships. Your rage erupts at your kids. Your passive aggression poisons your marriage. You know something vital is missing.


The Sovereign Man course is not for casual browsers. It requires powerful motivation. It demands you face the shadow parts of yourself that are wreaking havoc in your life.



This work is for men who are ready to explore their darkest places. Men who understand that transformation requires risk.



Limited time offer: 50% off The Sovereign Man course



Strong motivation required. Shadow work included.


Start your inner workout here: masculinetest.com/home/sovereign-man-a-shadow-work…

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1 week ago | [YT] | 5

EmpowerMen

Take Responsibility for Creating Order and Structure


Quote from the linked lecture:



"The King energy is the energy of order, of reasonable and life-enhancing order... The King is the one who provides the ordering principle, who brings calm to chaos, who creates the sacred space within which others can flourish."


Practice: Identify one area of chaos in your life (your workspace, your schedule, your finances, your relationships) and create a sustainable structure or system that brings order. The King doesn't just react; he creates the container for life to thrive.

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 7

EmpowerMen

Dr. Robert Moore taught something that’ll blow your mind:

Men with alot of raw Lover energy don’t live in linear time.

You know the type — deeply connected to the moment, riding waves of passion and creativity. Time becomes fluid. Deadlines? They’re suggestions. Structure? It feels like a cage.

Here’s the problem: the world runs on linear time. Your boss, your bank account, your relationships — they all need you to show up consistently.

The fix isn’t to kill your Lover energy. It’s to build your Warrior.

The Warrior archetype brings structure, discipline, and boundaries. It’s the part of your psyche that says “I commit” and then follows through. It creates the container that lets your Lover energy thrive without destroying your life.

Think of it this way: Your Lover is the fire. Your Warrior is the hearth that keeps it burning without burning down the house.

Action step: Pick one area where your Lover energy runs wild (creativity, relationships, passion projects). Now add one Warrior structure — a deadline, a boundary, a non-negotiable commitment.

Watch what happens when you stop choosing between passion and discipline, and start integrating both.

In strength, endurance, and wisdom.

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 36

EmpowerMen

Where are we in this cycle?

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 4

EmpowerMen

Why Information Overload Is Really a Cultural Crisis



We think information overload is about having too much data. But it's actually a symptom of something deeper: our culture has become dangerously one-sided.


We're obsessed with two things:


• Technical knowledge (the "magician" energy)
• Aggression and conquest (the "warrior" energy)


Meanwhile, we're starving ourselves of:


• Nurture and care
• Mature emotional connection
• Spiritual wisdom and deeper meaning


As theologian Paul Tillich warned, we've let "technical reason" triumph over all other aspects of being human. We're drowning in information while our capacity for empathy rapidly declines.



The problem isn't the amount of information—it's that we've built an entire culture around knowledge and aggression while abandoning the very things that make us whole.

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 6

EmpowerMen

What energy from the Magician quadrant do you think Elon Musk is coming from? Give an example why...

1 month ago | [YT] | 3

EmpowerMen

A man on a quest towards finding his true purpose must explore his own soul, by asking these mythic pilgrim’s questions. This week, ask yourself: What brings you joy?

1 month ago | [YT] | 24