Fixation 8: “Ego-Vengeance” / “Over-Justicemaker”

The 8 space is the domain of Laws and Morals, Culture and Behaviour. It is a move from thought to action. At 7 , we discern our place in an ever-shifting hierarchy. In the 8 space, this hierarchy is embodied in culture. When we know our place, we know how we should act. We call this code of spoken and unspoken expectations of behaviour ethics, from the Greek word ethos, meaning “the spirit of a people”. Spirit of Will and intention arises and operates in the 8 space. “Will” is not “willfulness”. Will is the freedom to choose and the power to do or to act. It is about being, choosing to be who I am. When I ask myself, “What do I want?”, I am operating in the 8 space. How do I behave to get what I want? We use ethics to determine our behaviour within the context of a culture or subculture. A code of ethics is an explicit expectation of behaviour in an organization or profession. Ethics is also the unspoken code of conduct in a society. Will allows us to choose these behaviours freely. Volition allows us to empower others to make a choice. When we support others in their free-will choices, even when these are not the choices we would make, we make something true in the world and do it with compassion. There is a connection between 8 , where we find ethics and codes of conduct, and 5 , where we interact with others. 8 holds the tension between expected conduct and individual desire. The collaboration with others at 5 ensures that we hold this tension with compassion for ourselves and others. In contrast, at 1 , we find the place of morality, which is about behaviour that arises from our individual attempts at goodness. At a very low level of engagement, this is about good versus evil. If we are able to work at a higher level by connecting to our personal integrity at 4 , it goes beyond good and evil and becomes about full acceptance of ourselves, the obviously good and the not-so-good within us. Morality, at 1 , is on the personal polarity dictated by 5, and is therefore directed inward, building internal strength. Ethics, at 8 , looks outward to societal norms of behaviour. The characters representing the polarities within 8 are the Immoral and Libertine character, and the Ethical and Self-Righteous character. In the ethical extreme, puritanism and overjudging are negative manifestations, while convention and rules are positive manifestations. The ethical 8 follows rules and rewards with goods, gets stuck in expectations and standards, guides. In the libertine extreme, hedonism and breaking rules are negative manifestations, while tolerance, no evaluation and punishing the bad are positive manifestations. The libertine 8 follows desires and tendencies, he does what he pleases.

In the 8 space, there is violence, exploitation, intrusion, versus supporting, rewarding, protection. When we become attached to rules or tendencies, the Inhabitants that show up are called The Obligations or The Shoulds. These manifest as an over-investment in behavioural codes and customs. We might adhere strictly to the rules or impose them on others. We might flout the rules and follow our personal desires. When we give in to the tyranny of The Obligations, we punish ourselves or others for violating these externally- imposed rules or define our actions by our opposition to the rules. Giving in to these inhabitants robs us of the experiences we actually desire. Our actions are the opposite of free. There is an “internal rape” and “self-demanding” nature, when someone gets fixated within 8, their desires and sexual urges, possibilities of exploitation and intrusion, power and capacity to do as they please, all of these become “obligations”, certain inevitable attitudes without control. Or, expectations, the rules and judgements, those become “obligations” and control the ego. There is a merging, a fusion. One 8 fuses with its own sensorial experience and lust, the other 8 fuses with ethical behaviour and proper exchanges, interaction and conventions. We can be very hypocritical in our approach to the rules. I might find it useful to impose rules on you, but feel no need to follow them myself. It might be convenient for me to appear morally upright. However, if my actions are not founded on true conviction, there is no life in them. My behaviour can turn on a dime when it is no longer convenient for me to act as before. There can also be a tyranny of non-conformity. An expectation to oppose existing systems of power can itself be an imposition of power, as when I expect you to use certain language to show that you are on the right (or left) side of the political spectrum. Greed and excess are poisons within conscience here. Vengeance is about punishing people and doing as you please, while making justice is being fair and rewarding the good as well. The center of the fixation is passionate craving towards satisfaction of desires and the desire to desire more, or, passionate adjustment according to social expectations, rules of conduct and negotiation, laws we have to interact and trade. Worsening of the fixation leads to diffuse pattern of negative attitudes and passive/active resistance to demands for adequate performance. Psychological resistance and opposition, stubborn behaviour, cruelty and mythomania are the compensatory mechanisms. Self-realization comes with redemption of the past and concordance, harmony. A sense of lack of preconceptions about what should be happening is characteristic.