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The main character in Project Hail Mary is a Fighting Satyr. Doesn’t look like one, because our society marginalizes them. But he sure acts like one.

Julius Caesar, every woman’s husband and every man’s wife.

Jim Jones, other charismatic spiritualists

The Nymphs & Satyrs system, because it helps us determine how each of us is “wired,” can be useful in changing our society to suit us better. The system is predicated upon the fact that we evolved as hunter- gatherers, and in our hearts and minds we still are. So why not organize society around the things we evolved to enjoy and do well?

The basic creative activities undertaken in a Neolithic band are things that still need doing today. They include tasks of subsistence as well as expressions of the sacred, and fulfill both our physical and spiritual needs:

• Fighting: Assertive protection
• Hunting: Effective provision
• Dancing: Spiritual expression
• Painting: Meaningful representation
• Singing: Emotional celebration
• Crafting: Practical creation
• Gathering: Nourishing collection
• Tending: Nurturing supervision

As a template for society, this has a very different structure than what Americans are used to. It’s simply a list of responsibilities, not a hierarchy of status. Implicit in this structure is the recognition that all of these responsibilities are important, and that none should be preeminent.

The leadership provided by a Hot Fighting Satyr is important, while the care given by the Warm Tending Muse who raised him is just as important. The material wealth provided by a Hot Hunting Centaur is important, and the story of his “rainmaking” written by a Hot Painting Nymph is just as important.

By respecting our evolutionary past, could we create a blueprint forvbuilding a healthier and more satisfying society?

Hot Hunting Centaurs are dangerous–and valuable.

An enduring social problem is the concentration of money into fewer hands over time. Many laws have been passed to solve it, and all have failed to do so. That’s because legislation doesn’t address the root of the problem: the desire and ability of some men to obtain and hoard vast amounts of money.

Who has this desire and ability? The Hot Hunting Centaur. His erotic type evolved on the East African savannah, in an environment where resources were scarce. There, his predatory cunning and single-minded focus on making the kill helped his family survive.

What does a man like that do in the modern world? Hard-wired to hunt, he often goes into finance, a field where he can “make a killing.” On Wall Street, the most successful Hot Hunting Centaurs behave just as their evolutionary ancestors did, setting ingenious traps, stealthily stalking their “prey,” and sometimes stampeding it off a financial cliff.

The Hot Hunting Centaur is relentless in his pursuit of “game,” which in business can take the form of more money and greater market share. Since his type evolved under conditions of scarcity, where it was adaptive to smoke and stockpile as much meat as possible, he’s driven to obtain as much money as he can, no matter how many billions are in his bank account.

In an industrial nation, this ancient inclination can have disastrous effects. Retail empires are built that lay waste to small towns. Massive bank fraud crashes the financial system. People are poisoned in the pursuit of higher profits.

Tere’s nothing essentially wrong with a Hot Hunting Centaur. But there is something wrong with a social structure in which his instincts can be expressed in such destructive ways. Changing the law to prevent that hasn’t worked as a long- term solution, but harnessing his considerable abilities for constructive purposes just might.

If his expertise is in finance, the Hot Hunting Centaur could be tasked with filling the coffers of a nonprofit social enterprise. If he runs a large company, he could induced to provide ample “meat” to the employees who comprise his corporate “tribe.” We’d do well to find ways for him to exercise his natural power in honorable pursuits.

There’s a special kind of woman who moves in rhythm with the music of the world. She’s abundantly feminine, and when she’s happy, wonderfully radiant. Attuned to the deep currents of life, she uncovers hidden meaning and connection. Keenly intuitive, she divines the truth about people and relationships.

In the Hellenic Personality Framework, she’s known as a Dancing Nymph. The Dancing part of her designation denotes her love of rhythmic movement. And yes, like a Nymph in the ancient myths, she tends to be frisky.

Some examples of the Dancing Nymph are Karen, the sultry cop in Out Of Sight; and Annie, the loopy baseball fan in Bull Durham. She’s the secretary who doesn’t miss a trick, the math whiz flirting with the cameraman, the woman teaching yoga.

The Dancing Nymph is very feminine.

The Feminine is fundamentally about life energy, and the Dancing Nymph channels it powerfully. With her vivacious spirit, she energizes people. She can suffuse a room with vitality, making it a place where everyone feels optimistic and good about themselves.

That’s what she was meant to do. In humanity’s hunter-gatherer past, women of her type evolved to bind larger bands together with strong emotional ties, and to defuse tension between high-testosterone men. Because her role involved facilitating relationships, and the Feminine is about relationship, she channels more feminine energy than any other type of woman.

The three basic aspects of the Feminine—flow, sensitivity, and relationship—are the Dancing Nymph’s particular strengths:

• Her spirit flows like the water she loves. (She enjoys being at the beach, in the pool, in the tub, etc.) Water is a symbol of the subconscious, the source of desire and insight, and she “swims” comfortably in this unseen realm.
• She’s very sensitive to emotional undertones, so many Dancing Nymphs serve as counselors and confidantes. People seek her out to talk about personal issues.
• Personal relationships are important to her, and she’s good at forming them. Her friendships are more intimate than most, her romances more passionate.

She’s frequently misunderstood.

American culture celebrates the Dancing Nymph in the mediagenic form of a Beyonce or Britney Spears, but mostly she’s misunderstood. One wag expresses the prevailing attitude toward women of her type when he recommends that men avoid “redheads, strippers, hairdressers…”

Indeed, men often get the wrong idea when interacting with her. She exudes sexuality and loves to flirt, which can overwhelm men who aren’t mature and centered. If one of them makes a clumsy advance and she deflects it, she may be called a “tease.”

Why is the Dancing Nymph so often misunderstood? Because our culture tends to regard her abundant Feminine energy as “too much:”

• Her feminine energy flows so strongly that it can become chaotic. When she expresses that in mood swings, lashing out, breaking down, etc, this gets her labeled “crazy.”
• She needs to give and receive lots of love, affection, and attention, and when she can’t do that, she may turn to booze, food, or drugs. Some read this as “self-destructive.”
• If her feminine energy is especially intense, she can make uncannily accurate predictions and assessments, which in the past made her feared as a “witch.”

She thrives when provided with structure.

With her high flow of feminine energy, the Dancing Nymph likes having masculine structure around to smooth it out. Even if she can provide that structure herself, she doesn’t like to do that, because it drains her. So, she seeks the structure she needs through one of the basic aspects of the Feminine: relationship.

Marilyn Monroe, who channeled a tremendous amount of feminine energy, provided a good example of this. While she was always put-together in public, her house was a mess, and sometimes she’d go on hours-long crying jags. Knowing instinctively that she needed more structure in her life, she went about getting it by playing to her strengths in relationship.

Unfortunately, she never formed the right relationship. Her first husband, the playwright Arthur Miller, lacked the rock-solid presence a man needs to handle a woman of her powerful energy. Her second husband, slugger Joe DiMaggio, was a star in his own right, and that didn’t work for her, either. She needed a strong frame to her beautiful picture, a man who liked her being the center of attention.

A Dancing Nymph who did form a good relationship was actress Blythe Danner. She didn’t marry another artist, as Marilyn did. Instead, she married a man whose job involved providing artists with the structure they needed: a director. As a result, she and TV producer Bruce Paltrow lived a happy life together, and both had successful careers.

The Dancing Nymph needs a man who is as masculine as she is feminine, which is why she tends to date “bad boys.” To be happy, however, she must be with a man who is masculine in a positive way. In the words of Kate Rose, she needs “a goddamn warrior,” but he must be, in the words of David Deida, a Warrior of Love.

She likes a strong masculine presence.

Many Dancing Nymphs seek this abundant Feminine/strong Masculine dynamic at work as well, gravitating toward men who hold positions of authority. They often work as secretaries, supporting executives. Smart managers ask them for their take on people and situations, and consult with them often.

Another job that Dancing Nymphs typically hold is counselor. They frequently serve as school and therapeutic counselors, and even if their job title doesn’t include the word “counselor,” they usually end up doing informal counseling anyway.

With their energetic physicality, Dancing Nymphs also work as yoga instructors, dance teachers, massage therapists, and in other jobs that require movement and touch. Whatever jobs they hold, they like to form complementary relationships with men who make decisions and wield power.

We should honor the Dancing Nymph.

In the ancient world, women of the Dancing Nymph type were considered to be in touch with the divine, and accorded special places as oracles and healers. They were also consorts to leaders. Hetairai, for example, were women in Greek society who served as companions and advisors for men of the ruling class. Courtesans had the same elite status in belle epoque Europe.

Unfortunately, American culture has yet to rediscover the power of the Dancing Nymph. Following World War II, she was confined to domestic and clerical roles that stifled her. In the 1970s, she was encouraged to take professional roles that didn’t suit her. Today, she still isn’t often put in social roles where she can be who she is.

We need not take our cues from the broader culture, however. We can honor the Dancing Nymph and put her in positions of influence. Leaders who seek her guidance will make good decisions, and suitors who win her heart will be happy men indeed.