(a) ALPHA-a (b) alpha-A
An Astrologer An Alchemist
Figure 4
N40
If in the light of the considerations already advanced one considers the character-type at birth of some individuals previously mentioned, Jimmy Carter is an Astrologer with a low level of consciousness in both sectors; François Mitterand and Margaret Thatcher are Alchemists with a superior level of consciousness in both sectors and so, too, are Sigmund Freud, Joseph Glemp and Wojciech Jaruzelski. Carl Jung, Pope John-Paul II and Ronald Reagan are Astrologers with a superior level of consciousness in both sectors. President Roosevelt and Lech Walesa are Alchemists with a low level of consciousness on the extrovert side and a superior level of consciousness on the introvert side. However, since we are talking in each of the foregoing instances about adults, their actual character-type differences are somewhat more complex.
Because of the permanent and fundamental importance of innate differences, behaviour expresses but never constitutes character-type, but that is not to deny that the character-type of the adult individual is also partly the result of that person's attitudes towards and interaction with others, in the light of their attitudes towards and interaction with him or her, during the earlier formative period of that person's life in particular.
Reference has already been made to 896 adult character-types, but only 8 fundamentally distinct types have been identified as being present at birth. A certain degree of complexity is, therefore, unavoidable in the argument of this present Chapter and, even at the risk of introducing a certain measure of over simplification, it may be helpful if, at the outset, I provide readers with a preliminary and approximate sketch of the route I propose to follow:1
In (3) above I mentioned the possibility of a person's upbringing being uncongenial to the individual in question. By way of illustration, consider those Astrologer or Alchemist types who have been born without any superior level of consciousness:
(a) ALPHA-a (b) alpha-A
An Astrologer An Alchemist
Figure 4
Alpha-A postulates that during the early formative years, mainly under the influence of each person's parents or surrogate-parents, members of each of these two classes diverge into four sub-groups, giving eight classes in all.5
The Manager type accepts society as it is, at least in general, and prefers to contribute ideas that will guide others in their efforts to getting their own hands dirty. He or she may be the boss of a small two-person outfit or else, as was the case with Jimmy Carter, President of the United States of North America.6
N43 (a) ALPHA-a (b) alpha-A
The Manager The Slave
(c) ALPHA-a (d) alpha-A
The Trainee The Learner
(e) ALPHA-a (f) alpha-A
Professional Criminal Minor Criminal
(g) ALPHA-a (h) alpha-A
Behavioural Neurotic Linguistic Neurotic
The Slave type is equally well adjusted to and acceptant of the prevailing state of the society in which he or she lives. An individual of this character-type also easily accepts guidance and direction from others since, as a Slave, he or she attaches only slight value to ideas and personal fantasies. What persons with this sort of character are inclined to live for are concrete experiences, both in work and at play. Slaves are excellent as road-sweepers, bus-drivers, secretaries - good, in a word, for anything practical. They like to be useful.
The Trainee's condition at birth makes him or her an Astrologer, but the early family background has rendered this naturally predominant component of the character-type structure dysfunctional, so that the Trainee instinctively tries to compensate by making the most of his or her only limited capacity for practical things. The upshot is that Trainees have to fit into society as life-long Trainees - whether as masseurs, beauty specialists, prostitutes, climbers of Mount Everest or circumnavigators of the Globe matters little; these types always remain Trainees, because they have insufficient, natural, practical aptitude for their chosen N44 activity and, of course, no amount of exertion or acquired proficiency in that quarter will clear up their mental fog or satisfy their innermost yearnings, since these remain the Astrological aspirations of the natural learner!
The Learner's condition at birth, on the other hand, makes him or her an Alchemist, but the early family background has rendered this naturally predominant component of the character-type structure dysfunctional, so that the Learner painfully struggles to compensate by making the most of his or her very limited spiritual vision. The result is that Learners find a home in contemporary society as life-long students - whether as denizens of public libraries, research fellows in or Vice-Chancellors of Universities, habitués of neighbourhood adult-education classes or purchasers of encyclopśdias by instalment. These types always remain Learners, because they have insufficient native intellectual drive to grasp any subject adequately, and yet no amount of learning can sooth their physical and very real frustration, nor even satisfy their individual chemistry as introvert Alchemists - what they really need is training!
The typical Criminal's frustrations are, from a psychological point of view, less, at least when considered objectively. This is because in the case of Criminals the naturally predominant side of the character-type structure has not been distorted, so that in this respect any Criminal is more able than a Trainee or Learner to function normally in existing society. Unfortunately, however, early upbringing has resulted in a distortion, sometimes subjectively experienced as a severely frustrating distortion, of the weaker side of his or her character-type structure. This prevents any Criminal from fully coming to terms with society as it is, but the method of compensation adopted tends to be a much more direct one than that adopted by either the Learner or the Trainee…
The Professional Criminal7 clearly understands his or her own social situation, sees that nothing of a merely abstract nature can remedy a concrete frustration (a point the Learner fails to appreciate), and so repeatedly kicks against society in search of N45 satisfaction - repeatedly, because always without any real success, since the real source of the problem lies not in society, but in each particular Professional Criminal's own character-type structure.
The Minor Criminal, on the other hand, is distorted on the extrovert Astrological or Artistic side, and so lacks any clear vision either of society or of his or her own personal problems. Moreover, in the concrete, and as an Alchemist, he or she has a fairly comfortable niche of sorts in society as it is - warm friendships, contacts always ready to help, etc. However, from time to time the Artistic demands for self-expression of a relatively undeveloped and unbalanced fantasy and intuition both spot the opportunity and provide the inspiration for one more anti-social fling, the occasional crime just for the hell of it! - or, alternatively, simply because it happens to be a practical way of satisfying some immediate, concrete need.
The most unfortunate in this group of eight types of characters are, undoubtedly, individuals of the remaining two character-types, the Neurotics. Since their early upbringing has been defective all round, they both lack any adequate self-image and are naturally unable ever to arrive at any clear vision of the society around them. They tend to be most obviously Neurotic in expressing their naturally weakest side. Hence, Neurotic Astrologers exhibit physical behaviour and mannerisms that are strange in some way, and I refer to them here as Behavioural Neurotics; Neurotic Alchemists try to be excessively logical and are typically compulsive talkers, so I call them Linguistic Neurotics.
So much for our preliminary examples.
Three moments are decisive in the formation of the individual's character-type structure and, before proceeding further, I wish to emphasise once more that it is the overall picture that is important and that, even when all the data are available, the theory I am offering is a sustained allegory or an extended parable making use of empirical indications to convey a deeper and more metaphysical vision. Alpha-A character-types are not stereotypes, and I am not attempting to provide any blue-prints. Nevertheless, it is well worthwhile our paying careful attention to three crucial stages in development where the variations to be observed are not merely N46 quantitative, but qualitatively precise mechanisms that can be studied in cybernetic terms.
By the age of about 16 or 17 the individual's character-type has taken shape from the standpoint of his or her psychological capacities for adaptation, in other words, as regards the choice of good or evil, the overall level of awareness, the main thought-structures and the typical behaviour patterns.
Round about the age of 24 or 25 subdivisions which are in function of different sorts of social influence occur within each of the main psychological character-types previously apparent, and there emerges a more nuanced specification of the structures both of one's mental processes and of one's ways of behaving within society. Such differences reflect the civil and cultural differences that characterize the Golden, Silver, Bronze and Iron Ages.8
There is, however, also another set of socially relevant differences which are broadly determined round about the age of 16 or 17, although it is only at about the age of 32 or 33 that they normally come to fruition - depending on each individual's way of perceiving his or her own social rôle, and on each person's decision either to develop that rôle or to leave it undeveloped. These differences issue in the emergence of a variety of more or less expert social types - the established on the one hand, and the non-established on the other.
The foregoing account has provided the reader with no more than a few essential preliminary indications about Alpha-A. No adequate explanation of the whole of this system of character-type classification is at all possible without introducing a multitude of additional caveats and provisos. The purpose of this presentation is more modest. We are living in an age of standardisation in which it is fashionable to attempt to treat everybody alike. That is stupid.
Individuals differ and, as their character-type structures grow towards maturity, it is inevitable that persons should break through the barriers of mass conformity so that, once certain inherent N47 mechanisms have become fully operational, we witness the definitive and stable functioning of qualitatively distinct character-types. Whenever individuals appear to be trying to change, they are, in actuality, only being compelled by intrinsic motivation more fully to express their true character-type and, once this has matured and stabilised, it does not change.
It is often claimed that to change an individual it is enough to transfer that person to a different environment. Nothing could be further from the truth, all the so called ‘common sense’ to the contrary notwithstanding. Individuals do, indeed, need to pass through a period of development and formation but, once they have emerged from adolescence, their character-type structure remains in all fundamental respects what their birth and their family (or surrogate family) environment have made it.
We can begin by looking at the basic fundamental character-types that emerge at about age 16 or 17, though later on I shall introduce some further subdivisions based on later and important moments in character-type structural development. Of these basic types, 8 have already been considered, but the Alpha-A method yields 32 in all, in other words, 4 subdivisions of the 8 types found at birth. Numerologically, this seems appropriate; the environment is an additional phenomenon, in esoteric terms a further quattrain, and when this is dovetailed into the set of 8 native character-types, 32 possibilities result. Very probably you will find that this division into 32 character-types is, from the practical point of view, the most useful and important of all.
Subsequent subdivisions are a function of less essential aspects of the individual's self-consciousness, since they regard his or her greater or less experience, or the way in which a person relates to society at large. Social influences are, of course, very important, but if we wish to evaluate the quality of each individual's inner awareness of self, the sort of social class or the type of civilization to which that person happens to belong is not the decisive factor - such things being much more a positive encouragement of, or else an obstacle to the individual in his or her task of bringing natural talent to maturity and full consciousness. Moreover, depending on each person's interior requirements, any sort of social class or of civilization can and will be experienced and interpreted by that N48 individual as positive or negative in value, so that, also in this way, one person's meat is another person's poison.
(a) ALPHA-a (b) alpha-A
The Manager The Slave
(c) ALPHA-a (d) alpha-A
George Walford Einstein
(e) ALPHA-a (f) alpha-A
Picasso Joan Manning
(g) ALPHA-a (h) alpha-A
Plato Aristotle
Figure 6 exhibits the 8 types from birth in the case of their early formation having been congenial to them both Astrologically and Alchemically, so that the diagram shows no structural change when compared with figure 3 above.
Figure 7 introduces the same 8 types from birth, but in the case of their early formation having been uncongenial to them both Astrologically and Alchemically; this is indicated by the use of darker colours in both the extrovert and the introvert segments of the ovals.
(a) ALPHA-a (b) alpha-A
Behavioural Neurotic Linguistic Neurotic
(c) ALPHA-a (d) alpha-A
Extremely Neurotic Desperado
(e) ALPHA-a (f) alpha-A
Bohemian Extremely Neurotic
(g) ALPHA-a (h) alpha-A
Lucifer Satan
Figure 7
However, as in other dimensions of the process of character-type development, so here, too, the Astrological and Alchemical mechanisms are relatively independent in function. Figure 8 exhibits the 8 types from birth in the case of their early formation having been Astrologically congenial and positive, but Alchemically negative and uncongenial. In the diagram this is indicated by the use of darker colours only in the introvert sectors of the ovals.
N49
(a) ALPHA-a b) alpha-A
Professional Criminal Learner
(c) ALPHA-a (d) alpha-A
Henry Clarke Steve Harris
(e) ALPHA-a (f) alpha-A
Michelangelo Extremely Neurotic
(g) ALPHA-a (h) alpha-A
Nietzsche The Hermit
Figure 8
N50 Finally, figure 9 shows the same 8 types from birth in the case of their early formation, although Astrologically uncongenial and negative, having been experienced as Alchemically congenial and positive; this is indicated in the diagram by using darker colours only in the extrovert sectors of the ovals.
(a) ALPHA-a (b) alpha-A
Trainee Minor Criminal
(c) ALPHA-a (d) alpha-A
Extremely Neurotic Roosevelt
(e) ALPHA-a (f) alpha-A
Patricia Scott Ronald Kyffin
(g) ALPHA-a (h) alpha-A
The Warrior Freud
Figure 9
Taken together, figures 6-9 give some idea of how these 32 fundamental adult psychological character-types originate. Clearly, by a positive and congenial upbringing and environment I mean one that allows and even facilitates the normal growth and development of an individual's natural potentialities within the limits of his or her inherent capacity - something which it would be harder to think of as occurring when difficulties, problems and disturbances are regularly experienced in the course of one's day to day interaction with the environment, especially during the very early years of life and within the bosom of one's own family.
What I have represented in figures 7-9 by the introduction of shading is the situation of a cybernetic mechanism that has failed to achieve its intrinsic possibilities of complete dynamic equilibrium N51 and relative stability as these were present at birth - there is evidently some disturbance running throughout the entire nervous system from a functional point of view, and this has repercussions in all directions for the dynamic relationships between Subject and Object.9
The outcome of this situation, as I mentioned earlier, is that certain individuals whose potentiality at birth was of a high order actually turn out in adult life to be more negative than others whose potential was low. Indeed, one of the advantages of a person's having only a low potential at birth (and it is an advantage which compensates for the disadvantage of never, even in the most favourable of circumstances, being able to grow into a positively superior type) is that, even in the very worst of formative environments possible, one can never turn out worse than moderately bad - whereas somebody born with high potential can turn out very bad indeed. How is all this to be understood in terms of the cybernetic mechanisms at play and of their adaptation?
One of the difficulties experienced in familiarising oneself with Alpha-A methods is associated with my own urgent and repeated insistence on the need to distinguish clearly between what is going on in the mechanism operating in each of the two sectors taken separately, and what is the overall result in each individual character-type structure of such operations coming together. If, for example, a person has problems resulting from negativity in one of the two sectors coupled with a positive development in the other sector, it will frequently turn out to be true that the individual, considered as a whole, is an entirely positive type. It may be helpful to compare this situation with the case of somebody's having lost the use of one hand, but having then made up for this by using the other much more skillfully and effectively.
At times, then, when applying Alpha-A, we are considering adaptation or its absence (disadaptation) in reference to the cybernetic mechanisms in one sector only and taken separately from those in the other, but on other occasions the expressions “adaptation” and “disadaptation” are being used to refer to the N52 complex overall result within the individual's character-type structure as a whole, viz., his or her psychic attunement or lack of it. To begin with, I shall examine the case of each sector taken separately; subsequently, I shall move on to consider what happens within the complexity of each individual character-type.
Whether the sector under consideration is the Astrological segment or the Alchemical one, there are four distinct possibilties for us to examine:
N53 We can now proceed to examine the overall picture as it regards the cybernetic mechanisms at play in each of the 32 types of individual character displayed in figures 6-9 above:
I have now introduced each of the 32 basic character-types in the Alpha-A classification system which, as will by now be readily apparent, implies a stratification of consciousness into four levels of awareness, all of which have, from a character-typological point of view, decisive importance in the adult human being:
7(a) ALPHA•-•a or EDD 7(b) alpha•-•A or IDD
Behavioural Neurotic Linguistic Neurotic
8(a) ALPHA-•a or EPD 9(b) alpha•-A or IPD
Professional Criminal Minor Criminal
7(e) ALPHA²•-•a or DF+ 7(d) alpha•-•A² or DS+
Bohemian Desperado
7(g) ALPHA²•-•a² or TF- 7(h) alpha²•-•A² or TS-
Lucifer Satan
Figure 10
7(c) ALPHA•-•a² or DS- 7(f) alpha²•-•A or DF-
Very Neurotic Very Neurotic
9(a) ALPHA•-a or EDP 8(b) alpha-•A or IDP
Trainee Learner
9(c) ALPHA•-a² or SD- 8(f) alpha²-•A or FD-
Very Neurotic Very Neurotic
6(a) ALPHA-a or EPP 6(b) alpha-A or IPP
Manager Slave
Figure 11 - The Inferior Moral Level
9(e) ALPHA²•-a or PF+ 8(d) alpha-•A² or PS+
Patricia Scott Steve Harris
8(e) ALPHA²-•a or FD+ 9(d) alpha•-A² or SD+
Michelangelo Roosevelt
6(f) alpha²-A or FP- 6(c) ALPHA-a² or SP-
Joan Manning George Walford
9(f) alpha²•-A or PF- 8(c) ALPHA-•a² or PS-
Ron Kyffin Henry Clarke
Figure 12 - The Angelic Level
8(g) ALPHA²-•a² or TF+ 9(h) alpha²•-A² or TS+
Nietzsche Freud
9(g) ALPHA²•-a² or TE- 8(h) alpha²-•A² or TI-
Warrior Hermit
6(e) ALPHA²-a or FP+ 6(d) alpha-A² or SP+
Picasso Einstein
6(g) ALPHA²-a² or TE+ 6(h) alpha²-A² or TI+
Plato Aristotle
Figure 13 - The Level of Attunement
Once again, therefore, there is a division into four parts, something which is inevitably the case when describing any phenomenon, in this instance, the levels of human awareness. On the other hand, it should also be remembered while studying the various details involved in applying Alpha-A methods to the study of character-type structure in order to develop a practical appreciation of the qualitative differences that distinguish the various human character-types, that a sense of the underlying unity, both human and cosmic, of all these various types is also crucially important, needs to be cultivated, and should never be either forgotten or lost sight of. Every type of human being can in some sense make a positive contribution to the general harmony of the whole.
N62 I felt the foregoing observation was particularly called for at this stage, because when I move on to present a more detailed description of each of the foregoing 32 types in the next Chapter, it will be even more necessary for the reader to avoid interpreting any of my remarks too literally, and readers are earnestly requested never to attach excessive weight to the particular observations I happen explicitly to make out of a very much wider range of equally relevant possible remarks I might just as easily have chosen to draw to their attention by way of example and illustration.
In other words, a certain elasticity is always required in applying Alpha-A theory to any given concrete and individual instance. There are, for example, differences in people's intentions, not always simply as a function of character-type but, nevertheless, N63 never without a discernible reference to it - but it doesn't follow that the twitch in a person's eye or the timbre of a particular individual's voice is always a sufficient basis for our decision to assign him or her to one specific character-type rather than another. Yet that is precisely what some students of characterology seem to expect exponents of Alpha-A to be able to teach them to do!
To recapitulate what I have so far said about the 32 basic human character-types, in order to ensure that the relevant principles are clearly stated. The bases I used for all the various distinctions I made were as follows: Each type is extrovert or introvert. The potential level both of the extrovert component of consciousness and of the related introvert component is either low or high. The effective functioning both of the extrovert component and of the corresponding introvert component is either positive or disturbed.
N64 Since this means that 5 criteria are being invoked in order to make the relevant distinctions, there are necessarily 32 distinct character-types (2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 = 32). These 32 types also divide into the four groups of 8 exhibited in figures 10-13 with reference to the different levels of human awareness attained by individuals of each specific character-type. Once the remaining details relating to the various individual types have been introduced and considered, this fact will become even more obvious.
The number 8 expresses a complete set of possibilities, as was, for instance, apparent when I demonstrated that only 8 types of potential are given at birth. Number 8, the octagon, links numerology with metaphysics. At each level of awareness there is this possibility of achieving a relatively complete harmony by relating whichever individual character-type one happens to be to each and every one of the other 7 character-types to be found at that level, thereby completing the octagon.
______________________
1. Readers whose character-type inclines them to excessive rigidity of interpretation may, as I realise all too well, very possibly misunderstand what I am attempting to state as clearly and simply as circumstances permit; I hope that the Glossary in Appendix II will help to minimise their difficulties.
2. It is not necessary in this context to determine whether “is born” can be extended in its range of applications to include situations normally covered by the expresssions “is conceived” or, for example, “becomes three months after conception”, etc.
3. The special meanings of Art, Science, Spirituality and Cooperation in the Alpha-A context will be explained later. In BAWB the approximately corresponding quasi-technical terms employed are also quite different.
4. As well as these various character-typological differences, there are, of course, several other important differences between individuals, such as those that result from hereditary disease, traumatic experience, special circumstances, unusual opportunities, etc. Although some of these will be mentioned later on, their investigation is not within the main scope of Alpha-A.
5. The use of dark colours within the ovals displayed in figure 5 represents a certain imbalance or distortion introduced into the basic foundations of the developing character-type by the maladaptation to that individual's needs of the parental or surrogate-parental influences. As the ensuing diagrams show, such an uncongenial upbringing may have repercussions for the developing personality either not at all, solely in the extrovert sector of the character-type structure, solely in the introvert sector, or in both sectors at once.
6. Despite all that I have so far said about his character-type, the historical Jimmy Carter may actually deserve to be classified more as a Professional Criminal than as a straightforward Manager type. I suggest you review the available relevant data, and then decide for yourself.
7. I am not including in this class the quite different categories of Arch-Criminals, to be considered later.
8. I have already touched upon this important point, and will consider it in more detail in due course.
9. I am using these terms with the meanings previously assigned to them, when discussing figure 1 above.
10. “S” here stands not for “Subject” but for “Sensation”, using this term in a special quasi-technical sense that implies emphatic and superhomoeostatic introversion, a condition which can also be indicated by the alternative coding “a²”. The presence of the minus sign “-” after “SP” indicates that the potential Sensation, which characterises this individual as a type in his or her most attractive features, is less developed than it might be in another type, because it here refers to the Alchemical component only in an individual who is primarily an Astrologer. “P” both here and previously refers to pseudo-adaptation which is, in this case, obviously on the Astrological side, the Alchemical mechanism having been coded as “S”.
11. The plus-sign “+”, which replaces the “-” used in the previous code-sign, here means that Sensation is dominant, not recessive. Similarly, in our alternative coding-system, the use of capital or small letters serves to indicate which of the two segments, the Astrological or the Alchemical, is dominant, and which recessive.
12. “F” stands for “Formalisation”, by which in this context is meant emphatic and superhomoeostatic extroversion, alternatively indicated as ALPHA². Since “F” necessarily refers to the Astrological segment, the “P” here clearly indicates pseudo-adaptation on the Alchemical side, and not - as was the case with types 6(c) and 6(d) - on the Astrological side of the individual's overall character-type structure.
13. “T” means “attuned” or “well-tempered”, while “E” refers to the dominant, extrovert, Artistic, Astrological component. Here the “+” indicates the energy-level of a positive and undisturbed development of the potential for superhomoeostasis in both sectors of the individual's overall character-type structure.
14. “I” here refers to the dominant, introvert, Alchemical side.
15. “•” is used to signify the distorting effects of an uncongenial upbringing and formation.
16. The disadaptation is indicated first, since it is the dominant factor, but Sensation in the Alpha-A sense is acknowledged, albeit in a disturbed state. Because of this disturbance, the coding used is “DS” and not “SD”. The presence of the minus sign after the “S” indicates that the sector which has a certain form of higher consciousness is a recessive, and not a dominant one. In the actual labelling of figure 7, the reference to ‘extreme neurosis’ is another instance of the need never to equate moral values, which are here likely to be positive, with the self-image that the subject consciously projects socially, and which will in this case be a very disturbed one.
17. I use “DS” instead of “SD” in order to show that the higher consciousness is disturbed. The “+” indicates that the Sensation present is dominant.
18. Here, as previously, “F” indicates Formalisation.
19. The use of “T” here is ironic, and justified only by a form of inverted analogy, since there is no true attunement, and the “-” indicates this fact. “F” indicates that it is the Astrological capacity for Formalisation which is dominant in the overall character-type structure.
20. I use “PD” instead of “DP” in order to show that the pseudo-adaptation is on the dominant side, and the disadaptation on the recessive. Since this type is an Astrologer-extrovert, it is also clear from the code that “P” refers to the Astrological, and “D” to the Alchemical side of the overall character-type structure.
21. The use of “DP” instead of “PD” indicates that the disadapted side is dominant, and that the pseudo-adaptation occurs on the recessive side, in this instance, the Astrological-Artistic side.
22. I have written “PS” instead of “SP” by analogy with the contrasting type SP-, since in the present instance the disturbance of the Sensation function is without any grave consequences.
23. This by analogy with type 8(c), but using “+” instead of “-” in order to show that Sensation is dominant, not recessive. This fact, however, does not make all that much difference, and one is still dealing with an Angelic type. Attunement is lacking. Type 8(c) has, indeed, a certain advantage over this type, since more effort is required to take possession of one's recessive side, and this practice in striving compensates for the higher level of awareness occurring in the weaker rather than in the stronger sector of the character-type structure. In any case, since the disturbance present lessens the purity of type PS+ overall, there is no attunement.
24. This type is similar to type 7(f); the overall effect of the disturbance present is, in other words, very much the same with such types whether it originates from one side of the overall character-type structure or from the other, but, for the sake of accuracy, I differentiate between DF and FD.
25. “T” indicates the presence of attunement, and since the Formalisation present is dominant, the suffix attached to the “F” is not “-” but “+”.
26. This coding shows that this attuned type is an introvert, but has not got complete purity as a character-type, hence “-” instead of “+”. However, considering the character-type structure overall, such a disadvantage is only apparent, the individual is attuned, and his or her seeming impurity in character-type merely makes this person more effective in practical concrete terms.
27. For the reasons discussed in reference to types 6(h), 8(g) and 8(h). Until the reader has acquired sufficient working familiarity with at least one ot the two coding-systems I have just introduced, he or she may find it helpful frequently to refer to the relevant diagrams in figures 6-9. This will lessen the danger of his or her becoming confused by the non-ordinary and quasi-technical special vocabulary employed in Alpha-A. Some readers may also wish to annotate their own copies of the various diagrams in figures 6-9 with the appropriate codes, using whichever of the two alternative systems they happend to prefer. As a result of studying the codes provided in the context of the ovoid diagrams, many difficulties will vanish entirely.
N65
Certain types of readers will already have been puzzled by the problem of arriving at an integrated appreciation of my various remarks about ‘morality’ in connection with Alpha-A. To some extent the difficulty is one of terminology, and in introducing you to this radically new system of character-type classification problems of this sort can scarcely be avoided.
As a general rule, whenever a particular character-type is described as ‘positive’ or ‘moral’ or as ‘a moral type’, the implication is simply that the individual consciously attempts to maximise the development of the positive but recessive (and, therefore, not spontaneously self-expressive) component within his or her character-type structure. ‘Morality’ in this sense can exist at a low level of consciousness.
On the other hand, when a specific character-type is called ‘virtuous’, reference is being made to that typically distinct qualitative function which naturally inclines both Angelic and attuned types (although not all of them in adulthood) to relate positively to the other as other, instead of simply seeking their own personal advantage.1
Being ‘Hermits’ both Marco Todeschini and I consistently understand and apply Alpha-A from the Hermit's standpoint, but that does not mean we have any wish to transform all our readers into Hermits! If, for instance, a particular reader happens to be a Nietzsche character-type, it is our belief that, if he or she elects to be true to him- or herself, he or she not only cannot but should not do otherwise than adopt whatever ‘morality’ is consistent with his or N66 her developing self-expression as a person of that specific character-type.2
Alpha-A understands individual, social and historical development as taking place in a spiral fashion. Events never stand still, nor do they ever simply repeat themselves without any sense or direction. Nevertheless, while we may hope for progress, decline also remains an ever present possibility; there is a downward as well as an upward spiral. Each turn in the spiral of history comprises four distinct phases, viz., the Golden Age, the Silver Age, the Bronze Age and the Iron Age, and these four Ages necessarily succeed one another always in this same order, so that every Golden Age is preceded by an Iron Age, and every Iron Age is followed by a Golden Age.3
The Golden Age is one of participation mystique, an era of spontaneous intercommunion and fellowship where the sharing is so vibrantly resonant that individuality seems to be forgotten and constraint is utterly uncalled for. In this happy clime Astrologers are happy to express themselves in a spontaneously extrovert way, and Alchemists live quite naturally as the introverts they truly are. From a political and economic standpoint, this type of society is an anarchy - each and all are free to do their own thing.4
N67 The result of the Alchemists expressing their own introversion by dedicating all their energies to Science is that each and every one of them confines his or her attention to the job in hand or to the game in progress, enjoying experience as it flows. However, when the Astrologers give extrovert expression to their own Artistic creativity one entirely natural result sooner or later is the emerging idea of social organisation - coupled with the will that everybody else in the community should at least give it a try! In this way there inevitably comes a time when the anarchy of the Golden Age gives way to the hierarchical feudal order of the Silver Age.
During this Silver Age all the Astrologers are happy to continue with their extrovert life-style, and to do so quite openly, while the more gifted or the more ambitious among them also come to occupy the high seats of social power and authority. The Alchemists, on the other hand, ruminating (as introverts are naturally inclined to do) over this new situation, resent the fact that society no longer values them simply for being who and what they are, but has clearly become much more concerned about the contributions they can make towards the realisation of the leading Astrologers' social projects, and even expects them to subordinate the satisfaction of their own individually experienced needs and wants to this newly discovered Common Good!
Since human nature is essentially resilient and homoeostatic, the more gifted Silver Age Alchemists very soon hit upon a practical way of overcoming their individual frustrations5 and of gaining effective access at least to some of the levers of social control. This they achieve by masking their Science behind the seeming appearance of Art, presenting Alchemy as if it were itself not actually an introvert and pragmatic process but really a rather special brand of Astrology, in other words, an alternative Art form - Logic, for example, being simply the Art of combining facts!
Hence, in the Silver Age spontaneity is lost. Although Astrologers remain free to exhibit their natural extroversion, Alchemists are in practice required to put on the outward seemings of Art and to N68 keep their real introversion hidden - as the Inquisitors of mediæval Europe viewed ‘the Truth’, heretical is the Science that does not serve ‘Religion’!
Lies beget more lies, and hypocrisy breeds further hypocrisy. The apparent stability of the Silver Age's feudal hierarchy is, therefore, sooner or later very skilfully and effectively challenged as the more adept of the Alchemists, under the cloak of cooperating in the great work of advancing the extrovert interests of whatever Art form happens to be most in vogue at the time, very adroitly expose the underlying rootlessness and sterility of the abstract, pie-in-the-sky, purely formal and excessively legalistic order which Astrologers (most of whom are, of course, not attuned geniuses) are relying on to hold together the entire fabric of society.
For better or worse, therefore, the transition to the succeeding Bronze Age is also eventually inevitable. It occurs when, in order to defend themselves against the insistent claims to power increasingly being made successfully by Alchemists disguised as Artists, some of the brightest among the true Astrologers hit upon the idea of pretending that ‘True Government’ is not and never has been a mere ‘Art’, but is a most eminently practical, although recondite Science, viz., Astrology, their own specialization as it happens, and a science far too complex for mere artists, such as Alchemists, ever truly to apprehend!
In what Alpha-A calls the Bronze Age, then, we witness the disintegration of a previously monolithic society6 into rival and sometimes warring groups and parties, the leaders of which each claim to have the recipe, if not for the entire solution to the problem of living, at least for the satisfactory ordering of all those aspects of life that (according to them) merit the mature mind's serious practical attention! Extrovert Artists pose as masters or mistresses of the Science of Government, while introvert Scientists continue to pretend that they are the experts in the supreme Art of ruling over the hearts of all and ideally fitted to preside over the destinies of nations. Each sticks to what this or that faction proposes simply because it proposes it, and not because of any inner evidence or general advantage.7
N69 The Iron Age follows next.8 This is an individualistic society in which it is each one for him- or herself and devil take the hindmost. Damn you, Jack! Thank God I'm fire-proof! In such a ‘society’ it very rapidly becomes clear to all that Art-and-Astrology do not suffice to feed the people with the bread of life, and that, if we ever are going to get the chemistry of human relationships right again, Science and practical application is called for! So, pull your thumb out, roll up your sleeves, and get on your bike is… ‘the message’!
Hence, to continue with this parable, in contemporary England's Iron Age9 power in practice is mainly in the hands of the Alchemists, the Scientists, the introvert technocrats, while the Artist-Astrologers for the most part seek to prove their social worth by pretending that they are Scientifically useful. Artists, for instance, design car bodies, record sleeves and book jackets, and Astrologers offer us horoscopes that have been printed out in a computer-generated format. In other words, extroverts pose as introverts, but the genuine introverts now show themselves in their true colours and come into their own.
The complete picture is, of course, always far more complex than the simple story I have so far told tends to suggest. Before explaining why this is so, it will be as well to summarise the basics: During the Golden Age in any society the majority of both Astrologers and Alchemists apppear and act as who and what they really and truly are. In the Silver Age, although most Astrologers live openly as Astrologers, Alchemists increasingly find it more convenient to try and pass themselves off as some species of Astrologers. In the Bronze Age, while Alchemists commonly pose as Astrologers, so, too, Astrologers increasingly pose as Alchemists. Finally, during the Iron Age, although Astrologers still N70 pretend to be Alchemists, the genuine Alchemists again reveal themselves in their true colours.
Now, as I have from the very outset taken some pains to make plain, although every human being is of such a character-type as to be predominantly either an Astrologer or an Alchemist, every Astrologer has a dynamic although recessive Alchemical sector in his or her cybernetic character-type structural mechanism, and every Alchemist has a similarly dynamic although recessive Astrological component. This being so, Iron Age Science cannot by itself satisfy mankind's hunger for the bread of life.10 Men and women, even as individuals, do not live by bread alone! Inevitably, therefore, with the next upward (or downward) turn of the spiral, Artists throw away their quasi-Scientific masks, rejoice once more in their freedom and spontaneity as creative Artists, and the anarchy of a new Golden Age occupies the centre-stage.11
However, when such terms are used as practitioners of Alpha-A use them, no actual historical period in any existing society has ever been, is now, or is ever likely to be purely and simply a Golden, Silver, Bronze or Iron Age. Even if, for instance, as in England today, the Iron Age is the stage on which the main although rather tired and almost exhausted dynamism of the nation still predominantly expresses itself and feels most ‘at home’, many ordinary Britons (and not just Tony Benn) nevertheless experience a nostalgia for the vigorous group solidarities of the earlier Victorian Bronze Age, while, on the other hand, an increasingly vocal and growing number of exuberant, anarchist visionaries are already proclaiming the dawn of Freedom (sometimes and quite unashamedly pronounced: Free-Dom!) and a new Golden Age.12
N71 Moreover, there are also individual persons who themselves live through cycles of change in this respect so that, for instance, somebody who was brought up in childhood and early boyhood as a Bronze Age Hermit may in subsequent years have transformed himself into an Iron Age Scientist, eventually acquiring a sufficiently attuned appreciation of Alchemical processes as to commit himself thenceforth to preparing himself and others to cross the next threshold, whenever each one comes to feel the moment is ‘just right’ for him or her.13
No individual or social change, however, ever makes Utopia a present actuality; Omega Point may be valuable as an ideal goal, but it has no concrete reality within the world of human experience and possibilities. To call one Age Golden and another Age Silver, or Bronze or Iron is not to imply that one particular Age is supremely good, and that the others are relatively inferior. This terminology is primilarily used to emphasise that there are real differences between one phase and another in the ever spiralling upwards or downwards homoeostatically dramatic process of our individual and collective history, but it is very important indeed that we learn to appreciate the positive and negative features, the strengths and weaknesses characteristic of every successive phase, that we learn to honour the nature and value of all Ages equally - for, taking the long view, they are all here to stay, and there is no possibility of our ever successfully exorcising any one of them ‘out’ of our system, nor even of our changing the established cyclical order of their successive occupancies of the centre stage…
In a broad philosophical sense we can, of course, content ourselves with acknowledging simply that reality is what it is, and not another thing, that there is no such thing as evil, and that everything whatsoever that either exists or occurs contributes, in N72 one way or another, to the ongoing dynamic homoeostasis of the whole. However, what are we to make of those character-type differences between individual persons that, according to Alpha-A, are very largely the result not of any accident at birth or of any freak of Nature, but the direct consequences within the developing individuals' cybernetic mechanisms of their various, actual, day to day, social relationships between birth and their eventual attainment of at least relative psychological maturity and adulthood?
I have already explained that the eight potential character-types given at birth are essentially neutral from the point of view of the distinction between good and evil, positive and negative. Nevertheless, as we have seen, as a result in particular of their subsequent insertion into, and of their interaction with a family (or surrogate family) environment they experience as either congenial or uncongenial, dynamic contrasts develop, which can be regarded in dramatic terms as expressing a conflict between good and evil.
Philosophically this may be considered as being the perfectly natural result of the insertion of the human spirit, which has by nature a tendency towards abstract thought and pure contemplation, into the flow of dynamic interrelationships that constitute the world of time and space as a dialectic interplay of positive and negative forces. At the empirical level of the cybernetic mechanisms involved there is an exchange of energies at the interface between each individual and his or her immediate environment. These exchanges sometimes facilitate and sometimes obstruct the optimum cybernetic functioning of the nervous system. Gradually modulated stimulation, for instance, tends to have a positive and facilitating effect, but the effect of sudden changes is frequently negative, at least from the point of view of the achievement of stability and harmony within the nervous system.
The total input from the environment to the nervous system, whether considered purely as a field of physical energy or else in terms of the information content it carries, is obviously enormous, and its gradual accumulation throughout the period between birth and psychological adulthood is a development in the direction of a specific threshold-point. Once that threshold has been crossed (rather like passing through the sound-barrier), the individual's N73 specific adult character-type (in the sense of one of the 32 fundamental types introduced and discussed in the preceding Chapter) emerges. This emergence is, therefore, a sort of quantum-leap, a movement to a higher viewpoint, that is, to a focus on life that is qualitatively (for better or worse) different from all that has gone before.14
The result of that emergence is not only the presence within society of individuals of the 32 different character-types so far considered, but also their distribution into four hierarchically different strata or levels of development (as shown in figures 10-13 above), viz., the levels of pure superhomoeostasis, disturbed superhomoeostasis, clear pseudo-adaptation, and disadaptation.
When superhomoeostasis is pure, human awareness grows towards autonomy; unconscious influences are present but are, in practice, integrated in a creative way with the conscious. However, when superhomoeostasis is disturbed, the mingling of conscious and unconscious energies leads to more dynamic results, but conscious creativity no longer enjoys homoeostatic autonomy, in other words, it is not free to give itself completely, positively, and without distractions from within consciousness to truly creative achievement either Artistic or Scientific.
Clear pseudo-adaptation implies a low level of awareness free from disturbance, so that the system operates smoothly and sweetly, but the capacity of the higher faculties to elaborate in any way creatively the inflowing information is slight, so that the tendency is to unburden whatever problems arise in the easiest way possible, and to allow behaviour simply to express reflex animal instinct, there being not much symbolic elaboration of the materials presented to consciousness, so that the system becomes fragmented into a disassociated mass of disparate elements - unsolved moral dilemmas, hypocritical posturings, etc. In the case of disadaptation, the system reacts chaotically, and finds the amount of information it is receiving from the outside or from the higher faculties just too much to cope with - it is rather like a very N74 old man trying to cross a very busy thoroughfare in one of the world's larger cities; he is scared out of his wits by the speed and density of the traffic, and barely manages to move distractedly backwards and forwards a bit, somewhere in the middle of the road!
The wider significance of those brief remarks will, I hope, become much clearer, when we move on to consider in more detail the psychological profile of each character-type within the Alpha-A classification system, and when we also examine some ways in which neuroses and psychoses derive from disadaptations of the sort I have just mentioned. When disadaptation is present, instability within the nervous system easily gives rise to anguish, as well as to its natural concomitants, such as pointless gestures and other forms of behaviour devoid of rhyme or reason, and these, in their turn, give rise to further problems, since disadapted characters are without even that minimum of reflection or self-control that characterises the pseudo-adapted types.
The pseudo-adapted live without anguish, but also without ever really thinking. Heraclitus was not mistaken when (about 2500 years ago now) he described the mass of his fellow-citizens, men and women existing for the most part at one or other of the two lower levels of consciousness, as being persons in a state of sleep. Today, too, we frequently find ourselves surrounded by zombies!
On the other hand, Alpha-A's Angelic and attuned types nowadays have not only the inner freedom but also, more often than not, at least some social opportunity of discretely coming together in effective groups to pool their resources of virtue and altruism, which are, indeed, among their dominant traits of character, even though, of course, granted the limitations of our shared human condition, they are also always qualities which leave plenty of room for further improvement and development.
When I mention 'groups' in this context, I am not thinking merely of family groupings, or meetings of individuals who just happen to live in the same locality, perform similar jobs, or have identical or closely related recreational interests. What Alpha-A strongly recommends is the deliberate association and coming together of Angelic and attuned character-types into groupings containing representatives of all 16 aware types, and my own individual life experience has quite convinced N75 me that this is, in fact, a most valuable means of improving the quality and effectiveness of each individual concerned. This sort of collaboration between different higher level character-types is, therefore, an especially important form of social homoeostasis.
Attuned Astrologers and those Angels who are also at the superior level of awareness in the Astrological sector of their cybernetic character-type mechanism are especially attracted to this sort of homoeostatic activity, since it accords well with their natural liking for communication. On the other hand, attuned Alchemists and those Angels whose superior level of awareness is in the Alchemical sector of their character-type structure are more particularly attracted to a scientific study of all the relevant issues, since their interest is practical achievement rather than attunement simply for the sake of attunement.
There is also an unconscious side to this Astrological quest for attunement and this Alchemical striving for achievement, and this results in two mutually complementary forms of group life - but such unconscious aspects are best left until after we have considered the detailed psychological profile of each of our 32 fundamental types.
Before doing that, a brief word about the further subdivisions within the Alpha-A classication system that permit us to distinguish all human beings according to character-type into 896 distinct groups.15 As our earlier discussion of each of the 32 fundamental character-types has already made plain, 24 of the types exhibited in figures 6-9 (and, differently arranged, in figures 10-13) above are free from pseudo-adaptation in the Alchemical sector of their character-type structure. Each of these 24 types encounters (round about the age of 16 or 17) two alternative typical ways of coming to terms with her or his emerging sexuality,16 so that we are no longer dealing with just 32 but instead with 56 character-types in transition. Since, however, whether or not there are any of these special problems of sexual adjustment to be dealt with, the adolescent development of all character-types is partly determined N76 by whether the individual is introduced by his or her family into society at large protectively or aggressively, the true number of emerging character-types at this stage is not just 56 but 112.
Some members of each of these 112 different classes will feel socially relatively more at home in Golden Age groupings within their own contemporary society, others will prefer Silver Age groupings, others Bronze Age groupings, and others Iron Age groupings, and since groupings of all four sorts are always to be found (albeit in enormously varying proportions) in every society, we find that as a result of peer-group interaction by about the age of 24 or 25 the overall population is always naturally divided according to character-type into 448 different classes.
Finally, and I also mentioned this point earlier, another two alternatives present themselves to each individual round about the age of 32, when he or she may decide either to settle down as he or she then is, or alternatively may deliberately opt to develop his or her previously less evolved features in order to achieve at least relatively adequate individual wholeness, personal integration, and character-type establishment. Hence, Alpha-A's 896 character-types.
At this point in our discussion some of our readers may feel inclined to object that an individual choice cannot possibly properly be regarded as the criterion for a character-type distinction. However, it needs to be remembered that, although all along I have been offering empirically relevant criteria whenever possible, I have at the same time always refrained from claiming that empirical considerations alone are an adequate key to the understanding of essentially metaphysical realities.
In fact, although I have spoken as if there were only 8 specific character-types present ‘at birth’, and as if these were 8 neutral potentialities waiting to be developed, from the point of view of metaphysical actuality, the only subsequently apparent distinction into 896 specifically different character-types is already present at and even before birth, although only in a way that remains latent and hidden.17 Notice, however, that to assign individuals to 896 N77 specifically distinct classes on the basis of their character-type differences is not in any sense to deny that each individual is utterly unique as a person. Alpha-A practitioners do not suggest that just because Titus and Andonicus Hardcastle both happen to be members of, for example, character-type class number 757, they will necessarily as mature adults exhibit identical personality structures, and that there will be no discernible interesting differences between them. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Alpha-A typology operates on the basis of qualitative cybernetic mechanisms within the human nervous system as empirical manifestations of intrinsically distinct metaphysical values, but Alpha-A practitioners also acknowledge the relevance of various other less fundamental but equally real and sometimes quite important factors, some of which I shall have occasion to mention, even if only briefly, at a later point in this presentation.
We cannot hope to advance from a division of human character-types into 32 basic types to their comprehensive classification into 896 specifically different adult character-types without developing a refined appreciation of such psychological phenomena as the interaction of different nervous impulses, the conscious and the unconscious. Although both Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung devoted considerable attention to the investigation of such matters, it is well known that their main conclusions very notably differed, and it is, indeed, one of the main strengths of the Alpha-A perspective that our methods are entirely coherent with those of each of these rival systems. Before enlarging on that claim, it will be as well to provide a more detailed profile of each of our 32 basic character-types.
We can begin by taking a closer look at each of the attuned character-types exhibited in figure 13.
THE PLATO TYPE, 6(g), is attuned and pure, and seeks happiness in the æsthetic and spiritual sense. He or she often develops an interest in living in community with persons at a superior level of consciousness in the interests of an even higher N78 attunement. A person of varied activities, he or she may even take on a bit too much. There is a love of improvisation, and the freedom to embark upon new sorts of activity, especially philosophical, artistic, or otherwise fostering communication with others. Hence, we often find an interest in ecumenism, generosity of spirit, dedication to the work of education, and an attempt to help everybody without making distinctions between persons. This type is also sometimes a bit naïve and ingenuous, but this is counterbalanced by high ego-strength, including a high opinion of oneself, and sometimes an element of pride. He or she likes to make him- or herself noticed by others, is frequently provocative and even ridicules (although without malice) the ignorance of others. Preferred activities include philosophical research, which is directed towards fitting reality into a highly formal structure, often including esoteric studies, and expressed in forms that are literary rather than technical. Examples: Socrates, Plato, Hölderlin, Léon Guérrinckx, Sylvester Houédard.
THE ARISTOTLE TYPE, 6(h), is an attuned Alchemist, and shows a preference for Sensation, Science, analysis and studies directed towards the fulfilment of social needs. He or she is a pure type, interested in theorising, extremely subtle, and of great ability. Although an excellent comedien when in the company of persons incapable of appreciating his or her more serious side, he or she is really (because of his or her great personal purity of intent) too ready to rush into a frank and honest relationship with all comers, even when these have not the slightest interest in self-improvement. He or she likes life to be calm and serene, and is able to find deep joy in all circumstances of life, facing misfortune almost with indifference. His or her interests are encyclopśdic, but gradually he or she will tend to weld everything together into a vast complex system, this being the goal of his or her personal research and philosophical and scientific endeavours. Although apparently very open and jovial, on closer acquaintance he or she is found to be rather retiring, because this person is an introvert. His or her capacity for adaptation to all sorts of circumstances is illustrated by the fact that in contemporary Western society he or she may work excellently well as a University lecturer, despite having very little real interest in teaching! In private life, too, he or she is capable of on the one hand concentration, seriousness and taking an interest in politics, and on the other hand of off-handedness and deliberate N79 superficiality, especially in a way that is brilliantly ironic. Examples: Aristotle, Hegel, Olivia Brun, Myfanwy Moran.
THE WARRIOR TYPE, 9(g), is an attuned type with a certain amount of suffering and impurity, that he or she manages to transcend by plunging into energetic introvert activities, often those which call for practical action, but always within the context of a vision that is both spiritual and detached. He or she is extremely eclectic and encyclopśdic, but is principally interested in subjects calling for intuition, since these offer scope for the basic extroversion of his or her nature; this type is not interested in abstract schemes, but wants to see theory verified in practice. Being an Artist, he or she is poetic, often active in the arts, and always full of real emotional warmth. People like this type, and he or she relates to others with great astuteness and affability. Privately, however, he or she is often dissatisfied by the superficiality of these social contacts, and is searching for genuinely disinterested friendship. He or she frequently devotes time to sporting activities, and also enjoys living in the countryside. Examples: Gśthe, Alexander Solhenitsyn, Carl Jung, Bishop Michæl Micari, Pope John-Paul II, Horacio Labat.
THE HERMIT TYPE, 8(h), is an attuned type with a certain amount of suffering and impurity, that he or she manages to transcend by a markedly effective attention to extrovert activities, either by relations of communication with other aware types - attunement being reckoned of great value, but also as a way of giving expression to his or her capacity for theory and the erection of formal structures. Sometimes this leads to a certain amount of abstraction and excessive reliance on schemes, but this frequently proves acceptable in social contacts with academics. This type is, however, essentially an Alchemist, so that the problems in which he or she shows interest always have a practical side to them, and may easily have political implications. Others tend to welcome him or her as an intellectual, but are inclined to underestimate the real person, failing to appreciate his or her deliberately and cautiously rather hidden side, including personal relations, encyclopśdic interests, and artistic pursuits. Sometimes he or she is impulsive and a bit sentimental; his or her dedication is great, even excessive on occasions, and focuses on projects of vast practical scope, linked to his or her spiritual vision of reality. Examples:N80 René Descartes, Immanuel Kant, Hermann Fichte, Marco Todeschini, Colin James Hamer.
THE NIETZSCHE TYPE, 8(g), is attuned and much given to Artistic, communicative, extrovert and spiritual activities. Not being entirely pure, he or she looks out for ways of expressing such interests at the social level, and so is often associated with artistic and philosophical movements. In this way, he or she may occasionally become rather commercial, but the spiritual intent of his or her quest for a higher attunement is never lost sight of. In private life crises of frustration erupt from time to time, but he or she is always able to appreciate the funny side of all this, being, in fact, imaginative, unpredictable, and something of a comedien. With people in general, he or she fluctuates between moods of excessive generosity and times when his or her behaviour is provocative to the point of distraction, with his or her sense of personal superiority taking on a form that is almost wicked. Examples: Kierkegaard, Feodor Dostoevsky, Friedrich Nietzsche, Miguel de Unamuno, Anuschka Jordan, Angela Vanderman.
THE FREUD TYPE, 9(h), is an extremely introverted, attuned individual, reserved, prudent in the extreme, sometimes timid. He or she is Scientifically highly gifted, with a talent for analysis and research, but hesitates about bringing his or her knowledge together into a systematic and theoretical form. Not being pure as a type, he or she is very keen to achieve success in terms of social status, being very clever and cordial in dealing with others. He or she may, indeed, be a statesperson of high value. When the going gets rough, he or she is not prominent, but remains safely in the background. There is often a certain amount of cynicism, but the focus on the spiritual and collective good is authentic, and is never lost sight of. He or she enjoys friendship, and anything that is comical and amusing. In his or her private life this person's conduct is quite the reverse from what somebody knowing this individual only at work would imagine. There is a distaste for formality, and lots of glee. Examples: Heraclitus, Saint Augustine of Hippo, Sigmund Freud, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, General Wojciech Jaruzelski, Cardinal Joseph Glemp, Dom Aldhelm Cameron-Brown.
THE PICASSO TYPE, 6(e), is pure, attuned, and an extrovert Artist, even a bit deficient on the introvert side, but a genius in his N81 or her talent for communication. Love of the comic often develops into a professional career, and also expresses itself in private life where, however, it has nuances of sadness and irony. He or she is frequently under-rated and thought to be superficial, but has in reality a very through appreciation of the problems which, quite deliberately, he or she prefers to treat light-heartedly. There is a certain over eagerness to make contacts with all and sundry, sometimes a certain ingenuousness, because of the great purity of this type. He or she likes children and family life, but is oten unable to resist extra-marital affairs. There is a fascination for the most varied sorts of experiences, in which he or she finds stimulation with which to enrich the development of fantasy and imagination to a maximum. In artistic terms he or she is frequently idiosyncratic, and hasn't the slightest interest in the intellectual and cultural implications of his or her own work. Examples: Charlie Chaplin, Pablo Picasso, Piet Mondrian, Dizzy Gillespie, Woody Allen.
THE EINSTEIN TYPE, 6(d), is attuned, Scientific, extremely pure, sometimes very naïve, but always a genius when it comes to either research or its practical applications - and this at all levels, both theoretical and social. He or she is very subtle in personal relationships, and quick at weighing up any situation. When it comes to politics, he or she is inclined occasionally to exaggerate his or her own degree of influence. On the whole, however, this person's activity throughout is that of generous and ecumenical dedication in the highest humanitarian and spiritual sense. Occasionally a bit anti-social, his or her interest for pretty well everything that is going on leads, nevertheless, to frequent contacts with most sorts of people. In private life there is a tendency towards tragic pessimism, but this is overcome by the ability to appreciate with modesty such small spiritual consolations as are attainable. When he or she has time to spare and is so inclined, he or she can easily make others think highly of him or her; but often persons of this character-type are quite happy to let others think whatever they please. Examples: Democritus, Galileo, Einstein, Reginald Wrugh, Elizabeth Byrne, Francesca Rossetti.
I turn next to the 8 basic Angelic character-types exhibited in figure 12.
N82 THE RONALD KYFFIN TYPE, 9(f), has been so named in memory of a personal friend of mine, now sadly deceased, a former full-time teacher of remedial English in Wormwood Scrubs Prison. Although an introvert, this is an Angelic character-type whose superior level of consciousness is in the extrovert sector, which makes him or her interested (like the Picasso type) in Art and communication, but with rather more of the introvert's characteristic emphasis on the practical side of things, for example, by finding a useful application for his or her Artistic self-expression in the shape of design, architecture and photography. She or he doesn't like intellectualism in philosophy, and prefers to remain sceptical about all attempts to fit things into schemes. Instead, he or she dedicates him- or herself with great versatility to all the so called minor arts, and the disturbance in the Astrological sector of this character-type's cybernetic mechanism leads to a certain dispersal of energies, with a love for continuously trying out new techniques, for instance, as a craftsperson, or in the use of novel visual forms of expression. Opposition to formal schemes may (also on account of this Astrological disturbance) become quite exaggerated. Synthesis proves difficult, and disorder is apparent both at home and in one's place of work. He or she likes new experiences, including extra-marital affairs, but is basically somewhat reserved and anti-social, the main interest being in technical and practical inventions, and in research leading to their eventual discovery. Examples: Sextus Empiricus, Henry David Thoreau, Ronald Kyffin.
THE JOAN MANNING TYPE, 6(f), has been named after a well know horse-woman and animal-lover currently living in the Cotswolds. Characters of this type are very similar to those of the Ronald Kyffin type, and love to express themselves in the so called minor arts, without, however, restricting their attention in this instance to the visual arts since, depending on the surrounding cultural influences, all manner of artistic forms may also come to be included - music, for instance. This type then tends to take too much interest in sound effects and in the actual ways of manipulating the instruments, and this prevents his or her ever becoming ‘a musician’ in the proper sense of that term. There may also be a certain amount of interest in such things as helping to make stage scenery and costumes, inserting dance sequences into a theatrical performance, etc. I could also repeat most of what I said above about the Ronald Kyffin type, but omitting all those traits which result from that type's Astrological disturbance, which N83 doesn't feature in the Joan Manning type at all. He or she is quite well organised and capable of undertaking long-term and very sound projects. This type is also fun-loving, fond of living in the countryside, and ready to take part in sporting activities, even when these are dangerous (this last remark is also applicable to characters of the Ronald Kyffin type). Sometimes he or she is rather naïve, which is understandable enough in the light of the purity of this sort of character. He or she also loves freedom and independence, even to the point of being something of an individualist, prudent, sometimes timid (quite rightly) in his or her dealings with others, since he or she is aware of being of a naturally ingenuous disposition, and of his or her consequently sometimes excessive generosity. Examples: Joan Manning and a French farmer called Jean-Marie.
THE MICHELANGELO TYPE, 8(e), is Angelic and very Artistic, continually projecting him- or herself in communicative forms of self-expression, and in this context the disturbance in the Alchemical sector has some positive advantages, since it makes possible a higher degree of sensibility and artistic emotional response. Nevertheless, in private life this disturbance can lead to quite a lot of insecurity and weakness in practical matters, although the energy of the self-projection into the main areas of interest allows these difficulties to be transcended. In every sort of situation his or her imagination and intuitions are brilliant. He or she welcomes communication with all comers, and this sometimes assumes a form that is rather naïve. There may also be some interest in theories of education, but more often than not persons of this character-type get down to work without thinking too much about the social relevance of it all. Examples: Michelangelo, Christine Susan Stallion.
THE PATRICIA SCOTT TYPE, 9(e), is named after the leader of a select and long established London esoteric group, which formerly flourished in Victoria and Islington. He or she is an Artistic Angelical type with notable talents for self-expression and communication. On account of the Astrological disturbance there is a great tendency to run away from formal schemes, so that this type is sometimes incapable of synthesis, and is naturally inclined to remain scattered about a bit. Nevertheless, his or her researches are always productive in the main, and the continual quest for new experiences and for more communication with all N84 sorts of people leads on to novel results, including highly original complex compositions, often ones that are very amusing. He or she is very responsive in private life, affectionate within the family circle, and fond of life in the countryside. His or her marital relationships are unstable. There is a liking for improvisation and, as is true of many Artistic types, a hatred of regulations and appointments according to a fixed time-table. Not being a pure type, when somebody treats this person unjustly, he or she becomes very aggressive, although it is very difficult for him or her to reach the point of doing any real harm. In his or her projects this type likes to tell others what to do, and so takes an interest in education and in young children. Examples: Patricia Scott, Patricia Melanie Small.
THE HENRY CLARKE TYPE, 8(c), has been named after a former head of the BBC's Italian service. He or she is a practical, introvert, Angelic type with a superior level of consciousness on the Alchemical side. Fundamentally, however, he or she remains an extrovert, but the gifts for communication, affability and leadership find expression mainly in a context of practical activities, since the Astrological awareness is at a low level. These types can be good scientists, but are more interested in practical applications for their abilities, without excluding the political and academic aspects. As professional people they are of great value, models of correctness, and very inventive. The type is somewhat timid, because of the introvert component being disturbed, which also results in a certain instability, linked, however, to great astuteness and flexibility. His or her private life tends to be excessively regulated and lacking in spontaneity. Such persons make out that they accept the most current ideas, but they actually have a strong spirituality, although its nature is, quite deliberately, never closely defined. For this reason their relationships with attuned types are often cold and distant, but they are inclined to have dealings with all and sundry, including people of the most negative sort. Example: Henry Clarke.
THE GEORGE WALFORD TYPE, 6(c), has been named after a once well know figure in the Walsby Society. This type is an Angel to whom one may apply all that I said about the Henry Clarke type, except that, since there is no disturbance in the introvert sector, one finds greater stability, much prudence and no particular timidity. His or her Scientific works is consequently more regulated, always with an orientation towards its practical applications, for N85 instance, in such fields as medicine and psychology. His or her private life can be too highly regulated, and with a constant astute calculation of practical advantage. Nevertheless, by and large this person's interior life is very pure, and his or her interests are vast, even if a bit superficial, extending to art, travel, etc. Examples: George Walford, Jonathan David Solomon.
THE ROOSEVELT TYPE, 9(d), is an extremely introvert Angel with considerable talent for practical and Scientific work. Because of the disadaptation on the Astrological side, he or she cannot put up with formal structures, pure research or the contemplative life. Hence, there is always a self-projection into highly practical technocratic activities which permit the application of the results of research into economics and political science, etc. His or her vision is more penetrating than that of the other practically oriented Angels, and he or she often succeeds as a technocrat or states-person. On the other hand he or she finds life less peaceful, is constantly in upheaval and also, on occasions, frustrated. It seems natural to individuals of this character-type to let private life rather go by the board, other objectives being felt to be more important. He or she loves directing others, not with a show of affability, but astutely, with a sense of comedy, and with an exact appreciation of the part they can play in the accomplishment of his or her own plans. Examples: Roosevelt, Lech Walesa.
THE STEVE HARRIS TYPE, 8(d), has been named after a dolpin-loving retired sea-captain with a keen interest in the ideas of Krishnamurti. He or she is an introvert Angel with considerable talent for applied Science, highly effective in the practical side of life, and affable in relationships with all categories of persons. Nevertheless, the Alchemical disturbance makes him or her somewhat diffident and rather closed. He or she is an individualist, although always in a way that is spiritual and sincere. Thus, he or she remains somewhat wary of contacts with attuned types, and prefers to develop a line of his or her own, sometimes becoming too attached to it - in some instances even ingenuously so. When individuals of this character-type manage to overcome their own shyness, they show themselves to be generous and unselfish, even though they may still insist on their freedom to grow in their own way. Their private life is peaceful and interesting, personal interests being extensive and of considerable depth. Example: Steve Harris.
N86 We examine next the 8 basic character-types whose consciousness is at what we have called the inferior moral level; these are exhibited in figure 11. Individuals whose character-types fall into one or other of these 8 classes are far too numerous (and far too easily recognised) for there to be any need for me to name any particular examples.
THE MANAGER TYPE, 6(a), is a pseudo-adapted sort, who lives at the level of consensus morality, with extroversion dominant. His or her talent for directing others is considerable so that, even if this means compromising him- or herself very considerably, this individual may achieve a lot of kudos and prestige both in business and in society at large. Little importance is attached to values of conscience, but this is masked by a polite show of interest in everything. In the background there is always a certain fear of not being sufficiently looked up to by others. He or she does a lot of work in an orderly fashion, but slowly, without much intelligence or originality, yet at the same time very prudently and with a certain subtle astuteness. In private life this type is communicative, open with everybody, calm, quite ready to improvise, but always within the framework of socially acceptable limits. His or her sense life is usually very satisfactory, also in the matter of sexual encounters, but marriage often proves difficult, since he or she always insists in on being the boss. Frequently, too, there is avarice and greed, but not organised fraud in the full sense. When placed in positions of authority and power, such types are on the whole tolerant and forward thinking, but only moderately so.
THE SLAVE TYPE, 6(b), is tranquil and serene, usually concentrating on the small pleasures of everyday life on the material and sensuous side, the pseudo-adapted introversion being dominant. He or she is more modest than the Manager and is somewhat timid, preferring to obey orders and to work according to rule. On this account he or she also feels more highly deserving than anybody else, and so suffers occasional attacks of conceit, sometimes tending to become a bit bossy towards people who find work hard to do. This type is happy to be made use of in return for some small reward, but insists on being treated with politeness. He or she has self-confidence but not much intelligence, and is quite incapable of improvisation outside pre-established arrangements. Private life is serene and pleasant, but devoid of any great emotional experience, unless one counts as such the small N87 satisfactions of daily life both at home and when travelling about as a tourist. This type's attachment to consensus morality is generally genuine, and their appreciation of friendship is sincere; indeed, their readiness to sympathise with everybody without distinction is sometimes quite ingenuous.
THE TRAINEE TYPE, 9(a), is an extrovert at the level of consensus morality, and shares with the Manager a capacity for doing work that calls for a certain amount of common johnny. He or she doesn't like being manipulated by others, but is not very good at giving orders; usually he or she settles for something more technical, where one can get on with things in one's own way, which will always involve a certain amount of disorder, due to the Astrological disturbance, so that only he or she actually knows where things are, or what is the next thing to be done. Cultural interests are frequent, but practical activities turn out to be more successful. This type loves to talk without any special end in view, and can develop an interest in or talk about pretty well anything. There is a large fund of good will and a sort of affability - but also an attempt to draw profit from every situation in order to acquire power or some other sort of advantage. In private life he or she is unsettled and nervous, but manages to live pretty well on the whole, giving lots of attention to his or her own forms of pleasure, which are regarded as very important.
THE LEARNER TYPE, 8(b), resembles the Trainee as regards acceptance of consensus morality and his or her cultural interests, which in this case are the expression of an attempt to get away from the disadaptation in the dominant Alchemical segment of the personality. This type is also capable of management, and to that extent resembles the Manager. Indeed, the Learner possesses affability, a good sense of order, and can even be too precisely meticulous! Any cultural activities he or she develops will tend to be recondite and pointless. Despite their wide-ranging interests, these types lack life and imagination. Learners succeed better in practical activities, especially as officials and bureaucrats, in which positions they are hated but respected. They never depart from the letter of the moral law, but their pedantic interpretation of it often leads straight to disaster. All the same, in their personal relationships they are very astute and subtle. Their private life is tranquil and well ordered, but with frequent crises of depression, problems with their physical health, and recurrent difficulties in N88 their sense lives. Despite all this, and thanks to their good will, they manage to organise the family well, with a sufficiency of amusements and a satisfactory standard of living.
FOUR EXTREMELY NEUROTIC TYPES, 9(c), 7(c), 8(f) and 7(f):
Type 9(c) has some features in common with the Roosevelt type, but at the less ambitious level of consensus morality, because of the great amount of nervousness and restlessness to which the Astrological disturbance gives rise. This type is more active than either the Manager or the Trainee, and inclined to recklessness and megalomania. His or her technocratic ambition never leads to the desired result, and he or she is always obliged to settle for a compromise. In private life his or her ideas are banal, but this type remains convinced that he or she is in the right, even when actually sacrificing all his or her own true interests to his or her ambition for practical success. Such types never cease to believe in their own great artistic and intellectual gifts, since they are aware that their consciousness is somehow at a higher level - but they never advance beyond the starting-point of anything they undertake! They appreciate friendship and the pleasures of the senses, and they never go without these, even in the midst of all their convulsive activity. They are also easily drawn into interminable discussions, even when the point to be decided is one of only slight interest. On the other hand, they are just as capable of making up their minds on impulse without any reflection at all, even when the question is one of much more importance. Nevertheless, they are, by and large, subtle and astute.
Type 7(c) - with regard to this type I could repeat all that I have just said about type 9(c). The difference is that here there is also a disturbance on the Alchemical side, so that the restlessness and confusion is even greater, the megalomaniac practical projects being always castles in the air. There are good ideas at time, but putting them into practice is always something done in a nervous rush, relying too much on mere wishful thinking, behaving superficially, and taking pointless risks. Such types never manage to make any positive use of their astuteness and subtlety, with the result that they find themselves obliged to compromise, possibly ending up in very modest circumstances and in subordinate positions. They keep themselves within the bounds of consensus morality, even when their sense of desperation inclines them to N89 break the law. They have some real appreciation of friendship, but still keep on trying, unsuccessfully, to make use of other people. Their sense of life offers them a minimum of shelter and comfort amidst the storms of life.
Type 8(f) is another extremely neurotic type, similar to the two just mentioned in the sense that he or she finds life very difficult, and never succeeds in actually developing the superior abilities which he or she is confusedly conscious of possessing. With this type, however, the inhibitions and frustrations are those of the introvert, including ingenuousness, ineptness in dealing with others, vague flashes of intelligence, and crises of dissatisfaction. Difficulties in the sensory systems find their expression in private life and also in the chaotic states of their social activities. They feel they can direct others, are constantly disappointed, and are usually unwilling to admit their own failure. They do have some Artistic talent, but they exaggerate it and, because of their own pride, finish up ruining their own work. They are extremely moody, sensitive, isolated and anti-social. They never manage to find peace in their private life, though a minimum of equilibrium is restored by their artistic and cultural interests.
Type 7(f) - Here again, I can repeat all that I have said about the immediately preceding extremely neurotic type, 8(f). The difference is that here there is also a disturbance in the Astrological segment of the character-type mechanism, so that one finds even more frustration, including a markedly psychotic depression, and no ability to develop the Artistic talent, even though this is still confusedly felt to be present. In this situation, the point of balance remains the attempt at cultural research, but whereas type 8(f) did at least achieve something, this type never achieves results of any consistency. In private life he or she is utterly incapable of letting go of his or her own fixations, or of overcoming the isolation in which he or she finds him- or herself. Ingenuity in this direction, however, leads persons of this type to moralise, especially on things which are utterly insignificant; in moments of desperation such persons are fully capable of actions which are both reckless and dishonest.
N90 I move on now to review the 8 character-types whose consciousness is at the inferior negative level, as exhibited in figure 10.
THE BEHAVIOURAL NEUROTIC TYPE, 7(a), frequently manifests signs not only of neurosis but also of schizophrenia. Here we have a case of double and so emphastic disadaptation, from which there is no escape. He or she may express the conviction of being a misunderstood and persecuted person of genius! Being extrovert, this character-type is inclined to be communicative, and this usually takes the form of expressing anger, passing the time talking into thin air, giving him- or herself airs, and assaulting other people. Usually a social reject, he or she is content whenever somebody is willing to listen, even if this is done in bad faith and purely as a matter of form. On the other hand, as soon as anybody contradicts a person of this character-type, his or her fury knows no bounds! He or she is extremely ingenuous, vicious, dishonest, and incapable of accomplishing anything.
THE LINGUISTIC NEUROTIC TYPE, 7(b), is also a doubly disadapted type, and so practically beyond all hope of recovery from his or her absurd psychic condition. In this context we encounter another type studied in psychiatry as an instance of ‘maniac psychosis’. Being introverts, Linguistic Neurotics are highly inhibited, with a very obvious feeling of inferiority, and everybody makes a joke of them. Even though they sometimes manage to achieve something in their work, thanks to their incredible pedantry (which occasionally makes them highly valued as bureaucratic officials), on the whole, society rejects them. Their manias develop gradually in one particular direction, which may, for example, be cleanliness about the house, illnesses, or taking care of machinery, etc., and once they become addicted to their particular specialisation, they will brook no contradiction. They are convinced that they are misunderstood and that they are being persecuted, and they find a safety-valve for their naughtiness in all the shabby little tricks in which they indulge whenever they get the chance.
THE PROFESSIONAL CRIMINAL TYPE, 8(a), is always a dangerous, able and dishonest individual. Such persons frequently attain powerful positions in society, since they are ambitious, aggressive, astute, unscruplous and not afraid of hard work. In N91 many ways they resemble the Managers on account of their ability to direct and also because of their affability, but the Professional Criminals' Alchemical disadaptation makes them more moody, unstable and, in particular, better at starting a business than at keeping it going. Being two-faced, they are good at putting on a show of great moral concern whenever it suits them to do so. They pretend to know about and to be interested in all sorts of things, but always remain on the surface. When they feel they have made it, they attach great importance to their own sense of ‘honour’ (as members of the Mafia understand ‘honour’), and this is their substitute for morality. In private life everything is subordinated to public ambition, and they remain poor frustrated creatures. The disadaptation of their sensory mechanism deprives them of any genuine feeling of satisfaction, and their only interests are their own vices, riches and other luxuries - to all of which they attach great importance. They are intolerant and unwilling to listen to other people's opinions, being always convinced that they themselves are in the right, whereas, of course, they are invariably stupid and devoid of conscience, and sometimes also quite naïve.
THE MINOR CRIMINAL TYPE, 9(b), is, like the Professional Criminal, devoid of all moral feeling. Being Alchemically pseudo-adapted introverts, persons of this character-type are somewhat timid, self-effacing and incapable of directing others. Indeed, they are very often complete idiots, ignorant and without talent. They are fully capable of every sort of stupidity, even in the accomplishment of the very simplest task. Their private life is a bit more peaceful than that of the Professional Criminals, but they devote themselves to silly, pointless activities which don't call for any thought. They think they are clever, because they are capable of petty fraud, such as shop-lifting in a supermarket. They also believe that their own private life is interesting, simply because they can find satisfaction in sensory pleasures and life in the countryside, but such things are never more than vague interludes without any conscious place in the mainstream of their lives.
THE LUCIFERIAN TYPE, 7(g), is a character of great energy, intelligence and genius, but all in the service of individualistic purposes, and completely without scruple. Being an extrovert, this type is usually very interested in Art, communication, philosophy, ideologies and anything theoretical, but this type remains essentially eclectic with talents in all fields, including the practical. N92 Society normally welcomes this type as an intellectual, since he or she makes a clever pretence of being in possession of important theories. In reality, however, such persons are only playing with words, turning people into a laughing-stock and getting them to believe precisely what they want them to come to believe. The Luciferian type hates the common people and all those without higher awareness, and would like to do away with them. In particular, he or she wants all power, luxury and honour in his or her own hands. The ideological structures erected by such persons are extremely dangerous, and always form the basis of social division, war, revolution, extremist sects and factions. The Luciferian type sacrifices the real flavour of life on the altar of private megalomania, and so turns his or her own creative impulse, which is quite frequently imaginative and poetic, into something quite odious. Examples: Aristophanes, Cicero, Friedrich Engel, Firpo, Bobbio, Adolf Hitler, Bertrand Russell, Sir George Trevelyan, Ronald Reagan.
THE SATANIC TYPE, 7(h), is similar in every way to the Luciferian type, but is less inclined to theorising and communication, with a meaglomania that takes on a more practical form, a talent for management, and a capacity for large-scale practical projects, such as establishing a Mafia organisation, or setting up a dictatorship. Ideologies are for persons of this character-type only the pretext for imposing their own ideas on everybody, something which, wherever possible, they much prefer to accomplish by force. As with the Luciferian type, the Satanic type's vision of the Cosmos is that of something gyrating around him or herself, and he or she is convinced that that self is the only real value worth considering. Hence, persons of this character-type are ready to undertake anything, however inhuman, and yet to remain at the very same time utterly convinced that that course of action is more than fully justified! He or she could make a successful study of anything, but generally shows a marked preference for politics, which seems to offer most scope for turning Scientific understanding to practical advantage. In any grouping of ordinary people, this type stands out as the natural leader, and others very easily allow themselves to be manipulated by such types. The Satanic type really hates humanity, and his or her cynicism is often also quite amusing, since he or she makes a fool of those who are unaware and, at the same time, laughs at the ways in which they are letting themselves be used. Nevertheless, other people often regard these types as N93 very intelligent persons of great value and perfect honesty. In private life he or she is always in a headlong rush, without a moment to spare to stop to think or simply to enjoy life, since every moment and every ounce of energy is devoted to vice and to the enslavement of others. Examples: Machiavelli, Cardinal Richelieu, Stalin, François Mitterand, Margaret Thatcher.
THE BOHEMIAN TYPE, 7(e), is completely ingenuous and utterly incapable in practical matters, but he or she attains some considerable capacity for extrovert and Artistic communication. Interest in other persons is always directed to purposes of personal advantage, and this may lead him or her to overcome his or her basic ingenuousness, thereby becoming a very dangerous sort of person. The Bohemian likes to treat all with cordiality, to be some sort of teacher in order to show off his or her own ability, and to moralise about equality and the possibility of everybody's rising to a level of awareness comparable to his or her own! These apparently highly moral views in favour of compassion and altruism do not prevent this type from remaining completely selfish in practice, any idea of charity being limited to a somewhat naïve attempt to tell other people what to do for the sake of their own improvement. All this notwithstanding, the Bohemian has often a deep understanding, especially of things concerning the arts, but is incapable of organising or of making any practical use of his or her ideas. His or her emotional values are irrational, and it is here the type's worst tendencies develop, including a proneness to anger and to other vices. Example: Jimmy Carter.
THE DESPERADO TYPE, 7(d), is, like the Satanic type, very energetic and active, but too much of an adventurer and never properly organised. The desire for personal power is the only force that moves the Desperado and, even in private life, this type can think of nothing else, except possibly when trying to work out some new ideas (often ridiculous and confused ones) with the aim of obtaining some further practical advantage. The disorderly nature of this type's activities often severely restricts the extent of his or her success, but the Desperado never stops undertaking something new and is, to that extent, virtually indestructible. Persons of this sort are buffoons, and when one of them has managed to rule over a nation for a year or so, even many years later people will still tell stories about their crazy capers. Indeed, their actual wickedness is sometimes underestimated on this N94 account. Their only real satisfaction is that which they derive from using other people for their own purposes, and their own ideas and culture are usually very superficial indeed. Their strength is not cordiality, but action. Examples: Mussolini, Jacques Chirac.
Some of the examples we have named individually above may strike the reader as puzzling and perhaps even shocking. What have Hitler, Ronald Reagan and Sir George Trevelyan got in common? The question is entirely natural and fully justified, and the simplest (and most truthful) answer is - Nothing at all! However, before proceeding further with this presentation, some sort of explanation seems appropriate.
Alpha-A classifies persons according to character-type into 896 specifically different classes which, although not fully discernible by the application of empirical methods until the individuals in question have attained the age of about 32 or more, are, nevertheless, believed, from a metaphysical point of view, to date back at least to the time of their birth into this world. Since the profiles just provided suppose a classification that merely discriminates between the 32 most basic character-types, without entering further into specifics, it is not at all surprising that individuals whose actual characters are very different indeed have occasionally been allocated to what (at this stage) appears to be the same class. Hitler, for instance, was a Silver-Age Luciferian type, while Ronald Reagan was clearly an Iron-Age individualist; their social circumstances and historical opportunities were, moreover, also vastly different - so much so that, even if they had been of identical character-types, their life-styles would still have exhibited profound differences.
Because I am an Iron-Age Hermit and Marco Todeschini is a Golden-Age Hermit our perceptions frequently diverge, and while (in deference to his judgment) I have here named Sir George Trevelyan as an Iron-Age Luciferian, I suspect that it may be more correct to classify him as a Bronze-Age Warrior type. There is, moreover, a vast difference between detailed case studies of individuals and a broad overall account of the underlying theoretical framework of metaphysical principles and empirical methods which underpins, supports, integrates and lends meaning and direction to such studies, and what is here being presented is N95 simply a preliminary overall account of Alpha-A as a general character-type system. Whether, for instance, the historical Jimmy Carter is best classified as a Manager, as a Professional Criminal or as a Bohemian is, as far as Todeschini and I are concerned, still a debatable question, and neither of us claims to be in possession of a sufficiency of trustworthy empirical data about any of the Presidents of the U.S.A. as to be in a position to be able to classify their character-types with infallible certainty. Some of our other examples may also leave plenty of scope for further investigation and discussion; if so, they will have served their purpose.
Elizabeth Byrne and I first met Marco Todeschini in Stockwell in 1978, and remember him as a swarthy, dark-haired Alchemist, fluent in both Russian and Spanish, as well as fairly comfortably at home in English, German and Portuguese, although Italian was his mother-tongue. Most of the details of our colleague's personal history and distinguished academic career need not occupy the reader's attention, and his considerable achievement in pioneering Alpha-A research to its present stage of development speaks for itself. Suffice it to add that he is familiar with both Masonic and Qabbalistic tradition, acquainted with the history of the Christian Church, interested in the progress of philosophy, music and the fine arts, and (unsurprisingly) critical of certain central features of Jungian analytical psychology.
Whether the social influence of Luciferian and Satanic types is, taking the long view, principally a beneficial or a harmful one is difficult to determine, since it may be argued that without some sort of social friction life would grind to a halt or at least stagnate. Such types are never idle, but Alpha-A practitioners remain confident that in every Age actual, effective and socially dynamic leadership belongs (whether or not this is publically apparent) to the group of those who are attuned (exhibited in figure 13 above). What is likely to happen when two attuned character-types, who have previously been strangers to each other, meet ‘by chance’?
If they are of identical or closely related character-type, this affinity may incline them (more or less immediately) to establish some sort of mutual admiration society, helping each other, according to circumstances, either in their public or professional lives. However, as their acquaintance with each other deepens, precisely because of this basic affinity, they will become increasingly aware of their N96 relatively minor (objectively speaking) points of difference, to which they will (quite properly) also attach considerable importance. Eventually, they may very well decide that in view of their shared commitment to the Common Good, there is little point in their remaining in close mutual contact, since (as regards ‘the essentials’) they are each of them already sufficiently complete without the physical or intellectual assistance of the other - to dedicate time and energy to a further exploration of their finer points of difference might only be (they may feel - I suspect, quite mistakenly) a distraction from higher and more urgent social priorities.
On the other hand, if two notably contrasting although equally gifted and attuned character-types encounter each other ‘by chance’, they are likely either to shy away from each other almost immediately, or else to develop keen rivalries at first, even if the prevailing circumstances actually oblige them to collaborate to a certain extent. However, if two such differently attuned types actually stick together, they will eventually (thanks to their common superawareness and a growing appreciation of their own superhomoeostatic complementarity) treasure their relationship as an especially enriching factor that contributes greatly to the maximising of both their individual creativity and their long-term social effectiveness.
That is why Alpha-A practitioners have formulated Rule Four - While focussing on superhomoeostasis, exploit to the maximum contacts within your own octagon. Groups made up entirely of Golden-Age attuned types of every sort exhibited in figure 13, preferably in association with one or two Golden-Age Angelic types of every sort displayed in figure 12, are likely to be especially valuable and effective - and the same holds true of similarly formed Silver-Age, Bronze-Age or Iron-Age groupings of attuned and Angelic character-types. Groups essentially similar to these but with a membership that represents two, three or even four different Ages are, on the whole, likely to be somewhat less innovative and effective, but they will still far outshine in vitality and performance the nowadays far more common ad hoc groupings whose membership is not based on character-type criteria at all, but on such far less fundamental factors as professional and academic status, place of residence, religious or political affiliation, preferred hobbies, etc. Ordinary professional links and random N97 associations between persons do not notably increase either the quantity or quality of superhomoeostatic contacts. Although I am quite satisfied that I am making a true statement, the only evidence I feel it is appropriate to put before you in the present context is to remind you of my initial comments regarding Pope John-Paul II, Cardinal Joseph Glemp, Lech Walesa and General Wojciech Jaruzelski, and to invite you to review the available relevant facts in the light of all I have said so far.
If, having done so, you decide you can agree with me that Glemp and Jaruzelski found it relatively easy ‘to do business’ together because they were both Freuds (no pun intended!), but feel nevertheless that (as the facts of that particular case clearly prove) no Alpha-A 'Rules for the Guidance of Genius' are required for their natural affinity to work its subtle chemical magic, I don't disagree with you. I remind you, however, that initial friendship and mutual admiration between closely related attuned types can in the course of time all too easily degenerate into a relationship in which profound envies and jealousies disturb and distort the atmosphere, so that opportunities are lost and achievments are less. In other words, forewarned is forearmed!
English society today remains for the moment predominantly an Iron-Age society although, like every other known actually existing society (past or present), its members include very many persons whose natural preference would be in favour of our living in a Bronze-Age, Golden-Age or even Silver-Age society here and now. This is not true just because of immigration; it is not primarily the result of the emergence of our contemporary multi-ethnic and culturally pluralist society. Indeed, to believe that, is to mistake the effect for the cause! Life in the West Indies, for example, is lived predominantly in terms of Bronze-Age social patterns, so that those West Indians who come to England tend, by and large, perhaps especially when they come ostensibly as official representatives for their compatriots, to be Iron-Age types who wish both to get away from the (to them) uncongenial atmosphere of the West Indies and to enjoy the (to them) much more congenial atmosphere of Iron-Age England. The irrelevance and failure of much international diplomacy springs from facts of this kind being either honestly ignored or conveniently (even cynically) swept under the carpet…
N98 I estimated in Chapter Two that at present (in 1982) only about 1 in 10,000 persons are of an attuned character-type, but I have also made it clear that this fact, if true, results not from any empirically discernible genetic differences between individuals, and is essentially functional in character. I have also indicated that the birth and eventual emergence of persons of an attuned character-type appears very largely to depend on the quality of mutual love which their parents, prior to conceiving them, exhibit in their own marital or extra-marital relationship. I do not seek to undermine the continuing popularity of ‘marriage’ as a social institution surrounded by its own considerable mystique and tradition - a mystique and tradition to which (even if we leave related religious teachings to one side) the consensus ‘morality’ of ordinary men and women still (notwithstanding Princess Diana's reported suggestion that she and Prince Charles should ‘divorce’ on televison18) attaches very great importance, but I do want to insist that, notwithstanding any Satanic and Luciferian inspired propaganda to the contrary, authentic interpersonal love is what is truly most essential in any form of human relationship;19 all external and conventional formalities, no matter how ‘sacred’, are quite secondary.
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1. In my other writings, including Voice In The Darkness (Zennor: United Writers 1978), the term “morality” has a much wider connotation, which includes not just both ‘morality’ and ‘virtue’ as characterised here, but various other social, ascetical and even mystical factors as well. Obviously none of these considerations are entirely foreign to my mind now, and I have no wish to deny their relevance to our actual use of Alpha-A within the context of our different individual situations.
2. In 1958 Lawrence Kohlberg completed his doctoral thesis at the University of Chicago on “The Development of Modes of Moral Thinking and Choice between the years ten to sixteen”. Primarily a psychologist, Kohlberg is also interested in philosophy. He claims that ‘justice’ is and, therefore, ought to be the supreme moral principle. He also argues that there is a universally valid pattern of moral development from ‘the pre-conventional level’ via ‘the conventional level’ to ‘the post-conventional, autonomous or principled level’, so that while ‘justice’ begins from a situation in which the strong rule the weak, it develops into a state of quasi-mechanical prudential reciprocity, which is transformed into generous and affectionate reciprocity, from which there emerges a concern to maintain law and order in society, pending the growth of less static forms of social utility, which lead, eventually, to a state of universal reciprocity. Kohlberg's research data is a valuable resource, but it seems to me that ‘justice’, as he understands it, ought to be accepted as a universally valid moral principle only in its application to the social-historical collectivity of human beings taken in the aggregate as an essentially homoeostatic system; its application to individuals is, I suggest, meaningless - except in function of the limitations imposed on each individual by the actual nature of each one's particular and quite specific character-type.
3. This does not mean that all Ages or even all Iron Ages are necessarily of identical duration. History never repeats itself, freedom is not an illusion, and, although the cyclical order in which these four Ages succeed one another is of its very nature an unalterable one, dynamism rather than stagnation is its very essence.
4. Readers will readily appreciate that this is a parable, not a blue-print!
5. Individual frustrations are not necessarily selfish in the pejorative sense, since both sympathy and empathy naturally incline us from within to feel concern for the hungers and needs of others, and not only of our individual selves. Indeed, a sense of kinship with all that lives, with everything, is an entirely natural feeling. Individualism in its narrower sense is an Iron Age Astrological ideology rather than a Golden Age Alchemical state of awareness.
6. Obvious examples of a predominantly Silver Age society are, as well as mediæval Europe, Stalin's U.S.S.R. and several earlier instances of Asiatic despotism.
7. What until relatively recently was the Soviet Communist bloc has now entered into this Bronze Age phase with a vengeance. Many Iron Age economists, politicians and social commentators in the U.K., in the rest of Europe and in Japan and North America either fail to understand, or find it convenient to pretend they have not noticed this obvious fact; they act as if a Silver Age could be followed immediately by an Iron Age - pie in the sky, indeed!
8. Not for nothing was Baroness Margaret Thatcher earlier dubbed the Iron Age lady!
9. Iron Age predominance to that clearly excessive degree that heralds the relatively proximate dawn of a new Golden Age typifies, as well as England (as distinct from Ireland, Scotland and Wales), Northern Italy (as distinct from Central and Southern Italy), and much of Scandinavia.
10. Lao Tze advised: “If you have two loaves sell one and buy a hyacinth”.
11. Early indications that a Golden Age is in the air include such socially magnetic phenomena as the Save-the-Whale campaign, the Ecology movement, the Green Party, Flower Power in the late '60s, and various Global Village manifestations, including such widely divergent groups as the hippie movement and the communes of the Children of God. Some would identify this new Golden Age as one of Harmonic Convergence, and claim that proximate preparations for its world-wide inauguration began at midnight between 15 and 16 August 1987. Others focus on what has been called the dawning of the Age of Aquarius which, according to Maria Kay Simms (in Twelve Wings of the Eagle) will begin in 2,700 A.D. Others insist that the New Age has already happened - it began on 1 December 1977… It seems clear that change is in the air, so that conservative insistence on Law and Order is hardly surprising.
12. Here and there, too, we still have a few surviving social dinosaurs, representatives of the long past Silver Age feudal glories of Church and State. Intentions, it is well to emphasise, make a great difference. For some membership of the IRA or of the National Front reflects their hankering after the former glories of Imperial Rome; what attracts others to such movements is a relatively close-knit sense of comradeship: ‘us’ against the rest of ‘them’. Since all societies are inherently diverse, all such needs somehow have to be accommodated - suppression is never an appropriate response.
13. Our webmaster-editor, the Preliminary LibrArian I+N the Neith Network emeritus is so called precisely because one of his earlier tasks very largely consisted of standing at the cross-roads of life and offering whatever help he could to other individuals immediately prior to their taking a quantum-leap either into a new Age or at least into a new Stage in their own personal growth and self-development, both individual and social. Now, of course, with the arrival of the New Millennium we have all of us already successfully crossed the threshold of Hope together…
14. Bernard Lonergan's account of emergent probability in his book, Insight - A Study of Human Understanding (London: Longmans 1957; posthumous critical edition: University of Toronto Press 1992) is one that I have found especially helpful.
15. A more detailed classification into 4,032 types is also theoretically justifiable, but 896 are enough to be going on with.
16. Which of these two alternative available approaches is actually adopted in practice is principally a function of the social circles one moves in, the class to which one feels one belongs, and the degree to which one's family environment is experienced as being a protective haven from the rough and tumble of life in all its variety and challenge.
17. This seems to imply that the empirical circumstances of each individual's subsequent history in the course of his or her ‘planet-side trip’ are not the cause of, but merely so many occasions for - or at most the catalytic facilitators of his or her particular individual growth, unfoldment and gradual maturation into at least relatively complete self-manifestation.
18. Cf. The Sunday Telegraph, 3 March 1996.
19. I am thinking not only of marriage and various other relationships between humans, including single-gender relationships of all sorts, but also of relationships in which only one of the parties to the relationship is a human being - the other party being G-d or another Higher Being or an Elf, a dog, even a stone; consider the importance of the pebble on the beach in Fellini's film: La Strada.
N99 Figure 14 - Thirty-two basic Character-Types
Alpha-A discerns in adult society: (1) 32 basic character-types, among whom 16 (8 holistically attuned + 8 Angelically aware) types are awake, and 16 (8 subscribing to consensus morality + 8 amoral quasi-animal) types are asleep; (2) Social initiation by parents emphasises either Love or Aggression; (3) Sexual awakening is typically non-problematic for 16 out of 112 emerging types, with problems of undifferentiated unconscious Aggression, either Sadistic or Masochistic (or Love, whether Interpersonal or Narcissistic) for 48 types; (4) Astrologers and Alchemists predominantly and respectively attend in a Golden Age to Art and Cooperation, in a Silver Age to Art and Spirituality, in a Bronze Age to Science and Spirituality, in an Iron Age to Science and Cooperation; (5) 448 adult types then settle down; another 448 seek further, relatively integrating, counterbalancing growth. Please keep in mind that many terms here used are employed in a non-ordinary sense so that consultation of the Glossary appended to this short study may frequently prove helpful. Not everything can be encapsulated in a sound-byte or explained all at once!
- Shalom & Welcome! - 
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