Basecamp for Men E122: Archetypes for Men

E122 Archetypes for Men with Special Guest James Rapson

 

E122 Introduction

Throughout my journey as a man and leader in the field of men’s personal development, one particular approach has stayed with me over time: the use of male archetypes to help men on their Hero’s Journey, whatever path that might be for each man.

It was how I was trained as a young man and I have had a love affair with these archetypes ever since. As the philosophical backbone of the Mankind Projects New Warrior Training, work in these concepts have continually provided a forward path with upward movement.

The use of archetypes has many dimensions, as the great philosopher, author, and therapist Carl Jung helped us to understand. Archetypes can bring us into mythical and transcendent realms where the collective and personal intersect. They also act as a diagnostic lens where we can read what is happening in humanity be looking in any direction: inward, outward, personal, or collective. Once your inner eye starts to focus on myth and archetypes, you start to see with new vision. A new vision that is full of magic and possibility as to where we are going and how you might properly play your role.

Archetypes are great for enlarging the context. For making the conversation bigger. The larger the context for our unfoldment, the more excited I get. With that in mind, let’s go have a conversation about male archetypes with our friend James Rapson.

E122 Final Thoughts-

I hope you enjoyed that conversation as much as I did. If working with male archetypes is interesting to you, I happen to emphasize this approach in my coaching practice.

I currently have a Life Renewal Program for Men that helps you work with these four archetypes plus the archetypal Hero. I love working with this framework and I can certainly help you create them as powerful tools for whatever transition or challenge you are facing.

If you are interested and want to get started or are just curious as to what this would be like, I offer the first session for free, no strings attached. This is a way for you to see how you might benefit and if working with me is in alignment with you and where you want to go as a man.

 

 

 

 

Basecamp for Men E17: The Trickster- Disrupting the Status Quo

E17 The Trickster: Disrupting the Status Quo with Special Guest Shepherd Siegel

 

E17 Introduction

Across time and culture, when things get soooo serious, there will arise the expressions of an archetype that will have none of this nonsense.

The mythical Trickster.  The boundary crosser. Tricksters violate principles of the social and natural order, playfully disrupting normal life and then re-establishing it on a new basis. The Trickster openly questions and mocks authority.

As a collective expression, The Trickster can show us new possibilities when things get too regimented, too bound up by rules, and too mature or predictable. The Trickster wants to reshuffle the deck, to pull your pants down as you’re addressing the crowd, to keep us all on our toes so that play can have its say.

Play may very well be the key to our transformation. By bringing creative thought to the forefront of our issues, we move from traditional problem solving with traditional modes of thinking to radical re-imagining along with the Tricksters hearty appetite for fun, dynamic change, and complete disregard for the status quo.

What would a “Play Society” look and feel like? It sounds interesting to me. There are some problems that need a serious approach, no doubt.  But I sometimes wonder where the light, playful approach would yield more vibrant and interesting possibilities. What would the Trickster do today? It is certainly an intriguing idea.

Best,

Tony