Sub Personalities – Our Many Strategic Selves

Sub Personalities:
What are they and how they work?

By Stephen J. Cocconi © 2012

What is going on in there?

Consider for a moment some repetitious pattern in your behavior. It could be a nervous tic, an all too familiar sense of dread, or an unaccounted for appreciation of some food you have never tasted or place which you have never traveled.  Maybe you’ve noticed a way of acting or speaking, in certain situations, that seem so automatic, (and you may like it, hate it, or seldom notice it at all) that you might indeed be a bit curious as to why it is there or what triggers it.

In the Michael Teaching, these little voices inside, peculiar twitches or habits, or familiar patterns or reactions, are a feature of one’s human complexity; and everyone possesses a unique array and content of what, in this material, are referred to as Sub-Personalites. A Sub-Personality is response pattern which has evolved over many lifetimes to cope with various life situations. Each possesses a specific subsets of Overleaf qualities; even if they are not those predominant traits chosen by Essence in the construction of the Personality for this life time. Subs evolve and may be carried forward from life to life, containing memories, attitudes, emotional residue and survival strategies that were successful in previous lives.

On the other end of the evolutionary mandate, new ones can emerge from Spirit wanting to influence new behavior, attitudes, and ways of being that are proactive in our growth rather than reactive. All Sub Personalities form, expand, refine, and then when they have served their useful purpose will generally extinguish themselves and their use fade even though the learning will not. They also sometimes morph and merge into a new form. Their process is to acquire a larger and more complex variety of strategies as the soul matures, deepening their ability to cope with life situations but also to recognize and serve the unity of the Personality leading them to realize their oneness with Essence. Yet, on some occasions, a particularly poignant, traumatic, or even favorable life experiences from this or another lifetime, may have locked one of these patterns into place. Thus, these “stuck Subs” become the source of Self Karmas that may take many lives, or many years to resolve.

However, as Mature and Old Souls grasp the presence of these inner selves, one’s ability to connect with and then heal, or at least modify, their scripts can be done through the method referred to as a “Subs Round Table.” (See below for instruction on how to work with this approach.)

How do they work?

The combined Personality-Ego-Self or Human Energy System (HES) activates one or more of these “personas” in response to unique environmental cues. For example, some people present one personality to their coworkers, and yet show another personality to their family or friends. In other ways, we may have Subs that dictate our physical desires like food, alcohol, sex, or even the way we receive love or get our needs met. Sub-Personalites reside in different parts of the Instinctive Center. Intellectual part subs can appear as holographic images, symbols, or even written material. The “fight or flight” response is a Sub-Personality residing in the Moving part. Sensations like “butterflies in my stomach” are feeling states that may arise from either the Moving or Emotional parts of the Instinctive Center. Others Sub-Personalites may appear in the form of verbal messages or inner voices. For example, we might have an awareness about a frequently used phrase and say to ourselves “that sounded just like my mother.”

Overleaf Color, Past Life Content, Soul Age Context

Sub-Personalites have developed and evolved over the course of many lifetimes. We are continually developing new Sub-Personalites and/or aspects of our existing ones. As a person progresses in Soul Age, and their needs become more diversified, Sub-Personalites respond by offering greater variance, greater subtlety, and having a wider range of possible response patterns to given situation for getting what you need as they perceive it.  Yet, they are often segregated within a Self and act as a confederacy; with some parts cooperating, others competing, while others still are completely oblivious to the existence of the whole. Each sub-personality is a unique script or, using a computer analogy – a sub-routine, that is engaged when various triggering stimuli are encountered. The most significant thing to remember about these internal characters is that they all genuinely believe that they are acting in the best interest or the organism! In other words, their action, no matter how detrimental they come out, have a positive intent behind them!  Thus, vilifying and making one part of yourself an enemy of another is just another way to stay locked in the confines of a Self Karma and to unconsciously perpetuate the primary obstacle toward AGAPE: enmity induced separation!

It is the Essence that carries over Subs from life to life, and installs them in the Instinctive Center. Yet, Sub-Personalites are under the auspices of the Ego, that protective part of the main Personality which perceives that its existence is limited to the life of your Personality which carries your name. They are programmed with the prime directive of bodily survival of the personality (i.e. animal self-preservation) Each is a developed strategy, as a set of attitudes and tactics, based upon some narrow belief about the reality it was developed to cope with. Then, when they are stuck and unadaptive, they become “behavioral problems.” Or, if one does not condemn these qualities, they might simply be thought of as one’s idiosyncrasies.

Because Sub-Personalites, in a sense, are pseudo individuals in themselves, they may be unaware of the presence of other Sub-Personalites and perceive them to be competitors in a psychological sense; with the potential for blocking or defeating their primary aims. In other cases, they may become confederates forming small groups for situations that call into play their various unique skill sets. If it is not clear by what has been said so far, let us make plain that it is entirely possible for a sub personality to be in conflict with another sub personality or with the main personality itself. When two or more subs become “polarized” the outcome might be thought of in therapeutic terms as “self-sabotage.” Because of this misunderstanding about the function of Sub-personalities, and sometimes their distorted perceptions and reactive patterns, they are labeled as problems or worse, personality defects, and in the extreme religious interpretation as “demons.”

To resolve these inner conflicts and develop mutually advantageous new strategies, it is useful to listen to, talk with, and negotiate with each of these parts. The primary form of this negotiation has three prongs:

• Recognition:  Notice who or what each is and how it appears or functions within you.
• Naming:  Giving them a unique identity, calls them out from the shadows of the unconscious.
• Acknowledging: Hear and validate their unique needs, wants, strategies and perceptions of a situation. Most importantly, receive and acknowledge the gift of their positive survival intention for you!  Acknowledgement ≠ Agreement or Obedience: You DO NOT have to act upon what a Sub recommends unless you choose to do so!  Free Will and personal responsibility are still in play.

Sub’s Personalities are NOT Enemies!

In many therapies, unfortunately, the main approach to Sub-Personalites is a very hostile and combative one. Too often it is approached as an enemy rather than just a misunderstood aspect of yourself that is doing its best to help you stay alive: albeit from its perspective! Put yourself in the position of anything that is the object of being hunted for the purpose of getting killed! The moment you do so, does it happen to come to your mind that you would both be in terror and it would call up extra-defensive postures to protect itself against getting killed? If you can empathize from this point of view, then you can realize the folly and indeed the self destructive tendency of making your Subs opponents to be defeated, or considering them enemies, which you try to vanquish or kill off.

Technically speaking, since they are a part of you, Sub-Personalites cannot be killed off! Instead, think of them being matured, evolved, merged, retired, or sent on a much deserved vacation. Again, the best way to work with a polarized or stuck Sub is to acknowledge them, listen to their demands, their needs, and try to go back in time, following some of their past life associations, so that they may “get gotten” or you “understand their perspective”. In taking the time to do so, you prove to them your love, concern and respect for their input. You transform your relationship with them from one of adversaries into allies. The result is that the emotional urgency to connect with you, lessens as they have gotten your attention and hopefully, their message across. But having done their job, it turns the reigns over to you! Hence it will release its control from a rigid and highly defensive alert status. Only then can you begin to work with them to restore inner harmony. As most all of you know, trying to Will something into submission, and keep it down or away; in the long run it is not only detrimental to your overall well-being, but virtually impossible to achieve without constant and exhausting suppression. And to mask this process a False Personality is inevitably created.

Spiritual Emergence: Evolving you with NEW Sub Personalities

It should be noted with great emphasis that the emergence of a Sub Personality IS NOT limited to the retroactive healing of a “broken” aspect of some preexisting quality. Indeed, all Imprinting affects sub personality development in a direct, (and from the Essences point of view) deliberate and intended way. Furthering the diversity of available sub personalities and the number and complexity of strategies available to each, IS the mechanism by which one advances, and becomes capable of dealing with the complexity and nuances which comes with age: of both the Personality and the Soul. Thus, it is equally significant to note, that suppressing emerging Subs, especially aspects of those which might be flowing directly from Essence can be as disruptive to the evolutionary process as suppressing or denying current ones wanting to “get gotten”. This means of course, that the process of Sub Personality Work is not limited to negotiating or healing, but installing and integrating new and more precise elements which augment our character and diversify and magnify our potential.  In cases like these, we might use different techniques for welcoming, (re)birthing, morphing, or installing these new parts in ways that allow us to acknowledge their newness and unfamiliarity; within an attitude that is accepting and enlivening rather than riddled with fears of incompetence or uncertainty.

Who are the Sub-Personalities?

In a general sense, all human beings possess Subs that exist in broad categories. Just as people have fingers, eyes and hair, the finger print is unique, eye color and iris is also, and the length, texture, color, and thickness of hair are all individualized defined by ones’ genetics and preferences for style. Yet, as a shared categorical type, everyone has them. What follows below is a categorical list of Sub-Personality characteristics, yet they are not specifically the same within different persons. In fact, some people recognize and have named their Sub or Subs, because they are so familiar. Indeed, as mentioned before, giving your Sub a unique name is a positive step toward keeping it visible not allowing it to hide in your “Shadow” or “Personal Unconscious.”

Some examples are: one woman’s version of Guardian Sub she calls the Whipster since it chastises her during every event or thought where some perceived moral imperfection may happen or has transpired. In another example, a highly driven and focused Competent Sub-personality can activate, in yet a second person. It is an acutely terse but highly focused and effective mindset, which reveals itself in this woman and is characterized by a simple truncated and dismissive response “Yup!” In my own case, there is Buford. It is a cross between my Innocent Sub, Guardian Sub, and Rebel Sub respectively. Whenever I take note of someone who is showing a blatant act of stupidity (i.e. willful ignorance!), that is to say he or she actually approves of their superficial act of avoidance as “my right”! At that moment I am witnessing this/my Sub demonstrated in action, outside of myself; but every bit a mirror of that Sub within me. Internally, Buford show’s himself to me whenever I do something without any forethought of my actions or consideration of their consequences. Then it gives way to the Victim Sub, and wants to blame something or someone else for the result it created but shuns accountability for.

7 Things to Remember about Sub-Personalities

1. Sub-Personalities are myopic! There are single-minded around a given perspective.
2. Sub Personalities always has a positive intent but their strategies may be outdated and therefore counterproductive; and in the extreme even harmful. But not deliberately so!
3. Sub Personalities may be stuck in an earlier Soul Age; and by that effect, karmic.
4. When a Sub believes it is protecting you from karma, it may be creating a self karma.
5. Whenever a Sub is really serious or on guard, it wants to protect you against pain.
6. Sub Personalities may be completely non-verbal and instead inform with images and/or sensations.
7. Sub Personalities listed below are categories. Your system may respond to these categorical terms, or not. But it is quite common and even more useful to name each individually; or better still, ask them to name themselves.

1. The Control Sub Personality: The Control Sub Personality is what we might consider the overarching data manager of our conscious tasks. What otherwise might be considered our normal waking Ego consciousness. Its function is to manage and orchestrate other Sub-Personalities throughout the normal course of a day’s activities and interactions. It has within it the energy of our inner King and want to be in Dominance over the others.

2. The Materialist Sub-Personality: The Materialist Sub-Personality seeks to help us deal with the physical plane. Specifically focusing on the acquisition of those needed objects, goods, or resources, which help us to function in a successful way and provide us the tools we need to make headway on our goals. A strong Materialist possesses the quality known as “havingness.” An alchemy of Power Mode and Spiritualist Attitude, the production of action infused with the intention to bring into manifestation. When a Materialist is weak, this person will tend to struggle in monetary or physical security. When a man or woman has children their Provider Sub and will cooperate with this Sub, but if weak, it will be severely challenged and stressed. The Chief Feature of Greed has a strong influence here.

3. White Knight sub-personality. The White Knight is that aspect of ourselves which reflects our most idealistic sense of values, virtues, and absolute sense of defending what we consider right over wrong. Equipped with this noble intention, it may still go astray; not in its convictions but it’s understanding or its chosen strategy of how to fulfill or defend against an attack. It has the energy of the Idealist Attitude, the Magnanimous King and the Noble Warrior. Yet, like Don Quixote, it can expend energy recklessly and without purpose chasing windmills (illusionary enemies or threats) which actually present neither.

4. Sludge Sub-Personality. Of all the Sub-Personalities which help one survive, the sludge is by far the most ruthless and the most selfish. However it is not bad! Think of it instead as that survival mechanism which removes all hindrances of moral confines and accesses any and all deep resources for the preservation of the self. Often, the Sludge is in conflict or polarized with the White Knight sub-personality. These two may be in repeated standoffs with each other. Especially when it comes to methods and attitudes toward confronting an aggressor, or going after something it wants. The Sludge is often highly charged with the Overleaves of Greed, Impatience, Aggression Mode. And in the Instinctive part of the Intellectual Center, it can be cunning and have a poker face like a Stoic. Most commonly it has the Sage and Warrior Role flavors, being potentially both a smooth and seductive talker and a killer rolled into one person.

5. Humor Sub-Personality. Humor is Essences’ gift to help us gain perspective, and thus can be one of the most important of all survival strategies. By adding an attitude of levity to given situation it allows for a momentary flexibility a perspective. It is in those moments of being able to have a choice of a viewpoint in the face of unfamiliar circumstances, which may give the mind opportunity to formulate a different and deliberate strategy rather than a predictable one. The Overleaves imbued in this sub-personality are that of the Expressive Sage and Artisan Roles, the Spiritualist Attitude (with the subtext of “wouldn’t that be funny if”), and the Goal of Relaxation also called Flow. As you might guess, even though it is certainly not limited to Old Souls, it possesses the same necessary elements of helping us unattach or take things too seriously, as the Elder Soul is coming to terms with at that last stage of evolution.

6. Accuser sub-personality. Like the word implies accusation, challenge, and self attack are the hallmarks of this quality. Called the Judge, in some systems or perspectives, it actually acts more as the condemning function working in concert with the Guardian Sub-personality, to keep you from taking risks or doing behaviors that it deems ineffectual. The Overleaves expressed in this Sub, are Goal of Discrimination, Attitude of Cynic, Chief Feature of Impatience, and the negative pole of Passion Mode.

7. Observer Sub-Personality. Also referred to, in some systems, as the Witness, and No-Fault communications as the “meta-state”; it serves as the higher function for learning a detached perspective from one’s own process. This sub-personality tends to come into existence near the end of the Mature Soul Cycle, and is most developed during the Old Soul Cycle. The Overleaves involved of course our Observation Mode, Scholar Role, the Attitudes of Spiritualist, Stoic and Pragmatist, and the Higher Intellectual Center. Learning to step back and momentarily disengage, considering many options before acting upon any one of them, can be a highly useful pause leading a person to the most effective choice.

8. Cynic Sub-Personality. The Cynic Sub is someone that we might call our inner “Doubting Thomas”; more dubious than outright negative. It is suspicious to an extreme, and in some cases, outright derisive of our motives or choices of action. Like Self-Deprecation or Martyrdom Chief Features of which it relies upon heavily, its worldview can be very tainted with a dark, bitter, or pessimistic edge. However, it may well serve you as a “devils advocate” challenging the White Knight Sub or the Innocent Sub or the Rebel Sub, to clearly declare their line of reasoning, and during the process enjoy poking holes in it. When the Humor and Cynic join forces, you have some of the most poignant and exquisite comedy you can imagine. Think George Carlin, Robin Williams, Denis Leary, and Richard Pryor. Have fun!

9. Child Sub-Personality. As you can well imagine, the Inner Child concept holds a vast array of interpretations and offers us various perspectives when considering looking through the eyes of a child at various chronological stages. Thus this Sub-personality can have many nuances and can be located in a wide number of instances or circumstances and levels of maturity. In the Michael System, there are four major branches, or in other words, Subs of Sub-Personalities. One called the precocious Tinkerbell, another the Innocent, the insatiable Baby Wants More Sub, and then into the Martyr or Victim Sub. From their labels alone one should discern the whimsical quality of the first and the open and untainted as well as inexperienced qualities of the second. Dominant in this sub are the Overleaves of caution mode, goal of acceptance, passion mode the positive pole, the goal of growth in the positive pole, and the emotional center.

9a. Tinkerbell or Precocious Sub-Personality. Tinkerbell is cute, whimsical, magical and mischievous. The subsequent energy of these qualities animates this aspect of the Child sub-personality to be playful but also to be precocious and throw caution to the wind. This Sub is often polarized to an aspect of the Father or Daddy Sub-personality known as the Authoritarian. Frequently, it also may be in league with the Rebel and Saboteur Sub-Personalities, respectively. It operates from Power and Passion Modes in the Moving and Higher Moving Centers. Believing itself to “know it all” the Chief Features of Arrogance and Stubbornness are in play with the Goal of Dominance. It is possible in the positive aspect of this sub-personality to think of a person as a “free spirit.” Yet, in the negative pole, self-indulgence and sometimes belligerence, makes for a person who uses tantrums, uncooperativeness, and mischievousness to control their circumstances.

9b. Innocent Sub-Personality. Few qualities are more vulnerable and yet admirable than that of true innocence. Originating with the Infant Soul, this sub-personality is one of the longest in existence of your Psyche HES. This Sub can be internally polarized between the Goal of Growth and the Mode of Caution. Having a quality of Priestly inspiration to it, causes it to be very attractive to both people of genuinely loving character. Those who would categorize the Innocent’s simplicity with scorn, will act toward it with resentment in the least, and in the worst case, malice. The Innocent can be a target of other more intimidating Subs.

9c. The Baby Wants More Sub-Personality. It can also be thought of as the “I don’t want to” or “you can’t make me” Sub. This Sub-Personality is analogous to those people who continually acquire things not from need, but from a fear-based Stubborn and insatiable Greed driving a need to hoard. Depression Era people often have this kind of energy running at a deep level. Their refusal to part with anything within a rational or reasonable range, because of Inner Child memories of shortage, that they will lose out and lose control if they give things up. Someone who you might consider a “pack rat” or collector, could have some of this energy. However, the expression of collecting or demanding things stems more from a want to control or have someone else pander to that seemingly insatiable demand for attention.

9d. The Victim or Martyr Sub Personality – As you can see, the name contains the Chief Feature around which this Sub operates. Seeing itself as always the receiver of action, or defenseless against overwhelming odds, its only healing can take place when it is convinced it has some power. Getting there might be a big leap, since this aspect of the Child believes that everyone, like the grown-ups, is bigger than it is; and it doesn’t have a choice. Of course, that is the back door justification where the Victim can team up with any number of other Subs to act out in either active or passive aggressive ways. Either to try and be heard or to get back at the perceived bully or meanie. As revealed by the choice of words, this aspect remains immature. It  holds onto powerlessness as pitiful attempt at validating its pain. Which it perceives is out of its control to stem or redress.

10. Guardian Sub-Personality. In many ways the Guardian is ones “inner confessor”, inner moralist, or that part which might be thought of as the conscience. The Guardian shares qualities between the Roles of Priest and Warrior. It serves not only as a moral guide, but also as a steadfast protector and in some cases preemptory aggressor. The Guardian is extremely strong and forms alliances with any number of other Sub-Personalities. Its main influence is to dominate and potentially override anything it deems as hazardous to your spiritual well-being. And in the case of the Baby Soul or Young Soul versions of this Sub, spiritual well-being is defined primarily as your sense of identity and status amongst others. When the Guardian sub-personality advances in Soul Age to the late Mature and Old Soul stages, it is truly capable of acting not from self-preservation but rather from the window called open-mindedness; with the motivation from essence called spiritual evolution. As one of the most complex Sub-Personalities, with a longevity that spans almost the entirety of the human cycle, the Guardian has three categories of minion Subs. They can appear in ways that are fascinating, deceptive in their camouflage, and in some cases utterly baffling of how they came to be in the first place. They are the Whore Sub, the Virgin Sub, and the Psychic Sub.

10a. Whore Sub-Personality. As the name implies, there is a transactional quality and subjugation quality to this sub-personality. Despite the association of the name with sex and titillation, this Sub is not primarily focused upon sexual exchange as the mechanism of transaction. Of itself, the whore’s association to sexual subjugation happens only about a third of the time. Instead it applies to someone who will sell themselves for some kind remunerative gain or similar advantage. Love buying is a way that you can think of the transactional quality in this sub-personality. The Whore may gain a great deal or perceived control, power, safety, advantage or status, but sacrifices a good deal in terms of values, principles, access to self, and deadens itself emotionally, in return. One expression of this Sub that is frequently overlooked both because of its non-sexual context and its brutality; is the Mercenary. Here we see how a person sells themselves to perform the most heinous and dehumanizing acts possible for money and power. It can certainly fall under the category of a soldier of fortune, a hit man, or a hired henchmen of any kind. In the modern era, the people who knowingly sold worthless financial assets and stocks during the financial crisis of 2007-2008 all had active Whore Subs.

10b. Virgin Sub-Personality. The Virgin Sub-personality is one that never gives itself anything. It feels constrained like in the negative pole of Reservation Mode. It believes it must be chaste and pure. In also has a quality in common with Self-destruction, like the denial of material or sensual pleasures associated with being human, because they are held as impure or sinful in some regard.  The Virgin Sub believes that by denying itself pleasure it is shielded from some temptation or from loss and thereby safer in some way, or holier than thou, or more pure. It is a form of obsessive-compulsive behavior that can also manifest itself in things like anorexia, extreme thrift, and a physical prudishness that goes far beyond the normal range of modesty. Several renunciate religious orders like the Amish and some aspects of Islam are examples of this tendency. The Virgin Sub can be quite rigid and might even be locked in by a Child Sub that justifies not growing up because of its special purity. People who are sexually inhibited or frigid may be suffering from such a conflict. This Sub struggles with guilt and shame and is constrained but might see itself as castrated by the negative poles of Idealist and Reservation.

10c. Psychic Sub-Personality. Mind reading and second-guessing of other people is the primary defense strategy of this Sub-personality. It utilizes both the Higher Intellectual and Higher Emotional Centers, usually in the negative pole; in an effort to surreptitiously probe the needs, desires, and strategies of the other person whom it invariably has judged as unsafe. This particular Sub can be a tool that is can be used in a dangerous way, especially by those people who do possess some degree of actual clairvoyant or extrasensory perception. Invariably, it becomes a “go to” successful strategy for them, rather than taking the risk to openly engage in honest and vulnerable communication. People who eaves drop or spy upon you are often doing so at the direction of this Sub. This Sub depends heavily on the negative pole of Observation: surveillance and eavesdropping. At the root cause of this subterfuge is a Sub that has suffered greatly from emotional retardation a.k.a Re-evaluation.

11. Mother or Mommy Sub-Personality. There was no person more important to the well-being of a child than that of their mother. The first sense of security love, stability and sense of belonging stems from this aspect of the psyche. When a person has been denied or does not a bond with an actual mother figure in a lifetime the Mother or Mommy Sub-personality is greatly damaged. The harm done may not be irreparable, but the repercussions will show themselves in some aspect of life. Such as an inability to establish intimacy, or a drivenness for self protection. It may possibly be polarized fastidious self-care as a compensation or at the other extreme incredibly uncaring and unkempt about their appearance, or well-being, or basic self needs. Like the Child, the damage to the Mommy Sub-personality could be nested in association with any particular chronological age of the person who sustained it. In other words the Child sub-personality could have had a wonderful relationship with their actual-present life mother until a certain age, where for example, she died, or went back to work, or abandoned them, etc. Remembering again that Sub-Personalities can be transferred from one life’s personality to the next. A damaged Mommy sub-personality may have happened lifetimes before. Any new information learned in the current lifetime can be healing.  Or in other cases, some lessons can reinforced a particular type of damage and expanded upon it. This is true of the process of all Subs. All those elements would accumulate and combine to strengthen or lessen the grip of a particular attitude which that mommy Sub had on the child. Another way a damaged Mother Sub manifests is as a parent who becomes detached, dysfunctional, or obsessive about parenting in some way. The variations of the Mommy Sub are that of the Bitch or Nag Sub, and the Nurturer or Caretaker Sub.

11a. Bitch or Nag Sub Personality – This is the aspect of the Feminine which has mood swings between Martyrdom and Impatience. Appearing when other aspects seem to be slacking or not fulfilling its demands, the Bitch can seem ruthless and cutting in the way it expresses itself. It will issue digs and innuendo rather than direct assertions although it will bandwagon whenever it can feel righteously superior and has agreement from others (Church Lady). She is capable of herding cats in that she is the meanest cat standing with its hackles highest. The presence of the bitch often comes up when the Child is in need. The need can be taxing this Sub or she is coming forward to argue for the Child in no uncertain terms(often with Childish arguments). It can be evoked when a Father/Authoritarian Sub or person displaying it is confronting her. Yes, it is quite common for you parents to argue even within your own psyche! This aspect desires being stroked after due deference is paid to it. To be healed Acceptance and Stoicism can be applied to allow it to get past its defenses until it breaks down into a state of sobbing fear and self loathing that nobody loves her because she is often very intense. As you can tell, it is a self-fulfilling prophesy that leads this Sub to continue its patterns.

11b. Nurturer or Caretaker Sub Personality – This is perhaps the most fundamental aspect of Feminine Energy (not just females) in play in the human psyche. Without the pointed fulfillment of base level needs and emotional soothing, a human being never truly grows past their survival instincts and the resulting coping strategies emerging to compensate, may be either healthy or detrimental. In either case, these “deficiency needs” as Abraham Maslow would have referred to them, will keep a person locked in a cycle of Ego compensation instead of Self realization. Grasping for the Goal of Acceptance, through the Emotional and Instinctive Centers, and aspects of Passion Mode, this Sub Personality exerts influence on the part of the psyche which feels loved, cared for, satisfied, and deserved. When this Sub is in play, be aware that it can team up with any number of other elements and make a truly stealth agent. Particularly aligned with the Addict Sub and sometimes tag teaming with the Father Sub, a high functioning nurturer needs no excuse to be mindful of self care and takes reasonable risks towards it own well being. In the opposite extreme, this Sub ratifies behaviors and beliefs which put it on the Chief Features axis Self Deprecation / Arrogance sliding between them, justifying its undeservedness or proving its hyper-deflective pride.

12. Kamikaze Sub Personality – Like the historic Japanese fighter pilots of World War 2, where the word Kamikaze originates, this Sub contains the Chief Feature of Self Destruction, Martyrdom and Impatience, and the Mode of Aggression, while exemplifying the most daring elements of the Warrior in all out battle cry. Its paradoxical motive is to go after preserving the thrill of being alive or dye in the process. Thrill seekers often have this tendency in great excess. Consequently, when this Sub is engaged, it is very difficult to curb the “need for excitement” or “death wish” that can be activated in the process.  When in league with the Child, it becomes the adventurous explorer, precocious prankster, or ruthless captain of industry, all of which pushes the limits of what is possible or more specifically what is acceptable to others. This Sub hates being protected or dictated to! In fact, the more one tries to deride or discipline it, the stronger it becomes: in a healthy sense, the 1960’s bumper sticker “Question Authority” along with the Rebel Sub, revealed its fearless defiance. But when the Self Destruct aspect kicks in, the motto is pushes to the extreme of “fuck authority”…even common sense! Thus, when in league with the Guardian it and or Rebel Sub’s, it becomes the Fanatic.

12a. Self- Destruct Sub Personality – This Sub is underpinned by the presence of desperation which overrides the Instinctive Center’s mandate for self preservation. Coupled with a deep sense of hopelessness it perceives its only option for escape as those which sacrifice safety for the persons well being, as it perceives it; and in some cases the actual life of the person themselves! Such an extreme strategy should point to the main Overleaf influence on this Sub: the Chief Feature of Self Destruction. In fact, some people would recognize this Sub represented in movies where the men would rather “blow up the ship” or “go down fighting” rather than submit to a fate they would consider worse than death: living in the face of dishonor, pain, or potentially imperceptible horror.  Suicide bombers are almost exclusively stuck in the extreme perception of this Sub.

13. The Addict Sub Personality – As the name implies, the Addict seeks to feel high! These are the combined negative effects of Passion Mode and the Emotional Center. Thus, exaggerating effects of any substance or behavior until it reaches a point where any regulatory control over its ability to stop, a given substance or course of action collapses and they are hooked. It has them! One of the most prodigious of all the Subs, its range and skill at forming alliances is impressive and sometimes devastating. When teamed with the Baby Wants More aspect of the Inner Child, it locks a person into a state of perpetual “not enough” and things like extreme “isms” get set into stone.  From there one witnesses the persistence of Perseverance Mode in action. The program of Alcoholics Anonymous, probably better than any other, comprehends the grip that this Sub can have on an individual. In this and many of the other 12-Step Programs dealing with addictions which have followed since AA like: drugs and gambling, only total abstinence can form a blockade capable of countering the behavioral consequences wrought by an “out-of-control” Addict Sub. Other items like food and sex, which are both necessary to survival and to the continued well being of a person are strictly regulated. Thus, this Sub, sliding between Greed and Self Destruction driven strategies can become part of a dangerous duo when aligned with the Sludge. By contrast, when aligned to the Competent Sub, it actually seems to support the “hard worker” or in extreme the Workaholic. Because of exhaustion from a progressively distorting imbalance created in such behaviors, the Addiction to work as an effective compensation for the perceived stresses of the Competent Sub, eventually the medicating effect of obsessive work degenerates into a corrosive collapse. But when it goes to war with the Authoritarian or the Guardian, the permutations and perversions of this interplay may reveal themselves in some extreme maladies. Those pedophile priests of the Catholic Church represent a prime example of what happens when an Addict is forced underground but pursued with relentless intent to kill it by the Guardian. Yet, as with the happenings in those scandals, the Authoritarian, believing itself to be of greatest power and fearing embarrassment, actually hides the struggle and convinces itself that it has the Addict well in hand. Deception, especially self deception, is a prevalent tool of this Sub.

14. Father or Daddy Sub Personality – The other half of the inner parent duo, it is of course the Masculine side of the inner personality. Noting the names and functions of the following list of its subordinate Subs below; these qualities are the Yang or assertive characteristics found in human nature. However, because of physical gender roles and historic stereotyping they are ascribed to the male. On a larger scale then, what we are discussing is ones perceptions of patriarchy and your relationship to it. As you will see, this Sub encompasses the following elements: the Goals of Discrimination, Dominance, and sometimes Growth (in Power and Aggression Modes) and the Intellectual and Instinctive Centers, Action Axis, Stoic and Pragmatist Attitudes and Baby and Young Soul perspectives laced through them. Also, that some of the strategies developed below are rejecting of more Feminine states like: Emotional Center, Spiritualist Attitude, Goal of Acceptance and Relaxation, Modes of Passion or Observation, and of course a complete rejection of Submission. The Father Sub has four primary Sub functions in it focused iterations of the: Authoritarian or Boss, the Policeman or Enforcer, the Protector, and the Provider.

14a. Authoritarian Sub Personality – The King Role and Power Mode are the twin suns around which this Sub revolves. Owning ones “personal power” is necessary to acting in the world with self confidence, a sense of purpose, and a necessary quantity of being assured in yourself that you are “right”, at least in your own truth!  When operating properly, this Subs empowers you with the gumption to assert your point of view, even when not popular. It also stabilizes you in emotionally charged situations calling up the Intellectual Center to “stick to the facts” rather than engage in trading insults or attacks. When this aspect goes negative, it becomes the Oppressor, believing it is the White Knight but actually acting from the Sludge or Guardian. But when it means to humiliate an opponent, it rushes to an alliance with the Cynic.

14b. Policeman or Enforcer Sub Personality – Every King needs Warriors to enforce the laws set down and to meet out punishment to those who disobey them. This part of you need not be outwardly in Aggression Mode, but it does seek to contain, penalize, and in some cases outright crush opposition to itself or the position it is imposing. In its healthy and mature expression it can be a particularly fair referee (especially in league with a clear Guardian Sub; choosing to fight (if necessary) for a just and appropriate settlement of a dispute and make sure that whatever compensation is decided upon, it is fair but most definitely paid. Yet, this aspect can also be extremely merciless, like the negative pole of Priest. It is the aspect of Father that carries out the spankings of the Child when it deems it necessary for discipline. Carried out in frustrated Impatience, that disciplining becomes systematic abuse and when fused with a crazed sense of revenge or released with impunity, can even become an agent of torture. In this negative extreme example, particularly true of those imprinted by punishing churches or fathers, all of the compassion is beaten out of it. Then, like any sinisterly distorted criminal, it seeks compensation and revenge in almost everything it does. This is especially true when a damaged Policeman is in the negative poles of Cynic, Martyrdom, and can be calloused beyond belief when attached to negative poles of Pragmatist or Stoic.

14c. Protector Sub Personality – This aspect is the opposing or balancing aspect to the Policeman. Working to meet or curtail any threat to the Personality (but particularly what it sees as a vulnerable Innocent Sub, the Protector is that Sub which swings between Caution and Power, galvanized by the idea that unless it is vigilant, you will become a victim to someone, or potentially your own imprudence. When working effectively, the Protector helps to take precautions and to make what one does as safe possible and the path to be traveled as well mapped as it can research. In the negative pole, in may team up with the Rebel or Guardian or White Knight and Sludge and create permutations of perpetrator acting in the name of self defense. However, teaming up with the Mommie Sub or extreme Caution Mode, it can become afraid of its own shadow and never wish to risk anything unless it is sure of its security.

14d. Provider Sub Personality – Associated with the Materialist Sub, the difference might be that the Provider has a stake in the identity of being successful (competent), morally upright (inner Priest) and taking care of the needs of the Child Sub. Where the Materialist, in many respects, can be less attached to its role but more dedicated to making sure you have what is needed in a given moment or for implementation of some long term goal or project. For example, the Protective Father wants to make sure he provides a nice, safe home to live in. The Materialist by contrast is more centrally focused on having shelter for its well-being and comfort. But when in chronic Self Deprecation, the Provider Sub may rollover and morph with the Server role and fall into the Workaholic Sub.

15. Competent Sub Personality – Competency derives its value and stability from the belief that is has the ability to meet whatever challenge that comes its way (not just career thought the word is most often used in a professional or job context.) A healthy expression of this character has the positive qualities of Growth, Arrogance (Pride), Perseverance and Power Modes. They function, not so much as the Control Sub does as manager or central exchange coordinator, but rather as subject matter expert. Feeling confident in its ability to trust itself and to cope with situations in ways that produce successful outcomes; it, at the very least, has faith in itself!  A healthy version of this Sub has this qualities as fail safe measures to counteract any series of falling dominoes and thus minimizing failure. This is a very important Sub personality in all people and, as you can see, is not listed under the masculine traits. The Feminine too, has a whole host of aspects in which stemming insecurities and having calm are forms of competencies equally vital to the well being of the person. When this Sub is weak, this person will suffer great insecurity and a sense of constant fear laden vigilance that it is not “found out” or exposed. As you might guess, the positive pole encourages the balanced uses of Discrimination, Realist and Skeptic Attitudes for accurate self assessment, but may fall under the masking grips of Arrogance as its form of protection. Or fall under the wheels of the Self Deprecation juggernaut keeping itself trapped by continuous self doubt and worry.

15a. Workaholic Sub Personality – As the name of this Sub suggests, it believes that by continual work and engagement with a problem or task, it will be able to stem the fear inside itself of a dreaded outcome that might happen if it were to stop. But as many know, when work is an avoidance strategy to other concerns of life, the imbalances created have repercussion of their own. Perseverance, as you might guess, is an essential element. For the Rebel or Self Destruct Subs, the Workaholic Sub might be a useful counterbalance to develop, thus offsetting the reactive natures of the aforementioned. As you might guess from the –aholic suffix of the word, its very existence tends to have a distorted perception of reality and overcompensates to the nth degree. What is potentially more self-deluding is the embedded belief that one “has to work this hard” and thereby masks the underlying operation of Martyrdom and Stubbornness Chief Features. In many of the Western cultures, this Sub-personality is praised and reinforced as being some kind of virtue. Is it any wonder why so many people who suffer it believe, like the righteously pious Priest, that it is superior and somehow more deserved? When teamed with the Materialist, you see the worst examples of hyper and conspicuous consumption. When entwined with the Addict, after work indulgences are mandatory compensation! Both separate a person away from themselves and put their attention upon what they possess and how they managed to get it. This Sub Personality in the negative pole, nurtures a hostile form of entitlement which vainly elevates its deservedness and value as a human being above all others who it deems “unlike me” or “who don’t work as hard as I do.”

16. Rebel (or Reactionary) Sub Personality – Desiring freedom at all costs, and willing to engage in mischief of all sorts including itching for a fight when it suits it, this Sub when aligned with the Bitch or the Addict shows itself as a formidable aggressor or cunning predator. The Goals of Discrimination, Growth, and Flow are the primary Overleaves which motivate and influence the behavior of this Sub. But it is the combination of Idealist Attitude and Passion Mode which reveal this Sub to be a true evolutionary or a destructive jihadist. Chief Features of Martyrdom, Arrogance, and Impatience likely motivate a rejection of status quo, whatever that might be, and Power and Passion Mode make an overt Rebel stand up and be accounted for. The Rebel is more likely to be vocal rather than the more specific action oriented counterpart of the Saboteur. It is the protestor and citizen complaining to the city or the big company, not the one who plants bombs, takes them to court, or actively mounts campaigns against an opponent seeking to destroy it.

16a. Saboteur Sub Personality – As mentioned above, this Sub is Action Axis oriented whereas the Rebel is more Expression and Inspiration Axis oriented.  The Saboteur sees it only means of achieving victory is to rob you of the means of standing against it. When allied with the Sludge, Guardian, and or Psychic Subs, as it was in the case of the Nazi’s in Germany, the effects of their acts can be completely horrifying and yet rationalized by a compliant populace. For the individual, this looks like the person who willingly justifies murder, or equally character assassination, or destroying the livelihood of another person; as necessary and warranted in pursuit of what usually is some distorted or extremist point of view. In this Sub, we can see some of the worst examples of negative pole Realist ever recorded. No matter how you cut it, this Sub, acting to disgrace a parent or authority is itself shooting itself in the foot. Cunning and stealthy, it takes a good deal of digging to locate their hidden motives and unravel the snare in their seemingly appropriate behaviors.

17. Red Alert Sub Personality – As you might guess, this Sub is the alarm bell of the Personality. “Warning, warning, warning Will Robinson” is an apt example. It is a siren alerting the personality to the fight or flight response, the Red Alert is always in a hyper vigilant state of Caution and Observation Modes. It may utilize Submission and Dominance Goals once it an alarm has been sounded, but it is more common that an alliance with another Sub is probable to lead the defense: either charge or retreat. The White Knight or Sludge, or Guardian Subs with any number of possible variations of strategies and prevailing attitudes.

The “Subs Round Table”

By now, it should be obvious that Michael and I both hold that the human psyche has distinct, but amalgamated and to various degrees, integrated parts. Sub Personalites as the strategic grouping of thoughts, emotions, behaviors, spiritual ideals, and beliefs which serve to carry out the survival mandates of the Ego; also act as players in the acquisition of learning and strategic growth for the Essence. But some Subs get stuck in a specific loop of belief or response. This stems from a fixating event, creating a “stuck sub” which has prevented that Sub from advancing in diversity and depth commensurate with the Soul Age or chronological age of the Personality, would otherwise dictate.

An augmentation, expansion and refinement of earlier techniques channeled by Michael, the “Subs Round Table” was developed and is employed by Stephen Cocconi when working with clients. Combining elements of NoFault Communications, Neuro Linguistic Programming, Desensitizing Therapy, and Psychodrama, this aims at engaging primarily the Intellectual and Emotional Centers to ferret out beliefs, attitudes, and intentions locked inside of a Subs specific coping strategy. Of the two early Michael techniques, the first used by JP Van Hulle and Holly Coleman was humorously referred to as a “Parts Party.” The other of Michael’s techniques, developed by Channel Aaron Christiaan, is called Spinning; which intervenes energetically at the level of Sub-Personalites in both the Instinctive and Moving Centers.

The resolution process with Sub-Personalites is not difficult, but it takes patience and attention to the smallest detail. Listening to what your Subs have to tell you is essential to show them your intent to honor their needs and hear their messages and grievances when they have them. It may take some time to convince one part or another to feel safe with you, or safe with the world; but it may be convinced and eventually desensitized as it begins to form more trust with your Adult or Conscious aspect of Self. By the way, aspects of both adult maturity and conscious awareness reside in what is called the Control Sub-Personality or healthy Self. However, one need not understand the Michael System of Creation Cosmology, Essence and Personality, Overleaves or Soul Age Evolution, nor be an adherent of any of Michael’s material to be able to work with Sub-Personalites. Methods like: Psychosynthesis pioneered by Roberto Assagioli, Integrative Hypnotherapy, Neuro Linguistic Programming, Inner Child and Parent work, some aspects of Primal Therapy and Bert Hellinger’s Constellation Therapy; are all highly productive methods for to accessing and altering Sub-Personalites. Each of them in slightly different ways, create safe conditions for the recognition and expression of Sub-Personalities and thus relinquish their force and control, helping you to achieve successful outcomes with them, and for your True Personality.

Visualization for Encountering your Sub Personalities in a Subs Round Table

• Begin by closing your eyes and taking a few deep breaths.
• Let yourself feel the current state of your body, regardless if you like it or not.
• As you survey all the parts, your hands, your chest, your legs, your feet, your head and back, pay attention, because living there might very well be a Sub of yours taken residence in some posture or sensation in a part of your body.
• Now bring your focus into your minds eye.
• Visualize a meeting place with somewhere to gather or sit like a table, or park bench or sofa and in a place like a room, beach, meadow, etc.
• This is Essence creating for you a work area to meet with your sub-personalities and have discussions, learn their needs, motives, intentions, strategies for you and grievances with and for you.
• Notice all the features and characteristics of the surroundings and the table and chairs. How large, how many, the materials it is made of, etc.
• Each are visual metaphors which reveal information that is not verbal or auditory in nature but is present to be made conscious, recognized, or catalogued could be of great significance.
• Consciously declare and set in place a protective layer surrounding this dimension.
• Let yourself fully experience and know that you are safe in this energetic boundary.
• Now take a seat at the head of the table or prominent spot since you are managing the gathering.
• Notice how you appear in the setting. This is your current self-image as your sub conscious sees you. It is your Ego/Self structure of the Control Sub-personality.
• Take note how it reacts to, and interacts with, the other Subs when they appear.
• State aloud, or in the visualization, the reason, situation, challenge or issue present about which you want to evoke all the sub-personalities involved. There might be one or many.
• To call or request an individual a Sub, state the phrase of the mental image or the emotion that you are struggling with. For instance, “whoever is giving me the ‘I don’t deserve messages’, please come forward.” OR, “I have two competing sets of emotions; one of curiosity and hope v.s. the other of fear and blame, will the Sub’s that are sending these messages please step out.”
• Repeat the above process every time a new physical cue, key phrase, or emotionally charged reaction pops up. Have each Sub come out and reveal itself.
• Notice how they respond? How did they enter the space? Do they sit, stand, stay distant? In any case, ask them to participate.
• If at first a character presents itself as a body sensation or posture, then bring it forward as best you can by giving the sensation a name. The name might come to you verbally or it might be just a color or some other intangible.
• Once it, or they, are seated around the table, inquire as to each ones name. (Examples could be, “spoiled brat”, “supportive mother”, “inner disciplinarian”, “sensualist”, “psychic”, and “watch dog”, as examples of a sub-personality might label themselves.)
• After each has identified themselves (given a name or description), inquire about any conflict or alliances one or more might be having with another?
• Give them each time to have their say. It is appropriate to press them about their motives and strategies.
• If one or more is in conflict with others, try to discern the basis or issues of the conflict.
• Try and get them to say it first. But if they cannot or it is non verbal like a sensation, then imagine how they might perceive themselves or the situation and state it for them.
• If you got it correctly, their will be an immediate shift of some sort: a variation of emotional intensity, the scene will change, or the appearance of the Subs will alter.
• Have them state their positive intent behind their actions, attitudes or strategies they implemented. This will make them feel gotten and listened too.
• Discern if they have a legitimate concern. If so, can you actually make a promise to devote some time and energy to the issue they are concerned about, thus relieving them of the duty? If so, make sure it is authentic and you follow thru on the agreement.
• Now, when listening, see if you can offer them some alternative interpretations or options.
• As this happens, pay attention because some of the Subs might begin to fade away losing their grip because they have been gotten. Others changes may include morphing into a different form or combining with another Sub.
• Know that in both cases this represents progress, growth, and evolution to a new phase.
• Where necessary, you may actually wish to create a new Sub with qualities that you deliberately put into place.
• When all your Subs have had ample time to say their piece, and emotionally the scene is either flat or has had some release or resolution, then thank and release all these parts.
• At this point, the visualization is complete.
• Before opening your eyes signifying the completion of the interaction, imagine all of the Subs have regrouped in you in a more integral, empowering, and harmonious way.
• Whatever residual emotion there might be left over, have compassion and give yourself some time to release those emotions. Journalizing any of the important events, insights or lessons is extremely useful and effective for integrating what you’ve experienced.

Remember: Sub’s are not your enemies! They can be scared, angry, uncooperative, harsh, or stubborn. They might be holding onto a belief or strategy formed at a previous time to cope with a similar event. Now that strategy or conclusion might be outdated and can be a source of limitation and detriment now. Helping each Sub to “get gotten” on their positive intent will cause them de-polarize, opening a space for new or appropriate strategies to emerge or be discerned. As the adult Self, it is your commitment to healing your Subs, rather than destroying them, which provides the safety for them to trust you and bring about successful resolution with them.

Building New Sub Personalities ON Purpose!

So far, what you may have concluded in reading this material is the mechanics of Sub Personalities is innate and can only be tweeked with some serious and determined action of self engineering. Well, that is in part true, but more importantly, it is not the only way to orchestrate these parts or the YOU that is at the center of your own Soloverse. Any time you willingly engage in a new course of study or get imprinted (trained) in a new art, skill, method, or way of thinking, in a real sense, you are actively and consciously augmenting, advancing or all together shaping a new Sub. Learning from a teacher or guru and decidedly resolve to incorporate that new into your way of being or acting, you are in the process of Self Creation! As everyone has been taught and learned for themselves, the more you actively practice the new traits, attitudes, patterns, or actions, the more prominent and familiar the new Sub will grow to be.

Hence in Michael’s conceptual view of Sub Personalities know that it does not limit you to some preformed set of characteristics, but leaves the door open for you to become the director of your own Personality. Have fun, be conscious, and exert your power as a director in your own life! Create with your Self, and become the Person you always imagined you could to be.