Chapter 3.
Nine of Character Traits
Three are the higher faculties
governing sentient entities,
centered in heart, guts, and brains,
three of spokesmen each contains.
One with Conscience is equated,
one by Id is motivated,
one is known by Ego brio,
one of each for every trio.
Three of psychic room-and-boarders,
three of known incarnate quarters,
nine of self-concerns entire
come with voices in the choir.
Ring the Ennea-circle seating,
when the natures come to meeting,
triplets under one umbrella
curve around the great mandala.
Three of sets are shown collected,
end to end are well connected,
one emotional, one cerebral,
one of instinct, physical, visceral.
At the center of each triune,
sits the middle-master chairman,
straddling separate, psychic-wide,
character traits to either side.
What makes sure that each succeeds
meeting basic human needs,
guarantees that motivations
come with built-in limitations.
All is well between the governors
till they start to reach perimeters.
Sooner or later, ‘twixt and ‘tween,
spokesmen start to contravene.
Nine is a list of thumb-nail sketches,
natural ‘Givens’ and their ‘Catches’,
profiles of the facultaic,
pieces of the self-mosaic.
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Ladies And Gentlemen
Sentience
The Warm
Liquid are the magic potions
known to humans as emotions.
Joy and sorrow, love and hate,
currents lapping at the gate,
rise and fall like ocean tide,
gush with fundamental pride,
ripple with the need to tell
what the Moon has come to swell.
Feelings need to be put forth
through a person’s sense of worth.
Passion travels with the gifted,
to emote is to be lifted.
All emotions have to start
at the mountain spring of heart.
Sentience is a bold informer,
feelings make the feeler warmer.
Selfless-service brings the mountain
to the public drinking fountain.
Painted ponies at the stream
help themselves to self-esteem.
Self-expression, gay or fey,
molding mood in paint and clay,
gives the unseen entity
self-defined identity.
Poet, pauper, prince and brahman
all have noble needs in common.
In their garments is reflected
how much Feeling is respected.
Clothing consciously conceals
what the wearer really feels.
‘Neath the costume beautiful,
prejudice is dyed in wool.
Self-improvement reaches ceilings,
truth argues with the feelings,
pride is hardly rational,
Status is emotional.
Mutual Feelings happen at Two,
“I feel this way, so do you”.
Mutual needs too many to mention
lead to the state of Kind Attention.
What gives care with Fond Affection,
needs a heart-felt, deep connection,
needs to belong, needs to believe
seeks to give and not receive.
Given is mother’s favorite part,
how to have an Open Heart.
Catch: distinguishing sincere pleas,
and keeping personal boundaries.
What’s especially kind and caring,
ain’t necessarily healthy sharing.
Sooner or later what loves including,
ends up thoughtlessly intruding.
Conscience tries a little too hard
giving others it’s Best Regard,
over-extending itself to please,
going on charitable spending sprees.
Two is emotion’s sounding-board,
Self-Sacrifice with a two-way cord,
stretching taut when the telephone rings,
plucking a tune on the Sympathy Strings.
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Feelings at Four are Personal Feelings,
not always meant for prime-time viewings,
right brain, deeper-seat desires,
what the interior self inspires.
What lies bare in the heart of hearts
comes out clothed in the Finer Arts,
or breaks away from commonest forms
and pushes the envelope past the norms.
Given: a sense of being unique,
Creative Streak with a New Technique.
Catch: managing haute couture
sans the commonplace hauteur.
What sets trends with flair dramatic,
ain’t necessarily democratic.
Sooner or later Creative Juices
end up granting the self excuses.
Id‘s emotional needs assume
lots of interior Elbow Room,
pitting against all social laws,
the personal-exemption clause.
Four is the heart with a mind of it’s own,
Self-Definition’s four-corner zone,
reinventing the passionate strum
that goes to the beat of a Different Drum.
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Feelings at Three are mixed and weighed,
half on hold, half on parade.
Being on stage it does not pay
to let the real ones get in the way.
What gives feelings of self importance,
strives to accomplish a High Performance,
puts on a Best Face holding pattern
and lets the sympathies orbit saturn.
Given: a sense of self identity,
Method Acting as a Starring Entity.
Catch: being ideal women and men
who aren’t as shallow as Barbie and Ken.
Winning Attitudes one must foster
won’t necessarily earn an oscar.
What looks great at the dress rehearsal
comes off flat as a taped commercial.
Ego runs the film-projector,
sound bite editor, image-erector,
measuring it’s success in “rahs”,
intensity of the crowd’s applause.
Three is emotion’s face with focus,
Self-Respect in a three-ring circus,
straddling square and cognoscenti,
leading a song on the Horn-Of-Plenty.
Intellect
The Bright
Flame-like is the inspiration
known as thought and cogitation.
Knowledge / ignorance, blindness / sight,
truth and theory, darkness / light,
wax and wane like lunar phases,
in not-so-abstract realms of mazes,
where imagination funnels,
seeking light at ends of tunnels.
Thoughts are subject to mistakes,
Morality supplies the brakes,
rationale is qualitative,
dogma is authoritative.
Quantum thought begins as friction.
In the mind’s ignited question,
static is the sole igniter,
to conceive is to be brighter.
Self-Instruction is desire,
facts are objects to acquire,
gathered mainly to surpass,
to be smart is to amass.
Self-Diversity, double-darer,
dares to learn by trial and error,
goes to entertain the rumor –
brilliance has a sense of humor.
Science and religious yearning
share the seat of higher learning,
spark debates on every thought,
whether thoughts are right or not.
Nameless dread, home alone,
fans the flame of what’s unknown.
Only Group Mentality
offers any certainty.
Self-Defense relies on members
seeking strength in greater numbers,
faith is unconditional,
Security, conceptual.
Thought at Seven is mercurial,
“think fast!” entrepreneurial.
Entertainment is inviting,
what comes next is what’s exciting;
the need to put in humorous light,
move ahead at the speed of flight,
engage in Mental Acrobatics,
and put routines on automatics.
Given is, the witty find,
how to manage an Open Mind.
Catch is when this mental riot,
tries to get it to be quiet.
What’s especially quick and cheap,
ain’t necessarily terribly deep.
What gets started with lots of flourish,
ends up quitting before the finish.
Ego turns to multi-tasking,
harvesting options for the asking,
chasing rainbows, hedging bets
with bags of tricks and wild-goose nets.
Seven is volitant ocean breeze,
Self-Diversity’s seven seas,
piloting mental flying vessels
and everything else all Bells and Whistles.
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Thought at Five is Close Attention,
Sharp-Focus, comprehension.
Measured Thought is calibrated,
assumptions are not tolerated.
Humor is a noisy neighbor
shut out of the left-brain labor.
Passengers are a sober lot
traveling on the Train Of Thought.
Given: a clean and straight attack,
to unearth scientific fact.
Catch is with the information:
facts are not the destination.
What great points may be well-taken
won’t necessarily win the bacon.
Sooner or later what’s sharp as cheese,
can’t see the forest for the trees.
Id assumes the machine position,
eyeing emotions with suspicion,
separating itself from chatter
deep inside it’s own Grey-Matter.
Five is the brain inside a jar,
Self-Instruction’s five-point star,
counting beats with the metronome.
sifting facts with a Fine-Toothed Comb,
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Thought at Six is Common Knowledge.
Conscience graduates from college
with degrees of highest mention
in the art of Divided Attention.
What is known can be defended,
what is not is apprehended.
Once a common threat has loomed,
authority becomes assumed.
Given is felt in deed and word,
keeping loyalty to the herd.
Catch is having any opinion
independent of that dominion.
Lots of defenses won’t insure
Group Identity feels secure.
All vigilante intuition
seeks to punish on mere suspicion.
Conscience argues selling short,
never having enough support,
even at it’s strongest level:
giving due back to the Devil.
Six is the intellect’s vigilance,
Self-Volunteering’s sixth sense,
sounding alarms with noise makers,
and blowing the Whistle on law breakers.
Basic Instinct
The Quick
Solid is the will to strive
known as the instinctive drive.
Strength and weakness, pleasure / pain,
pulsate in the material plane.
Body language informs thought,
actions say what words cannot.
Inborn patterns, primal, raw,
these are stronger than the law.
Sense / sensation is libido,
consciously or incognito,
id’s commands are pure dictator,
“shoot first, ask questions later”.
Baby steps are taken diapered
before the motive is deciphered.
Education is elective,
motion is the prime directive.
Body finds a satisfaction
learning by repeated action.
Self-Control understands
how the head directs the hands.
Self-expansion is emphatic,
strong of will but enigmatic,
not, by nature, introspective,
dangerously uncollective.
Feasting king and fasting priest
cross their swords and gnash their teeth,
moving earth and growing callous
to establish Church and Palace.
Self-Possession brings a message,
claiming right of peaceful passsage.
None of instincts like to bicker,
to react is to be quicker.
Self-Determination’s soul
will destroy to build control,
boundary lines are personal,
Autonomy is physical.
Sense at One is Common Sense,
a need to prevent all accidents,
being careful where you walk,
biting lip before you talk,
a need to conduct one’s self with favor.
Do’s-and-don’ts in one’s behavior,
wrestle issues of begrudgement,
listening to your Better Judgment.
Given is practicing to be better,
following all rules to the letter.
Catch is knowing, fume and fury,
when to dismiss the judge and jury.
Rigid principles won’t insure
that the preacher is always pure.
Sooner or later moral boarders
end up issuing gag orders.
Conscience has an uphill battle,
getting everyone to paddle
in a scrupulous direction
with the same sense of perfection.
One is the instinct’s straight-up line,
Self-restraint with a single mind,
under a critical rule of thumb,
keeping pace with a Marching Drum.
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Sense at Eight is Gut And Gumption,
appetites are for comsumption,
basic needs are practical chores,
“You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours”.
Personal Power looms large,
issuing orders, taking charge,
if need be, with arms akimbo,
bringing Brute Force out of limbo.
Given is, your prey is found,
find his weak spot, bring him down.
Catch: the more courageous part,
taming the lion in the heart.
What makes heroes boldly dare
ain’t necessarily halfway fair.
What gives leaders ruling powers
does not stop to enjoy the flowers.
Ego takes a strategic course,
strongest arguments win by force,
ruling peaks of fame and fortune,
helping itself to the largest portion.
Eight is the instinct in the pool hall,
Self-Reliance behind an eight-ball,
letting chips decide the out-come,
calling the shots with the biggest Bull-Horn.
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Sense at Nine is equalizing,
left brain / right brain harmonizing,
done to prolong all satisfaction
by Delaying all Reaction.
The need to slowly savor flavors,
Even Temper, garner favors,
tightens the reins on any part
that ever upsets the apple cart.
Given is not to rock the boat,
never letting them get your goat.
Catch is getting up off the veranda
and implementing your own agenda.
What’s supportive, peaceful-hearted,
won’t necessarily go get started.
What has great utopian visions
doesn’t like making small decisions.
Id has a big, strong Lazy Bone,
lording it over it’s comfort zone,
calmly enjoying the scenic view,
wondering why you can’t see too.
Nine is the instinct’s laid-back sense,
Self-Possession on cloud nine fence,
sailing over idyllic dells,
and chiming in on Familiar Bells.
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Thus, the three of faculties,
sectioned into trinities,
needed for the self’s insistence
in this rough plane of existence,
multiplied by three concerns,
psychic vitals taking turns:
Outward-Self, Guiding Light,
plus the Inner Appetite.
Three of equal-sharing relatives,
loosely given Freud’s appellatives,
striking out for dominance,
will compete for prominence.
Ego, with it’s visual aids,
leads the self into charades,
wears a sign – Success Or Bust,
“Better to wear out than to rust”.
Conscience, known as Congress-Ego,
dictates to the Id and Ego,
“On your way from rags to riches,
don’t get too big for your britches”.
Id, a creature of the moment,
used to paying with atonement,
might declare, if it were spoken,
“Rules were made to go be broken”.
Words are no coincidence,
Brightness is intelligence,
Warmth is way emotional,
Quickness, all too visceral.
No two faculties are the same,
Emotion’s tendency is shame,
Instinct’s, anger, Intellect’s, fear,
seek they courage, pride, and cheer.
Human nature is devined,
guts, heart, and brains combined,
hear with feeling, touch with sight,
such are the Quick, the Warm, and the Bright.
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Song Of Numbers by Ennea-Dragon © Copyright 2010