Fixation 7: “Ego-Planning” / “Over-Idealist”

Where do I fit in? Where is my place? On the 7 space is the domain of Hierarchy, Position and Authority, which has to do with finding your place in an ever-shifting relationship with the world. Mythomania and mythology strikes this fixation, the 7 usually immerses himself on dreaming (Unreal), manipulation and deceiving or putting a front of altruistic and selfless person, without imperfections or mistakes. Coming out of 6 , where the authority is the one who knows and who leads out, we arrive at 7 , where the leadership keeps shifting, as in a dance. A fixed hierarchy is dead; one that is alive is always moving. One person leads, then cedes that place to another, as befits the abilities most needed in a given situation. The Taoist symbol of Yin and Yang (dark and light) symbolizes this ongoing flow of energy between two sides. The symbol is not meant as a static representation. The two dots of opposite colour show that there is always some Yang within Yin and vice-versa. Energy is always exchanging between the two sides. Yin becomes Yang; Yang becomes Yin. This symbol is always in motion, one side leading, then the other. This domain is the place of honest differences – in the present moment, where is my place? The words superior and inferior have an emotional and judgmental weight to them, especially in the context of hierarchy. In this case all they mean is higher or lower. What is my position right here, right now? Who is ahead and who is behind? We must also recognize that each person in a relationship will have multiple roles. Each person leads and follows simultaneously, but in different parts of the relationship. A parent carries responsibilities and makes decisions that a young child is not able to and so leads in that aspect of the relationship. The same child might ask questions that would not be permissible from an adult and can disrupt the peace by doing so. In this way, the child breaks things open and allows for creation of a new understanding. The child leads into territory where an adult would never go.

When we cling to the polarity of superior or inferior, the inhabitants that invade this domain are called The Arrogances. The familiar form of The Arrogances is when someone clings to the pole of superiority and forces a lower hierarchical position on someone else. This is the dynamic of king and peasant, master and slave. It can exist in a friendship, marriage, or family, when one person is nagging or bullying another, getting them to fall in line by guilt or coercion. There is also an arrogance of inferiority. It is just as arrogant to say, “I have no ability” if it’s not true, as to say, “I am the greatest”. If you have written a poem, but don’t want to read it publicly because it’s “not good enough”, you are denying your place if it is good. We must assess our true place and not try to get out of the work by claiming to be less than we are. Gluttony in this fixation means an urge to run from what is real, common, ordinary. To seek and work for big plans, big ideas and sentiments. There is an interest and curiosity in the different, in the magical. The 7 develops a excessive and sentimental idealization that resembles sexual lust, but different from lust and lechery, it is situated within the mind and connections between people, emotions and situations. It is like a body and its dynamic system, always in organization.The mechanism here is displacement - a psychological defense in which a person redirects a negative emotion from its original source to a less threatening recipient.The fixation is about changing present, changing situations, external harmony being modified, achieving potential pleasures and happyness. The 7 tries to escape from negative emotions, from sentiments that he can not control. So he instead of feeling, orientes himself to thinking; thoughts are like painkillers. Dissociation, as a concept that has been developed over time, is any of a wide array of experiences, ranging from a mild emotional detachment from the immediate surroundings, to a more severe disconnection from physical and emotional experiences. The major characteristic of all dissociative phenomena involves a detachment from reality, rather than a loss of reality as in psychosis (6). The characters representing the polarities are the Pretentious 7, “Great Pretender”, deceitful and self-respectful, viewing himself as a leader. And the Loser 7, modest and selfless but holding sentiments of inferiority and viewing himself as a follower. Rivalries are situated in the 7 domain, linked with 5. Having a rival or enemy-friend.