Is America a democracy? Yes—compared to others.
What’s more, it was born from a rebellion against royal power.
So why are monarchic expressions so common in the U.S.? Czar. King. Crown. Throne. Kiss the ring. Bend the knee. Royal treatment.
This isn’t new. The historian David Cannadine argues that the U.S. presidency has functioned as an “elected monarchy” since 1776.
You see the same pull toward royal symbols in other countries that have had no kings for generations. In everyday life, people light up when they hear, “Oh, queen!” or “Our king.”
Monarchs have been beheaded, their power limited, the institution abolished, mocked in every way. Yet the phenomenon changes shape and continues to live on in modern culture.
This is not an accident. Carl Jung pointed out that the Queen and King archetypes live in the psyche of each of us. Their role is to hold order, to nourish, and to bless.
If a person “forgets” his inner king, it returns in distorted form: chaos, indecision, detachment—or tyranny and the urge to bow before someone else.
So how do you work with this archetype in practice? One way is to study art, films, and books where the true image of a queen or king is revealed—and those who refused their power.
The world is stable when the center is not outside, but within you.
Sincerely yours,
-Alexander
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