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The Archetype of Initiation by Robert L. Moore
Robert L. Moore, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychoanalysis, Culture, and Spirituality at Chicago Theological Seminary, and a Jungian analyst. He co-authored with mythologist Douglas Gillette a widely acclaimed five-volume series on masculine psychology and spirituality (1990-93).
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First published April 18, 2001
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About the author
Robert L. Moore
72 books271 followersRobert L. Moore (August 13, 1942 - June 18, 2016) was an American Jungian analyst and consultant in private practice in Chicago, Illinois. He was the Distinguished Service Professor of Psychology, Psychoanalysis and Spirituality at the Chicago Theological Seminary; a training analyst at the C.G. Jung Institute of Chicago; and director of research for the Institute for the Science of Psychoanalysis. Author and editor of numerous books in psychology and spirituality, he lectured internationally on his formulation of a Neo-Jungian paradigm for psychotherapy and psychoanalysis. He was working on Structural Psychoanalysis and Integrative Psychotherapy: A Neo-Jungian Paradigm at the time of his death.
Dr Robert Moore was an internationally recognized psychotherapist and consultant in private practice in Chicago. Although he worked with both men and women, and was considered one of the leading therapists specializing in psychotherapy with men because of his discovery of the Archetypal Dynamics of the Masculine Self (King, Warrior, Magician, Lover). He served as Distinguished Service Professor of Psychology, Psychoanalysis and Spirituality at the Graduate Center of the Chicago Theological Seminary, and has served as a Training Analyst at the C.G. Jung Institute of Chicago. He is Co-founder of the Chicago Center for Integrative Psychotherapy.
Dr Robert Moore was an internationally recognized psychotherapist and consultant in private practice in Chicago. Although he worked with both men and women, and was considered one of the leading therapists specializing in psychotherapy with men because of his discovery of the Archetypal Dynamics of the Masculine Self (King, Warrior, Magician, Lover). He served as Distinguished Service Professor of Psychology, Psychoanalysis and Spirituality at the Graduate Center of the Chicago Theological Seminary, and has served as a Training Analyst at the C.G. Jung Institute of Chicago. He is Co-founder of the Chicago Center for Integrative Psychotherapy.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
October 8, 2025
UTERLY FANTASTIC.
PROFOUND.
Life changing read.
Robert L. Mooer’s lectures and essays on the HUMAN NEED for SACRED SPACE and RITUAL INITIATION.
5/5 stars ⭐️
NOTE: I apologize for this ADMITTEDLY lame review. But I’m just SO into this. That I’m TARRING through his books. And I’m so excited to read the next one. I can’t really concentrate on, or invest too much time/energy on this review 😜
PROFOUND.
Life changing read.
Robert L. Mooer’s lectures and essays on the HUMAN NEED for SACRED SPACE and RITUAL INITIATION.
5/5 stars ⭐️
NOTE: I apologize for this ADMITTEDLY lame review. But I’m just SO into this. That I’m TARRING through his books. And I’m so excited to read the next one. I can’t really concentrate on, or invest too much time/energy on this review 😜
December 8, 2010
The Archetype of Initiation is a solid, short, readable and deep overview of the initiation process. The book is written primarily from a psychological perspective but the application for the material goes well beyond that. Moore does a great job summarizing previous work done in this field, as well as advancing his own ideas. If you've never studied the initiation process, this is a great place to start.
For me, the highlights of the book were Moore's discussion of liminality, sacred space and the role of ritual in initiation. It's on these topics that the material really transcends its psychological context. That's not to say that there isn't a psychological component to the discussion. There definitely is. But each of those topics also has a deeply spiritual side that, I believe, gives us insight into how God created humanity, general revelation and the transformative process God desires all of us to go through.
Despite all the good stuff, I do have a couple of gripes with the book. First, there's a fair amount of repetition throughout. That's understandable given that this is a collection of Moore's essays and lectures, but it gets a bit annoying at times.
Second, although Moore and I have a great deal of common ground in our worldviews there are several places where we have to part company. Moore values Christianity, and I believe would consider himself a Christian, but it's obvious reading the book that he sees Christianity as just one path to "the center". In short, he's no evangelical and his views take him well outside orthodox Christianity. In Moore's world, faith bows to psychology, not the other way around. For as much as I love most of Moore's psychological perspective, I can't go along with that arrangement.
I certainly don't mind reading opposing view points. In fact, I think doing so is a healthy experience. However, it doesn't change that I ultimately have to see Moore's perspective as being less than it could have been. This becomes especially troubling in the last chapter when he basically calls for a one world religion. It's there that it becomes obvious that the religion Moore endorses is a sort of vague spirituality. Christianity, Judaism, Islam, etc. are welcome to be a part of that spirituality provided they don't make any claims to exclusivity. In other words, you can be a Christian as long as you don't really believe in Christianity. That's a huge and irreconcilable disagreement I have with Moore. The fact that it becomes so explicitly pronounced in the final chapter is the reason I'm forced to knock this one down to four stars.
My gripes aside, the book is brilliant and we need to pay attention to what it says. If we fail to recapture the initiation process, our culture is in big trouble. The Archetype of Initiation is a flawed, but brilliant, work that needs to be both read and applied.
For me, the highlights of the book were Moore's discussion of liminality, sacred space and the role of ritual in initiation. It's on these topics that the material really transcends its psychological context. That's not to say that there isn't a psychological component to the discussion. There definitely is. But each of those topics also has a deeply spiritual side that, I believe, gives us insight into how God created humanity, general revelation and the transformative process God desires all of us to go through.
Despite all the good stuff, I do have a couple of gripes with the book. First, there's a fair amount of repetition throughout. That's understandable given that this is a collection of Moore's essays and lectures, but it gets a bit annoying at times.
Second, although Moore and I have a great deal of common ground in our worldviews there are several places where we have to part company. Moore values Christianity, and I believe would consider himself a Christian, but it's obvious reading the book that he sees Christianity as just one path to "the center". In short, he's no evangelical and his views take him well outside orthodox Christianity. In Moore's world, faith bows to psychology, not the other way around. For as much as I love most of Moore's psychological perspective, I can't go along with that arrangement.
I certainly don't mind reading opposing view points. In fact, I think doing so is a healthy experience. However, it doesn't change that I ultimately have to see Moore's perspective as being less than it could have been. This becomes especially troubling in the last chapter when he basically calls for a one world religion. It's there that it becomes obvious that the religion Moore endorses is a sort of vague spirituality. Christianity, Judaism, Islam, etc. are welcome to be a part of that spirituality provided they don't make any claims to exclusivity. In other words, you can be a Christian as long as you don't really believe in Christianity. That's a huge and irreconcilable disagreement I have with Moore. The fact that it becomes so explicitly pronounced in the final chapter is the reason I'm forced to knock this one down to four stars.
My gripes aside, the book is brilliant and we need to pay attention to what it says. If we fail to recapture the initiation process, our culture is in big trouble. The Archetype of Initiation is a flawed, but brilliant, work that needs to be both read and applied.
August 19, 2021
I enjoyed this book. The crux of it is that in order to deal with new challenges in life and grow as a person, you must 'die.'
Effectively you have to experience an emotional or mental breakdown, at which point you must accept that you have failed. In this humility, knowing that you are not all-powerful, you are now capable of changing.
But in order to do it right you really need a teacher, a guide to facilitate healthy growth. Without a guide, or with a negative guide, you may develop an over-inflated ego and adopt a persona. This could develop into a psychosis.
But if you do have a guide, you can grow into a new person who now has an updated moral framework that can, in the future, deal with the problem that sent you spinning off into the darkness in the first place.
Where this gets really interesting is that Moore identifies this darkness as a Sacred Space. It is Sacred because it is the only space that can truly transform you as a human being. A guide would be something like a shaman, a priest (in the pre-modern sense) or a therapist.
In some ways this book is depressing because Moore claims there is very little sacred space in our day and age, and very few shamans to guide us through what little sacred space we do have. I agree with him.
In the pre-modern days, people could enter into sacred spaces maintained by elders. There they could undergo initiations (often painful and terrifying) that would signal an elevation to a new mode of consciousness.
Without these practices, the implication is clear; modern people are psychologically immature. In the end of the book, Moore calls on men to do more to help youngsters. He implores men not to throw the youth into jail, but to take them under their wing and teach them to direct their masculine energy in a new direction.
Effectively you have to experience an emotional or mental breakdown, at which point you must accept that you have failed. In this humility, knowing that you are not all-powerful, you are now capable of changing.
But in order to do it right you really need a teacher, a guide to facilitate healthy growth. Without a guide, or with a negative guide, you may develop an over-inflated ego and adopt a persona. This could develop into a psychosis.
But if you do have a guide, you can grow into a new person who now has an updated moral framework that can, in the future, deal with the problem that sent you spinning off into the darkness in the first place.
Where this gets really interesting is that Moore identifies this darkness as a Sacred Space. It is Sacred because it is the only space that can truly transform you as a human being. A guide would be something like a shaman, a priest (in the pre-modern sense) or a therapist.
In some ways this book is depressing because Moore claims there is very little sacred space in our day and age, and very few shamans to guide us through what little sacred space we do have. I agree with him.
In the pre-modern days, people could enter into sacred spaces maintained by elders. There they could undergo initiations (often painful and terrifying) that would signal an elevation to a new mode of consciousness.
Without these practices, the implication is clear; modern people are psychologically immature. In the end of the book, Moore calls on men to do more to help youngsters. He implores men not to throw the youth into jail, but to take them under their wing and teach them to direct their masculine energy in a new direction.
January 22, 2024
got the library to send me a physical version because I couldn't find a copy online
peppered with a lot of gold nuggets
peppered with a lot of gold nuggets
April 29, 2019
I've been looking for a book like this for a long time. Moore does an amazing job covering the various aspects of what initiation is, its general structure, its meaning, and the required elements in order to have an initiation be successful. He is comprehensive while still approachable, and that's something I appreciate in these Jungian analysts when it (rarely) happens.
The definitive book on transformation, bar none.
The definitive book on transformation, bar none.
March 24, 2025
In a series of lectures, theologian and psychiatrist Robert L. Moore explores the idea of updating the ancient shamanistic practice of sacred space for use in the current therapy setting. Within sacred space, one can safely explore one's own self, free of the necessary but often conflicting and constricting masks and roles placed upon one by society. Everyone is entitled to their own sacred space and the book explores some of the ways it can be used, both clinically and individually.
December 2, 2021
Sneaky relevant book on psychotherapy, men's work, and the importance of elders and ritual. It's not a 101 level book so if you're looking for something with a lot of exposition and helpful processes at the end of each chapter this is not the book. If you're not familiar with Mircea Eliade, Victor Turner or the 4 archetypes then this book might not make as much sense. If you do have that background this is a nice addition to those topics.
January 18, 2021
Very dry. The book is written in academic language, more so than I believe necessary. I felt that the book was written like this to make the topic sound intellectual and worthy of discussion.
Skip this book.
Skip this book.
May 12, 2020
Brilliant
June 14, 2020
This book is life changing
August 25, 2021
Interesting reading to obtain further understanding on initiation frameworks of personal transformation through the lens of multiple authors and schools of thoughts.
September 5, 2021
Really good book and very useful!
June 18, 2022
DNF
2 stars: some good but also some bad
2 stars: some good but also some bad
August 11, 2022
A fantastic series of lectures, if a bit repetitive in the information conveyed.
November 9, 2022
Good read, understood very little. Will get back to it in 20 years
March 5, 2023
Robert Moore writes a concise little book about the history of initiation and the importance of ritual.
July 31, 2023
it's just so redundant, the gist of the whole book in my opinion lies in the summary part of chapter II.
June 17, 2024
Deeply stimulating. Powerful reflections on society and culture.
"How many people, if they were honest, would have to admit, they parented their own parents? It's painful to think about it. Because, while you were parenting your parent, you were not getting parented yourself. If you have to parent your parent, no one is gently holding your true self, except you. Now, what have you done with that true self? The chances are, in many cases, that you have put it on ice. Literally. It's somewhere in your psyche on ice. It was a smart decision at the time, because if you had not put it on ice, it would've been even more folded, stapled, and mutilated than it was."
"How many people, if they were honest, would have to admit, they parented their own parents? It's painful to think about it. Because, while you were parenting your parent, you were not getting parented yourself. If you have to parent your parent, no one is gently holding your true self, except you. Now, what have you done with that true self? The chances are, in many cases, that you have put it on ice. Literally. It's somewhere in your psyche on ice. It was a smart decision at the time, because if you had not put it on ice, it would've been even more folded, stapled, and mutilated than it was."
April 8, 2013
By far one of the best books I have ever read. If you plan to teach men at any level, you need to read this book. It is full of priceless advice!
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews