Charisma

[flexibeast]

Recently i watched The life of Brian with sacred_harlot (i'd seen it before; sacred_harlot hadn't.) It made me think: what makes a person charismatic, the sort of person other people follow with enthusiasm? The sort of person whose followers talk about in reverential tones? The sort of person whose followers are afraid of angering or upsetting? The sort of person whose followers believe is the person to lead them on The True Path to whateverness?

On-line and off-, i'm as charismatic as a brick. And that's fine with me. i would hope that, if people think i have anything interesting to say, it's purely because of the content of what i say, and not also, or purely, because i exude charisma à la Saruman¹. Nevertheless, charisma intrigues me because so many social movements have been led by 'charismatic' people.

So is charisma an innate either/or thing (i.e. "you have it, or you don't")? Is it something that can be cultivated? It is basically an unconscious, or semi-conscious, use of certain forms of magick? Or is it something else altogether?

---

1. Tolkien wrote that:

Saruman's voice was not hypnotic but persuasive. Those who listened to him were not in danger of falling into a trance, but of agreeing with his arguments, while fully awake. It was always open to one to reject, by free will and reason, both his voice while speaking and its after-impressions. Saruman corrupted the reasoning powers.
 
-- "Letters", letter number 210

Comments

[velitu.livejournal.com]

to me, charisma inspires. it takes an otherwise worthy but detached concept and makes it emotional, personal and something to *feel* passion about. charisma is not necessarily manipulative in and of itself, although there are plenty of examples of misuse of charisma.

charisma marries the intellect with other parts of us like emotion, intuition, muscle memory and spirit. intellect on its own is only part of a person. charisma engages the whole being.

that makes it a powerful thing. like all power, it is both liberating and dangerous.

[flexibeast.livejournal.com]

Okay, so, let me paraphrase you to check if i get what you're saying: you think that charisma is the result of successfully integrating various facets of a person?

[cheshire-bitten.livejournal.com]

As an actor in life charisma is something that is learned, worked on and switched on and off by people who understand the stage.

[flexibeast.livejournal.com]

And are you one of those people? If so, what things did you have to learn to be able to "switch on" charisma?

[cheshire-bitten.livejournal.com]

I would like to be more than I am but social groups interest me and I am very interested in what the people who have charisma do differently than everyone else. I am not really vain enough to say that I am one of those people, but I do make friends easily and seem to have little problem attracting peoples attentions(both sexual and not) but I wonder how much this has to do with charisma and how much it has to do with being “hot” by the current social standards.

The things which I have seen so far which seem to coincide with charisma are attributes such as self control and a feeling of “soft” self worth, these people have known that they are worth while and haven’t felt the need to rub it into anyone else.

[flexibeast.livejournal.com]

Hmm, interesting . . . . although personally, i have met people who others seem to find 'charismatic' and yet who come across as arrogant jerks to me. *shrug*

And yes, to me, at least, 'charisma' and 'attractiveness' are not the same thing, although there can certainly be a fair amount of overlap. i know a number of people who i find very attractive, and yet who don't seem to be regarded by either myself or others as 'charismatic' . . . .

[indigo1.livejournal.com]

i reckon charisma is something different altogether. this is my theory...

charisma is an absence. it's a blank spot (or possibly a mirror) in the personality of the person who has it that other people can write their desires on. if you look at the attraction/devotion people have to charismatic personalities, it's like romantic infatuation. it's the same kind/degree of self-delusion and blindness that people have when they have a mad crush on someone. the charismatic person either intrinsically has, or has found a way to embody the answers to people's deep-seated, and often unconcious desires. it's projection, in the psychological sense of the word. and not just projection of sexual desires, but all sorts of other ones - adventure, security, protection, order, nurturing, everything/anything. sometimes this is by actually having the answer to those desires, but more often it's by holding the mirror up and letting people paint their own outcome onto it themselves. this is why (i reckon) charismatic people can be as vague as fuck or completely duplicious, and people still believe they will lead them to the promised land. they want to believe because the charismatic person is wearing the promise of the fullfillment of their desires for them. i'm not saying charisma is neccessarily always evil, but it's a dynamic which is nearly always a dance between delusion and illusion.

[flexibeast.livejournal.com]

Wow, interesting analysis! i'll have to ponder it for a bit, i think . . . .