Personality Types

So what's a Jovian? Well, first of all, I'm not talking about the somewhat inept Roman emperor, nor a class of planets. I would use “jovial”, which actually means the same thing, but people have a much too narrow view of the word. Yes, it does mean “full of high-spirited merriment” and all that comes with it. But as a personality type, it's just the beginning. The archetype is much more than the mood.

A jovian person is, at the core, joyful and expansive. The Spirit of Christmas Present in Dickens' A Christmas Carol is perhaps the best example. That good soul was a giant, the better to embody such love and joy, generosity and kindness. Note that while often portrayed as flighty, the Spirit was actually deeply aware that his joy was not universally known, and kept hidden in his robes the shameful children of mankind, Ignorance and Want.

The jovian personality is curious and optimistic, with a bright outlook toward life that at times defies a given situation. The difference between happiness and joy can be found by watching such people. They are interested in a great many things and find wonder and adventure everywhere. This curiosity reaches from the tiniest marvels of the world to the great questions of existence.

The other great example of the jovian archetype is of course Jove - better known as Jupiter. That Roman deity claimed the oak, full moon and lightning as sacred, all of which are signs of solidity and power. He presided over justice (which is why we have the phrase, “By Jove!”) and was chief among the gods. And such a personality! From this example can be found most of a jovian person's best traits: at their best, they are generous, tolerant, truthful, and enthusiastic.

Combine these traits, mores and essential values, and you arrive at a person who inspires, infects others with joy, take bold steps confidently but with risks calculated, radiates love, and gladly teaches the ways of joyfulness - if not always in usual ways.

Jovians are perceived as intrinsically powerful even if they have no imposing physique to suggest it. Their comfort in their own skin and their calm handling of life bespeaks the interested unconcern of power. Don't miss this: That very way of being causes them to become more powerful. This happens in obvious ways, as people react positively to perceptions of capability. It also happens less obviously, as their affirmative outlook actually seems to rechart the path of their surroundings to their desires. No, I cannot actually prove that yet, but it is no small part of this experiment's object. Jupiter is also strongly associated with excellent fortune, and I have come to suspect that it has much to do with the broad and cheerful optimism of the archetype.

This is the sort of person that I should be. Surely only a few attain all of what I've described here, but I know that it's the path that works best for me. The other ways of living have not gone very well, and even if I never reach the perfect Jovian goal, it's the direction I need to aim. There is a place in me that knows it, wants to flow into it like water down a streambed. It's a little scary, really. I don't have much of an idea of how well this will go. I can only see a couple of steps ahead.

Still, I hear my ideal self calling to me from wherever he is hid: “Come, and know me better, man!”