“Pyramids are universal symbols of the human Self.” This statement caught my attention in the book entitled King, Warrior, Magician, Lover: Rediscovering the Archetypes of the Mature Masculine by Robert Moore (Jungian psychologist) and mythologist Douglas Gillette [NY: Harper Collins, 1990]. As I searched for how that was meant (“pyramid” as abstract geometric template, or as African architectural wonder and cultural treasure?) I got caught up instead in the discussion of masculine archetypes, one for each face of the pyramid. King, Warrior, Magician, Lover – the “mature” (men) archetypes – make up their own pyramid, but each has its “immature” (boy) correlates which make up a smaller pyramid within. Unfortunately for society, according to the scholars, “the devastating fact is that most men are fixated at an immature level of development.”

“The drug dealer, the ducking and diving political leader, the wife beater, the chronically “crabby” boss, the “hot shot” junior executive, the unfaithful husband, the company “yes man,” the indifferent graduate school adviser, the “holier than thou” minister, the gang member, the father who can never find the time to attend his daughter’s school programs, the coach who ridicules his star athletes, the therapist who unconsciously attacks his clients’ “shining” and seeks a kind of gray normalcy for them, the yuppie – all these men have something in common. They are all boys pretending to be men… We are continually mistaking this man’s controlling, threatening, and hostile behaviors for strength.” (p13)

Humanity lives in a time when “man’s controlling, threatening, and hostile behaviors” within specific historical contexts of atrocities can be seen exactly for what they are. The appreticeship of such tryant-gods becomes a burden upon humanity which should not be enabled season after season with the grossly inadequate excuse of “boys pretending to be men.” Yet what is the viable alternative to this rough slouching version of leadership to look like if not a warmed-over TV-show formula of our current times? Moore and Gillette suggest that beyond the “reality-show” chaos and shadow of his lower, immature self lies the universal promise of a higher god-self all represented in the ancient structure of the pyramid whose four triangular sides convene at an apex – metaphor of man’s greatest potential.

On the left hand side (below) are brief descriptions of the scholars’ “immature” masculine archetypes which correspond to their 4 mature “King, Magician, Lover, Warrior” archetypes on the right. (NOTE: the Great Pyramid backdrop is my personal tie-in to the discussion that follows.) Moore and Gillette depict the “dysfunctional, or shadow form” of the male psyche at the opposing “bipolar” ends of the bottom of the triangle, offering the suggestion that ideally these poles become integrated through a maturing process to create the psychic cohesion at the top = the male psyche in its fullness:

KING ~ In his correlated immature/boy psychology, the mature/man King archetype is regarded as the Divine Child – the primal masculine energy. As such his bipolar dysfunctional shadow systems play out as the High Chair Tyrant (+ active pole) or the Weakling Prince (– passive pole)…

MAGICIAN ~ In his correlated immature/boy psychology, the mature/man Magician archetype is regarded as the Precocious Child. As such his bipolar dysfunctional shadow systems play out as the Know-It-All Trickster (+ active pole) or the Dummy (– passive pole)…

LOVER ~ In his correlated immature/boy psychology, the mature/man Lover archetype is the Oedipal Child – the quintessential mother-bound masculine energy whose bipolar dysfunctional shadow systems play out as the Mama’s Boy (+ active pole) or the Dreamer (– passive pole)…

WARRIOR ~ In his correlated immature/boy psychology, the mature/man Warrior archetype is regarded as the Hero – the last stage of boyhood. As such his bipolar dysfunctional shadow systems play out as the Grandstander Bully (+ active pole) or the Coward (– passive pole)…  

Following are a few thoughts based on the Great Pyramid of Giza (AKA the Pyramid of Khufu or Pyramid of Cheops) which may add some Africa-centered insights to the discussion as a whole. Its external relationships and interior features invite deeper inspection as to universal truths inherent in the meticulous calculations that went into its architectural design and arrangement. The Great Pyramid is much more than an abstract geometric structure populating the Giza necropolis. I apply here the proverb from the Temple of Amun-Mut-Montu/Khonsu in Kemet which states: “Men need images. Lacking them they invent idols. Better then to found the images on realities that lead the true seeker to the source.”

The diagram of the Great Pyramid’s interior design features (above) illustrates:

• The “True Seeker” is represented by the African Goddess, Auset: One of the most beloved representations of the goddess – Auset (pre-Greek “Isis”/pre-Christian “Mary”) – is known as the Queen of Heaven. Auset’s period in the wilderness (African diaspora) during which she searches for the 14 pieces of her beloved Ausar’s body, mutilated and scattered by antagonist Set in his evil bid for his brother Ausar’s Kemetic throne, becomes a hallmark of how this goddess becomes identified as the Divine Mourner. Auset is able to locate only 13 of these 14 mutilated pieces of Ausar in her search, minus her beloved’s manhood and symbol of his resurrection (rendered in African architecture as the obelisk) which remains a deep mystery to this present day. African Queens of the First Dynasty bore the title “She Who Sees Heru and Set” – i.e. the competing higher (Heru) and lower (Set) natures of the masculine. (This corresponds to the archetypes – “Heru” – and their bipolar dysfunctional shadow systems – “Set” – discussed above.) As the Divine Seeker, goddess Auset is said to hear the cries of the children, the downtrodden, and her beloved, to which she responds with wisdom and compassion.
• The “Source” is Amun (“Amen” in prayer): He is the patriarchal divinity of the Trinity of Waset (called “Triad of Thebes” in Greek) which includes his beloved consort, Mut, and their son Montu/Khonsu. Regarded as the Divine World Mother from whom the cosmos emerged, Mut is Queen of all gods and goddesses and Mother of pharaohs. Mut is the African Queen and Goddess who incorporates Auset (seeker) and Ma’at (truth, reparations, balance, divine order) in her matriarchal aspect. Her Heavenly consortium with Amun represents the biblical Alpha-Omega.
• “King, Magician, Lover, Warrior” masculine archetypes are all present in this African configuration: The interior design features a shaft in the King’s Chamber connecting to Thuban (an immortal star) in one direction, and one to Alnitak in the other. Alnitak is one of the three stars (AKA the biblical “3 Wise Men” who herald the “Bright and Morning Star” – AKA Sopdet) in the belt of Ausar (“Orion” in Greek). This “Hunter” constellation represents Amun’s masculine archetype of the Warrior. His aspect of the Magician may be seen in him as God (miracle-worker etc.). Amun’s Lover aspect is always in active relation to his divine consort and “True Seeker” – the Queen – in all of her aspects.
• The Divine Masculine is in conscious harmony/balance with the Divine Feminine: Sopdet (“Sirius” in Greek) – the star to which the shaft in the Queen’s Chamber points in proximity to the Hunter/Warrior – means “she who is sharp.” It is fascinating to me that in the biblical Song of Songs, the African Shulamite (1:5) is informed that the King whom she seeks “is held in the galleries” (7:5). The Grand Gallery is one of the main interior design features of the Great Pyramid connecting the King’s Chamber with the Queen’s Chamber (see above). As various proverbs from the Temple of Amun-Mut-Montu/Khonsu in Kemet state to the “True Seeker” (re: Auset):
  

  Luxor Temple Amun.Mut.Montu

  An answer is profitable in proportion to the intensity of the quest… If you search for the laws of harmony, you will find knowledge… In every vital activity it is the path that matters… The first concerning the ‘secrets’: all cognition comes from inside; we are therefore initiated only by ourselves, but the Master gives the keys. The second concerning the ‘way’: the seeker has need of a Master to guide him and lift him up when he falls, to lead him back to the right way when he strays… If the Master teaches what is error, the disciple’s submission is slavery ~

  

  Hunter’s Belt: blueprint for Pyramids of Giza

  If he teaches truth, this submission is ennoblement…

• This African architecture (on earth) is in conscious alignment with the Heavens: Words in the “Lord’s Prayer” beseech: “…Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven…” Another key proverb from the Temple of Amun-Mut-Montu/Khonsu in Kemet that is captured in the interior architecture of the Great Pyramid states: The Kingdom of Heaven is already within you; if you understand yourself you will find it. ❤