Friends: The Continuum Of Friendships
(Man's Link To His Species)
Friendship is a special game which allows two or more individuals to take advantage of one another. The sharing of one another is not, necessarily, limited to thoughts, work, or sex. There are, at the very least, five different forms of friendship; the form is controlled by the game that is played:
In each of the five forms of friendship, there is another thread of the weave which must be considered--the presence or the absence of individuality. In the case wherein we have the presence of individuality, there is an air of possession between the individuals who play the game; an example of this might be that a friend wouldn't want to share your friendship with another. While sex may or may not be a part of the friendship, the individual might still want to keep the friend to himself. The friend might feel betrayed if his friend spent time with another friend. Another example might be that the company which an individual worked for would not allow its employee to have another job. Still another example might be that one business partner would refuse to do business with anyone who also did business with another company.
In the case wherein we have the absence of individuality, the air of possession between the individuals who play the game would not, to any great degree, influence the game. Needless to say, the presence or the absence of individuality within a friendship has profound effects; in that, it could make for a totally different experience.
We must remember that in each of the five different situations of friendship which are listed, it is not the phenomenon called individuality which is important here. It is the presence and/or the absence of any given phenomenon which is important; this is because the presence and/or the absence is the first manifestation of the duality of creation.
1. Mutual satisfaction of needs is the first and most common of the forms of friendship. It is where two, or more, individuals gather together to share time, to share knowledge, to share problems, and to share teaching periods.
During the time-sharing cycle of friendship, the individuals merely enjoy one another's company; they laugh, they play, or they cry together.
During the knowledge cycle, the individuals share whatever new experiences they had since the last time they met; there is no right or wrong in the communication, there is only sharing.
During the sharing-of-problems cycle, each in his turn, cries on the other's shoulder, so to speak. Again, there is no right or wrong type of sharing. One of the friendship partners simply listens, and cries if it is necessary to express a closer bonding of the friendship.
During the teaching cycle, one or more of the friendship partners acts the role of a parent; in that, he makes judgments of right and wrong, good and bad. In his effort to be a good friend, he will seek to give his friend an alternate way of looking at the situation in question, or he will seek to give his friend an alternate set of behaviors which, he is sure, will cure the problem forever.
At any time during the meeting of the friendship partners, any combination of the above may be experienced; although, each cycle may be mixed with the others, each cycle is easily recognized. Of course, each cycle will serve a very special need during the friendship meeting.
2. Compatible Friends is a very common, but very troublesome form of friendship. It is troublesome only because one, or more, of the partners seek to change the rules of the friendship such that the game which is played is the Lover game in disguise. Basically, the Compatible friendship will contain every element which is contained within the Mutual-satisfaction-of-needs form of friendship, plus one more; compatible friends will also share their bodies; not only will they have sex, they will go so far as to experiment with one another in all ways. Needless to say, this is usually the first type of relationship that married people experience before becoming married. However, because of the strong emotional involvement and the high level of trust which is required of this form of friendship, and because of the needed emotional separation which is also required of this form of friendship, if the game is not to be corrupted into a Lover game in disguise, this form of friendship can be both, absolute heaven and absolute hell.
When it goes well, when the form of friendship is not corrupted, it is the best form of friendship any two or more individuals can share; as a matter of fact, it is the very basis for the sound marriage. The sound marriage has two games being played simultaneously--the Compatible Friendship Game and the Lover Game. When it goes bad, it can lead to the death of one or more of the partners, depending upon the degree of the violence of the game and the emotional disarray of the players.
3. Business Partner form of friendship is extremely common. It is limited, and therefore modified, by the work environment and the accessibility of the co-workers with respect to their needs. If they live close by one another, and if they have something to offer one another, they may develop a Mutual satisfaction of needs form of friendship; but, then, they may not.
If they do, there will be two forms of friendship going on at the same time. If they do not, there will be only one form of friendship in the relationship--Business partner relationships. In the Business Partner game, they will act very friendly and go so far as to like one another; but, that will be limited only to the work environment. Outside of the immediate work environment, they will not interact except for work-related functions and meetings.
4. Social partner game is also very common. It has every element of the Business Partner Game, except that it is in the social environment rather than in the business environment; such as, parties and other social gatherings.
5. Lover game is the basis of the unity of a family unit. While the Marriage game need not be involved, it is still a marriage type game with all the commitments of the love, honor, and obey game; usually, there is more of the obey part than there is any of the love and honor part. That is why most Lover games seldom last very long, as the divorce courts will attest.
Needless to say, at any given time, any of the five forms of friendship can share in a relationship between any two or more friends. It all depends upon the special needs of the situation, the need for the playing of special roles by one or more of the players, and the needs of the players, themselves.
FOREVER
Most people of the world use the label forever when they have reference to the concept of eternity. This is not so for the Magi--the Arkashean of today. The Magi understands that eternity does not exist except within the boundaries of The Now-Zone and within the boundaries of Orthodontiks. For the Magi, the label forever is used when having reference to however much time it will require to achieve [some goal].
Example: If we were to ask the question: How long will the Man live, the required response would have to be forever; in that, the man would live for as long as his life lasted. It would take that much time to achieve his death. Again, if the question: How long are you going to play that game were posed, the response would still have to be forever; because, it will take that amount of time to achieve the game's end.