Cross of Power

Full breakdown

Gates: 20 the Now, 34 Power, 37 Friendship, 40 Aloneness. Gate numbers: 34.4/40.1, 20.4/37.1.

In the Cross of Power, sexuality steps aside and the deal takes its place. A dual process begins here, since the energy splits into two separate channels — 34-20 and 40-37, the Channel of Community and the Channel of the Deal. Power shows up as a business proposition: 'you need my strength? What are you willing to pay for it? You need my life force today? What's it worth to you?' Usually this plays out through entertainment, since that's most often what this strength gets used for — the 34-20 channel will sing and dance, because it's struck an honest deal with the tribe, which agrees to pay for exactly that. And there's real power hidden inside that arrangement.

Both this Juxtaposition and its Left Angle counterpart matter, because they let an individual with mutative potential genuinely affect the tribe — through their ability to get things done. The 40-37 channel is the heart of the tribe, but it's a Projector channel: an engine running with nowhere to put its energy. Paired with 34-20, which is also revving its own engine, together they say, 'wow, I want genes like that.' The tribe sends its sons and daughters to try to secure someone like this for good — 'don't let them leave town,' which is exactly why small towns have bus stations built the way they do: to keep good genetic material from getting away.