Shadow of Division
division, n.
the act or process of dividing : the state of being divided
one of the parts or groupings into which a whole is divided or is divisible
the condition or an instance of being divided in opinion or interest
Division, the shadow of the 7th Gene Key, requires very little introduction or explanation. You need only turn on the news to see the sowings of this shadow in our governments, in our ecology and in the very fabric of our humanity. At the root of the Shadow of Division is hierarchy - a system or organization in which people or groups are ranked one above the other according to status or authority. Read: Supremacy. Caste. Economic Class. Social Class. Race. Politics. The Shadow of Division is also the home to leaders and power.
Power is neither good nor bad. In Brené Brown’s Atlas of the Heart, she references. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his definition of power: “the ability to achieve purpose and effect change.” Power, in and of itself is benign; what shifts power towards imbalance is how it is or is not wielded. “The 7th Shadow cannot command true respect or loyalty because it has at its core the lust for power rather than the good of others,” states Richard Rudd in Gene Keys.
The definitions I use below are from Atlas of the Heart and the bulleted breakdown is from one of my teachers, Katie Kurtz, instructor/creator of Cultivate: Trauma-Informed Space-Holder Blueprint.
“Power Over is dangerous because it’s using disproportional influence to achieve gain, even when that diminishes the agency and/or dignity of others.” (This is the power in Shadow of Division.)
Domination, Force, Control
Motivates through Fear
Believes power is finite
Coercion and manipulation
“Power with is ‘based on mutual support, solidarity, collaboration and recognition and respect for differences.”
Shared power
Respect, mutuality, support
Collective action
Solidarity and collaboration
“Power to is ‘based on the belief that each individual has the power to make a difference.”
Potential power
Opens up to what's possible
Unique individual power
Autonomous and generative
“Power within is defined by an ability to recognize differences and respect others, grounded in a strong foundation of self-worth and self-knowledge.”
Inherent power
Own capacity and self-worth
Honors power with and power to
Self-generated
“Wherever you recognize another as an authority or guide, the 7th Gene Key is at play. “
- Richard Rudd - Gene Keys
In Gene Key 2, I spoke about the Shadow of Chaos, which embodies competitiveness. The Shadow of Division embodies “every man for himself” or even “every business for itself.” Yay Capitalism. Capitalism survives by putting profits over people. Yet, with the shift from individuals seeking to continue to work from home or all of the strikes, it is clear people are starting to wisen up to this shadow. Capitalism, to me, feels like it embodies more than just a singular Shadow. For now, I stick to the example I gave in Shadow of Chaos. (You can read that here.)
The Repressive Nature of the Shadow of Division is Hidden. In this aspect of the Shadow, people who truly embody what it means to be a true leader remain hidden. Often these individuals have had a messy relationship with power and see power only through a fear of Power Over. They deny the world their gifts out of fear that they will be like those other leaders.
The Reactive Nature of the Shadow of Division is Dictatorial. Honestly, this whole section is so good that instead of trying to rephrase it, I’m just going to include it here:
“The reactive side of the 7th Shadow knows well that it is a leader, and takes full advantage of this by abusing its position. These people use those who follow them to their own advantage, thus reinforcing their status as followers. True leadership encourages people not to rely on others, where as this style of leadership demands complete reliance, either through pure power of presence or through subtler means. These people are masters of patterns, and can manipulate others by locking them into certain patterns. These can be intellectual patterns of thinking or belief, powerful emotional games, or materialistic patterns involving money. The game is to trap followers into believing that they need leadership. Naturally such leaders only attract followers who want to remain at a victim level of consciousness.”
How to work with this shadow:
Live and let live. Where do you impose yourself, your beliefs onto others?
Follow James-Olivia, voice of @InquisitiveHuman, on Instagram and/or work with them. Their work around Unconditional Positive Regard will be huge for working with this Shadow. That wouldn’t be how they would phrase it at all, but that is how it feels to me. You can also check them out here.
Self-Actualization: One of the key ways to shifting the Shadow of Division is self-actualization. From PositivePsychology.com: “Although self-actualization is most often associated with Maslow, the term was first coined by Kurt Goldstein. Goldstein characterized self-actualization as an individuation, or process of becoming a “self,” that is holistic (i.e., the individual realizes that one’s self and one’s environment are two pieces of a greater whole) and acts as a primary driving force of behavior in humans (Whitehead, 2017).” It goes on to say: “In other words, self-actualization can generally be thought of as the full realization of one’s creative, intellectual, and social potential through internal drive (versus for external rewards like money, status, or power).”
Learn to take accountability for your actions/words. Take my Owning My Sh*t Course (for everyone). 😊 Link Here.
Learn to say No (and what your No really feels like) . Take my Honor Your No Course (for everyone, but especially the people pleasers). Link Here.
Start a conversation with yourself or others around Power.
What is your relationship to power?
Where have you experienced the different types of Power Dynamics?
Where do you still dance with Power Over dynamics? What is the appeal to these dynamics? Where do you feel helped by these dynamics?
How would it feel to shift your relationship to power to one of the other dynamics? Power With? Power To? Power Within? What would it feel like or how does it feel to experience these alternative sides of power?
Work with a Life Coach (Me. Hi! I’m a life coach. And, also, there are so many others. Find one that feels like a good fit for you.)
Ultimately, the goal for all life coaches and, more importantly, their clients is to achieve self-actualization. The coaching industry receives a bad rap, and often fairly so, about the extreme individualization. Sometimes and for some coaches, this “every man for himself” (hello, Shadow of Division) comes through. Other times, the messaging is missing the key piece that brings that back around to healthy and helpful self-actualization: community and society. Some people get stuck only talking about individual healing and leave out anything having to do with community and society. Others focus only on community and society and leave off anything individual. The truth is that it is both. To truly be a contributing member to society, we need a healthy sense of self and boundaries that we use to be in relationship with others. Without a healthy sense of self, we can easily fall back into the trap of the Shadow of Division. And quite often, the healing journey for a healthy sense of self does mean that there may need to be focus on the self or on the individual. The difference is when that focus on healing the self comes at the expense of or on the backs of others. That’s when this journey has shifted back into Shadow territory. (Also, watch out for coaches who always want you beholden to them. Self-Actualization means you understand your own Power Within and take what you learned to go live a full life without a coach.)
“The mark of a true leader is one whose main interest is in empowering you to lead yourself rather than binding you to them. Ironically, the false leader always tries to hold on to you whereas a real leader always tries to get rid of you!”
- Richard Rudd - Gene Keys
Not sure how to work with this? Check out this Blog Post here to see how to work with the Shadows. Also, feel free to check out my courses Honoring Your No and Owning My Sh*t here to help work on that self-awareness piece.
Disclaimer: What I find unhelpful with the Gene Keys text is that it is more spiritual than realistic, especially when these states are resulting in mental illness. Maybe all mental illness has a root in shadow, but that isn’t for me to say and it is super invalidating for people who experience these states. So as you read through this, or any of these shadows, know that your own experience is valid regardless of impersonal spiritual texts. This goes for Gene Keys, Human Design, and any other spiritual text even from world religions. If these texts invalidate a person’s humanity, then it’s the text that is the problem and not the person. Always use personal discernment. More of my two-cents on spiritual and religious dogma, modalities, and texts here.
