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Each sub-system needs to be (and most likely is) thoroughly examined, while the interactions between these sub-systems also need to be mapped. These components are the primary sub-systems that determine humanity's personal and social behaviors. As such, they structure significant portions of every individual's interactions that are based around the public self, or the persona. It is not the sacrifice of the self we must achieve, but the sacrifice of the persona or projected false self.

The persona is a rigid shell, a carapace constraining our experiences and behaviors to traditionally acceptable ways of manifestation⁷³. If you spend a significant amount of time performing some role, you become that persona and if you never break up that role with other roles that will eventually limit and define who you believe yourself to be, and that persona will instantly be triggered with the right contextual cues, even if you do not want to enact that role consciously.

As we break up and separate these kinds of programs that restrain us, we experience the separated pieces of ourselves pushing us in many contrary directions. This is a difficult time, and it is not uncommon in this phase of growth to experience a kind of insanity. Magicians have traditionally referred to this as "passing the abyss" or the "long dark night of the soul"⁷⁴, and there is a great deal of contradictory advice out there on how to deal with this period. Some people would advise you to push harder, to break on through to the other side. However, if you feel you can't go further, we say be gentle with yourself. Stop pushing for a while, but do keep a journal over this fallow period, as it will help you integrate the experiences you have had until you feel it is time to move forward again. All this painful work has an important purpose. In cybernetics there is a rule called the law of requisite variety which states that the factor or component with the most options available to it also has the most control over any given interaction.