Aggression Mode | Michael Teachings

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The Aggression Mode

+ Dynamism
– Belligerence

Action

Cardinal

The Aggression Mode is concerned with initiating action. In this case, it is the person himself who is active. People in this Mode are assertive in every case, and in extreme cases they are "on the attack", or "on the offense" in some way, often in a way that lacks finesse. The manner in which they attack is always shifting and changing as well. This person goes after what he wants with gusto and innovation. His manner is straightforward and direct, right to the point without dancing around it. To those who don't like this, it seems to be blunt. To those who do like it, it seems sharp. At any rate, people in this Mode are generally quick in their conduct. They are driving and insistent about reaching their goals.

In the Positive Pole of +Dynamism, the person is impetuous, forceful, vigorous, and lively. He moves strongly and directly in pursuing his objectives. He acts as if he is impelled by an irresistible force. He is a powerhouse, a dynamo of energy. Because of the strength of this manner of behavior, he regards others not in this Mode as slow and weak. People in this Pole are also spry, sprightly and zippy — full of activity. This does not mean that they have to be busy all the time, for that is the Moving Center to be discussed further on. However, there is a dynamic quality to the way they act, and to what they are.

The Negative Pole is -Belligerence. This describes a person who is combative, contentious, and pugnacious. A person in this Pole acts like he has a "chip on his shoulder", and not just with people, but things — he is ready to fight "at the drop of a hat". He doesn't just go after solutions with vigor as a person in +Dynamism would, he attacks a problem with a competitive manner, jabbing at it. It is as if he is challenging everything and everybody to a duel. One might say he is on a course toward a head-on collision with the world. He lunges and hurtles through life, pushing and shoving, punching and slamming. He deliberately agitates and irritates others, seeming to pick a fight. He thrives on violent behavior, whether his or others. He is the proverbial "bull in the china shop", charging around and breaking everything in his path.

The fear that drives -Belligerence is the fear of not winning, and the fear of weakness. To lose a contest and to show weakness is unacceptable. A person in this Pole acts as if he must be the strongest, the foremost. The way to overcome this is to consider and apply the Positive Pole of the Perseverance Mode, which is +Persistence. Instead of the violent and hostile approach to relationships and situations, learn to handle the energy smoothly and consistently.

The advantage of this Goal is that the person is very energetic for pursuing his goals. His manner lets other people know that they better step aside, because he is coming through. The disadvantage is that there is a tendency not to be consistent in pursuing them. He is always shifting his attack, so he may not get the job done. It is easy for him to get things started, but not so easy to get things done, because in mid-project he may dart off to start some other project.

The Aggression Mode is the complementary opposite of the Perseverance Mode. An Aggressive person avoids persistent and sustained behavior. He is undisciplined. He does not linger and savor life, but careens around from pillar to post. Often a person in Aggression will change things just for the sake of change. Consistency and regularity irks him or bores him. He avoids routines and despises regulations. This keeps other people guessing, never sure what he will be doing next. Others may consider this type of behavior undependable or unstable. To the person in Aggression, it is just his fear of getting in a rut. No one and no thing is going to tie him down. Whereas Aggressive people attack problems with a sharp instrument, Persevering people defend themselves from problems with a blunt instrument.

The counterpart of the Aggression Mode is the Dominance Goal. They are both concerned with initiating action. The Goal of Dominance is concerned with initiating action in the exterior world. This person tries to make things happen with other people and other things. On the other hand, the Aggression Mode is concerned with action initiated from the interior world. He is activity within himself.

-- Phillip Wittmeyer

Channeling About Aggression Mode

The three cardinal modes are more "in your face." Aggression is the most cardinal of the three, being the king-position mode. Whereas observation mode, being neutral, is generally the least noticeable, aggression mode can be the most noticeable when it is activated, which puts the person in motion (not necessarily literally, but at least figuratively); otherwise, you may not notice it. Power mode, on the other hand, exudes from a person most of the time, so it is more consistently noticeable.

Aggression and perseverance are on the action axis, so rather than assimilating, they are about doing things. Anyone in aggression or perseverance mode is built, on a personality level, to handle his life by taking action. Aggression is on the cardinal, or exalted side, of the axis, so a person in aggression mode acts expansively, doing a lot of things, keeping many irons in the fire. Like a king soul, he is seen as someone who can handle a lot of responsibility. The negative pole is "belligerence," which brings to mind the king's negative pole of "tyranny." In the positive pole, "dynamism," the person in aggression mode juggles a lot of balls with balance, equilibrium, and control. In the negative pole, a person flies off the handle; there is a breakdown of the ability to master what is going on. Perhaps she loses her temper and yells.

Negative poles of anything suggest a distortion based on fear, which can manifest as ill will or any other kind of negativity. Kings, and also warriors, can have a hard time handling their temper simply because they are so focused; they are dealing with a lot of concentrated power in the outer world. Therefore, when it goes negative, it is pretty obvious for all to see; the same is true of aggression mode. The best way to validate aggression mode is that a person flies off the handle at times, especially when under stress, fatigued, or fearful.

After such an outburst, a person might feel guilty and ashamed, and it is true that acting from such powerful energy in a negative way can hurt others. However, if you understand the overleaves, you can make some allowance for the fact that it is not easy to manage. Someone in aggression mode has challenges that a person in observation mode may not. Therefore, if you are in observation mode, you cannot take a lot of credit for perhaps having greater control over your temper--you are built in a different way. In observation, you also are not likely to be as dynamic as someone in aggression mode. Of course, every trait is essential to the whole and has benefits to offer. If all people were the same, the range of experience would be much narrower.

Q. I'm in aggression mode and I get very stressed. Could that be an example of belligerence?

A. Yes, depending on how it manifests. If it comes out with a lack of self-control, a tendency to go to pieces, then that is likely belligerence.

Q. How does aggression's negative pole show up when not around others?

A. A person can have a meltdown without others around. An example is trying to fix something, and when it's not going well, kicking or smashing it out of frustration. There's a lot of concentrated power in all the king-position overleaves. It's not that any trait is inherently more powerful than any other in the long run, but with the action axis, the power tends to be out front, so it is more obvious, especially on the king side via dominance, moving center, impatience, and martial body type. The action axis is, by definition, about the outer world: what you can see and touch, the realm of manifestation--it is about doing things for results.

There is a simplicity in the straightforwardness of the action axis, which goes along with the famous tendency of warriors and kings to be blunt. Although there may be hidden elements or strategies for winning with kings and warriors, they tend to value being obvious and straightforward, without subtlety; they are suspicious of what is not displayed thoroughly. When the king mode, aggression, is working well, its effects are immediately obvious in dynamic productivity, and when it goes awry, when the wires get crossed, the results of that are also immediately obvious in the breakdown that results.

-- Shepherd Hoodwin

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Phil Wittmeyer is a longtime Michael student and scholar of the teachings. He can be reached at: wittmeyer@hotmail.com