Artisans Kings Priests Sages Scholars Servers Warriors
The artisan role
Traits | Description | Purpose | Compatibility
+ Creation
– Artifice 22% of the
population Expression
Ordinal
Positive Traits: Creative, Expressive, Fresh, Imaginative, Inventive, Innovative, Original, Spontaneous, Stylish
Negative Traits: Artificial, Dreamy, Emotional, Flaky, Moody, Picky, Self-Delusional, Self-Destructive, Skeptical
It is the nature of the Artisan to express himself through the invention, creation, manufacture, repair, and manipulation of things. These can be artistic masterpieces, technological crafts, or mechanical devices. Virtually everything made by man which you see and use is the work of Artisans. The car you drive, the house you live in, the television you watch, the telephone you talk on, the clothes you wear, the furniture and appliances in your home and the decorations also, (the computer I am writing with!) — these are things that Artisans have invented, designed, drawn plans for, and built.
Artisans are impelled to make things. They get restless if they do not create something tangible. It is their nature to produce physical objects. They generate an idea, and from within themselves they spew it out into material reality. They take the raw material in their hands and fashion it into things of beauty or function. Gadgets and gizmos are their stock in trade.
Artisans Are Multi-Faceted
Artisans are interested in how things work. As children, they often take things apart to see what is inside — “What makes it tick?” — then they put it back together again. They are good at this and have high “mechanical aptitudes.” But Artisans are so multi-faceted that they can’t be boxed into a single field of expertise. They can be excellent artists, inventors, musicians, actors, writers, surgeons, architects, interior decorators, landscapers, or essentially any occupation that generates something new, different, and unique. They also excel at occupations that involve fixing or manipulating things that already exist, such as draftsmen, machinists, assemblers, mechanics, home-builders, construction workers, painters, auto-makers, manufacturers, repairmen, technicians, electricians, plumbers, carpenters, cabinetmakers, and so on.
In prehistoric times, Artisans were involved in such ancient arts as pottery-molding, basket weaving, weapons- and tool-making, cave painting, and hut-building. In historical times, an Artisan has typically made his livelihood in such occupations as blacksmith, craftsman, and tradesman — a member of a guild who passed his skills on to apprentices. There were numerous other cottage industries, and there was always use for a scribe when not everyone was literate. Whenever and wherever there is something that needs to be made, there is an Artisan — ready, willing, and able to make it. And whatever occupation an Artisan finds himself in, he will always apply a high degree of skill and expertise to it. Artisans are technicians in whatever they do.
Even if the Artisan does not have an engineering or technical job, he is likely to express his creative inclination in his hobby. People who have a workshop in their home are most likely to be Artisans. They read magazines of applied science like Mechanics Illustrated or Popular Science. These are the handymen of the world who know how to fix everything around the house from a leaky faucet to an electrical switch. They like to work on the car too. Artisans love tools, and are likely to have a lot of them around. My father, an Artisan, can hardly resist a sale on tools, even if he doesn’t need them. Artisans are good with their hands in using these tools. In fact, metaphorically speaking, Artisans are the hands of the body of mankind. They like to manipulate whatever is within hand’s reach.
Artisans are very concerned with how one thing relates to another thing. They see the physical world as parts, working together. Indeed, they tend to view the entire universe as a giant machine. Physicists, as a general rule, are Artisans, seeking to understand how the machinery of the universe works. They analyze matter — take it apart piece by piece, molecule by molecule, atom by atom, subatomic particle by subatomic particle. They want to see how it all fits together, and how the parts relate to each other.
In the highest manifestation of their nature, the Positive Pole of +Creation, Artisans are inventors and artists. According to Michael, virtually all the engineering discoveries and artistic masterpieces down through history have been the work of Artisans. A list of some of these famous Artisans will demonstrate this. Botticelli, Paul Gaugin, Vincent Van Gogh, Jean Ingres, and Michelangelo were artist Artisans. Thomas Edison and Buckminster Fuller were inventor Artisans. Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton were physicist Artisans. B.F. Skinner also happens to be an Artisan, but he applied his technical skill to human engineering. He invented the theory of psychology called Behaviorism, which proposes a mechanistic model of human consciousness and function.
Self Image
Artisans have a certain self-image problem. They don’t want attention on themselves. If they care to be acknowledged or remembered at all, it is that they want to be considered for their work’s sake. In effect they say, “Here, look at this thing, not at me. See what I made. I am not of any consequence, except to the extent that I have created this thing of beauty and usefulness.” They live to make something tangible and permanent which will outlive themselves. Artisans are therefore somewhat shy. They do not like to attract attention to themselves by being before an audience, for instance. It is uncomfortable for them to talk about themselves, but they will talk about their work, their creations. This shyness also means they tend to be aloof and detached from other people and from the environment. They tend to feel like strangers and aliens in the world.
This objectivity and mental detachment of Artisans has its advantages and disadvantages. Their ability to view themselves as an object of criticism allows them to receive criticism from others without taking it too personally and getting upset. On the other hand, because of their sense of separation and indifference, in their worst expression Artisans can be unperturbed by the thoughts and feelings of other people as they concentrate their mental energy on the creation or manipulation of inanimate matter.
Here is the manifestation of the “techno-nerd”. It is not that they are unaware of what others think (because they are outwardly focused), but since they see themselves as detached from others, and as rather insignificant parts of a huge mechanistic universe, it doesn’t matter what others think about them. This is in contrast to Sages, who are very much concerned to have their audience appreciate them. Artisans are concerned with the substance rather than the image of life. This outward focus of attention upon the physical world also means that Artisans are often unaware of their own inner workings. They may very well be out of touch with themselves.
The Artisan’s Natural Overleaves
Like a person with the Goal of Discrimination, the Artisan can be rather picky and critical at times, especially about his own work. He seeks to create something unique, that no one else has made. He throws away things that do not express his identity purely or with integrity. As a consequence, Artisans tend to specialize -to come to know more and more about less and less — rather than generalize. Like a person in the Caution Mode, an Artisan is meticulous in his work and careful in his behavior.
He is interested in the details of things. Like a person with the Self-destruction Feature, an Artisan is usually aware of his flaws, and why invest anything in something as defective as himself? He often neglects himself as a work of art because his focus of awareness is on the outer world. The Artisan sees himself as a very little cog in a giant machine. His attention is focused on the external universe — and look how big the universe is, and how small he is compared to it. So he thinks of himself as expendable. He derives his fulfillment from making a significant change in the big universe, or adding something new to it, even if he has to spend himself to do it. If he expresses himself Positively, he can be picky about looking clean and neat.
If Negatively, he will be nurdish. Artisans usually dislike spending money on themselves. They do not often indulge their personal desires. Such expenditure can only be justified if it also involves a contribution to the universe. Like a Skeptic, an Artisan is prone to think that “this (physical universe) is all there is” — he is prone to believe only what he sees with his own eyes, holds in his own hands. You have to prove it to him with tangible evidence, scientific instrumentation, and impeccable logic. Like a person in the Intellectual Center, an Artisan is primarily mental in nature. He thinks about things a lot, and everything has to make sense to him in a rational, reasonable way.
Few Artisans are pillars of strength, and even though they often like to be of help to others, they do not like to be leaned on. The problem here seems to be that Artisans are themselves somewhat fragmented. They are brittle and easily broken, in a manner of speaking, therefore unable to hold others together. Of the Roles, Artisans have the hardest time “getting their act together”. Consequently, they may not have what it takes to assist others in integration. Their probable lack of attention to finding out what methods are suitable for their own well-being contributes to the flaw that they may not have the solution to the problems of others either. Sometimes this is what a person needs in the way of help.
Artisans view the world as their model. This means several things. It means that an Artisan sees the universe as the ultimate pattern after which he should shape his own created objects. Often an Artisan will copy something in his arts or engineering that he sees in nature. It also means that the Artisan views the universe as an object which it is his job to mold, form, and fashion into a work of beauty or function. This is certainly something that Artisans do. In another sense, it means that Artisans see themselves as creations of the universe, rather than creators of themselves. Sages, on the other hand, are partial to the idea that they create their own reality, both internal and external, by their imaginations. I believe all the above are true statements about Artisans.
— Phil Wittmeyer
More About The Artisan
Spontaneous, innovative, and imaginative, the prodigious Artisan is not only the most creative role, but the most eccentric. Viewing life as just one big canvas for their creative offspring, Artisans can slip into delusional worlds that bear little resemblance to reality. For this reason, Artisans must stay grounded in the world and try to avoid this natural penchant for being a bit scattered.
With five inputs to manage, the Artisan’s focus in the world can be omni-directional, like an oscillating fan that sends a flow of air in many directions, never diverting its attention for too long in one spot. This has led more grounded roles to say about the Artisan: “Is anybody home?” But the sometimes airy, decentralized demeanor of this fluid role should not so easily be dismissed. Artisans are very clever people who frequently use their talents to excel in the fields of mathematics, engineering, computer programming, the fine arts, literature, or quantum physics. In fact, in the school of Philosophy, it was an Artisan who invented the idea of democracy.
Artisans often possess an inventive, make-the-most-of-what’s-available style of creativity that allows them to create remarkable things out of a limited amount of resources. If they metaphorically can’t get a table out of their resources, they’ll be quite happy to get a chair, or perhaps a small toy. Artisans also have an innate curiosity for how things are put together, from the tallest skyscraper to the sub-atomic particle. And if they aren’t applying their expressive abilities in the sciences or the arts, Artisans can be equally content as master carpenters, auto mechanics, or in one of the other technical fields. In the arena of sports, it is also not surprising to discover many great baseball players are Artisans; the geometric principles of the game seems to fascinate them.
On an introspective level, Artisans are often prone to moodiness, and if pushed to the edge, can be the craziest of all the roles. In a depressed state, an Artisan in the doldrums can join a gathering of people and be like an ominous cloud that blocks the sun, leaving everyone affected by the shadow. Conversely, a joyous Artisan can almost instantly change a roomful of sour dispositions with the magical quality of a rose that blooms in the snow, altering the ambience of the room with enthusiasm and good cheer. Artisans literally influence the ambient area around them, and it seems their creative energy is not only contained to their inner worlds, but to the outer one as well.
Physically, Artisans are often described as being “cute” and typically have soft-round faces. In his book, “The Journey of Your Soul,” author Shepherd Hoodwin describes Artisan females as “adorable or beautiful in a Marilyn Monroe kind of way”, and males are described as being the stereotypical “pretty boy,” rather than the more “rough hewn” kind of male often associated with the role of the Warrior. Of course, not all Artisans will be beautiful or even cute, but many of the fashion models currently enjoying wide spread popularity are indeed Artisans.
Being an Ordinal role, the Artisan is generally not comfortable in large groups of people, gravitating to the intimacy of the one-on-one connection.
Artisans greatly value their alone time, especially when their creative juices flow and there is a new and exciting project at hand. Artisans love their projects, and these creative excursions can actually keep them healthy, according to Michael. A bored, frustrated, or blocked Artisan will always find ways to be creative, even if it means creating an interesting disease.
Day to day living is often a bore for the Artisan, who delights in being a connoisseur of anything novel in life, leaving the monotonous grind of the 9-5 workplace to other roles that crave the responsibility and inherent demands of such an existence. So fiercely innovative and ahead of their time that they find themselves in stark contrast with the rest of society, Artisans can feel out of touch with the world and simply drop out of circulation. Even for Artisans who contribute and adhere to more productive lifestyles, there’s often a random sense of order in the way they focus on projects, and their world is usually littered with a confusing array of unfinished projects, sometimes literally strewn everywhere. Of course, where the Artisan might see this type of system as being logical and ordered, other roles are often baffled by this seemingly unordered approach to life.
Whether as artists, writers, actors, craftsman, engineers, composers, surgeons, carpenters, or philosophers, Artisans can make almost anything a canvas for their creative explorations, and in their own unique and inventive way, their expression and creativity makes the world a more colorful place.
— David Gregg
Channeling About The Artisan
Whether a work of art or an innovative idea, Artisans stand out from the crowd with their ability to grasp the structure of anything set before them. Structure is the basis for all of creation; nothing exists without an underlying structure to hold it together. And more than any other role, Artisans possess an innate talent to recognize the components of structure, the blueprint for all that exists.
To the artisan, that which doesn’t exist is just a Rubric’s Cube to unlock in the future. Creation is not a magical process that materializes out of thin air, but a step-by-step schematic that reveals patterns in the chaos, patterns that the artisan is equipped to see.
The birth of a child, for instance, is not a mysterious sleight of hand that doctors do just before the infant emerges from the womb, but the work of a generic blueprint that begins with two cells and ends with the biological machine known as the human body. Just as there is an underlying structure to the miracle of life, there is structure in even the most random, seemingly chaotic aspects of the universe.
Under the influence of Michael math, Artisans energetically resonate with the number two, which has a positive pole of stability. Not surprisingly, Artisans create that stability with a foundation of structure. They paint with structure; they sculpt with structure; they write with structure, and even though their creations may appear to come out of nowhere, to an Artisan, nowhere is the blueprint that eventually creates a post-impressionist painting by Van Gogh, an experimental novel by Virginia Woolf, or an architectural marvel by Frank Lloyd Wright. In what appears like a chaotic process to others, Artisans find patterns in the pandemonium and use that structure to create something new.
Scholars are also fond of structure, but where structure for the Artisan might involve playing with the building blocks of a skyscraper in order to find its stability, Scholars, figuratively speaking, use structure to “organize” the knowledge stored on the floors of that building. In other words, Artisans use structure to create; Scholars use structure to organize.
— David Gregg
Do not confuse the role of artisan with the life role of artist, even though they often dovetail. Ideally artisans would pursue creative endeavors, but this is certainly not the case. Most musicians for instance are scholars, and most soloists are kings and sages. Most successful writers are scholars, warriors and slaves, except in the case of sacred literature of a moralistic bent, which is mostly drivel and composed by young priests on a crusade. Most painters and sculptors are, however, artisans. This solitary form of creative expression just does not appeal to the more verbal roles.
— Michael Teachings Transcripts
Compatibility With Other Soul Roles
Scholar-Artisan: What these roles share in common is a large capability to do many types of things. With artisans, it is intrinsic, a natural affinity for fixing, designing, and making things. For scholars, it more springs out of the knowledge (positive pole of scholar) that has been gleaned through study. They also share in common a high ability for design and structure. However, we do not see this as the best combination for relationships, because both can be isolated or moody at times; there is not enough overlap between them—they are both just off doing their “thing,” and their “things” often do not overlap, whereas with two scholars, their “things” more easily can. Of course, there are many exceptions to this, but, in general, this is not the strongest combination.
Server-Artisan: Servers and artisans are a little better together than scholars and artisans, because when artisans are off doing their own thing, servers do not usually mind being temporarily ignored and supporting artisans behind the scenes. This can be useful if artisans are focused on some intense creativity. Also, artisans may be inspired to do better work in the creative process by the solid support of servers.
Priest-Artisan: This is a pretty good combination, as long as the artisans are not cynics or skeptics and do not repel the inspiration of the priests, and as long as priests are not in zeal (negative pole of priest), their negative pole, trying to shove something down the artisans’ throats. Like scholars, artisans are pretty malleable. However, artisans are more changeable, chameleon-like, than scholars. Under duress, artisans may appear to go along with the priests’ zeal, and then it may be proven out later that the artisans did not really go along. That can enrage priests; it may seem like a lack of being faithful to the cause, as with fundamentalist Christians with the role of priest, for example. Initially, artisans may cave in under duress, and then snap back to their more natural point of view.
They may have been pretending to adopt the priests’ views, or they may have actually swallowed them for the time being, but in either case, the priests would see the artisans’ reversion as falsity. Artisans can provide inspiration for priests, just as the opposite is true, because artisans can make much beauty for priests, who can be a little battered by being out there on the spiritual battlefronts, trying to help people in need. Priests can come home to an inspiring, comforting atmosphere of beauty provided by artisans, male or female.
Artisan-Artisan: Artisans with other artisans can have a great variety of results—anywhere from very good to very bad. This combination is especially susceptible to the rest of the overleaves, but more often than not, it works pretty well. Artisans may not understand each other perfectly, but their lifestyles may meld quite comfortably because they tend to have a lot of flexibility. Artisans may have more excitement with warriors, but artisans can be frustrated by warriors’ desire to structure.
Artisans often like to live more by the seat of their pants, improvising as they go along, and generally this will not do for warriors, so there can be conflict there. Two artisans can be quite comfortable living in a certain amount of chaos with each other. We do not mean that artisans are necessarily messier than the other roles; we are just referring to the way their lives look. Artisans are less likely to have a “five-year plan,” for example. Artisans can fail to provide other artisans with what is needed in their relationships.
There can be a feeling that one or both of the partners are neglecting the other because of being wrapped up in the project at hand. This combination usually works better if there is some overlap in the projects being worked on. For example, if the husband likes to work on their house, and the wife chooses colors and wallpaper, they can have much contentment together. Many artisans like to feel anchored by the people around them. Generally, other artisans will not provide that, unless they have, say, a king or warrior essence twin, or perhaps very high male energy.
Artisan-Sage: Sages can be anchoring for artisans, and they can have much joy together. Sages are often able to cultivate the humor in artisans, so that they are truly playmates. Sages can make it safe for artisans to be more childlike, whereas artisans may not feel that this is permitted with the other roles, even with other artisans—artisans may feel that they have to try to be more adult, because the relationship does not feel very well anchored. Sages, however, usually have a pretty good grasp on external realities, since they are the ones who interconnect and communicate with everyone. So with sages, artisans can feel anchored but at the same time have the ability to express themselves. Sometimes sages push artisans to bring their creations (positive pole of artisan)” before the public eye. That can be quite useful for artisans, but it may also bring up fear, since artisans are generally not as sturdy and do not feel that they hold up well in the public eye. So there can be a bit of a push-pull here. There is the need to put forth the artisans’ works, but if sages push artisans too much, there may be too much fear coming out at once for artisans to deal with it constructively.
Artisan-Warrior: Artisans do not have to deal with that when teamed up with warriors, because warriors do not seek the public eye that much either, and warriors have more of a tendency to protect others. They would be protective toward artisans’ sense of vulnerability. Warriors may also offer artisans some useful discipline, challenging them to complete a project they have been stalling on, for instance. Warriors tend to be very appreciative of whatever artisans create.
Warriors see what could be useful, how the world could work more efficiently, but unless it is a matter of simply jury-rigging something, they are generally not as good at actually coming up with the innovations that might achieve that. They can be in awe of the way that artisans can, often effortlessly, come up with new things. On the negative side, warriors can lack understanding or even be intolerant of artisans’ process. For warriors, life is a pretty simple business—you do what needs to be done. For artisans, life is a pretty complex business, and there are many variables to be played with. Warriors sometimes see artisans as having an “odd logic” that may actually be quite sound, but warriors do not see how it was arrived at, and therefore may tend to dismiss it.
So the artisan-warrior alliance, which is quite common, is fraught with mystery for both parties, yet there is an unmistakable attraction. Warriors like to have someone to protect and to receive their help, and artisans like to feel that strength, that simplicity. Would you say that, more than the other roles, warriors equals male, and artisans equals female? In a sense, yes. These two roles certainly correspond with the male and female archetypes in this culture. Servers also correspond with the feminine, but a different aspect of the feminine—more the family-oriented, reliable, down-to-earth feminine.
Of course, king is another side of the masculine archetype. Kings bring the sense of “the buck stops here, everything’s all right, I’m in control, leave it to me.” In your culture, that has been viewed as perhaps the highest manifestation of manhood—that is a much admired and valued trait in men. It is not surprising that people are becoming confused now that so many women are warriors and kings, and so many men are artisans and servers—and this will probably increase. The dynamics still hold true: warrior wives protect and shelter artisan husbands, even if the husbands are the main breadwinners and the wives are staying home—the wives still shelter and protect their husbands from the hurts of the world. The husbands still balance their wives, giving them a sense of creativity and unpredictability that is both fascinating and exasperating to warriors, since warriors tend to be fairly predictable people.
Artisan-King: Artisan-king is an unusual combination in terms of mates; it is not so much a matter of opposites attracting, as with artisan-warrior. Do not take us too literally or make too much of this generalization, but it can be that because artisans and kings are so different—not merely opposite—they feel that the other is from a different planet. There is just not much overlap, whereas kings and servers can overlap much better because their thrusts are complementary. Would you say that artisan-king is probably the most polar of any of the pairings, more than priest-warrior, in the sense of being nonoverlapping?
We would probably agree to that, although it is a close call. Priests and warriors run into a similar problem, but we would say there is more attraction between priests and warriors than between artisans and kings. Artisans and kings do not tend to magnetize each other; they do not tend to push each other’s buttons that much, either—they just tend to occupy different realms. Warriors and priests do tend to push each other’s buttons, as do warriors and artisans. This dynamic is also true internally of kings with artisan essence twins, and vice versa. These energies combined in the same person can create a dichotomy, a sense of energies that do not have too much to do with each other.
So let’s say that a king has a discarnate artisan essence twin and has artisan casting, so he is an “honorary artisan” and has strong artisan influences; however, his artisan side is like a separate subpersonality. The exception to this is when seeking mastery (positive pole of king) in a craft or in any area of technique, such as making or fixing things. Also, most kings sometimes use artisans as a resource in order to gain desired mastery, since artisans tend to inherently know how to do many things. However, kings may be a little exasperated when trying to learn from artisans, because artisans cannot necessarily teach well, and kings tend to be impatient—they want to be given steps: one, two, three—”This is what you have to do to master this.” Nonetheless, kings know that artisans do have the mastery they seek, and if they are smart, they just watch, observe, and pick up the desired skill from artisans more intuitively.
— Shepherd Hoodwin
From “The Journey of Your Soul”
Famous Artisans:
Woody Allen, Botticelli, Mariah Carey, Hillary Clinton, Claude Debussy, Princess Diana, Walt Disney, Albert Einstein, Vincent van Gogh, Michael Jackson, Scarlett Johannson, Jude Law, George Lucas, Michaelangelo, Claude Monet, Marilyn Monroe, Natalie Portman, Elvis Presley, Auguste Renoir, Julia Roberts, Steven Spielberg, Meryl Streep, Nikola Tesla, Robin Williams, Kate Winslet, Virginia Woolf[/box]
