A child’s transmuted contact rebus also involves two temporal contact rebuses. As we have discussed, the degree to which the contact rebus is transmuted will vary, but it does so independently of the child’s level of motivation. Although the contact rebus is intent on receiving life energy, the child may also be openly generous, although the magnitude of this generosity may vary.
Such a feature of the child’s contact rebus may be a useful element in his survival strategy. Open generosity provides the parent with powerful affirmation and strengthens the bond between parent and child (Motivational Work, Part 1: Values and Theory, pages 402 – 418).
Case Study 1
Morgan is 20 months old. His behavior clearly demonstrates how much he loves his parents: when they pick him up and carry him he rests his head against them and clings to them, especially when he is feeling scared or tired. He often asks his parents for a hug or a kiss, and when his mother is resting on the bed, he wants to put a blanket over her.
Discussion
This little child openly demonstrates love for his parents and his emotion is very untransmuted. Here the achieved untransmuted contact rebus is relatively stable, meaning its stability is dependent on how much love Morgan receives from his parents and other important individuals in his social atom, and in which phase of development he finds himself. Nevertheless, within the positive feelings expressed to his parents, there is a smaller transmuted component, that of insecurity, which prompts one component of the positive rebound to be compliant.
The very instability of the achieved untransmuted contact rebus may be viewed in light of its receiving function. The contact rebus only becomes less transmuted if this provides the best possible exchange of life force. However, the ascribed untransmuted contact rebus is focused on giving and is, therefore, less dependent on external conditions. The individual decides to give in a different way than he decides to receive from others.
The achieved untransmuted contact rebus is not necessarily the result of an interaction. The individual may employ this contact rebus in his initial attempt at making contact, but in doing so exposes himself to great risk; by letting down his guard he risks having to openly confront pain.
In this interaction, the individual has not transmuted his contact rebus to a greater degree than the destructive transmutation that is linked to the level of motivation. Since the other party may have a higher level of motivation, the individual is at risk of being unprotected from the transmutation of the other party’s contact rebus, something he is unable to detransmute, unlike in the case of the ascribed untransmuted contact rebus.
Case Study 2
Ray has just landed at JFK airport after a long flight from Europe. At the airport, Ray decides to take the bus to the center of New York and is overwhelmed by all the sights and sounds on his way into the Big Apple. The bus finally arrives at Grand Central Station and all the passengers alight and collect their baggage. As Ray collects his baggage, a young man offers to carry his suitcase and hail a cab.
The young man also asks which hotel Ray is staying at. Ray accepts the man’s help and gives him the name of his hotel – it’s a relief to have some assistance in getting a taxi. Once Ray is installed in a cab, the driver starts shouting at the young man and tells him to clear off, but he won’t be dismissed that easily because he’s after a tip from Ray. The furious driver tells Ray to ignore him and starts moving off while the young man is still hanging on to one of the doors.
He hurls abuse at them and doesn’t let go of the door until the driver produces an iron rod and threatens to beat him. Once they are on their way, the driver tells his shocked passenger how heroin addicts can’t be trusted and that he has been extremely lucky not to have had his suitcase stolen.
In the driver’s opinion, addicts like that will stop at nothing to get money; in their world, life is cheap. Most importantly though, tourists like Ray should never say where they are staying as they risk being followed and robbed. Ray’s journey continues without further incident, and he arrives at his hotel unscathed and having learned something about survival in the city.
Discussion
This is an example of a man who comes from an environment that promotes trust in an entirely different manner to that of the metropolis. The low degree of transmutation in Ray’s contact rebus towards the young man put him in a dangerous situation.
In contrast, had Ray intuitively exhibited a higher degree of transmutation in the form of dismissive or aggressive behavior, he would have received a more rapid and unambiguous response as to the young man’s true nature. The latter, for instance, could have responded by being even more insistent about carrying the suitcase or simply withdrawing.