Where are the Magicians?

The Holder of Hidden Knowledge

“There are few demographic groups in the past 100 years who have fallen further, faster than young men…” —Scott Galloway

“The masculine attraction to magic can be traced to something much deeper than the ability to pull a rabbit out of a hat. Rather, it is rooted in what the magician’s abilities represent–the power that comes from the mastery of a secret knowledge and the ability to use that knowledge to manipulate tools in order to control certain elements and produce desired outcomes. The yearning to harness and possess that power is what fuels the Magician archetype, an energy that every man should seek…” –Brett McKay: The Art of Manliness

Several of today’s thought leaders have their finger on the pulse of today’s “Boy Crisis.” Warren Farrell, Professor Scott Galloway and Richard Reeves are some of the men who have identified solutions to today’s problem for men and boys.

“Galloway, if you haven’t been paying attention, is among the most prominent voices warning us that young men in America are struggling right now — from increased suicide rates and an epidemic of loneliness to a failure to launch. “There are few demographic groups in the past 100 years who have fallen further, faster than young men,” he says.”” -- Teen Boys Are in Trouble — & Scott Galloway Has a Theory Why

One thing these men agree on, outside of the economic realities for younger men, is the cultural lack of mission and purpose.

The elders who have done their work, who have processed the darker forces of the Male Archetypes are called upon to share their knowledge

This crisis represents a lack of mentoring from older men and a lack of mature Magician energy. The elders who have done their work, who have processed the darker forces of the Male Archetypes are called upon to share their knowledge with the younger males through mentoring and initiation. Sadly, as ProfG has pointed out: “Unfortunately (and unfairly), mentoring has gotten a bad rap, and Galloway isn’t afraid to put it bluntly: “The Catholic Church and Michael Jackson have f*cked it up for all of us.””

In his “fullness,” a mature Magician no longer dialogs with the immature aspects of his psyche; The Dummy and The Know-it-all Trickster, and moves into the power of the Creator of his reality. Older men are required to “teach the tricks” of the Magician to the younger males…this is our calling.

This ‘lack of purpose,’ and ‘failure to launch,’ signifies a significant shortage of Magician energy among today’s younger males. They have not had older men introducing them to the power of their own Magician. The result has a been a cultural shift of the immature masculine appearing as the voice of authority (PUA as an example) which has led to immature men ‘teaching’ younger men undeveloped masculine energy…so we basically have a “Boy problem,” e.g., boys teaching boys how to be men. We are developing a culture of boys in men’s bodies. Today’s Edgelords are boys in men’s bodies…the “Detached Manipulators.”

In Robert Moore’s original treatise on the archetypes, he defines the undeveloped or ‘dark’ Magician:

“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.” ― Robert L. Moore, King, Warrior, Magician, Lover: Rediscovering Masculinity Through the Lens of Archetypal Psychology - A Journey into the Male Psyche and Its Four Essential Aspects

The World of Spirit: Soul Work

Learning how to access and articulate his emotional landscape is critical to his becoming a strong leader.

“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.” –Brett McKay: The Art of Manliness

Initiation and mentoring are spiritual practices that have existed since we stood upright. The tribal elders passed on the ‘secrets’ of masculinity to the next generation. For a young man to access his full power as a man, he needs to be introduced to the spiritual energies present in his system/soul. Learning how to access and articulate his emotional landscape is critical to his becoming a strong leader. Emotional intelligence (EQ) is the main gateway to mature masculine energy.

“When a young man learns emotional literacy early, he is on track to be a leader, to be a ‘man’ of empathy, integrity and understanding. If my fists clench and my body temperature rises, I most likely am experiencing anger. If my chest tightens, my breathing becomes constricted and my body becomes rigid, I am most likely feeling fear. If my body feels light, if gravity seems less, if I am more aware of my surroundings, that likely means I am feeling joy. If my body feels heavy, if I feel listless, there is a very good chance I am feeling sadness.”

These are the spiritual forces alive in our bodies. When an older man has done his own initiation, his own “work,” he is able to pass down this sacred knowledge to the younger men and thus build competent and strong leaders. The Sufi poet Rumi calls this the “Guest House.”

If you are a man (or woman/mother) concerned about what you see happening with the younger men in today’s culture, join us on this journey, share this post on SubStack and other platforms, invite your male friends and let’s take the journey toward creating a healthy culture of men of purpose.

“Helping your son develop his sense of purpose requires beginning at a very different place than his dad-or granddad. His dad or granddad was told his sense of purpose. Your job is to help your son find his sense of purpose.” ― Warren Farrell PhD, The Boy Crisis: Why Our Boys Are Struggling and What We Can Do About It