The tragedy in Arizona last weekend has us all wondering. Why did this happen? Why were good, innocent people victimized by this senseless violence? How could it have been prevented ? As one who always looks for a psychological reason, I’d like to share what I know about the King and Queen archetypes. As symbols of humanity’s universal striving for lawful order and moral virtue, they hold the answers to these questions.
The King sees justice as the highest good and believes it can be achieved with logical thinking and hierarchical authority. Leaders with well-developed King archetypes devise, enact, and enforce rules with orderly chains of command. In history, literature and lore, a strong and wise king blesses the land with safety, peace, and prosperity whereas a weak and ignorant one ruins it.
The Queen’s highest priority is to establish caring relationships. She values compassion, harmony, peace, flexibility, understanding, mercy and forgiveness. She promotes charity, tolerates diversity, and supports the creative arts. She nurtures communities in which authority is shared by all and decisions are based on the particulars of each situation and best interests of each individual.
These two approaches to building a fair and orderly society produce different leadership styles and forms of government. King energy generates authoritarian systems like monarchies, plutocracies, theocracies and dictatorships. Queen energy nurtures the authority of individuals and creates democracies in which everyone has a voice and a vote. Leaders with this preference work one-on-one with people in the trenches — like Rep. Gabrielle Giffords who was meeting her constituents in a grocery store when she was shot. The key to personal and societal health is integration and balance between both leadership styles. When either one is undeveloped or obsessive the result is polarization, prejudice, hatred, fanaticism, violence, terrorism, chaos.
Throughout history humanity has obsessed over the King’s priorities and neglected the Queen’s. Jesus challenged Roman imperialism by promoting love and equality for all and was killed for it. Lincoln, Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King did the same with the same consequence. What meaning can we draw from this regarding recent events in Arizona? I do not believe the people in Arizona died in vain. I believe that in this world where everything is connected, everything that happens has meaning. The meaning is not that God causes or even allows atrocities, but that we humans cause and allow them because of our psycho-spiritual ignorance and unconsciousness.
Like all martyrs, those who lost their lives last weekend gave the ultimate gift of love by showing us our collective blindness to the Queen’s values, our deafness to her voice, and the fear and hatred in our hearts. An overwhelming surge of consciousness has been raised by this tragedy, and it will create more compassion. You and I can add to it by fanning Queen Sophia’s flame in the dark caverns of our souls so that we become guiding lights for a wounded world. May we all look deeper to see how we contribute to the chaos and suffering that always precedes new life, and may we grow wiser and more compassionate in the process. My deepest sympathies to the families and friends of the fallen.
What’s the Point of the Three Kings?
December 24, 2024
24 Comments
Those of us raised as Christians know this holiday is about a lot more than rushing about, partying and shopping, and many of us enjoy warm memories and nostalgic feelings this time of year. But why are the moments of love, joy and peace so difficult to find during the holiday season? Where do the feelings of exhaustion, anxiety, disappointment and depression come from? Why do we keep missing the point of Christmas? How can we recapture it?
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I suspect if society ever fully comprehends what you have put so well in words, we might actually achieve peace on earth and good will toward all people. We tend to spend too much time competing for our own self serving interest regardless of the source, and cannot see the world from a higher perspective. Well said Jean!!
Thank you, Charles,
I agree. The ego is King on Earth, but not King in heaven. Our first step toward a higher perspective is for our ego to recognize its self-serving interests and choose to rise above them. This is difficult because most people have no awareness of the benefits of self-knowledge and no one to teach them. It would be great if all the institutions of society would help!! It seems as if religion, and some families, are the only ones wholeheartedly involved in this effort.
Blessings,
Jeanie
Kings are needed to build, but it would be a better world if they talked with the Queens during the process. Queens need to do a better job controling their space of responsibility . Due to the nature of Kings , Queens can not expect control to be freely given with out them asking for it. My question to you Jeann: can this ever happen?
Hi George,
You have some wonderful insights about the way these two energies play out in the world. I agree that Queen types should not expect control, or, to put it another way, authority, to be freely given. Not only do they need to ask for it, but they need to work for it by developing more of their King energy. Likewise, Kings need to be helped understand why it is in their best interest to share authority instead of demanding it all.
In that regard, my reply to Charles applies. We need to be taught how to balance these energies in ourselves, and every institution in society needs to get involved: religion, family, business, government, and education.
Can this ever happen? I think it can, but I don’t think it will make a broad impact until enough people care enough to institute programs that teach us about the makeup of our psyches and how to understand ourselves better. Education is the place to start. Children should be taught how to pay attention to, and reflect on, their behavior from the earliest ages. And businesses can help too, by creating leadership/management classes that take psychological awareness into account. After that, it takes time. How much? I have no idea. But yes, it could happen. It starts with each of us as individuals.
Blessings,
Jeanie
Jeanie,
To me, the unconscious is a vast dark living being, an ocean of living symbols that gets deeper and more mysterious the more we explore it. As Jung pointed out, it is the source of art, religion, and inspiration. Such, I believe, is the right relationship with it, one based on a sense of awe in the face of our own connection to the unfathomable power and love of the divine.
But of course, it also has this demonic counterpart when people ignore and fear it. Then they do not enter the sea with wonder and respect, to see what marvels they share with all. Rather they cringe from it, calling periodic tsunamis onto themselves, where they are overwhelmed by the destructive power of any truly creative force that is bottled up and stagnated too long.
I join you in your call for folks to enjoy a better integrated, more balanced and harmonious, relationship with the living unknown that calls to them in dreams and symbolic acts. May Force and Fear, the illegitimate Usurpers of the Throne, be overthrown soon by Wisdom and Compassion, the rightful King and Queen of the Eternal Realm.
Although your articles here have from the very beginning been bright lights shining in the dark, I feel that the most recent three or four have just plain been exemplary models of compassionate power: very moving and in the most beneficial direction.
Thank You for All Your Good Work,
William
William,
This is a truly beautiful summary of the unconscious and the danger of fearing and ignoring it! I couldn’t agree more or say it better. I especially love your blessing: “May force and fear, the illegitimate Usurpers of the Throne, be overthrown soon by Wisdom and Comassion, the rightful King and Queen of the Eternal Realm.” I think we should all write that down and stick it to our computers or bathroom mirrors and read it every day!
Thank you so much for your continuing affirmation and support.
Blessings,
Jeanie