26/02/2026
King, Warrior, Magician, Lover
NOVEMBER 30, 2018 / MKPCGL
By John Pompeii
As any man with life experience knows, life is a constant struggle wherein the desired goal is our attainment of inner peace as well as the ability to give and receive love fearlessly. On this journey of discovery and growth, there are many forces within us that battle for attention. Our personality is not a single entity with one homogeneous voice as much as it is a variety of different voices that battle for dominance. Sometimes unfamiliar voices may shock or delight, and sometimes worn out voices may become so irritating, so jarring, so profoundly removed from what we want to hear, that we may come to hate ourselves.
One of the most important types of work we can can do in our growth into maturity is to identify and befriend these voices, so that they find and relax into their rightful place in what becomes an increasingly integrated psyche. Maybe we must tune some voices down, others a little up. Maybe we must make the baritone into a soprano, the bass into a tenor. Whatever voices are within us, our primary mission in life is to conduct them from being a cacophony to being a beautiful and powerful choir. Such important work requires a powerful framework, a model for teaching, learning, and living. The model we use in men’s work is based on Carl Jung’s work on archetypes and further developed into the King, Warrior, Magician, Lover (KWML) model by Robert Moore and Douglas Gillette.
The Archetype
An archetype is aspect of human psychology that is true across all cultures and gender. In this model, there are four archetypes, each representing a different energy or dimension of the human psyche. As an illustration, you may remember the four Teenage Mutant Turtles. Leonardo, the courageous leader of the group, models the archetype of the King (or Sovereign). Raphael, an intense fighter and the team’s bad boy, models the energy of the Warrior. Donatello, the brilliant scientist and inventor, is an example of the Magician archetype. And lastly, Michelangelo, the easy-going free-spirited lover of pizza is the Lover.
Each one of us has a mix of all four of these archetypal energies. At an overall level of personality, generally one or two of these energies are dominant, as in the example of the Ninja Turtles. However, we also tend to move in and out the archetypes in our day to day lives, so they are not some fixed aspects that describe us. For example, if your are angry, it can be said that your Warrior is online, so emotions are also an important component.
Lets take a close look at each of the four archetypes:
King
Our King is the part of us that leads, guides, and nurtures. He sees both the weakness and strengths in others and blesses and affirms. It is where our wisdom lives. Our King is our visionary and has the motivation to accomplish it. He stays calm when others are freaking out. The King establishes our moral compass. This is father energy, centered in the heart
Warrior
Our Warrior is all about action, doing, and the setting and holding of boundaries. He is the protector of our home and family. Attributes of the warrior include pride, discipline, and power. He is decisive, competitive, and aggressive. If the King is the visionary, then its the Warrior that carries it out the mission. The emotion associated with the Warrior is anger.
Magician
Our Magician is the part of us that can detach in order to see clearly and come up with possibilities. His role is to observe, scan, and monitor our inner selves and others. Magicians are the knowers and the masters of technology. He is the counselor to our King; providing options but unconcerned with right or wrong. Our Magician provides our bu****it detector.
Lover
Our Lover is the primal energies of vividness, aliveness, passion, and connection. Lover’s drive is to satisfy primal hungers for s*x, food, well-being, and a sense of meaning. Our Lover knows through feeling and seeks the joy and delight in the sensory experiences of live. It is through our Lover that we experience sadness and grief. This energy is centered in the gut; its body energy.
The “Shadow” Energies
The characteristics of the archetypes just described are the positive and “muture” aspects. For each archetype, there are two extremes of “too much” and “too little” that exist that represent characteristics that are considered immature. If you remember the story of the Three Bears, there was “too hot”, “too cold”, and “just right”. Archetypes work just like that. As an example, a mature and healthy Warrior sets boundaries and acts when he needs to. A person with too much warrior energy can be sadistic and abusive. A person with too little warrior is a wimp, is easily pushed around, and has trouble getting things done.
Consider the chart below which describes the mature archetype characteristics in the center ring along with the shadow characteristics for each archetype:
In many cases, the “shadow” characteristics are the result of experiences and wounds we have experienced in life, particularly as children. These experiences are painful and we develop strategies to deal with them. One of the most common strategies is that we just “stuff it down”. That’s what we mean by a shadow. It is a part of us that we hide, repress, or deny as a result of being hurt. And here’s the thing; even though we stuff those things away, they drive our behaviors and fears, and usually outside of our awareness. By becoming aware of our shadows, we can take control of our lives and instead, make conscious choices that serve us. The alternative is our “default setting” that we breeze through without even thinking.
As an example of this, consider a young boy who grows up in a family where love and acceptance are give conditionally (i.e. “you know, all those B’s on your report card are OK, but if you would have just tried harder, you could have gotten those As and I would have been really proud of you”. ) The message he takes in is that “I’m not good enough” and stuffs that and the incident into the shadows.
We call this a wound of his King, and as a consequence, he grows into the “Weakling King”. He becomes someone who avoids conflict, does not stand up for himself, becomes highly sensitive to criticism, and avoids taking responsibility in life.
The beauty of the KWML model, unlike other personality typing systems such as Myers-Briggs, is that it’s not static or fixed, and instead is a very effective tool for growth. By examining our beliefs and behaviors, we can determine the archetype (or archetypes) that we need to work on. As mentioned earlier, most of us have different levels of each archetype, including the shadow parts. As a process of growth, our goal is to create a more balanced mix of these archetypes, which leads to a more balanced and peaceful way of life. In the example of the boy just above, he lacks King energy as an adult, and so his personal development work should focus on King-developing activities such as taking on leadership roles, and avoiding reacting to criticism.
So, when you look at the diagram above, what characteristics (mature and immature) resonate with you? Which archetype is your strongest, and which is your weakest? If know which archetype you need to work on, here are some ideas:
King: Say something good to someone about who they are. Host a dinner party. Write a blog about something that you’re passionate about. Tutor or mentor someone. Notice the impact you have on other people’s well-being. Take on a leadership role.
Warrior: Take up martial arts. Exercise. Engage in a confrontation you have postponed. Commit to always telling the truth. Maintain integrity (my words, thoughts, and actions are all in alignment). Practice saying “No”.
Magician: Do a DIY engineering project. Study the stars. Do further study on the KWML archetypes. Study anything. Build a small laboratory and get to know the world of chemicals. Cook something by recipe. Take up spirituality in order to pe*****te the mysteries of the cosmos. Teach something.
Lover: Express your appreciation of beauty. Take up dance lessons. Do sensuality practices. Turn s*x into your art. Listen to music that moves you (yes, and move with it). Meditate (using body awareness). Start playing a musical instrument. Practice an art form. Contact old friends or family (make connections)
Going Further
This blog post just scratches the surface of this topic. There are books and other websites that provide a great deal of additional information. Oh, and by the way, this article was geared for men, but this model applies to women and children as well. In fact, each archetype has both a masculine and feminine aspect to it.
If you’d like to find to more, consider the these resources:
The definitive book on the subject is King Warrior Magician Lover by Robert Moore and Douglass Gillette. Here’s the book on Amazon
Here are four videos that explain the archetypes in more detail:
King: https://youtu.be/1pOnHjRK7BU
Warrior: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlKuE7jm0WM
Magician: https://youtu.be/4unDD4OUUNQ
Lover: https://youtu.be/NOis3-phW8Q
Find out more about our flagship training, The New Warrior Training Adventure
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