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The Devil in the centre of the Matrix of Destiny

Mechanics. Your business card is attraction. Not polite charm: a pull that unsettles people. You can look in such a way that a person feels chosen, you know the price of things and pleasures, you do not pretend to be better than you are, and around you an atmosphere forms by itself in which what is not allowed elsewhere is allowed. People come to you for permission. For their own boldness, which they do not grant themselves. Magnetism is read instantly, but the consequences show up half a year later, when it turns out that the attachment is stronger than either side planned.

Works when the work involves desire and the body: sales, brand, stage, nightlife, money, any work where you must not be shy of wanting and must be able to name a price. You feel the material and are not afraid of it. Luxury does not look vulgar on you, and a conversation about money does not sound awkward, because for you it is an ordinary subject. Naming your price and falling silent is something only a few can do. You can, and so you earn more than those who work better.

Breaks when control over desire is lost and it starts to run you. Dependencies take root in you more easily than in others: a substance, a person, work, approval, shopping, and recognising the loop from outside is almost impossible, because it looks like a full life. The second failure is power over the dependent. You keep near you those who are badly off without you, and call it love. Holding is easier than building: a dependent person will not leave or demand equality, and gives about as much joy as furniture.

What it looks like:

• Parting from you is hard even for those who have already decided: the conversation ends not where it began.
• You know what hooks a particular person and use it, sometimes almost mechanically.
• You can give up a habit sharply and completely. And return to it a year later.

What to do.

1. Once a quarter, run a test: remove one pleasure for a month and see who is running whom.
2. Ask what the person beside you gets from the tie with you. If only you, it is not a tie.
3. Wanting openly is cheaper than wanting secretly. The secret quickly becomes a debt.

Takeaway: you are drawn to people and people to you; the question is always the same: who holds the leash.