Monday, January 19, 2009

The Presidency of Barack Obama and the King Archetype.


The Presidency of Barack Obama and the King Archetype.
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In the midst of the most serious challenges the United States faces in many decades, there is with the inauguration of our 44th president a feeling of hope, possibility and a sense of a coming together that has not been present in many decades.

The following reflections, based on a psycho-spiritual perspective, are an attempt to provide insights about the role of the president that Barack Obama is stepping into.
I will base my reflections on the work of the Swiss Psychologist Carl Gustav Jung who discovered the collective level of modern psychology and formulated
some of his theories around the concept of ‘archetypes’.

The term ‘Archetype’ can be understood as ‘inherited unconscious ideas or images that are present in our psyche.’
There are many primordial images or archetypes in our inner psyche, starting with the ‘Great Father and the Great Mother archetypes, the Child archetype, and then more specific ones like the ‘Lover’, ‘Magician’, ‘Warrior’, ‘Priest/Priestess’, ‘Wise Woman/Man’ archetypes and so on. Every archetype has great gifts and also a shadow side to it.
From the theory of archetypes looked at, every human being is an assembly of archetypes. All our basic roles, father/mother, child, leader, teacher, care giver, minister, entertainer and so on, are related to inner ‘prototypes’ or an inner image.
The level of access and expression of various archetypes varies from person to person.
For instance you may be a mother, yet larger than that is the impersonal ‘Mother’ Archetype representing the qualities of ‘mothering’ in its full power and breath.
Different mothers tap into the impersonal Mother archetype to different degrees and to different aspects of it.
Some are very mothering, others struggle, and others are impacted by the shadow side of the Mother Archetype, and behave overprotecting or smothering.

Now, I like to apply this model to the Presidency:
It is helpful to quickly look back to the founding of this country. Although this nation was founded in rebellion towards the British Empire and its King, the role of the president is quite closely modeled on a King in traditional monarchies.
In contrast, the democracies of Italy or Germany and the Scandinavian countries have a weakened ‘King’. The Chancellor, or Prime Minister is a ‘mini king’ yet doesn’t have the political and archetypical powers that the American Constitution gave to the president, which are as close to the role of a ‘King’ as a democracy allows.
Somehow, our founding fathers modeled the position of the Presidency on the ‘King Archetype’.
Yet not every man elected to the presidency brings the same amount of inner connection to the true qualities of a King Archetype.
Looking at George W. Bush, from an archetypical model, one can say that he is actually more connected to the ‘Warrior’ Archetype. The theme of his speeches, including the closing comments of his presidency, were filled with images of being under threat, of fear of getting attacked, of protecting and attacking, simply because that is the primary lens through which he mostly looks at life.
What does a ‘Warrior’ need to be a warrior – he needs war, otherwise he can’t lead.
As simple as this may sound, the power of the archetypical energies are very profound and run us on an unconscious level.

Below are some descriptions I found ‘googling’ about the King Archetype in organizations.
I marked with italic qualities of the King Archetype that I have seen coming thru Obama.

Also note that the description starts with the word “Ideally”:

“Ideally, the leader holding the energy of the King is noble. He conducts his kingdom, realm, or organization by the highest ethical standards. He is magnanimous, that is, he exhibits greatness of mind and heart, with elevation and dignity of the soul. He treats friend and foe with the same lofty generosity. He is concerned for the welfare of all those below him. Talented subordinates do not threaten him. His main concern and his main question are with service: how can he best serve his people and all the lives of others impacted by the organization for which he provides leadership? The healthy King leader is a model of responsibility. He always considers himself one hundred percent responsible for the success or failure of the organization. He keeps the big picture before everyone's mind, rather than sweating the small stuff. The King leader represents stability. He is neither fickle nor rigid, but has a vision for his realm (organization/country) and relentlessly pursues it. He gives the people working in, and touched by, the organization a sense of being grounded in the real world. There is an evenness and firmness to his mind, a calm temperament that is not easily elated or depressed. The King leader rules with justice and fairness. The weak and the strong in the organization are given equal consideration by the King. He does not play favorites. Therefore, everyone in his realm feels protected and secure. The King is realistic about the social and economic pressures faced by the lowliest persons touched by his organization, and therefore feels compassion towards them.
As the term “ideally” indicates, no human being can fully fulfill the description above, because in this realm here, ‘nobody is perfect’. And those who are the most enlightened and awakened beings are usually not drawn into politics.
Yet it is quite amazing to see that quite a few attributes that Obama has shown so far, fit the descriptions above.
This indicates to me that the King Archetype is remarkable accessible to him or maybe even more accurate to write, is coming thru him in words and actions.

It is important to also remember that every Archetype has a ‘shadow side’, like everything in life, the Yin – Yang principle applies in this dualistic world.

The dark side of the King Archetype is the ‘Tyrant King’
“The Tyrant leader on the other hand is fearful and suspicious. He feels he must treat his subordinates in a condescending way, that is, he must constantly put them down, and rule by fear rather than love. He is disordered and uncentered. His priorities center around himself and his own prosperity, not that of the organization. He is threatened by the power of others.The Tyrant leader is interested mainly in self-aggrandizement and so is easily slighted by petty matters. What he really wants is adoration and worship by his subjects. He is ruthless and loves to intimidate others. He ignores blatant injustices in his realm, or justifies injustice through twisted thinking. Rather than exhibiting balanced control of his realm, he is over-controlling and authoritarian.
The healthy King is the servant of the King archetype and therefore keeps a proper balance between being possessed or dispossessed by it. The Tyrant is possessed by the King archetype and therefore thinks he is the King archetype rather than its servant.”

This is the root of the saying, “power corrupts”, because it activates the ‘Tyrant’ in the subconscious.
This is what every great leader and the people around him, us, have to watch out for and to remind them that they are in their position to serve something bigger then themselves.

Lastly one more quote from Wikipedia about the King
Archetype:

“So humans need a symbol of this collective spirit, this miracle of collective effort. A monarch is such a symbol. The king or queen fulfill such a role. They remind us of something of utmost importance. They remind us of our collective power, our ability to create and survive through cooperation.”

This is what Barack Obama can tap into:
As the holder of the presidency, he can use the power of the King Archetype to remind us of our collective power, of our ability to create and survive through cooperation.

I want to end with reminding myself to watch out NOT to make Barack Obama my new savior, the messiah of our age. This is the greatest disservice we can offer him.
It is important to look at our projections onto him – and very likely there might be aspects of the father figure we always wanted and never had or the parent who will take care of us.
He will have his wins and losses, and there will be mistakes and ‘blindspots’.

YET, from my perspective, there is truly reason for hope, because we have elected a man to the highest office, who is actually suited for this most difficult job on the planet.
The whole world watches this transition, because in people’s psyche they know, that the person elected to the American President embodies the country.
Our planet, this precious blue pearl, needs more then ever that the leader of the still most powerful country, embodies the benevolent aspect of the ‘King Archetype’.

I like to end with a global version of the usual ending of the speech of the presidents:
“May the Great Spirit bless Barack Obama and his government, the people of the United States and the Nations of the world.”

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Looking at Current Global Situation Using the 5 Element System

Right now we can all feel a world of palpable insecurity and fear.
With the following reflection I hope to assist you in dealing with this challenge.

When you listen to the news and the policy makers, you will hear that their solutions are all based on the paradigm that GROWTH should go UP, and that there needs to be EXPANSION.

Listen next time to the voice of the radio or TV announcer when they report the DOW Jones numbers. If the numbers are down, you can often hear a slight 'disappointment' or 'judgment' and even fear in their voices.
Look at yourself too and notice your reaction when you hear the news.

One of my studies has been in Chinese Medicine, where I was taught a profound system, called
'The Five Elements'. I think applying these principles would be very useful in coping with the uncertainty we are dealing with today.
In our culture we generally assume and work from the paradigm that life functions LINEARLY - up and only up.
The ancient Chinese observed nature, and learned and experienced that life unfolds in CYCLES, like the seasons of the year or the phases of a human life.

In a brief brief:
The 'Great Mystery' that is life manifests itself as Yin and Yang, the dualistic forces, and Yin and Yang develop into the five elements or phases.

The 5 elements can be experienced by observing the seasons: Within the seasonal cycle of a year, life/nature moves from the explosion of life in spring -- represented by the Wood element, thru the season of summer, where nature expands to its fullest -- represented by the Fire Element, to the season of late summer (Indian summer) where traditionally harvest occurred -- represented by the Earth Element, on to the season of fall -- associated with the Metal element, where all that is NOT essential needs to be let go of, and where we prepare for winter, the time when nature withdraws within, the season we are finding ourselves in right now, which the ancient Chinese associated with the Water Element. (….German-English sentence….)

These observations regarding the cyclical nature of the seasons led to the creation of a system in which, everything that exists can be understood from the perspective of the 5 elements.

Like the seasons, life also is cyclical -- if we now apply the understanding of the 5 Elements to our lives and what is happening in the world, we can see that globally we are in a Metal phase.
The Metal phase or element is about CONTRACTION, just like the exhale of our breath,
and contraction is a necessary part of life.

Yet our society wants only to INHALE, only expansion, and resents the EXHALE, the contraction part of life.

It is us, our attitudes that are the problem. It is our
Collective mind that fights with life. When one steps back, it is very obvious that house prices couldn't go up and up and up. Neither our economy, nor that of the Chinese or the Indian, which are now the new hope, can expand all the time.

Wood, Fire, spring and summer, are natural seasons of expansion, where the life force rises, which is called the Yang energy. In our societies and its policies, our tendency is to want to extend these seasons/phases of expansion, and avoid the phases of contraction, rest and reflection, the phase of the Yin, the Metal and Water elements.

The last decades have been expansion oriented, all run and dominated by the principles of the Wood and Fire elements: expansion, growth, pushing, forcing, making it happen – the Yang approach to life – which is only one half of the whole.
The Yin approach of contraction, restriction, letting go, contemplation and reflection has been neglected and actually demeaned.
One extreme example is the loosening of the restrictions on our financial markets during the Wood and Fire driven last 20 years. The restrictions were the counter forces of the Metal element. Just like in a garden, when there is only growth (Wood and Fire) and no pruning and weeding (the Metal principle), growth gets out of balance and in the long term harms the whole system.

The principles of the 5 Elements work in any system, whether it’s a garden, a company, a person, a family, or the financial markets.

Our underlying cultural paradigm and we have been in opposition to the laws of nature, resulting in a fight that in the long term cannot be won.
One cannot 'beat' the laws of nature. In spite of all our achievements, we are still PART OF NATURE.

Our collective resistance to truly face the reality of ‘Global Warming’ is another consequence of our human hubris of feeling ‘above’ nature and the creators of our fate.
Literally, for us and many species to survive on this incredible awesome, beautiful and interconnected planet, we need to shift from the Yang approach and need to nurture the Yin approach of Metal and Water on all levels of society and need to find a balance between the expanding and contracting forces of life.

Here is some basic guidance coming from the perspective of the 5 Element teaching:

1. We have entered the Metal phase. It is the time to embrace getting rid of that which is in excess, both within and without.
It is time to 'tighten our belt' and focus on the essentials of life in order to preserve it.
The high and rush of the wood and fire phases are over and the Metal Element offers its gift of clarity, to clearly see what is really going on, and then the power to cut what needs to be let go!
Collectively and individually, the Metal element invites us to:
- Stop and examine our lives: What is in excess and what is really needed?
- What is really important? What truly matters?
- Where in our life are we ‘wasting’ resources?

2. Bringing in to this phase the gifts of the Water Element -- introspection,
contemplation and wisdom are also greatly needed in these times.
When the government in October pushed a 700 billion rescue package thru congress, a huge chance was missed, to stop and apply finally wisdom, which means thorough examination and a halt to a panic driven behavior.
We need to stop doing things as usual and learn to reflect and think about consequences and outcomes before action – which is applying the teachings of the Water element.
This is true personally and collective.
So take time, slow down, reflect about important decisions, plan ahead, let impulse (Wood element) and need of doing (Fire) subside.


3. In the midst of a general ‘not enough’ mentality, tapping into the qualities of the earth element –service, true caring, giving, and support -- are key. The Earth Element balances the Yang and Yin forces. While as a society we are in the Metal phase, which brings up the self-preservation aspect of our nature, the gifts of true care and compassion are needed more then ever, to soften the impact of personal and collective down sizing and changing to a simpler life style.

Lastly, if one is in touch with the bigger picture of life, realizing that we are part of something much bigger -- life itself -- we can also trust, that the principles of life that we experience right now in its contracting form, in its Yin phase, will turn again into its Yang aspect.
There will be an end to the downturn – of course we all know that intellectually, yet only by being in touch with the deeper ‘laws of life’ on a being level, can we stay more relaxed and trusting in the midst of
a ‘tumbling and shaky world’.
There will be spring again, after winter comes the spring.
If we voluntarily go along with the natural flow of life, the pain is much less than when we fight it.
I sincerely hope that the insights of the 5 Element teachings will assist you in your journey ahead.

Michael
www.innerjourneyseminars.com
michaelijs@gmail.com
415-990-5629