Know Thyself: The 7 Principles of the Self

Here I give you the Seven Principles of the Self, an instruction manual detailing the different aspects of yourself as well as the ways in which they correspond with one another.

1 The Spirit

The most fundamental aspect of any living being is the source that powers the organism, giving it life.

Your spirit, also understood as your chi or inherent energy, is the source of your very existence as well as your power to think, speak, initiate action, and create the future before you either consciously or unconsciously. This is what the Spirit is existing as the inherent force of creation, and, regardless of how you view it, it is an extension of that which is responsible for the creation of everything in existence. Furthermore, how you harness and direct your qi (or spirit) will affect the creation of, not only your future, but the future of your family, your community, and the world around you. You are directly connected to this source of creation, using it every day to seed the future of the world, yet most remain unaware of this fundamental aspect of themselves.

Remain, mindful as you harness your energy (Spirit) and direct it towards the creation of the future you truly wish to see. This is the first principle, existing as the most foundational and most essential. For this reason, it’s important to study the many means of harnessing and directing this internal energy, while practicing maintaining the awareness of this energy and your control over it. Through this simple practice you can transform your entire life as you become mindful of what you are in essence and begin to express the fullness of your creative powers consciously with intention.

2 The Two Twins

All living beings possess two purposes that underlie two different psychological mechanisms in modern human beings.

From an evolutionary perspective, all biological organisms have the inherent purpose of preserving their inherent energy, staying alive, thriving, and, when evolved into complex human beings, becoming the most individualized and actualized version of themselves they possibly can.

Furthermore, while each individual organism bears the purpose of staying alive and actualizing its full potential, biological organisms as a collective whole act as one unified system that aims at maintaining life itself. This creates a second, more important purpose within each and every organism which is reflected in our inherent need to take care of our offspring, nourish others, build our communities, care for our planet, and so forth. This inherent need can be seen as a need to connect with and come into union with others and the ALL itself, and is further reflected in many different spiritual pathways. These pathways preach that our true purpose is to come into union with God, Spirit, the Universe, or whatever you’d like to call it. Furthermore, this goal is centered around a profound experience that countless mystics throughout time and throughout different cultures have experienced as a oneness with everything. Furthermore, this experience usually results in an attitude of love for others and a belief in the oneness of all people and life itself.

Regardless of your viewpoint, these two inherent purposes underlie each and every one of us, driving us forward as individuals and a collective whole.

1. Individuation/ Actualization

2. Unity

These two purposes further gave rise to two different instinctual mechanisms that evolved into two polar opposite psychological traits in modern human beings. Furthermore, these traits are so archaic that they make up two archetypal aspects that are deeply ingrained within each and every one of us.

The first purpose, rooted archaically in the need to survive and thrive, gave rise to the primitive emotions of hunger, fear, anger, and so forth. These incentives primed biological organisms to outcompete one another, hunt one another, and dominate as much of their world as they possibly could. This fundamental behavioral patterning remained throughout the evolutionary history of human beings giving rise to the psychological trait known as Disagreeableness, which expresses one’s unwillingness to care for and cooperate with others as well as their proclivity to place their own self interests above the interests of others. This aspect of human nature, coupled with the drives for competitiveness and aggression that it inspires, have stereotypically been classified as the Masculine Twin. This aspect is furthermore that which is intimately concerned with its own survival, pleasure, and comfort, fueling a Selfish and Egocentric perspective towards life.

The next inherent purpose, being to care for and nurture the whole, gave rise to emotions such as love, compassion, empathy, and so forth. These incentives primed biological organisms to take care of one another, starting with their offspring and eventually unfolding out into families, tribes, and societies. This fundamental behavioral patterning remained throughout the evolutionary history of human beings giving rise to the psychological trait known as Agreeableness, which expresses one’s willingness to care for and cooperate with others as well as their proclivity to place others interests above the interests of themselves. This aspect of human nature, coupled with the drives to nurture, love, and care for others have stereotypically been classified as the Feminine Twin. This aspect is largely associated with the emotional connection we establish with other people, fueling an Altruistic and Compassionate perspective towards life.

From a mystical perspective, these two archetypal aspects, being the Divine Masculine and the Divine Feminine can be seen as the two twins that reside within each and every one of us. Furthermore, it’s important to understand how these two different aspects of yourself are being expressed in your own life, how they relate to one another, and where they find themselves fighting and competing with one another. By becoming aware of these things you can work to balance these two aspects and, instead of suppressing one or the other, begin to fully express them both. This is our true purpose which exists at the point of union between both of these two inherent purposes, rather than tipping the scale one way or the other.

3 The Three Creators

Human beings evolved to express their energy and create their future through three forces of creation.

There’s an ancient belief in mysticism that there are three creators of the universe, and these three are likened to the elements Fire, Water, and Air. Fire is the First Force of creation, which is seen as the force of the Father who aggressively wills forth action into the world. Water is the Second Force of creation, which is seen as the force of the Mother who compassionately nurtures her creations. Lastly, Air is the Third Force of creation, which is seen as the force of the Child who joyously creates with their imaginative mind for hours on end. Together these three archetypes represent the three different aspects, or forces of creation.

From an evolutionary perspective, the evolution of consciousness unfolded into the expression of these same three creative forces. The First Force is that of the Willpower which evolved for the sake of fulfilling the primary purpose of all biological organisms which is to survive and thrive through direct action. The Second Force is the force of Love which naturally evolved for the sake of bringing organisms together, allowing them to care for and help not only themselves but their offspring, family members, and life itself. Lastly, the Third Force is the force of the Imagination which naturally evolved last, granting us the ability to use imaginative, symbolic, and creative ways to express our energy, tap into our unconscious mind, and create our reality.

1. Willpower

2. Love

3. Imagination

Willpower evolved as organisms were instinctually primed to fulfill their inherent purpose of maintaining their own Spirit, or internal energy and staying alive. For this reason, this force is intertwined with pure desire as it is the natural tool we were given to fulfill our appetites. If you’re hungry, you have to utilize your willpower and go hunt for something to eat (or at least order an uber). For this reason this force is likened to the masculine force of creation, as it is intertwined with our aggression, competitiveness, and selfish desire. This force further corresponds with the concept of sexual energy, also known as the will to life, which is synonymous with the masculine force of creation which is aimed at fulfilling our appetites and physically creating more of ourselves.

Love evolved as organisms were instinctually primed to fulfill their most fundamental purpose which is to preserve life (DNA) itself. The need to fulfill this purpose created a sense of compassion that arose through the evolution of different group adaptations (traits that promoted altruism opposed to individual adaptations which were focused on the organism itself). This primed organisms to nurture their youth in order to ensure their survival giving rise to Love in its purest sense which was expressed through care, compassion, and altruistic action (such as feeding your child, family members and so forth with resources you could have devoured). For this reason, this force is likened to the Mother, or Feminine force of creation, as it is intertwined with our capacity to nurture and care for others.

Imagination evolved as biological organisms needed to create a representation of their external environment (reality) within their inner understanding which could then be used to foresee and predict the future. By creating a representation that allowed them to remember what different stimuli were and what effects they caused, the organism could then use this information to seek or avoid such stimuli by foreseeing the outcome they might produce. This same simple ability is what allows us to imagine (foresee) the future and envision different ways we could interact within different circumstances producing different potential outcomes. Furthermore, after the development of different sensory mechanisms, throughout billions of years of evolution, our imaginative abilities are miraculously complex and sophisticated despite being taken for granted by so many. In fact it was through the imagination that we began associating sounds with different pictures and ideas which then took on a meaning that could be expressed from one individual to another. This process, which in itself is brilliant, eventually evolved into words and language, allowing people to communicate and allowing society to expand in ways that were previously unimaginable. From this point forward the entirety of human societies were painted by the creative mind as civilization cascaded out of this portal into the divine.

It’s important to understand that there are three primary ways you can express your energy and create your future. Becoming aware of these forces and working to actualize all three, as best you can, while further working to balance and align them all will do wonders on your journey towards self-actualization.

4 The Four Faces

Human beings evolved to embody four faces representing the four archetypal aspects of oneself which stand at the four directions of the moral compass of the soul

From an evolutionary perspective, the human psyche evolved different expressions of itself for the sake of adapting to different fundamental situations. These fundamental situations are, furthermore, made up of two sets of dual conditions with the First Set being the Divine Masculine and Divine Feminine archetypes which emerged out of the first two forces that evolved for the sake of fulfilling the two fundamental purposes of life. In the realm of abstractions, the Divine Masculine is the ambitious, competitive, and aggressive masculine ideal that strives to accomplish great things. On the other hand, the Divine Feminine is the nurturing, caring, and compassionate feminine ideal that aspires to nurture the world as if it were a precious garden.

Next arose the Second Set which most likely evolved along with the evolution of tribes and families as children grew into parents who then watched over their own children. This cycle, which has been ongoing for millions of years, underlies two distinct aspects of the human being which can be seen as two more archetypal characters, or faces, being the Child and the Parent. From a psychological perspective we all embody two different identities throughout our lives, one being who we were when we were a child, and the other being who we are when we become a mature adult. While there may be many identities between these two, they can be seen as the archetypal extremes that, in many ways, directly oppose one another. In the realm of abstractions the Divine Parent, mirroring God Himself, being the positive aspect of the Parent archetype, is the intelligent, disciplined, ruler who is both serious and strategic. On the other hand, the Divine Child, being the positive aspect of the child, is the innocent, joyous adventurer who is brimming with infinite potential. One is orderly and in control while the other is open minded and completely free.

These Four Archetypal Faces can furthermore be seen as the Four Directions of our Moral Compass.

N: The Divine Parent

E: The Divine Masculine

S: The Divine Child

W: The Divine Feminine

As far as morality goes, no one aspect is good or bad, rather all four aspects being the Masculine, the Feminine, the Parent, and the Child, correspond with characteristics that are themselves good and bad. The Parent is, however, the master of the compass and is therefore the authoritative monarch that banishes aspects viewed as undesirable to the dungeons of the shadow realm. The Parent generally represents the adult who has repressed their Inner-Child along with whichever Twin they deem morally reprehensible. For example, if the Parent (adult) believes aggression and competition is morally wrong, they will suppress this side of themselves. On the other hand, if they believe compassion and agreeableness is inherently weak then they will repress this aspect of themselves. Furthermore, all that is repressed becomes grouped into one aspect of ourselves, known as the shadow which is that which we hide and try to forget about.

The goal isn’t to repress any of these aspects, however, but rather to actualize all of the positive characteristics of each archetypal aspect while actively transmuting the negative aspects. These negative aspects, such as for example Foolishness, coming from the Child, can be transmuted by actualizing the positive aspect on the opposite end of the spectrum, in this case being Wisdom which corresponds with the Parent. In other words, every archetypal aspect is good when balanced and not pushed to the extreme end of their respective spectrum, yet each one has the potential to cause immense harm when they fail to find this balance. A failure to balance one of these sets of opposites causes one to tip the scale and become overexposed while the other becomes repressed into the shadow realm.

5 The Supreme Microcosm

The Supreme Microcosm is the Point of Reference known as the Ego.

The Ego isn't the organism itself but rather the organism's ability to understand itself as the point of reference that is separate and distinct from its external environment. Because of this the Ego is near synonymous with our conscious awareness, which is the awareness of ourselves and our thoughts. The Ego further gets its name from its Egocentric lens, in which it understands itself as the center of the entire universe. Because of this, it’s naturally prone to seek out selfish ways and behaviors that allow it to survive and out compete others. For the truth is that the Ego is intertwined with the Spirit (energy) itself. As the Ego is that which understands it must preserve itself, or, more precisely, it’s internal energy, while the Spirit is that which must be preserved.

The Ego is furthermore, surrounded by the four faces as it comes to wear and embody them at different times. For this reason, these archetypes shouldn’t be confused with the ego itself but rather be understood as different aspects of oneself that the Ego channels for the sake of expressing how we feel and getting what we desire at any given moment within whatever particular circumstance we might find ourselves in.

6 The Cube of the Universe

The Self is contained within the Cube of the Universe.

While the Four Faces surround the Ego from every direction, the Ego is officially closed in by two parallel worlds that encase the Ego within.

From an evolutionary perspective, consciousness evolved to coexist within two different realms, one physical and the other mental. Furthermore, while inhabiting the material World of Below one embodies their Outer Self, which is near synonymous with the Physical Body. Furthermore, the physical body is synonymous with the instinctual drives it possesses. In this sense, this material aspect of ourselves can be seen as the lower self which further corresponds with our appetites and sensual desires. On the other side, while inhabiting the mental, metaphysical World of Above, one embodies their Inner Self, spiritually seen as the Soul. This is the face one embodies when they go within themselves and pray, meditate, visualize, and so forth. Furthermore, being completely liberated from the world of sensation, archaically seen as the world of corruption, this inner-self, or soul, was spiritually connected with the concept of the higher-self which can be seen as the side of the human being that is moral, just, and spiritually pure.

Up: The World of Above: The Soul

Down: The World of Below: The Physical Body

While there’s been much debate over the truth of dualism, from a psychological standpoint, it’s undeniably true. From our point of reference, we cohabit two different realms, one within us and one outside us. Furthermore, it’s essential that one eganges with both realms which constitutes another set of twins that must be actualized and aligned with one another.

In this way, the cube is made up of three sets of twins (opposites) that must all be harmoniously balanced. The four guardians, representing the four archetypal faces we wear further correspond to both realms as we engage with and take on the face of all four while inhabiting both the inner, mental-realm as well as the outer, physical-realm. For example, we can engage with the face of love and compassion while going within and meditating on our love for someone else, God, the universe, and so forth, as well as expressing and embodying this side of us in the physical world. Furthermore, by going within, the thoughts and feelings we experience can then affect the way we engage with our environment (external world). This is one of the secrets possessed in the simple yet brilliant phrase, ‘As Above So Below’.

7 The Self

The Self is the product of the rest.

The Self is that which channels its energy and conscious-awareness towards fulfilling one of, or both of its inherent purposes through one, or more of its three forces of creation, while embodying one, or more of its four faces, while cohabiting the World of Above and, or the World of Below. It’s an extensive masterpiece that, like any remarkable tool or instrument, must be learned, practiced, and experimented with before one truly becomes a Master of Thy Self. By understanding these different elements, why they came to be, and how they relate to one another, you can begin to analyze them within you. It’s important to reflect on these concepts as you ask yourself in what ways you could move towards a more holistic and fulfilled way of being. What archetypal aspect are you repressing? What creative force isn’t being utilized? What purpose is being forsaken? Go within, seek the answers for yourself, and work towards actualizing the fullness of yourself.