The return of the Warrior
Warrior energy is back in our culture, and it isn’t about to go away just because some don’t like it
We may like to pretend there is never any need for aggression. But these days, it’s getting harder to deny the archetypal Warrior — in all its complexity — is back in public life.
The pugilistic Donald Trump has persuaded some that he’s fighting for the working class, but his presidency has shifted many onto a combat footing, leading to what some call “the resistance.”
The war between the sexes is also becoming harder to deny, with the #Metoo movement taking advantage of social media to accuse powerful men of sexual harassment. Casualties are mounting on all sides.
This is not to mention the many military wars, particularly by and against
Muslim extremists.
Warrior energy is back.
And it isn’t about to go away because some don’t like it.
Chimpanzee specialist Jane Goodall originally reported her human-like African subjects were paragons of peace, but later admitted they were also adept at theft, kidnapping and warfare. The Warrior instinct is part of our animal natures.
Aggression is often impossible to repress. And in many cases it shouldn’t be.
So, if we’re willing to admit we’re capable of warlike behaviour, how shall we live? Should we become Warriors?
There are dark aspects to the Warrior archetype, which justifiably make women and men nervous. We hear often about the downside of Warrior energy — the potential for unnecessary violence, the need to control or gain attention. But there are also good traits associated with it, like discipline and courage.
And, anyway, there’s nothing to be proud of when the “nice” person most Canadians supposedly try to be actually turns out to be a pushover.
Mass entertainment is today overflowing with Warriors, including women. There’s Wonder Woman, Brienne of Tarth on Game of Thrones,
Lara Croft, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Beatrix Kiddo from
Kill Bill, Sarah Connor from
The Terminator and Xena the Warrior Princess.
Psychoanalyst Elizabeth Waugaman says, contrary to conventional associations of women with giving life, there is a hidden history of women in battle, ready to fight for their beliefs. They follow in the steps of ancient Greece’s Amazons, the church’s Joan of Arc, China’s Fu Hao and Norse mythology’s Valkyries.
The list of male Warriors in movies goes on and on: the Terminator, the Gladiator, the Seven Samurai, Superman, Wolverine, Jackie Chan,
Mad Max, James Bond.
Warriors also exist in politics, even while imperfect, or worse.
Trump does not have the selflessness of a true Warrior. The jury may also be out on Hillary Clinton as she attempts to lead America’s “resistance.”
Canada’s new federal New Democratic Party leader, Jagmeet Singh, portrays himself as a Warrior for equality, particularly since as a Sikh he wears a kirpan, a ceremonial weapon.
Like Justin Trudeau, a boxer, Singh is literally a fighter, a martial-arts specialist.
Canada’s defence minister, Harjit Sajjan, is both a soldier and adherent of the warrior tradition of the Khalsa, which means “the Pure.”
Without stretching a Christmas connection too far, it can be said the birth of Jesus Christ has at times been seen as an opportunity to revere a baby who would grow up to be a nonviolent battler for righteousness.
New York University psychology professor Paul Vitz talks about how Jesus threw the moneylenders out of the temple and criticized the Pharisees. His apostle Paul would refer to his mission as “spiritual warfare.”
Canadian Gerry Bowler, author of The Encyclopedia of Christmas, says there is a Nicaraguan revolutionary carol from the Sandinista years, “which is famous for depicting the Holy Family as local peasants and the boy Jesus wanting to grow up to become a revolutionary freedom fighter.”
There is no doubt Muhammad, founder of Islam, was a
Warrior, a general. David, king of the Jews, led troops. Many Indigenous chiefs see themselves as Warriors, believing, “Today is a good day to die.”
In most cases, authentic Warriors adopt the qualities necessary to campaign for some just cause, however they understand it.
In the classic book, King, Warrior, Magician, Lover: Rediscovering the Archetypes of the Mature Masculine, Michael Moore and Douglas Gillette explain the Warrior personality is brave and disciplined.
“A Warrior is always alert. He is always awake. He is never sleeping through life. He knows how to focus his mind and his body. He is what the samurai call ‘mindful,’ ” they say.
Someone “accessing the Warrior archetype has an unconquerable spirit . . . and takes responsibility for his actions.”
Nevertheless, the authors remind us there can be a shadow to the Warrior. Inauthentic Warriors, say Moore and Gillette, have a violent emotional life. They can wreak havoc out of insecurity and self-loathing. Some can be sadistic. Today’s social-justice warriors, whether for the environment or against racism, can “become what they hate,” say the authors.
And many who try to deny their inner Warrior, their innate aggressiveness, can become passive-aggressive, withholding people who rarely take a stand, but snipe from the sidelines, often out of a presumption of superiority.
The Warrior archetype has great power, for good and ill. dtodd@postmedia.com