The Balanced, Fully Present Magician Archetype
Here are a variety of techniques which can help you balance an Inner Magician which is out of kilter, whether that be inflated or deflated.
1 Study and Learn New Things
Because the Magician archetype is the realm of thinking, reasoning, and creativity, studying anything that really interests, engages or intrigues you will take you deeper into the energy of the Magician. That might be learning the intricacies of a complex card game like bridge, or developing an understanding of something that appeals to you: a pastime, hobby or creative skill, for example. This might be at the level of Greek mythology or something more hands-on, such as woodworking.
Whatever it is, it needs to be something you are drawn to, something which already appeals to the Magician within you, so that you have plenty of enthusiasm and passion to drive you forward in your pursuit of knowledge.
Magicians are often wise, well-informed and able to supply the answers to problems. You might want to enhance that quality in yourself by becoming a lifelong learner and maintaining an active interest in gaining new knowledge throughout your life.
2 To Develop Your Magician Archetype, Enhance Your Creativity
If you can escape the grip of consumerism, moving beyond it to a place of greater emotional maturity, you will be able to truly discern what matters to you, and you will know yourself much better. And then, you will see how true personal happiness and satisfaction are not driven externally; they come from inside, from a belief that you are good enough, clever enough, skilled enough, and resilient enough to deal with the challenges that life inevitably throws at us. .
Which leads me to suggest that you take part in as many personal development programs as you reasonably can. For example, developing your Inner Magician might be done by taking part in events such as these:
1) Coaching for men using the power of nature and the land
2) Magician archetype workshop for men
3) A Magician and King workshop for men
The facilitators of these magician-oriented events understand that genuine satisfaction and happiness come from the inside, not the outside. They know that a man with a mature Magician sees consumerism as a distraction from the path towards mature masculinity.
The key here is to engage with life in an active way rather than slumping passively in front of your computer, smart phone or TV every evening. Such an attitude makes your Magician bored and tells him there’s no point in serving you because the demands placed on him are so far beneath his capacity.
3 Explore Your Soul
The domain of your Magician is your unconscious, the realm of your soul. If you’re new to the exploration of soul and you wish to know more, start by finding the path that’s right for you. This might be Shadow Work, or Emotional Process Work. You might want to go on a Vision Quest, or spend time in nature in some other way. Whichever path you choose, the more you dive deeply into your soul, the more your Magician energy will strengthen and develop.
4 Get Initiated into Manhood
Deep in the very fibre of his being every man wants – and needs – to truly understand what it means to be a man. And in fact every man needs – and wants, whether consciously or not – to be initiated into manhood by other men.
This is what men have always needed and still need to this day: to go through an initiation, a Rite of Passage which sets each of us on the road from boyhood or adolescence to mature masculinity. Without this transition a man may never come to naturally embody the energy of the mature masculine; he may remain adolescent in his thinking and attitude until he dies, incomplete and unformed as a man. ( This idea is discussed in Robert Moore and Douglas Gillette’s book King Warrior Magician Lover, p. xvi et seq.)
Even so, these modern Rites of Passage have enough authenticity about them to speak to a deep part of your masculine soul. And initiation doesn’t have to take place at a certain time of life: you can be initiated into manhood at any age. Whenever the process happens, it will still activate the part of you which has been waiting for years to come alive, provided that you are psychologically ready to make the transition from adolescence to mature manhood.
5 Join a Group of Initiated Men
You might want to start such a men’s group or you might want to join one that already exists. To start one, you could begin by reading the book A Circle of Men: The Original Manual for Men’s Support Groups by Bill Kauth.
6 Create Sacred Space in Your Life
If you want to nurture the Magician’s archetypal energy in your life, find a place where you can carry out your own rituals. For example, you might go into your garden every morning for a few minutes to connect with each of your archetypal energies and ask them what they require of you as their Sovereign, or to give them instructions as you see fit.
Or you might have a room in your house where you can go to meditate or talk to each of your archetypes. You might spend time on a Vision Quest to discover what you need to know about the course of your future life. Whatever yo do, set apart some area of your life, some experience you can call your own, something you can adopt as your own sacred ritual. You might have an altar or area representing each of the archetypes in a room in your house. You might have a place in nature where you can go to have these internal dialogues. Ask your Magician what is needed and see what he says.