Bonding & Belonging: The Tribal Circuit Part 2

Committed For Life and Absolute Obedience 

This is Part 2 of Tribal Circuitry. Be sure to read Circuitry of Kinship: The Tribal Circuit Part 1! We are each born as separate entities, utterly dependent on our very existence upon others. Over time we each realize that we want and need a lot, and our focus is on “me”. We initially become aware of ourselves as a specific entity – a “me”. A me that is unable to get food for itself or even move out of a physically unpleasant environment (cold, wet, poopy). And, at some point in time, we each recognize that there is this “me” that wants food or wants to move and who is incapable of doing so. Who needs food? Me. Who’s cold? Me.

For years children have no capacity at all to understand that someone else might be hungry or cold. The whole purpose of others is simply to provide “me” with what I need. Give “me” your support. Do for “me” all the things I can’t yet do for myself. Give “me” what I want. So the parent does those things for the child but the deal is – “I’ll do for you now, but in return, you will do for me later”. But what assurance do I, the parent, have that you, the child, will do for me later? To address this, parents have typically “ruled” their children using power (for instance, the gun to the head method) – “Do what I say or else”. But also the less obvious power – “If you do this, I will reward you”.

Obey the Rules, Follow the Traditions

So in order for this structure to work “I take care of you now and for many years, but you must take care of me in the future for many years”, absolute obedience is required. You can’t have those upon whom you depend for your future making decisions and carrying out actions that will imperil their ability to take care of you. Similarly, you can’t be taking care of young people who make decisions that only benefit themselves, or that deplete the resources of the family or put at risk the lives of other family members. Thus, the structure must be tight, well-regulated, and dependable.

Ultimately, EVERYBODY in the family (and as it extends, everybody in the tribe) MUST obey the rules, follow the traditions. There are no extenuating circumstances. Failure to follow the traditions that have kept the tribe alive and thriving can result in banishment or death.

Tribal Competition is Fierce

Members of tribal structures tend to be pretty competitive. Remember, we start off alone but quickly realize we are part of a group. The group all has to pull together for the good of the group but how about me? Who wants all of the goodies? Me. Who wants the women, the meat, the shiny things? Me. Everyone “wants” but the stronger you are, the smarter,  the more skillful, the more you get. And maybe most importantly, the more you want and the more you want it, the more you will likely have. Tribes go forth and conquer and plunder, but only a few wind up rich and powerful.

That’s how it has been since forever. Even in hummingbirds, the strongest and fastest get their choice of females and access to more food. Competition is fierce. And nowhere is it fiercer than in people. Millions have died in wars so that a small handful could have wealth, status, control.

In our western culture today we see competition like this mostly in sports. Everybody pulls together as a team but a few, the best, make a fortune. So often I see competitors, even dancers, pat or pound their heart in triumph and joy at winning. They compete with great heart and with acknowledgment of their heart and – surprise, surprise – they usually have really big egos.

But What About Love?

You might wonder at this point “Yeah, that’s fine, but what about love? Isn’t love a huge part of kinship?” Absolutely.  This is a matter of an evolutionary strategy to build close bonds by emphasizing blood ties. It’s common in animals. Mother bears don’t protect all cubs, but fiercely and aggressively protect their own cubs. Mothers recognize their own offspring by smell more than anything else.

Nonetheless, plenty of families and, for that matter, plenty of tribal cultures, survive without the love aspect. For centuries various churches have found ways to brutalize, exploit and impoverish their followers – they demand love, but don’t give it. Even so, love expressed as family first, helping the community, the ruler looking out for the well-being and education of his tribe, all these are very powerful and loving aspects of tribal culture.

Preserving the Established Order

People in a family tend to look on anyone outside the family with some amount of suspicion – a potential threat of disruption to the established order. Preserving the established order is critical in any family (and, by extension, every tribe/community) because it is the stability itself that creates opportunities. For the most part, people as a family, a tribe, a community are only willing to sacrifice stability and accept a new way if things have gotten really bad. “Bad” meaning that some of the members aren’t living up to their end of the “support” bargain, with the result that other members are suffering serious deprivation.

The core behaviors of the Tribal Behavior Group arise from behaviors that have proven to be sound genetic strategies for kinship families. They include such hallmarks as values, traditions, support, loyalty, making bargains, stability, status, and suspicion of outsiders. There is a high level of hierarchy, of structure, and a necessity to form bonds that endure over long periods of time. This style of organization is the bedrock of the tribe or community.

Tribal Circuit Conclusion

This seems like a reasonable place to wind down the Tribal circuit behavior group. There are 2 more circuits – the Collective circuit and Individual circuit – that I plan to talk about here in the future. I began with the Tribal because it is the first organizational method evident in humans. For the most part, I avoided using much from Human Design, preferring my own observations and research in cultural anthropology. I did this partially because I wanted to provide HD analysts with more layers of info to draw upon when delving deeply into someone’s design.

Following are some of the “keywords” that describe behaviors that will be evident and in the foreground in any tribal organization: Competition, survival, alone, cooperation, stability, ownership, material, rules, rigid structure, community, tradition, me, agreement, making bargains, the deal, obligation, duty, family, long term commitment, obedience, hierarchy, support, threats, rewards, education, morals, values, love, winning, ego, kinship, ruler, alert, suspicion of outsiders, loyalty, status, tight bonds that last.

Of course, you have to look at all the circuits, maybe see the conflicts that might arise both internally and externally. A child with a lot of Tribal circuitry raised in a house full of people with an emphasis on Individual circuitry might have some difficulty understanding the structure. People with a lot of connection to Individual circuitry but very few to Tribal can get lit up in ways that are challenging to process.

Photo by Tyler Nix