He: Understanding Masculine Psychology | Robert A. Johnson

  • Fisher King wound: the wound is only bearable when a man is fishing. In other words, when the wounded is doing the inner work – proceeding with the task of consciousness
  • The cruelest of all suffering is to be barred from the essence of beauty and holiness when they are right in front of you
  • The worst pain is to realize that our capacity for live or beauty or happiness is limited
  • For the fisher king wound to be healed, a man must find something in himself about the same age and about the same mentality as he was when he was wounded
    • He must allow something entirely different from himself to enter his consciousness and change him
  • In the middle section of his life, a man conquers one center of energy after another and puts them under control of the Noble King (career)
  • The shadow must be dealt with to truly become a man, but not repressed
  • “relocating the center of gravity of the personality:” conscious process of drawing from untamed pool of masculine energy and adding to the conscious center of the personality
  • Feminine can be the very core of inspiration and meaning, motive, strength
  • “To feel is the sublime art of having a value structure and a sense of meaning – where one belongs, where one’s allegiance is, where one’s roots are
  • Happiness stems from “to happen” so happiness is what happens
  • When a man is going through his dark time, it is wise for a woman to be quiet in his presence. She is to be a quiet, safe, presence so that she does not trigger him to project the Hideous Damsel onto her
  • No matter how many failures, consciousness is necessary in all quests of life
  • “If he will proceed with the human task of life, the relocation of the center of gravity of the personality to something greater outside itself, happiness will be the outcome”