What is Character?

Notes

Current Blogs are now summarised at www.mindcluk.uk

This Blog continues from Toukanalia, Out-of-Character Behaviour but threads through to other areas may be relevant. Comments will not be published without permission. As text is added, sometimes a couple of posts drop off the page but do not appear on the next, and not all the labels are working.

A sequel has been made at https://groupsandminds.blogspot.com with some links back to here.

This and other Blogs are being updated by Jim Strange, see https://endishtimes.blogspot.com
and https://mindcluk.blogspot.com

'To thine own self be true' - Shakespeare's 'Hamlet'

We think we know something about ourselves, our likes and dislikes, and about people we live, work and mix with. How often are we surprised when someone does something totally unexpected? Over time, we come to expect certain sorts of comment or reaction. On the Internet we gain an impression of those we engage with. Sometimes we mesh with others, things work pretty well. Other times they are discordant. How often does a row blow up over nothing, just when things seemed to be going along fine? If we take time to work out some of what went wrong, we may get better at it.

Some people have a knack of sensing things about others, whether there are hidden depths or deviousness, or a vague feeling of unease if something doesn't sit right. Some people know instinctively how to gain co-operation from others, or they can smooth family arguments. People take different roles in groups or various settings. We can try out different roles, or get forced into them by circumstance. How do we really know what we, or others, may be capable of? A number of writers suggest we are all capable even of murder. Is the attraction of characters like James Bond, or The Mentalist, that they break out of traditional modes, blatantly ignoring what's expected of them in multiple dire circumstances?

When Transactional Analysis ('Games People Play' by Eric Berne) came on the scene, along with other strategies for describing personality and behaviour, people became familiar with the concept of 'ego states', and more ways of interacting. Psychosynthesis encouraged us to think of having about six subpersonalities, and there was something called Parts Therapy. If we focussed on aspects of character or personality, played around with moods or modes, there could be a shot at other ways of handling things, greater insight, and hopefully integration.

What could possibly go wrong?

One of my concerns about all this so-called 'therapy' is that it can grow into a culture where someone is always there to imply we really ought to change, that you or I or anyone are not adequate as we are, have not enough self-worth etc. Is that not a sufficiently un-self-fulfilling prophecy to dump on others!

When it comes to parts of personality, sure it can be a useful discussion point, but then to move on, not make it a requirement. I read something about denied parts of personality taking on a life of their own, as in the term 'dissociated complex'. Yes, and what if other people give them validity, a unique name, or actually help them to strengthen and expand?

If you've come across catastrophe theory in maths, it is a useful way of looking at a switchback effect in behaviour where, instead of a mood or setting continuing along a smooth path or continuum, it suddenly folds and does the opposite. People who write about dissociation or dissociative identity, use the term discontinuity. While acknowledging that it sometimes happens, do we wish to reinforce it? In the United States, funding was given for treatment of dissociation, which was now a bandwagon. Things became a mess when the tide turned, beliefs changed, and people were suing this way or that. The UK followed ten years later, though it tends to be less extreme and more insular, with not nearly as many people involved, or so much money.

A number of issues have a mention here. It has not been possible to give in-depth analysis of pro's & cons, but the Blog acts as a lead-in to some areas that may be new to readers, or as to the general context in which they appear. See what you think and take it from there.

A temporary lock was just placed on my Twitter account for the very first time. I had to delete the following:

Could a #vaccine #combine with #5G? Or xyz? Do your own #research. "#Nerve #cell #proteins, #activated by heat + mechanical pressure can be #genetically #engineered to be sensitive to #radio #waves + #magnetic #fields by attaching to an #iron-storing #protein called #ferritin."

Search for 'ferritin' information going back to before the current vaccination situation. It may not have relevance, but can we not raise questions about any of this? As a delivery driver commented to me in a random conversation, 'This isn't over yet. We all have to look after ourselves.'

AYRWAVE: Louise Ayr

@LouiseAyr

Is stalking a kind of scam, a cuckooing of one's life? Do Cults work by cuckooing the mind, the soul? Watch where you place your trust! Update at Groups, Minds & Beliefs: Protection & Boundaries https://groupsandminds.blogspot.com/2019/03/blog-post19.html

To see the rest of this Blog, go to https://notincharacter.blogspot.com

What About Forensic Astrology?

Doubled Standards

Also see Are We All a Bit Psychic? in the update to this current Blog at
https://doubledstandards.blogspot.com/2019/12/blog-post_22.html


I don't claim to understand, but could there be anything to it? If there were a way to eliminate or reduce the subjective element? I won't list books but you can have a look. I heard a talk on Horary Astrology. The speaker was clever, intuitive, sincere and interesting. Some people suggest that a good astrologer combines charts and theory with intuition. Perhaps they could just as well use something else as a starting point or adjunct.

One practitioner draws a Horary chart for every half-hour around a critical crime scene, and the way she describes events is almost like stills of a film. Subjective maybe, curious yes. Another looked at Moon nodes in charts, and saw that opposite node positions of perpetrator and victim clashed at the critical time. With hindsight, and curious. And some writers suggest fixed stars indicate more in the field of crime when added to a chart. Something that seems worth looking into is when a sadistic couple, for instance, get involved with each other and go on to commit atrocities. Almost like fate, but could one party withdraw?

Some psychics looking at murders say: 'There is no energy of that person with this one', implying a suspect had no involvement in that crime. Apparently astrological charts can bear this out, so might it be useful from that standpoint? We need to bear in mind that, as the saying goes about a little knowledge being a dangerous thing, we don't have enough relevant facts, there can be blips, bias, and so on. To build up knowledge, even with hindsight and adding in further developments sounds worthwhile.

If the stars in their courses are involved in our lives, could that be affecting how we feel, where we go and what we do, and how people come together at a particular time? I don't believe in trying to predict or influence, because mostly in life we have to make decisions based on what is available, and to do things whatever the day and whether we feel like it. Ever sat an exam or a driving test, or had to go to court? I have had clusters of occurrence that changed the course of the future big-time, seemingly by chance or coincidence, but running through to other sections over time. A chart done for me by an intuitive friend many years ago, caused her to say more than once 'Be very careful what you write. I have never had anything so strongly.' Moment of truth, years down the line...

Someone spends a lot of time and effort, firstly in learning a skill like astrology, and then on working with a chart, so acknowledgement is due to them, but no-one should take undue financial advantage of those coming to them for guidance, or give categoric advice that could cause harm or take them off course. Some people who use intuition in their work find they lose their skill if they do start charging a fee.

If readers are sceptical about astrology and psychism, it's easy to be dismissive. I recently had a sort-out and found some charts. Some did pick out an interesting factor mixed in with much that was way off. All missed a crucial event. The friend who did my main chart mentioned a couple of areas that could be problematic, which turned out valid. A psychic lady went straight to an issue that others missed or misconstrued. I told people nothing. One man decreed I'd clearly messed up my whole life by not doing something. I believe there are generally other factors and avenues for people later. I was fortunate to meet a wide range of people, and my husband encouraged me to do what interested me, even though he might have concerns. Do I now think people should prey on others who want to know what's happening? You get one guess. Why was I involved with psychics? It largely was happening around me, but there was also seeking answers when vulnerable, as happens to a lot of people, and often a factor in being more susceptible to influence from cults, scams, etc.

For more on Souls, crime, groups, heredity, skip to
Full Circle: Wrapping Things Up  https://notincharacter.blogspot.com/2019/01/blog-post_54.html


I also worked in places where things were weird or manipulative. I mentioned a destructive situation to my father, who said 'When there's a bad spirit in a place, it's very hard to know what to do.' I think he meant it in the sense of a dynamic or a split. Exploitation does not always have a financial element, but is more a sense of influence or power, or seeing if they can get away with it. I never get involved in the game-playing of others, which has been both a protection, or occasionally red rag to a bull. Here's a couple of books to have fun with:

'Astrological Games People Play' by Bernie Ashman

'Astrology & the Games People Play' by Spencer Grendahl


Go to Cultures or Cults - Do They Hypnotise Us? https://notincharacter.blogspot.com/2019/01/blog-post_10.html 

To load all this Blog onto one page, go to https://notincharacter.blogspot.com