A friend of mine wrote this article:
An Overview of the Michael System
BY EMILY BAUMBACH
Long ago you faced a dilemma. You were about to start a grand journey, a new cycle of lifetimes in a human body. In your cycle you would sign on for approximately 10,000 years, or 50-200 lifetimes, in order to learn about the physical plane and about sentience.
You were told that in order to become sentient you needed to be one of seven personality types, or "Roles": Server, Priest, Artisan, Sage, Warrior, King, or Scholar. Your Role, to be chosen by you, would be your underlying personality type through all of your lifetimes in the cycle.
You knew this was a big decision, one you'd have to live with for a long time. Should you be a kind, loving Server? An inspired Priest? A creative Artisan? A fun-loving Sage? What about a brave Warrior, masterful King, or intelligent Scholar?
To make things easier for you, the universal life force or Tao created a system of personality traits called overleaves, to be worn like a cloak over your true Role. You would stay the same Role through each of your lifetimes in the cycle, but every lifetime you would change your overleaves for variety. Overleaves would give you a chance to experiment with the energy of all the other Roles, modify your life experience as needed, and enable you to be complex and sophisticated.
When you began your first lifetime as whatever Role you wanted to be. You chose a Goal for that lifetime: Re-evaluation, Growth, Discrimination, Acceptance, Submission, Dominance, or Relaxation.
You also chose a Mode: Repression, Passion, Caution, Power, Perseverance, Aggression, or Observation.
And an Attitude: Stoic, Spiritualist, Skeptic, Idealist, Cynic, Realist, or Pragmatist.
You chose one or two Chief Features: Arrogance, Self-Deprecation, Self-Destruction, Greed, Martyrdom, Impatience, or Stubbornness;
and a Centering: Emotional, Higher Emotional, Intellectual, Higher Intellectual, Moving, Higher Moving, or Instinctive; like a Chinese dinner. Once you completed that first lifetime and learned all you could about that set of overleaves, you went on to another lifetime with another set. Staying your same Role, you chose a new Goal, Mode, Attitude, Chief Feature and Centering.
Most people choose a partner with whom to share their entire cycle, called an "Essence Twin." Your Essence Twin is one other person who goes through lifetimes just like you do, with varying overleaves, all the while staying their same Role: Server, Priest, Artisan, Sage, Warrior, King, or Scholar. Your Essence Twin is the one person who always "gets" to you, each lifetime, and the person with whom you will develop the most karmas.
As you progress through your cycle, with more and more lifetimes of experience, you make your way through what are called "Soul Ages": Infant, Baby, Young, Mature, and Old. Eventually you complete your cycle at the end of the Old Soul phase, and unite once again with All That Is, The Tao.
Each and every person you know is one Role or another, one Soul Age or another, with a chosen Goal, Mode, Attitude, Chief Feature, and Centering for the lifetime.
For instance, let's pretend your Role is Server. Your Essence Twin happens to be a Scholar. You might be a successful nurse practitioner, an enjoyable, inspiring profession for you. You like serving people by healing their illnesses. Your ability to handle the details of medical treatments comes from the bleedthrough of your Scholar ET's energy, whether or not your ET is in your life. Perhaps this lifetime you have chosen Goal of Discrimination to help you learn discernment, giving you a knack for diagnosis of illness and skill with treatment recommendations. You might have chosen the Mode of Observation which gives you the ability to survey patients quietly, looking for flickers of symptoms otherwise easily missed. In addition, you chose the Attitude of Pragmatist, providing you with a good sense of efficiency on your busy hospital ward. Your Chief Feature or trap might be Greed fixated on snacks from the cafeteria, something of a professional embarrassment as you are supposed to be a role model for a healthy lifestyle. These "overleaves" or layers upon your Server Role give you the personality traits you need to fulfill your life task, that of working within the medical system to heal people.
But you haven't always had those overleaves. Last lifetime you may have wanted to travel a lot, socialize, be silly, believe in the goodness of the universe, and work on self-karmas. You were still a Server with a Scholar Essence Twin, as you will always be. But you might have chosen Goal of Growth, with Passion Mode, Attitude of Spiritualist, and Chief Feature or trap of Self-Deprecation.
Next lifetime you might want to go into politics. You may choose Goal of Dominance, with Power Mode, Attitude of Realist, and Chief Feature or trap of Stubbornness. These strong, rather masculine overleaves will support you through the buffeting you're likely to get as a public figure.
In sum, you are the same Role in each of your lifetimes within a 50-200 lifetime cycle. Each lifetime you grow in Soul Level and Soul Age, choosing a new arrangement of Goal, Mode, Attitude, Chief Feature and Centering.
Let's start with a description of the seven Soul Ages.
Soul age
As you progress through your cycle, you naturally grow in experience. Your world view changes according to a systematic plan, which corresponds to your Soul Age. Soul Age is usually determined by the number of lifetimes you've had, start to finish, however some people are speedier learners than others, and can become Old Souls with fewer lifetimes than the norm. Here are the seven Soul Ages and their attributes:
Infant: Raw, simple, wild and unmanageable, instinctive, animal-like in some cases, frightened look in eyes, limited frame of reference due to small number of lifetimes. Simple people in tribal cultures, survivalists in the woods, psychopaths, mass murderers. Not too many Infant Souls become famous, but here are a few: Richard Allen Davis (killer of Polly Klaas), David Carpenter (serial rapist/killer), Richard Ramirez (The Hillside Strangler), Larry Singleton (rapist/killer).
Baby: The phase where people learn to live with people. Can be loving, yet simplistic in thinking; see things in black and white terms, Good versus Evil; like the security of church or political party membership; like to live in small, insular towns without a whole lot going on. Rules make life seem easy to understand. Love big families. Religious churchgoers, God-fearers, evangelists, PTA and NRA members. Examples: Jerry Falwell, Adolph Hitler, Jesse James, Rush Limbaugh, Timothy McVeigh, Mike Tyson, Brigham Young.
Young: Sophisticated, worldly-wise, like to be rich and famous, to collect things. A karma-building level. Not too deep, love power, worship youth, don't like to look old. Examples: Cher, Sheryl Crow, Rebecca DeMornay, Kirsten Dunst, Newt Gingrich, John Grisham, Nicole Kidman, Ralph Lauren, Bob Packwood, Claudia Schiffer, OJ Simpson, Nicole Brown Simpson, Sharon Stone, Donald Trump.
Mature: Interested in deep relationships and philosophy, thrive on emotional intensity, learning about their impact on the world, striving for ecological and social balance. Examples: Murray Abraham, Isabel Allende, Maya Angelou, Michael Bolton, Kevin Costner, Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Bob Dylan, Anthony Hopkins, John Malkovich, Bill Moyers, Sinead O'Connor, Martin Sheen, Gary Trudeau, Robert James Waller, James Woods.
Old: Retired, relaxed-looking, puttering around, usually happy, not getting excited about too much, unambitious, learning to teach and love, finishing off karmas. Examples: Werner Erhard, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Robert Bly, George Carlin, Whoopi Goldberg, James Earl Jones, Dalai Lama, Gary Larson, Nelson Mandela, Abraham Lincoln, Bill Murray, Jack Palance, Ram Dass, Bernie Siegel, Patrick Stewart, Jessica Tandy, Mother Teresa, Alice Walker, Marianne Williamson, Frank Zappa.
Transcendental: Bodhisattvas, religious leaders, prophets who predict coming of Infinite Souls, represent their cycled-off entity. Meher Baba, Mahatma Gandhi, Pope John XXIII, John the Baptist, Hazrat Khan, Mother Meera, Ammachi, Mohammed, Socrates, St. Francis of Assisi, Paramahansa Yogananda, Zarathustra.
Infinite: Manifestation of the Tao incarnate, comes about every 2,000 years, can have the flavor of any of the higher planes. Gautama Buddha, Jesus Christ, Confucius, Krishna, Lao Tsu, Ra the Egyptian Sun God, the Hindu God Rama. Mother Meera of Germany, currently alive, is looking at signing on for Infinite Soul manifestation.
Soul level
Within each Soul Age are seven levels of awareness and lessons. As with any cycle you start out as a beginner, go through the intermediate stages, and end up a pro. Generally you are most comfortable with people who fall within seven Soul Levels younger or older than you are. For instance, if you are 1st level Old, you'll feel comfortable with most Mature Souls and most Old Souls. If you are 3rd level Mature, you'll feel most comfortable around 3rd to 7th level Young Souls, and 1st to 3rd level Old Souls. You may find it difficult but not impossible to relate to Baby Souls or late level Old Souls. Here are the seven Soul Levels within each Soul Age:
1st: The Ingenue level. You're just beginning your experience at the new Soul Age, and have a delightful innocence about you. You will tend to make friends with people who are older than you within your Soul Age. Examples: Prince Andrew, Sonny Bono, Tammy Fae Bakker, Rodney Dangerfield, Joe Montana, Hugh Grant, Eric Clapton, Macaulay Culkin.
2nd: The Explorer. At this level you feel more grounded in the new consciousness, and send yourself out in the world. Here you work most strongly on your self-karmas, testing your personal habit patterns and working on your self-discipline. Examples: Jerry Garcia, Barbara Marx-Hubbard, Jay Leno, Mary Kay Ash, James Taylor.
3rd: The Renunciate. You're solidly into your Soul Age now, and take some time to pull back from your outer growth. You might prefer to live a quiet life where your thoughts can remain undisturbed. Examples: Alice Walker, Greta Garbo, J.D. Salinger, Stephen Hawking, Walt Whitman.
4th: Full Steam Ahead. You've done your contemplation for a lifetime or two, and now you're rarin' to go. You thrust yourself into outer activity, probably to change the world according to your vision. Examples: Deepak Chopra, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Joseph Campbell, Mario Cuomo, Jane Fonda, Sigmund Freud, Thomas Jefferson.
5th: The Hippie. Your last lifetime was rather suit & tie, working within the system to change it. Now you rebel against authority, and make your own (eccentric) rules. Examples: Bob Goldthwait, Tom Waites, Jimi Hendrix, Wolfman Jack, Pablo Picasso, Truman Capote, Geena Davis, Willem Dafoe.
6th: The Martyr. An incredibly intense level; you'll want to take more than one lifetime to get through it all. In the Infant, Baby and Young Soul Ages you create more karma at this level than any other. In the Mature and Old Soul Ages you pay off more karma. Examples: Martin Luther King, Marcia Clark, Werner Erhard, Adolph Hitler, Timothy Leary, Charles Manson, Mother Teresa, Michael Jackson, The Elephant Man, Elizabeth Taylor.
7th: Resting Assured. This level is a plateau, a relaxing point after the 6th level storm and before the growth to the 1st level of the next Soul Age. Here you feel self-assured, having mastered most of the lessons of the Soul Age you just completed. You'll probably act as teacher for people still working through the lessons of the Soul Age you're leaving behind. Examples: Lynn Andrews, Meher Baba, Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Bob Hope, Ram Dass, Ruth Westheimer, Thich Nhat Hanh, Boutros Boutros-Ghali.
Role
The Role is the main personality archetype we choose for the entire cycle. We remain our same Role through each lifetime, giving us a basis of experience on which to draw. Our Role sets the theme for the cycle, and indicates something our inner essence wants to learn about. Here are the seven Roles:
Server: Sweet, service-oriented, soft and luminous, dedicated, loving, heals suffering. Like to be nurses, veterinarians, social workers, office workers, moms and dads. Some celebrity examples: Ingrid Bergman, Phil Donahue, Laura Dern, Mia Farrow, Dalai Lama, Robert MacNeil, Kelly McGillis, Eleanor Roosevelt, Chelsea Clinton, Albert Schweitzer, Queen Victoria.
Priest: Inspired, visionary, zealous, instigates global or mass healing, leads congregation. Political or religious spokesperson, troubleshooter, preacher, holy man/woman, spiritual teacher, founder of nonprofit organization, wants to save the world. Examples: St. Francis, Joan Baez, Adolph Hitler, Joan of Arc, Timothy Leary, Rasputin, Nancy Reagan, Martin Sheen, Lily Tomlin, Malcolm X, Frank Zappa.
Artisan: Delicate, airy, vulnerable, unearthly, dreamy, highly creative, artistic, musical, fluid and flexible. Actors, dancers, fine artists, fashion models, carpenters, construction people, architects, musicians, poets. Examples: Nicholas Cage, Kurt Cobain, Macaulay Culkin, Leonardo DaVinci, Johnny Depp, Albert Einstein, Dennis Hopper, Whitney Houston, Kato Kaelin, Mozart, Brad Pitt, Keanu Reeves, Christopher Reeve, Jennifer Tilly, Marisa Tomei, Andy Warhol.
Sage: Funny, jokester, lifts everyone's spirits, likes to make play out of work, lightens up the crowd. Flamboyant actor or actress, delightful ham, salesperson, politician, TV announcer (especially sports and weather), comedian. In negative expression, buffoon. Examples: Dan Aykroyd, Lucille Ball, Sandra Bernhard, Mel Brooks, Brett Butler, Bill Clinton, Tim Curry, Rodney Dangerfield, Danny DeVito, Fran Drescher, Placido Domingo, Whoopi Goldberg, John Goodman, Mick Jagger, Jay Leno, Groucho Marx, Bette Midler, Jack Nicholson, Vincent Price, Mark Twain, Jesse Ventura.
Warrior: Solid, brave, has valor and strength, good protector of the kingdom. Lawyers, police officers, military personnel, prison guards, run shelters for battered women/children and the homeless, mountain climbers, athletes, professional boxers. Examples: Tom Brokaw, Barbara Bush, Diane Delano, Richard Gere, Norman Mailer, Demi Moore, Martina Navratilova, Janet Reno, Nicole Brown Simpson, Oliver Stone, Mike Tyson, John Wayne.
King: Natural leader, masterful, regal, solid. Head of country, CEO of corporation, entrepreneur, football coach. Examples: Sean Connery, Mario Cuomo, Queen Elizabeth I, William Randolph Hearst, Madonna, Aristotle Onassis, Ross Perot, Bill Walsh, Orson Wells, Madeleine Albright.
Scholar: Neutral, research-oriented, collects and sorts information for everyone, likes to study systems whether philosophical or scientific. Astrologers, doctors, scientists of all types, academicians, writers, university professors, legal counsels, mapmakers. Examples: Ken Burns, Carlos Castaneda, Michael Crichton, Galileo, Pee Wee Herman, Lance Ito, John Lennon, Bill Moyers, Faith Popcorn, George Washington, Kenneth Starr.
Essence twin
Your essence twin is someone who was cast out from the Tao the very same time you were. You follow each other around lifetime after lifetime searching for each other, obsessed with each other, and sometimes trying to get away from each other. You and your Essence Twin mirror each other like no one else. The intensity you feel and the focusing you do on your Essence Twin causes you to channel his or her energy as a secondary Role expression.
For instance, if you are a Scholar with a Warrior Essence Twin, you will do the things Scholars usually do (research, compile lists) but will likely use it in a competitive situation, such as a business. If you are a Warrior with a Scholar Essence Twin, you might be a police officer with a penchant for collecting unusual boxes. If you are an Artisan with a King Essence Twin, your career as a rock musician will be successful, since you channel the mastery of your Essence Twin's Role, the King.
Here are some examples of famous people with their Essence Twins. Note the similarity of "feel," as if it's one person sharing two bodies. As well, see how the flavor of the Role bleeds through to the other Essence Twin: Warrior Ferdinand & Priest Imelda Marcos, Sage Hugh & Warrior Christie Hefner, Artisan Jean-Paul Sartre and Warrior Simone de Beauvoir, King Madonna & Artisan Sean Penn, Sage Mikhail & King Raisa Gorbachev, Sage Richard Burton and Artisan Elizabeth Taylor, Warrior Sam Shepard & Artisan Jessica Lange, Artisan Sylvester Stallone & Warrior Brigitte Nielson, King Jesus & Priest John the Baptist.
Goal
Each lifetime you choose one of seven Goals, themes for the lifetime to focus on. For instance, you might need to learn about leadership, so you choose Dominance. The following lifetime you need to learn how to follow orders, so you choose Submission. Then, wanting to get out and explore the universe, you choose Growth. You can choose any Goal you want, but you will have every Goal at least twice during your cycle of 50-200 lifetimes. Here are the Goals and their attributes:
Re-evaluation: Likes simplicity, one or two issues for the lifetime, likes to stay in one place. Examples: Albert Einstein, Buddha, Marlin Fitzwater, James Joyce, Edgar Allan Poe, George Shultz, Stephen Hawking.
Growth: Likes complexity. Typically, 3-6 careers for the lifetime, many relationships, moves a lot. Examples: Tom Hanks, Shirley MacLaine, Steven Spielberg, Dana Carvey, Jerry Brown, Tipper Gore, Tom Hanks, Kevin Kline, Susan Sarandon, Jerry Seinfeld.
Discrimination: Sophisticated, likes to reject what comes to them, meticulous, analytical, refined sense of taste. Examples: David Byrne, Julia Child, Bob Dylan, Peter Jennings, Jason Alexander, Adam Arkin, Mr. Blackwell, George Bush, Roger Ebert, Ralph Fiennes, Larry King, Miss Manners, Rob Morrow, Gene Siskel.
Acceptance: Open to things that come to them. Want to love everyone and have everyone love them. Examples: Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Linda Evans, Bill Clinton, Christie Brinkley, Sandra Bullock, Bobby McFerrin, Diane Sawyer.
Dominance: In positive pole, likes win/ win situations. Developing leadership abilities in the lifetime. Examples: Lee Iacocca, Mike Tyson, Fidel Castro, Newt Gingrich, Maya Angelou, Hillary Clinton, Jodie Foster.
Submission: Likes to devote self to a cause, family, or group. Examples: Jane Fonda, Dian Fossey, Princess Diana, Mr. Rogers, Oliver North, John Bradshaw, Tom Cruise, Robert Dole, Jaime Escalante, Mia Farrow, Mahatma Gandhi, Joan of Arc, Ralph Nader, Pat Nixon, Tim Robbins.
Relaxation: Vacation lifetime. Things come easy usually, not a whole lot of struggle. Bottom line: Taking the path of least resistance. Examples: Ringo Starr, George Hamilton, Sheryl Crow,Antonio Banderas, David Crosby, Bhagwan Rajneesh, Louis Rukuyser, Claudia Schiffer, Christian Slater, Dweezil Zappa.
Mode
You choose one of seven Modes each lifetime, which are ways you express your body:
Repression: Elegant, refined, sophisticated, delicate, self-controlled, look great in a tuxedo or formal wear. Ballet dancers, neurosurgeons, fashion models, ladies and gentlemen. Examples: Lloyd Bentsen, Candice Bergen, Pierce Brosnan, Prince Charles, Princess Diana, David Duchovny, Ralph Fiennes, Joanna Lumley, Priscilla Presley.
Passion: Bubbly, full of life, vital, enthusiastic, animated. Comedians, stage actors, musicians, bon vivants. Examples: Leonard Bernstein, Sonia Braga, Nicholas Cage, Kathie Lee Gifford, Mick Jagger, Dolly Parton, Sarah Jessica Parker, Dick Van Lesbian, Debra Winger, Weird Al Yankovic.
Caution: Sensitive, deliberate, careful, cautious, shy, can't be rushed. Cops, librarians, IRS auditors. Examples: Bob Dole,Winston Churchill, R. Crumb, Dan Rather, Suzanne Vega, Vanna White, Humphrey Bogart.
Power: Generates nuclear power, takes charge, likes control, has intensity and power, charismatic. Organization CEOs, leaders of countries, movers and shakers. Examples: Marlon Brando, Willie Brown, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, L. Ron Hubbard, Raul Julia, Ross Perot, Colin Powell, Rod Serling, Rod Steiger.
Perseverance: Never gives up, sees project through to completion, digs teeth in, holds on. Researchers, social workers, inventors. Examples: Kevin Costner, Katie Couric, Walt Disney, Thomas Edison, Elizabeth Dole, Carrie Fisher, John Glenn, Mahatma Gandhi, John Grisham, Pope John Paul II, Jack Kevorkian, Nelson Mandela, Ralph Nader, Martina Navratilova, Jack Palance.
Aggression: Hard-driving, breaks through barriers, dynamic, likes competition, volcanic, enjoy a good battle. Martial arts experts, military personnel, boxers, lawyers, politicians, large machine operators, athletes. Examples: Tom Arnold, Tim Curry, Willem Dafoe, Judy Davis, Michael Douglas, Bob Hoskins, Michael Keaton, Harvey Keitel, Tommy Lee Jones, Ray Liotta, Axl Rose, Nicole Brown Simpson, Richard Simmons, Tina Turner, Bruce Willis.
Observation: Look somewhat distanced, neutral, observing the room from an unobtrusive place, look Scholarly. Can slide to the other Modes. Computer programmers, book editors, writers, cultural commentators. Examples: Tim Allen, Larry King, Liam Neeson, Gillian Anderson, Brian Boitano, Eric Clapton, Michael Crichton, Robert Downey, Jr., Robert Fulghum, Bridget Fonda, Jerry Seinfeld.
Attitude
Your Attitude is your most basic problem-solving style. It's how you go about handling information, and is your normal mindset. Because it is based on the mind, the Attitude is the one overleaf you can change, perhaps using the other six Attitudes as you go through your day. Here are the seven Attitudes, with their attributes:
Stoic: Keep emotions inside, handle crises silently and bravely, facial expression doesn't change a lot (can be an asset in wartime or in business). Confidence men or women, diplomats, prisoners of war, soldiers, doctors, First Ladies of countries, poker players. Examples: Marlon Brando, Buddha, Rebecca de Mornay, Clint Eastwood, Al Gore, Alfred Hitchcock, Abraham Lincoln, John Lennon, Colin Powell, Lisa Marie Presley-Jackson, OJ Simpson, Jimmy Smits, Charlie Watts, George Washington.
Spiritualist: See tragedies as opportunities, soft and watery eyes, dreamily optimistic, seeing God in everything and everyone. Ministers, healers, drug addicts, followers of leaders, holy men and women, artists, musicians. Examples: Lisa Bonet, Nicholas Cage, Geena Davis, Gerard Depardieu, Mahatma Gandhi, Whitney Houston, Magic Johnson, Andie MacDowell, Bob Marley, Julia Ormond, Ram Dass, Marianne Williamson.
Skeptic: Check things out before believing in them, ask penetrating questions, hard to convince of something. Auditors, critics, debunkers, journalists, lawyers. Examples: Danny Aiello, Jason Alexander, Connie Chung, Marcia Clark, Glenn Close, Katie Couric, Robert Duvall, Roger Ebert, Sigmund Freud, Peter Jennings, Jim Lehrer, Rob Morrow, William Shakespeare, Mike Wallace.
Idealist: Like to really believe in something (sometimes without checking out the details first), have strong sense of fairness and equality, like to get involved in schemes, start nonprofit organizations around a favorite ideal. Salespeople, TV commercial actors, spokespersons, theory people. Examples: Sonny Bono, Bill Clinton, John Denver, Phil Donahue, Jane Fonda, Holly Hunter, Thomas Jefferson, Diane Keaton, Jack LaLanne, Timothy Leary, Harvey Milk, Sinead O'Connor, Robin Williams.
Cynic: Acerbic wit, sophisticated sense of contradiction, personally disappointed by whatever is wrong with the world; tendency to see negatively. If sense of humor, can be great comedians. Examples: Sandra Bernhard, Boy George, James Carville, R. Crumb, Willem Dafoe, Bob Dylan, Bob Goldthwaite, Harvey Keitel, Sylvia Miles, Jim Morrison, River Phoenix, Stephen Rea, Lou Reed, Keith Richards, Roseanne, Martin Scorsese, Harry Dean Stanton, Hunter Thompson, Christopher Walken.
Realist: Objective, weighs all sides, cuts through dross to get to heart of the issue, matter-of-fact. Comptrollers, financial experts, scientists, plumbers, judges. Examples: Tom Brokaw, Elizabeth Dole, Dianne Feinstein, Lance Ito, Katherine Hepburn, Ann Landers, Cokie Roberts, Greta Scacchi, Gene Siskel, Maggie Smith, Judge Wapner.
Pragmatist: Efficiency experts, know how to cut corners to save time, schedule-oriented, like to make lists. Time management experts, economists, industrial designers, accountants, nutritionists. Examples: Gillian Anderson, Lloyd Bentsen, Cindy Crawford, Joycelyn Elders, Werner Erhard, Bridget Fonda, Lee Iacocca, Margaret Mead, Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon, Martha Stewart, Donald Trump.
Chief feature
The seven Chief Features arise from what is called "false personality," a symptom of maya or universal delusion. False personality is the inauthentic, delusory part of ourselves, coating the true inner Self or essence with a false cloak of unreal communication. We become caricatures, odd and bizarre, unable to communicate the perfect, illuminated soul essence. That essence is who we really are: a pure, perfect light of consciousness linked to the Tao itself.
False personality, and thus the Chief Features, have their roots in fear. When we're anxious about not getting enough love, acknowledgement, life force, food, or time to spare from the universe, we get stuck in habitual, nonproductive behavior patterns. These patterns, we think, protect our vulnerability. They ward off our fears and alleviate our anxiety, if only for the moment. But like any adapting device, they don't heal the roots of fear, and become unconscious habits which keep us blind to our own irritating quirks.
Here are the seven Chief Features. Most people have a primary Chief Feature, and a secondary Chief Feature. This means we all have more than one.:
Self-Deprecation: Learning lessons of humility for the lifetime, not wanting to appear arrogant. Self-critical, not believing in self, refreshingly humble. Greatest fear is of being inferior. Examples: Bill Clinton, Albert Brooks, Geena Davis, Laura Dern,Gerard Depardieu, Hugh Grant, Dennis Hopper, Chris Isaak, Magic Johnson, Joe Montana, Willie Nelson, Christopher Reeve, Winona Ryder, Donald Sutherland, Daniel Stern, Forest Whitaker, Gene Wilder.
Arrogance: Proud, self-confident, vain, uppity, secretly self-deprecating. Greatest fear is of being merely normal or mediocre. Examples: Kevin Bacon, John Cleese, Sean Connery, Brian Dennehy, Salvador Dali, Shannen Doherty, Newt Gingrich, Marvin Hamlisch, Val Kilmer, Kevin Kline, Dave Letterman, Madonna, Bob Packwood, Jack Nicholson, Jack Palance, Jeremiah Tower, Denzel Washington.
Self-Destruction: Hard time adjusting to life, often abused as children, not given positive validation from parents, oftentimes want to die, suicidal. Alcoholics, drug addicts, chain smokers, motorcycle and car racers, anorexics, heavy metal enthusiasts. Greatest fear is of life itself with the pain it brings. Examples: John Belushi, Lennie Bruce, Drew Barrymore, R. Crumb, Jim Morrison, Lou Reed, Keith Richards, Hunter Thompson, Jean Paul Sartre, Andy Warhol.
Greed: Appetite for life, hungry looking, look like they need a lot of love or money or food or experience, bottomless pits in some cases, voracious, lack of control, zingy eyes. Greatest fear is of starving or being left with nothing (often comes from recent previous life where that actually happened). Examples: Tom Arnold, James Cagney, Jim Carrey, Katie Couric, Jenny Craig, Tim Curry, Michael Douglas, Andy Garcia, Adolph Hitler, Graham Kerr, Ricki Lake, Meatloaf, Roseanne, Richard Simmons, Martha Stewart.
Martyrdom: Selflessness, missionary zeal, dies for a cause. Can make others feel guilty. Greatest fear is of being victimized or taken advantage of by others. Examples: Kurt Cobain, Billy Crystal, Olympia Dukakis, Mia Farrow, Martin Luther King, Pat Nixon, Abraham Lincoln, Nelson Mandela, Regis Philbin, Yoko Ono, Stephen Rea, Mother Theresa, John Turturro, Elie Wiesel, Sean Young.
Impatience: Daring, tries to do too many things in a short amount of time, hates to be late for anything, intolerant. Type A's, freeway tailgaters, schedule freaks. Greatest fear is of being late, or of missing out on whatever is going on. Examples: Tim Allen, Kathy Bates, George Bush, Danny DeVito, Holly Hunter, Demi Moore, Paul Reiser, Dean Ornish, Rod Steiger, Patrick Swayze, Quentin Tarantino, Marisa Tomei, James Woods.
Stubbornness: Determined, hard to move, refuses to change, obstinate. Greatest fear is of being pushed around. Examples: Barbara Boxer, Glenn Close, Robert Duvall, Chris Evert, Dianne Feinstein, Jane Fonda, Mahatma Gandhi, Don Henley, Charlton Heston, Ross Perot, Janet Reno, Zecharia Sitchin, Margaret Thatcher.
Centering
Centering adds an interesting angle to the overleaves. It is flexible, in that you pick one favorite Centering and Part of Center for the lifetime, but can use the other Parts of Center in situations when you need them. Your Centering reflects your first response to stimuli; your Part of Center is your second response.
For instance, you might have Emotional Centering with Intellectual Part of Center. You cry at movies and funerals, keeping Kleenex handy wherever you go. If someone insults you, your first response will be emotional. Later on, you'll use the Intellectual Part of Center to obsess about what they said, what you said in return, what you should have said, what they would have said had you not said what you said, etc.
On occasion, however, you will slide to the Moving Part of Center from Emotional Center. You'll take up an exercise regimen to help you slough off depression. Or, you'll go dancing to express your emotional joy.
Here's a short synopsis of each of the seven Centers and Parts of Center, with their attributes:
Intellectual Center: Born think tanks, rarely losing their cool in emotional situations. You can almost see the gears spinning in their brains. They do well in academia, and the computer and banking industries. With Emotional Part of Center: They think coolly first, then express their emotions later on in private. Examples: Patty Hearst, Katherine Hepburn. With Moving Part of Center: They think first, then act on their thoughts without considering the emotional consequences. Examples: Newt Gingrich, Joseph Goebbels, Lady Godiva. With Instinctive Part of Center: A cool first response which gets funneled through their primal needs. Examples: Hunter Thompson, James Michener, Henry Miller.
Emotional Center: Compassionate, empathetic, sympathetic, vulnerable. They feel what you feel, and do well in healing professions where a kind word is important. Schoolteachers, therapists of all kinds, artists, musicians, charity volunteers. With Intellectual Part of Center: They like to funnel their emotions through their thoughts, perhaps enjoying writing or talking about their personal crises. Examples: Woody Allen, John Bradshaw, Regis Philbin. With Moving Part of Center: They funnel their emotions through their bodies, enjoying dance therapy, movement-oriented growth seminars, or stage performance. Examples: Paula Abdul, Janis Joplin, Chuck Berry. With Instinctive Part of Center: Panic disorder, phobias, eccentricity, primal sensuality. Example: Edgar Allan Poe, Jeff Goldblum.
Moving Center: Always on the go, these people seem like perpetual motion machines. They love athletics, dancing, anything which gets them up out of their chairs and moving around. With Intellectual Part of Center: They funnel their perpetual motion through their speech. If athletics-minded, they like prescribed dance routines like classical ballet or aerobics, enjoying the structure of sports rules. Examples: Sandra Bernhard, David Byrne, Cher, Howard Cosell. With Emotional Part of Center: They love freeform movement: Brazilian samba, modern dance, belly dancing. Can be attracted to the emotional intensity of athletics, channeling their rage or depth of feeling into the competitive aspects of the sport. Examples: Bonnie Blair, Brian Boitano, Charles Bronson. With Instinctive Part of Center: Hyperactive or autistic child, sensualist, charismatic actor. Example: Pee Wee Herman, Harvey Keitel, Ray Liotta, Martin Luther, Jim Morrison, Timothy Dalton. With Higher Parts of Center (Higher Emotional, Higher Intellectual, Higher Moving): The body moves, and the mind is free.
Instinctive Center: Instinctively centered people are hard to find. Look in their eyes and you get an uneasy feeling, like you're looking into some altered reality which makes you uncomfortable. Many Instinctively Centered people are labeled "schizophrenic," but you can be Instinctively Centered without being mentally ill. Instinctive Center gives anyone a pipeline to their animal nature: scents, sounds, primal survival instincts, sensuality. With Intellectual Part of Center: Experimental surgeon, occultist, forensic specialist, power freak. Example: Leni Riefenstahl, Rasputin, Rod Serling. With Emotional Part of Center: Eccentric actor, uncontrolled angry criminal, survivalist. Examples: Ted Bundy, Curtis Sliwa. With Moving Part of Center: Hunter, soldier of fortune, wild animal trainer, violent charismatic leader. Can be cruel, lacking in emotional warmth or intellectual reasoning. Examples: Pol Pot, Rudolf Hess, Richard Ramirez, Charles Manson.
Higher Centers: The Higher Centers take us out of our egos, and into a state of merging with the cosmos. These states are rare, and considered to be the goal of all spiritual practice. Because the energy is too strong to hold in the body for a long period of time, most of us get only a taste of it once in awhile, perhaps at an enlightenment seminar, in a peak emotional release, or an intensely transcendent meditation session. People who have higher centering as their primary center have chosen an unusual lifestyle of spirituality with much outer support, perhaps taking vows as a renunciate in a monastery, or leading the life of a guru.
Higher Emotional Center allows you to channel unconditional love from the higher planes. Founts of this Centering like to take their devotees with them into a high state of divine ecstasy, to share the egoless love all around. Examples: the saints Ammachi, Jesus, Ramakrishna, St. Francis, Mother Mary, Muktananda, Maharishi and Paramahansa Yogananda.
Higher Intellectual Center appeals to Zen Buddhists, Vedantists, quantum physicists and Western philosophers, all of whom like to sit and think. The goal is to reach a state of pure thought, which is no thought. Once that state is achieved the ego falls away, and pure telepathy is possible. Examples: the Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh, Lao Tsu, Zen Master Suzuki.
Higher Moving Center: Here you dance your way to enlightenment with repetitious movements combined with mind-stilling mantras or chanting. Most ecstatic religions use this technique: Shaker, Sufi, Pentacostal, Hindu, Native American, Santeria, and tai chi, which release the ego from condensed daily reality and into divine ecstasy through the vehicle of physical release from contraction. Sexual climax brings in the Higher Moving Center as well, albeit for only a short time; rarely does it transform the soul for more than a few moments. Healers of the physical body, massage therapists, tantra practitioners and kundalini experts often channel this Centering. Examples of saints with this primary Centering: Buddha, John the Baptist, Sri Krishna and the Gopis.
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Remember, the Role describes personality traits rather than vocations. For example, a King in this system isn't always the leader of a country, but may (like Madonna) choose the field of entertainment; or he may just be your neighbor's gardener. A Scholar isn't necessarily a Rhodes scholar or academician, but might be someone doing a lifetime task as a concert pianist or fashion model. Your local artist might be a Warrior like Picasso. Your Sage butcher might regale the waiting customers with operatic arias.
It is helpful to remember in studying this system that it is just a shortcut, an abbreviated version of who we really are. Overleaves define only our temporary or false personalities, lifetime to lifetime. In truth we are infinite beings, beyond definition or labeling.
- This article is an excerpt from Celebrities: The
Complete Michael Database by Emily Baumbach, Causalworks 1996
www.causalworks.com