In recent posts we’ve looked at the the 4 core types (masculine, feminine, introvert, and extravert) and the 3 core strategies (cardinal, fixed, and mutable). These are some of the most basic patterns that organize the human personality and therefore our experience of ourselves, our worldspaces, and worldviews.

When put together, the 4 types and 3 strategies may be arranged into 12 distinct combinations. It is no coincidence that these 12 combinations are the same as the 12 stations of life used by Whole Writing. Each station depicts a particular orientation to reality, a set of competencies that must be faced (and hopefully successfully navigated), a set of concerns and strategies for advancement, and a set of developmental potentials.

Perhaps the clearest way of introducing the 12 stations is to identify briefly how each of the stations reflect the core types and strategies. At the most fundamental levels, these are the building blocks of who we are, what we do, and how we change.

If you are familiar with astrology, then it will be helpful for you to think of the core types, core strategies, and stations as analogoue to elements, qualities, and signs. However, knowledge of astrology is not required. A mythopoetic expression of how the stations appear (based on evolutionary astrology) is offered as an aid in visualizing the progression from 0 to B.

(In Kronology, the 12 stations of life are identified in base-12 with the tags S130 to S13B. Non-visible stations comprise S0 to S12B and S140 to S15B. If it gets a bit confusion, don’t worry about the details just now.)

The 12 stations of life

S130—Masculine, extravert, cardinal. 0 represents an active, energetic, outward-directed, penetrating orientation of the self to other. The activity of the self is initiatory, dynamic, creative. “The self is pure life energy of the Creator, exploding out of the void of non-Being to create.”S131—Feminine, extravert, fixed. 1 represents a passive, receptive, inner-directed, and deepening orientation of the self to other. The activity of the self is integrative, expansive, and unchanging in its essence. “The self pauses in its glory as Creation and rests in its fullness of form.” S132—Masculine, introvert, mutable. 2 represents an active, energetic, outward-directed, penetrating orientation of the self to other. The activity of the self is flexible, flowing, and dissolving of boundaries. “The self, recognizing an intriguing difference between Creator and Creation, playfully explores the boundaries of its domain.”

S133—Feminine, introvert, cardinal. 3 represents a passive, receptive, inner-directed, and deepening orientation of the self to other. The activity of the self is initiatory, dynamic, creative. “Through its playful discoveries of form and matter, the self experiences its own interiority; it creates its own inner life.”

S134—Masculine, extravert, fixed. 4 represents an active, energetic, outward-directed, penetrating orientation of the self to other. The activity of the self is integrative, expansive, and unchanging in its essence. “Having plumbed the depths of its inner world, the self jubilantly explodes in enthusiastic embrace of its own grandiosity.”

S135—Feminine, extravert, mutable. 5 represents a passive, receptive, inner-directed, and deepening orientation of the self to other. The activity of the self is flexible, flowing, and dissolving of boundaries. “Having expanded the self to the highest degree, the self transforms by discovering its own humility and dependence on others.” S136—Masculine, introvert, cardinal. 6 represents an active, energetic, outward-directed, penetrating orientation of the self to other. The activity of the self is initiatory, dynamic, creative. “Having emptied itself of its former fullness, the self discovers the potential for love in an equal partnership with an other.”

S137—Feminine, introvert, fixed. 7 represents a passive, receptive, inner-directed, and deepening orientation of the self to other. The activity of the self is integrative, expansive, and unchanging in its essence. “Having initiated an I-Thou relationship, the self seeks to deepen and fulfill its newfound experience of intimacy.”

S138—Masculine, extravert, mutable. 8 represents an active, energetic, outward-directed, penetrating orientation of the self to other. The activity of the self is flexible, flowing, and dissolving of boundaries. “Having sought intimacy and discovered its own mortality, the self seeks a sense of purpose and meaning in which to understand its relationship to the other.”

S139—Feminine, extravert, cardinal. 9 represents a passive, receptive, inner-directed, and deepening orientation of the self to other. The activity of the self is initiatory, dynamic, creative. “Having achieved a worldview capable of situating the self in its relationships, the self seeks to embody and evangelize its worldview by initiating social, economic, and political relationships.”

S13A—Masculine, introvert, fixed. A represents an active, energetic, outward-directed, penetrating orientation of the self to other. The activity of the self is integrative, expansive, and unchanging in its essence. “Having become fully integrated in the objective social order, the self seeks itself within the collective consciousness (and collective unconscious).”

S13B—Feminine, introvert, mutable. B represents a passive, receptive, inner-directed, and deepening orientation of the self to other. The activity of the self is flexible, flowing, and dissolving of boundaries. “Having embrace its nature in individual and collective dimensions, the self realizes its own identity with the Creative principle of the universe.”

Technorati Tags: stations, writing

So far on this blog I’ve mainly discussed the “sitting” form of Whole Writing. However, there is a second approach no less important. A sitting Whole Write is also known as a contemplative Write; the second approach is a critical Write. An entire Whole Write process involves both processes together, one after the other (and others as well), but the steps can be performed separately. In fact, it’s possible to do a critical Write on any piece of writing, no matter who authored it or for whatever purpose.

In Whole Writing, criticism isn’t mainly about agreeing or disagreeing with the object of your analysis or deconstructing the contexts to prove the perspective marginalizing or oppressive. To critique is to step empathetically into the worldspace of another, to understand not only how that worldspace articulates its values and belief but how it feels from the inside out. Then, and only then, is it possible to recognize its beauty as a representative of an entirely healthy and indispensable part of human nature by situating the object within a more encompassing and comprehensive map of reality than is offered by the object itself.

Afterwards, and only after, is it appropriate to judge. First, to judge the relative health and coherence and accuracy of the position from within its own worldview AND worldspace. Secondly, to articulate a dialogical response in conversation that is not intended to elicit agreement or agreement, nor even necessarily understanding or misunderstanding.

The point of the dialogue: to open ourselves, out of curiosity and affection and love, to the possibilities of the Moment. To suspend our critical eye of judgment in favor of a more radical apprehension: hope. In hope, we open ourselves to the possibilities for the unexpected and the surprising. We ground our expectations not in the conflict of the past or the anticipation of a predetermined outcome, but the mysterious present of until.

Technorati Tags: writing

Types are personality structures that are relatively enduring over the course of a life, according to depth psychologists. They are usually based on relatively innate factors such as biological and early childhood conditioning. They are not easily subject to change. Generally, a person carries her personality type with her throughout life. (Although it’s possible to speak of cultural types, sociological types, and political types, we’re just looking at the types of individual psychology here.)

There are many ways to divide up the the personality into sets of types (and types always come in sets, for they are bestowed with meaning not only by virtue of their own qualities but in comparison and contrast to all the other types of the system). Commonly used types include the Signs of popular horoscope astrology. Actually, back in the day, astrologers never looked to the Signs as indicators of personality because astrology was primarily an effort to tell the fortunes of great nations and their leaders^Q/4, not to examine the interiors of individual subjects^Q/1. But modern Western astrology is a very different animal than classical astrologies.

Perhaps Carl Jung has done more for elaborating our contemporary understanding of personality types than just about anyone else. In Jung’s work, he wrestled with the task of adapting the wisdom of tradition (such as astrology and mythic archetypes) and making them acceptable to the modern world.

Out of astrology, Jung salvaged the notion of personality type in two ways. First, he and his followers sometimes assert that the Signs of the Zodiac are themselves nothing more than personality types. Aries are aggressive, Taureans are stubborn, Cancers are emotional, Leos are arrogant, Virgos are picky, Libras are peacemakers, Scorpios are sexy, Sagittarians are highly opinionated, Capricons are ambitious, Aquarians are intellectuals, Pisceans are mystics. An entire complex tradition of astrological investigation into human nature and destiny has been thereby reduced to a most hollow and meager shell. However, astrologers have nobody to blame for the sorry state of their art other than themselves.

Secondly, Jung offered as the bulk of his work on types a fresh start with typological insights that were inspired by astrology but ultimately found a grounding in the scientific analysis of the personality. Jung made several very careful bipartite distinctions that are still in use in psychology today. Most famously, he distinguished between introverts and extraverts.

For introverts, reality is primary within them–their feelings, their thoughts, and “inner life.” For extroverts, reality is primary outside them–the playground of the universe, other people, and social interaction. For Jung, most people fall into one of these camps and there is very little movement between the two. Certainly, an introvert or extravert can learn to adapt their behavior to a new environment, but they will likely feel like a fish out of water.

Another interesting way of talking about introverts and extraverts has found expression, if I may be so unhumble, in my book Soulfully Gay. Therein, I speak of homophilia and heterophilia as the two dominant drives of all Reality: the desire for reunion with Spirit by going within or towards the same is hemophilia. Heterophilia is the desire for reunion with Spirit by going outside the self or towards the other.

A homophilic personality type, like introvert, will tend to gravitate to relationships with persons and things that help to mirror back to him aspects of his own reality. A heterophilic personality type, like the extravert, will tend to seek out relationships with as widely varied and diverse relationships as possible to try to get far away from the self. Of course, nobody is purely hemophilic or purely heterophilic; these are just convenient ways of talking about universal tendencies among personality types.

Jung was also among the twentieth-century thinkers to promote the notion of masculin and feminine (or God or Goddess, or King and Queen) as a valid typology. Although the dichotomy between male and female modes of reality has been undermined by some forms of deconstructive postmodern analyses, and while this point is still controversial, I think it is safe to say that most psychological models have found valid differences between how average males and average females interpret and respond to the world around them.

These tendencies, traits, leanings may be deeply rooted biological truths or they may be the remnants of what’s left of premodern patriarchal ideologies that promoted a God-given role for The Man (dominant, active, ruler of the public realm and household) and The Woman (submissive, passive, excluded subject of the public realm and helper/caregiver in the household), or a combination. The influence of these premodern notions of masculinity and feminity is still so strong in our culture, that many people today are allergic to talking at all about cross-culturally universal tendencies among the genders. However, the general consensus of the scientific and anthropological research in these areas in favor of the existence of generally orienting types is overwhelming and compelling. From research into brain differentiation to the impact of hormones, from socialization, to cultural adaptation, the idea that we can talk about masculine and feminine personality types is just too useful to reject. The only thing we need to reject are simplistic, reductive attempts to reduce the notion of “type” (i.e., an essence or deep structure of the personality) to merely essentialist, old-fashioned ways of talking about gender.

Another important two-part distinction related to human beings is the notion of Ascent and Descent in Ken Wilber’s integral psychology. Wilber examined the various spiritual paths of the world religions in many of their variations, from esoteric to exoteric, from ancient to modern days. What he found is that it’s possible to divide these approaches into two camps: Ascenders and Descenders.

Ascending paths identify reality with something transcendent or beyond the manifest realm: God, Heaven, a Spirit-out-there, Emptiness, Atman. For spirituality, Ascent is the road of shedding the chains of the apparent and illusory world, or a world of sin and temporarily, in favor of a World more real and actual, or an eternal paradise. Most of the mainstream religions of the past 5,000 years in history have arisen out of a shared set of economic-structural agrarian bases.

Conventional religion has been so successful in uprooting unorthodox views of spirituality that sadly many people today believe that Ascent is all that spirituality is about. These souls have horrifically confused spirit with Spirit. No wonder many people want nothing to do with a Heaven or Nirvana or Paradise, when Gaia herself cries out for rejuvenation. For Wilber, as for most in the Integral spirituality movement, there is another type of spiritual path no less valid than Ascent: Descent. Descending paths identify reality with the here and now, this world, these relationships, this body, this mind, this soul. Descenders frequently tap into the primal root force of Existence– called Eros–and make the expression of Eros into a sacred activity of worship. Pre-agrarian religious traditions (often called Native American, indigenous, pagan, or goddess-centered worship) are examples of Descending paths.

Out of these two primal typologies–Masculine/Feminine (on the horizontal plane), and Ascent/Descent or Self/Other (on the vertical plane)–we discover the primal cross at the heart of reality. When seen together as two intersecting lines, these two sets of two types each give rise to a more complex typology of four types. There are Masculine Ascenders^Q/1, Feminine Ascenders^Q/2, Masculine Descenders^Q/3, and Feminine Descenders^Q/4. To put this typology in another form, as I do in Soulfully Gay, there are four core underlying types at the heart of all reality: Straight Men (other-directed masculinity)^Q/1, Straight Women (other-directed femininity)^Q/2, Gay Men (same-directed masculinity)^Q/3, and Lesbians (same-directed femininity)^Q/4. Of course, these typologies don’t really correspond exactly to socially-defined sexual identities, and persons of all genders and sexualities may actually be of any type. But as a generally valid orientation to get a discussion rolling along, it’s helpful to think about the four fundamental directions and forms of reality.

The twelve stations of Whole Writing may be divided according to these four fundamental types.

• The Masculine Ascenders
• The Feminine Ascenders
• The Masculine Descenders
• The Feminine Descenders

We’ll need to make these careful distinctions this to get the most out of Whole Writing because in its most advanced forms this practice involves exploring the connections between our Writes and our implicit worldspace–that is, our entire map of reality. Whole Writing is virtually unique in its capacity, when consistently followed as part of an integral practice, to show how our writing reveals the actual worldspace we live in^Q/1 (as opposed to the philosophies, theologies, values, and ideals^Q/3 we say we hold up as true). But to draw all these connections, we need to be willing to look at expanding our worldview to allow for more possibilities than we may have ever before considered.

Technorati Tags: astrology, writing

So far we’ve talked about inquiry as a method of directing the focus of one’s attention during the process of a sitting Whole Write^Q/LR. Although the “Avoiding?” inquiry is the most important inquiry because it’s used in every standard Write, there are other valuable methods of inquiry too. These methods are used alongside standard inquiry to allow you to investigate your topic with a degree of thoroughness that would otherwise be more difficult. To distinguish these methods from standard inquiry, we will call them investigations.

The most common investigations consist in structuring a Write so that it completely tackles a list of several defined questions. These questions pertain to various aspects of the Integral map of human nature^Q/LL and demand answers based on the topic’s stations, levels, states, quadrants, lines, and types. Although these concepts will eventually be explored on the Whole Writing blog, you can begin to learn more about them anytime because these are fairly well documented and widely recognized concepts in developmental studies. Integral thought in general and Ken Wilber’s AQAL Framework are highly recommended starting points for learning more about these concepts. Reading Wilber’s A Theory of Everything is a good starting point for beginning students of Integral Theory; advanced students should be familiar with Wilber’s Integral Spirituality.

Investigate the Quadrants of Your Subject

The investigation into a topic’s quadrants requires that a Write address four questions. If you are doing a 20-minute Write, then it is recommended that you spend 5 minutes per question before moving on. You don’t want to run out of time without covering all the bases. On the other hand, if you are doing an open-ended Write that doesn’t have a close, you may want to structure your Write so that you don’t skip any questions. For example, you can do the Write on four sheets of paper, with one question at the top of each page.

Write for at least 5 minutes on each of these questions:

1. How does it feel when it looks into its own mind?^Q/UL
2. Describe its behavior.^Q/UR
3. How does art, culture, and religion^Q/LL see it?
4. Describe its role in society and nature.^Q/LR

For the time allocated, write your thoughts (unedited) in a flowing stream of consciousness, freely employing stories, images, and myth to enhance your understanding. Only pause to redirect your attention to the topic via the “Avoiding?” inquiry.

Taking 5 minutes per question isn’t much time to address such broad questions. Therefore you want to ensure that your topic is well-defined and that you stay focused during the meditation as much as possible (by using the “Avoiding?” inquiry to return to focus as often as necessary.)

Technorati Tags: quadrants, writing

Doing a sitting Whole Write generally employs a sort of stream of consciousness writing that’s structured in a way to gently and easily expand your awareness to include deeper and higher levels of reality than you are accustomed to. The idea is to build the habbit of writing at the edge of your emotional , intellectual , and analogical imagination comfort zone. Here’s an example. Don’t worry at this time if you don’t understand everything. Let’s just plunge write in…

Topic: What is a topic?

A sitting Whole Write is always guided by a single topic. The topic can be anything: a question, a word, a famous quotation, a picture. Anything at all. Beginners should generally start with a word. Your topic guides your attention to a specific focus, and—as in Vipassana meditation—when you find in the course of your Write that your attention has wandered away from the focus then you gently remind yourself to get back “on topic.”

There’s a very specific way you do this. There are five defined steps involving (a) an inquiry, (b) a response, (c) a cue, (d) an engagement, and (e) a return.

First, (a) you identify when your attention has wandered from the topic. If you’ve wandered, then your intention for the Write is broken. The response is to gently make an inquiry. You say to yourself (and you write on the page or type on the computer screen): “Avoiding?” By doing this you begin the process of snapping yourself back to attention.

Second, (b) you follow “Avoiding?” by restating the topic. You say, “… Avoiding? Topic.” (Yes, you write the ellipses. Get in the habit of writing ellipses when you pause. Very often your pause is a sign of resistance and you’ll need to ask yourself “avoiding?”) The word “topic” repeated in this way is called a response.

Third, (c) following the inquiry and your response, give yourself a cue. The cue is always the response followed by “and,” and then the most interesting word or phrase you wrote just prior to losing your attention. Let’s say you find yourself writing like so: “Snapping yourself to attention doesn’t have to be a rude act of self-flagellation. There may be many times and places in one’s spiritual life for practices of mortification, but Whole Writing isn’t one of them … Avoiding? … Topic. Topic and mortification.”

Fourth, (d) after the cue you have to re-start your engines. I call this an engagement because you’re re-engaging the topic. Only this time when you engage you are looking at the topic from a different perspective. Specifically, you are considering the topic in relationship to whatever it was that most recently led you into a stance of avoidance. The engagement always follows this form: “What do I know about ‘topic and mortification’ or ‘mortifying topics’?” As you may be able to guess, the engagement presumes that you must know something about the connection between the cue and the topic but you have resistance to looking at that connection.

Fifth, (e) after the engagement simply continue your Write as you normally would, returning to a stream of consciousness^S in the raw, warts-and-all way with little or no self-editing. You write in this way until you find yourself hesitating, distracted, or simply blocked. Then you type ellipses. When you recognize resistance, ask yourself: “avoiding?”

This five-fold process may seem arcane if you’ve never had an experience of any sort of stream of consciousness writing or integral inquiry meditation. However, there’s no reason to be afraid. Once you get into the habit, it gets much easier with time.Here’s a simple example of an actual stream of consciousness Write with an inquiry, response, cue, engagement, and return.

Topic: belly-buttons.

… Avoiding? Belly-buttons. Belly-buttons and avoiding. What do I know about avoiding belly-buttons? I know that my belly-button is a source of self-consciousness because it’s not a real belly-button. When I was a baby, I had a hernia operation and never really got a normal belly-button … Avoiding? Belly buttons. Belly buttons and normal. What do I know about normal belly-buttons? Belly buttons are small and roundish and pink and fun to play with. I think of children playing with their belly buttons. Or lovers. Or …

Avoiding? Belly buttons. Belly buttons and lovers. What do I know about love and belly-buttons. Belly buttons are a mark of love, they are the symbol of the umbilical cord and connection and a symbol of cutting. But both connection and cutting are signs of Love. Too often when we think of Love, we only see the connection and not the importance of cutting cleanly, firmly, effectively. We need to make a point. We need to make a belly-button. When we make a point in our writing, we are making belly-buttons. We are signaling our Love for the sentence is so grand we are willing to hold on, holding even, at long last, and only after the wildest ride, a ride that may seem to build and continue and climb and soar, a roller coaster trek to the highest reaches, screaming! moaning! Love! Life! Yes! The orgasm. There. There, I just wrote a period. A belly-button. I just typed a belly button! And I didn’t even notice that I did so. Why? Because I was expecting to write a period and was avoiding making the period. So instead I wrote and wrote and wrote with no intention of stopping until finally the enthusiasm built and I exclaimed instead. Then I didn’t even notice …

Avoiding? Belly button. Belly buttons and noticing. What do I know about noticing belly buttons? I know the next time I see my belly button I’m going to be thinking about an orgasm!

Technorati Tags: writing

Just as every personal trainer will tell you to begin your gym workout with a warm-up, as your Whole Writing coach I must advise you to always begin with a proper warm-up. Whole Writing is serious business! You don’t want to start without a proper setup or you might sprain something.

I recommend a basic warm-up like this: First, make yourself comfortable and enter a peaceful and relaxed state of mind. Sitting in an uncluttered environment set apart as a “sacred space”^Q/LR often helps. Second, add audible and visual cues to help you anchor the feeling of being comfortable in your spot. Specifically, I recommend using classical music during the sitting Write to set you in a frame of mind conducive to getting the creative juices pumped. You should also use a visual cue such as a lit candle to help you to remember to get relaxed. I like to light a vanilla-scented candle at the beginning of the warm-up and keep it lit throughout the sitting. At the end of the first major phase of the Write, I extinguish the candle. The exact musical and lighting cues that you use will vary depending on your own preferences, but it’s a very good idea to keep them consistent while you’re establishing a routine.

I like to meditate seated in a chair directly in front of my computer keyboard where I will soon be engaged in the productive activity of my Write^Q/UR. However, if you do your Write with a pad and pen or with a portable electronic device you can sit anywhere for your warm-up. It’s best not to have to move between the warm-up and the exercise though, so try to find a place where you can warm-up and then move directly into your Write.

My basic warm-up consists in 5 minutes of integral inquiry, a simple form of Vipassana (also known as Buddhist insight meditation). Sit quietly with an erect spine and enter a relaxed state with a comfortable posture. Breathe normally.

As you sit, direct your attention to a chosen focus (beginners usually follow their breath or bodily sensations). Watch yourself with your mind’s eye. Observe how the breath feels in your body. Notice the proprioceptive sensations (that is, stimuli arising from within the physical organism of you). Then pay attention to the physical sensations arising in your body. Feel the sensation of your clothing against your skin and the stream of air entering your lungs and exhaling.

Find the Moment and stay there without wandering. When distractions arise, guide yourself back to attention on your chosen focus with a question of inquiry. The precise question can vary (and eventually we’ll talk about when and how to use different questions of inquiry). The question I like to use is this: I say to myself silently, “Avoiding?” If you follow this technique, you should ideally leave behind self-protective emotional postures and enter purposefully^Q/UL into an open and questioning mind capable of flowing calmness and mental flexibility.

By asking myself “Avoiding?,” I mean to call my attention to the fact that something is keeping me from being still, present, and relaxed^Q/UR as the Arising of the moment itself^Q/UL. If I ask myself this question, it is because a distraction has arisen (so the answer is always Yes). But it’s not the answer that is really interesting. What’s important is to remind yourself that you don’t need to wander in attention. It’s safe to be and stay in the present moment. There are no problems or worries there; nothing that is not right and perfect exactly as it is; it is feeling of being fully alive. Don’t tell a story about why you are avoiding the moment. Just be aware that you have distractions and then return as best you can to the serenity and calmness of the Now.

The philosophy behind Whole Writing teaches that the Now is not being in the moment, but being the Moment. To put it another way, we step outside of time into Time itself, finding our identity not with any station or combination of stations, but in the Kronos Mandala itself. Not having quietness of mind and an openness of heart, but embracing our true nature as Open Heart and Quiet Mind. If these distinctions don’t resonate with you, don’t worry about it. Just experience the Now with your fullest intention to be present without distraction, open to the arising experience with sensitivity and love … or simply use the 5-minute period as a relaxing time for de-stressing and calming mental activity in preparation for an effective writing session.

That’s it for the warm-up! When the time is expired, the Write begins. There are variations on this warm-up technique that some folks might want to try. Stretching, yoga, and different styles of meditation such as Christian centering prayer are also fine options. If you already have an established meditation practice, you don’t need to leave it behind for integral inquiry. Find a brief version of your relaxation technique of choice and use it to ground yourself before every Write.

Technorati Tags: writing