Mode
From New Age Village
By Shepherd Hoodwin
Our mode is our primary way of carrying out our goal, and our general way of operating in the world. It is usually our most visible overleaf. By contrast, our goal, for example, is what motivates us, which is not necessarily obvious. We might have to observe someone’s pattern of choices over time to discern that he has a goal of growth, but passion mode, on the same side of the same axis, is likely to be apparent quickly in the way he does whatever he does.
Observation, on the assimilation axis, is by far the most common mode—in fact, half the population is in observation. However, since it is neutral, one can slide from it to any of the other modes, which is partly why it is chosen so often. For example, I am in observation sliding to passion and perseverance. I didn’t want to be in passion full-time, and didn’t want to be in reserve; observation allows me to use the energy of passion mode when it is appropriate for me. The positive pole of observation mode is clarity, the negative pole is surveillance. In surveillance, we observe things that are none of our business, that don’t add to our clarity. People in observation are more prone to stare, often without being aware of doing it, than those with other modes.
I think of passion mode as boundlessly letting one’s inner energy flow “down” and “out,” pulling out all the stops, bringing enthusiasm and high spirits. It reminds me of Howard Huge, the very large dog in the comics. Passion’s partner on the inspiration axis, reserve mode, is the opposite; it draws one’s inner energy “up” and “in,” as a ballet dancer does, promoting containment and grace. It is about boundaries, whereas passion is about releasing boundaries. Passion amplifies, whereas reserve shuns exaggeration.
Power mode, being expressive, exudes energy with fullness in all directions. (All of the cardinal, or exalted, overleaves have this wide-open, expanded quality.) People in power mode often look “macho,” whether male or female—they seem to have a lot of self-confidence and appear to know what they’re talking about. If we know that people in power mode naturally come on strong, we can take that into account and not be intimidated or doubt our own perceptions. Caution, its opposite, controls its expression deliberately. In the positive pole, people in caution mode look both ways before crossing the street, so to speak; in the negative pole, they don’t cross the street at all—they say things such as “I want to, but I’d better not.” Caution mode may be chosen if a person has tended in recent past lives to be impulsive.
Aggression mode pulls out all the stops in terms of action, since it is the cardinal action mode. It does a number of things at the same time, with high energy. I have a scholar friend in aggression mode who could talk to me on the phone while grading papers (she was a school teacher) and washing dishes. Its opposite, perseverance, concentrates on one particular action, staying with it until it is complete. In the negative pole, perseverance reminds me of the cartoon bulldog that does not let go of the mailman’s leg—in perseverance, one can stay with something that would be better let go. Perseverance works well in life situations in which it would be otherwise easy to give up. José Stevens observes that those in aggression mode often have a jutting jaw, and those in perseverance can have pursed lips.
Since, as mentioned, about half the population is in observation mode, and about another thirty percent is in caution mode, the remaining twenty percent of the population accounts for the other five modes. If you observe people, say, sitting in a bus station, you might notice that about half of them are observing, looking fairly neutral, and about another thirty percent look cautious. Among the rest, you may be able to see evidence of the other modes: some people appearing dynamic (aggression mode) or restrained (reserve), for instance.
In the subchapter “Number Correlations” in Chapter Eleven, “Cadences and Numbers,” we discussed how each of the roles and overleaves have a numerical position in the progression from most ordinal to most cardinal. The role of server, for instance, and all the overleaves on the ordinal side of the inspiration axis are in the number one position—they are the most ordinal, or contracted. The role of king and all the overleaves on the cardinal side of the action axis are in the number seven position—they are the most cardinal, or expanded. Michael student Kent Babcock pointed out how the modes illustrate this progression:
- One/reserve holds back.
- Two/caution is reluctant.
- Three/perseverance commits to action within a narrow range.
- Four/observation is neutral.
- Five/power thrusts outward, bold yet diffuse.
- Six/passion releases inhibitions and increases intensity.
- Seven/aggression is the most conspicuously strong since it is focused on tangible actions.
Kent noted the inward, private nature of the first three, and the expansive, affecting nature of the last three. He also pointed out that “this progression can be understood as a natural flow from the most yin (reserve) to the most yang (aggression).” These observations could also be applied to the other overleaves.
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