He: Understanding Masculine Psychology, is a book you can read in a few hours yet spend a lifetime exploring. My introduction to the work of Robert Johnson came through the book, We: Understanding the Psychology of Romantic Love. Finishing that, I found myself compelled to read and discover more of my own story within the pages of his work. Given my personal insights after reading We, moving on to He only made sense.
He comes to a similar conclusion that Conscious Men opens with. This makes sense give the perspective of each book. He is there to invite the reader on an inward journey. Conscious Men, on the other hand, is more about tactics and practices to cultivate a certain understanding of manhood. In He, it is daring to ask, “Who does the Grail serve?” In Conscious Men, it is knowing your mission and purpose. I get the sense that it is the same response from two stages of development.
The key to both is the idea that a masculine fulfillment exists in service to an ideal as opposed to a relationship. In no way does this minimize the importance or necessity of relationships in a man’s life. However, for the masculine soul, relationships exist as a means of refinement and a point of sacrificial service as opposed to an end.
However, most men struggle with this distinction. Some hold on to their relationship with their mother. Others misappropriate chastity. Still more project the divine feminine onto a partner (the subject of We). Many of us do all three at different seasons of life. Understanding how we pursue these false paths is the story of He: Understanding Masculine Psychology.
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