EssenceThis personality is in a situation where their position can only be held partly, half. One has to retreat and retire. One has to reduce and shrink. But one holds one to old and obsolete things with nostalgic feelings. The antique and outdated things from the past, which are the best, must be retired and withdrawn. But they are held in honor in the reduced space. The atmosphere is musty, mouldy.
Staying behind Out grown Falling behindThey are lagging behind in the recent developments. They can’t and won’t keep up anymore. It is all going too fast. They would rather stay where they are and see what happens, they don’t feel like being involved anymore.
They have grown out of the whole thing. The project has gone on, new developments have taken place and they can’t keep up anymore. They tried to keep pace with it but had to admit they couldn’t. They may even have been a bit too arrogant. It all went so well in the past that their success ran away with them and suddenly it all came crashing down again.
Slowly but surely they fall behind, they can’t keep up and everything falls apart. They are like a house that has not been kept up properly, the paint is starting to peel off, the drains are leaking and some of its windows are broken.
Nostalgia Out of date StubbornThere is a feeling of nostalgia for the good old days, when everything was still going well, when they still had talent and they could manage everything.
By now their methods are out of date. They were appropriate once, but the new situation needs different skills. But they refuse to admit this; if it worked before, why shouldn’t it work now? They have a one track mind and keep repeating the same old methods, like a gramophone record whose needle has got stuck. They are treading the same worn out, hollow path, the path has etched itself deep into the ground, the walls on either side obstruct their vision, so they can’t see anything new and they can’t get out either.
So they are stubborn, thinking they know better than all those new people with their ‘fancy ideas’. They are the ones who have tried and tested their own methods so they know what is best. There is no point in discussing the matter. They may be persuaded to voice their opinions but they really feel this is wasted on others. And they have already looked at other peoples’ ideas and discarded them as being a waste of time, so why bother going over them again and again? They may occasionally pretend to listen to others, just out of kindness, but deep inside they consider it a useless exercise.
Retire Reduce Withholding WithdrawalThey refuse to let go of the reins. They are afraid of losing control so they stick to their old fashioned point of view with dogged determination. They withhold vital information in order to stay in control. When everybody else's opinion is different from their own they like to withdraw. They are convinced that the others will sooner or later come round to their point of view, but they are obviously not ready yet. Withdrawing to their own island of self opinionated safety, they feel there is no point in entering a discussion. It is a tactical move of withdrawal. They become extremely suspicious and don’t trust anybody. They know everything better and they’ll do everything on their own. They dare not delegate tasks, so they soon get overworked, which means that they are forced to do less. Eventually they lose faith in their abilities. They are inclined to look for something or someone else to blame first. But in the later stages they also lose faith in themselves.
KeywordsOver, Reduce, Retreat, Retire, Recede, Withdraw, Withhold, Shrink, Antique, Obsolete, Dated, Nostalgia, Suspicious, Mouldy, Musty, Behind, Back, Out.
MindSuspicious.
Nostalgia, homesick.
Conservation, musea.
GeneralMiasm: chickenpox; listeriosis.
BodyGeneral: prion disease; fungal infections.
DDStage 12 still has the feeling they should keep things intact, in spite of the threats from the outside world. In stage 13 the feeling of powerlessness starts to prevail. They can’t maintain their position and have to withdraw to a smaller territory.
Boron or
Aluminium with similar chemical properties.
Nitrogen and
Phosphorus are more similar, because they are ‘past the top’ at this stage.