This cross describes the relationship between our inner selves. According to Voice Dialogue—a branch of Jungian psychology—we have many personas within us such as the Inner Critic, the Patriarch, the Matriarch and many more (Stone & Stone, n.d.). There are many repressed personas and only a few dominant personas. The dominant personas depend on the family structure you were born into—for example, your family members had already taken certain personas such as the Nurturer, the Pusher, the Charmer and to fit in you needed to take on a persona that didn’t compete with what was already there, for example the Grump. Often the youngest member will express the ‘leftover’ repressed emotions and personas of the rest of the family.
My experience with the energies of inner
selves in Voice Dialogue resulted in a more self-acceptance therefore I could
be more accepting of difficult others in my life. I was also learning
facilitation skills and had read books about negotiation, which are tools for
self-mastery—putting the inner selves in their proper places, and listening to
their points of view fairly, without any of them dominating. These tools are
particularly important in business, as the ability to withhold your opinion and
draw others out gives you more information and leverage to make a decision. It
is the same when working with the inner selves. The one who makes the decision
is called the Aware Ego whose role is to hold a healthy dynamic between selves
rather than try to satisfy any particular self; its process is to have mastery over
the rabble of selves (Stone & Stone, n.d.). You may consider it a referee,
decision-maker, or Aquarius’ businessman whose most important resource is
people.
Leo's symbol describes one emotional experience that follows another—that a ‘war’
between repressed and dominating selves has just been resolved, for example the
tension between a Pusher self that wants to achieve and the opposing Lazy self
that wants to rest. Both selves have
valid points of view to respect, however one has dominated for a long time and
the opposing repressed self has had enough and is asserting itself for the good
of the human being, who may be shocked to discover this aspect of
themselves. A person over-identified with
their Responsible side has a growing Irresponsible side within that wants to be
expressed. Sometimes this will express in a way that completely changes
someone’s life (a responsible person indulging an affair) if we do not allow
ourselves to express these opposite sides in smaller ways safely. My cousin works in a mine and recently became
a supervisor. His Inner Patriarch wanted
to fire someone for their bad work ethic, and his Inner Matriarch lost sleep
over depriving a family of a livelihood.
The Patriarch and Matriarch kept him up at night, fighting in his head
before he made a decision. He would
literally sweat, sitting there burning between the two aspects of himself,
trying to resolve these opposing factions. Leo’s symbol describes the stormy experience
of selves expressing their existence consciously to the human, but the inevitable
change brings soul growth (sunshine).
After all, any decision you make is still authentic to you. Only you can live with your
right-or-wrongness and in the end, nothing is good or bad anyway.
One of the benefits to understanding selves is the ability to relate to others. Scorpio’s girl smiles with knowledge, acceptance and love of the inner selves, even the difficult ones, transmuting this to acceptance of other people. Perhaps she knows there is no point trying to control the people around her, because true mastery is not letting them ‘pull’ reactive selves out of her—a Patriarchal person won’t trigger her Rebellious Daughter because she is comfortable with both personas inside her. The shadow of this symbol patiently watches others' struggle with themselves, as the idiom goes: others ‘hang themselves with their own rope’.
Aquarius' symbol uses the dynamic between selves to make decisions for the larger organism such as the whole self, or a company, or society.
Taurus’ old man tries to share what was learned or mastered, however not everyone can accept the jewel brought back from self-exploration. This symbol brings to mind Joseph Campbell’s (1991) idea that after gaining new knowledge and experiences, difficulty lies in trying to share even a small part of what you have gained, as others don't understand the value of what you found. Further, journey of the selves is intensely personal and cannot be taught, only experienced. At this point Taurus’ man can become Aquarius’ businessman because most value lies in managing your own business, or he can continue an upward spiral towards further discovery of selves in Leo's sunshine after storms, giving other people an inscrutable smile (Scorpio).
Campbell, J (1991). Reflections on the Art of Living: A Joseph Campbell Companion. New York, United States: HarperCollins.
Stone, H. & Stone, S. (n.d.). Frequently Asked Questions. Retrieved 24 July 2019 from http://voicedialogueinternational.com/FAQ/index.htm
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