Money
and the Chief Features
(Excerpts
from past issue of Expansion newsletter,
May 2009)
The Michael personality system
describes seven ways we trap ourselves under stress, called
the Chief Features:
Self-Deprecation / Arrogance
Self-Destruction / Greed
Martyrdom / Impatience
Stubbornness
Most of us have
two Chief Features --- a primary and a secondary --- however
all of us experience every one of the Chief Features from time
to time.
Our Chief Features are how we react to fear. When we're lost
in our Chief Features, we act like cartoon characters: out of
control, unconscious, absurd, deluded.
You'll see that the Chief Features come in pairs, which means
that the humility of Self-Deprecation and the vanity of Arrogance
often slide back and forth. People on this axis constantly compare
themselves to others. In the same way, Self-Destruction and
Greed go hand in hand, bringing obsessive grabby tendencies
as a way to ward of death. Impatience and Martyrdom are another
sliding pattern that shows up in a traffic jam or a slow checkout
line. Stubbornness is by itself with no official partner, but
it does slide to all the other Chief Features.
Here's how the Chief Features usually show up around money issues.
Self-Deprecation
and Arrogance are
connected with issues of self-worth. People on this axis tend
to create a lot of unnecessary, illusory suffering around comparison.
Chances are that somewhere in your history you were judged severely,
so your instinct is either to pretend you're inferior (Self-Deprecation)
or insist that you're superior (Arrogance).
In money situations, Self-Deprecation abdicates financial responsibility;
and when it comes to important financial decisions, it can act
like a helpless child. In money arguments Self-Dep will assume
the other person is right, and will give in. They want a partner
who can be a money hero to them and save them from their own
financial naiveté. Subconsciously, Self-Deprecation knows
that if something goes wrong, they can blame the partner. The
lesson for Self-Deprecation is to see the failings of so-called
experts, and realize that it knows more than it realizes.
Arrogance on the other hand likes to be The Big Proud Parent
and the Great Provider. In strong economic times, Arrogance
likes to own things of great value with a ta-da effect: like
the latest camera or biggest house. In weak economic times,
Arrogance really suf-fers in poverty; and if money isn't available
to bolster the ego, Arrogance will find something else that
will --- the intellect, colorful stories that impress, etc.
The lesson for Arrogance is to practice being humble.
Self-Destruction
and Greed have hunger
issues stemming from past experiences of enforced lack. Times
of slow economic recovery are very hard on this Chief Feature
axis, for flagging income is seen not so much as an ego issue
(as it is with Self-Dep and Arrogance) but as a very real life-or-death
issue. The invitation is to open up to a happy life lived simply.
Self-Destruction under financial
stress can become a money rebel. They feel they're being forced
to participate in a financial world they never asked to be part
of. They will self-sabotage in order to keep from committing
to life fully, spending their money wastefully. They tend to
pull in parent-role people who nag them to "get it together."
They'll then accuse the "parent" of being a nitpicker
then will rebel and avoid that person. When Self-Destruction
loses its job, it loses its faith in life and can go postal.
The lesson for Self-Destruction is to learn to live through
hard times without giving up.
Greed around money can feel like a bottomless pit where nothing
is ever enough. America has been operating under Greed for many
decades, so the recent conomic downturn has been especially
hard on them. Greed fears that there will never be enough, so
it packs its house with lots of stuff. In the younger Soul Ages,
Greed creates scams and schemes to cheat others out of their
money. In the older Soul Ages, Greed will take responsibility
for earning its own money, and will wholeheartedly participate
in the competitive marketplace. The lesson for Greed in any
economic crisis is to learn to live with fewer possessions.
Martyrdom
and Impatience in
financial downturns get busy blaming others. This axis represents
a big portion of America's viewpoint right now: Who's to blame
for the economic mess of 2008-2009?
Martyrdom tends to be a money martyr. It falls into suffering
and sacrifice --- sometimes disguised as being a nurturer or
benefactor --- but you sense there's a hidden agenda of resentment.
If it has no money to spend, Martyrdom will make others feel
guilty for even having a little. The lesson for Martyrdom is
to take responsibility for its own financial destiny.
On the other hand, Impatience is an impulse buyer. It buys things
on the spur of the moment --- including impulsively buying houses
it can't afford. Impatience loves financial independence: the
free-dom to buy anything they want when they want it. Their
partner might feel left out of big or small financial decisions.
The economic downturn of 2008-2009 made Impatience impatient
for the stock market to go up again, so the lesson is to learn
how to slow down and enjoy life. Note that about half the population
in Western countries has this Chief Feature.
Stubbornness
is the neutral Chief
Feature which slides to all the other Chief Features under stress.
Stubbornness is a money rebel. It has its viewpoint, and it
doesn't like to be controlled by anyone in authority. In a financial
crisis, Stubbornness doesn't budge, out of fear. It will hold
onto its stock holdings forever, refusing to face facts that
the market might not be the place to invest all the time. Stubbornness
thinks the world is always trying to sway it unfairly, so it
needs security and power to feel OK. Stubbornness under financial
stress will tend to get in arguments over money with store clerks,
waitpersons, the IRS, their partners. The lesson for Stubbornness
is to trust that Whatever It Is that's orchestrating this world
probably knows what it's doing.
*
* *
All of the Chief Features are uncomfortable. To handle your
Chief Features on the personality level, slide to the positive
pole of your Attitude in the Michael system. For instance, if
your Chief Feature is Self-Deprecation and your Attitude is
Stoic, move from Abasement to Tranquility. However, it's more
efficient to bypass all of this, and just stop in your tracks
to move toward what you fear. When you stop to experience your
full fear, it dissolves - along with your Chief Feature.
The
Seven Roles as Parents
(Excerpts
from Expansion newsletter, May
2011)
If you're a parent, you most likely have
what's called a Parent/Child Monad with at least one of your
children. The Parent/Child Monad is one of the 36 major types
of relationships that we can have with someone, along with others
like Husband/Wife, Sibling, Jailer/Jailed, Passionate/Repressive,
etc. In the Parent/Child Monad we have a specific agreement
to be the father, mother or child of someone - whether or not
we're connected biologically.
The Parent/Child Monad most often shows up as our relationship
with our parents and kids, but it can also be a symbolic "parenting"
with our relatives, mates, friends, and even our pets. For instance,
Hugh Hefner tends to pull in women with whom he plays a protective
father. If a young woman has a history of abuse, she may love
the protection of being in Child position with him.
* * *
Although the way you parent is colored in general by what's
going on in the 5th House of your astrology chart, in general
your Role in the Michael system will follow a certain parenting
style - and each Role has its pros and cons:
Server:
Servers make wonderful parents, for
they are able to set aside their own ego drives in order to
serve their kids. The classic Server parent is Mom baking a
pie or Dad helping you repair your first car (or heartbreak).
Pro: Nurturing, comfortable, love taking care of things,
kind, warm. Con: Protective Server parents may find it
hard to release their kids to their own destinies.
Priest:
If you're a Priest Mom or Dad, you're
either trying to change the world for
child perform for youwhile you sit on your kingly chair in the
living room.
One of the great things about being a different Role from that
of your child is you get to trade Role experiences back and
forth. Kids get to step into your Role and you into theirs,
and everybody gets to learn firsthand about different types
of people. That's in fact one of the most valuable things about
being in a family: learning tolerance for those who are different
from us.
