Carl Jung once wrote, “The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.”
But what happens when these “two personalities” exist within ourselves?
In the Ontolokey Cube — a psychological model that unfolds the architecture of type-based inner sub-personalities — we can explore the rich ecosystem of distinct psychic roles that live within a single personality type. These inner figures are not mere abstractions. They have agency, voice, conflict, and transformation potential. They are our internal “cast of characters.”
This essay introduces you to some of these sub-personalities — and in particular, the one known as The Sibling.
The Sibling: Your Inner Rival and Mirror
The Sibling personality behaves like an inner brother or sister. There is an unmistakable affinity — even emotional warmth — toward this sub-personality. But just like in real life, siblings can provoke friction. They challenge us. They mirror us. And they often express our values from the opposite angle.
Psychologically, the Sibling shares your dominant function — but in the opposite attitude. If you lead with Introverted Thinking (Ti), your Sibling leads with Extraverted Thinking (Te). If your auxiliary function is Extraverted Intuition (Ne), your Sibling’s auxiliary is Introverted Intuition (Ni). In this way, the Sibling becomes a kind of parallel type that complements and contests your conscious ego.
For example:
- An INTP’s Sibling is an ENTJ.
- An ENFJ’s Sibling is an INFP.
- An ISFP’s Sibling is an ESFJ.
This Sibling type always resides in the opposite Judging/Perceiving group (P ↔ J), even though it shares the same dominant and auxiliary functions in reversed attitudes. From the Socionics perspective, the Sibling — along with another key inner figure, the Golden Shadow — forms part of the Id Block, sitting in the Vital Ring of the psyche.
Just like real siblings, this inner figure can be both ally and rival — pushing us toward integration, balance, and maturity through tension.
The Golden Shadow: The Hidden Gift Within
Carl Jung famously warned against projecting our darker traits onto others — but he also spoke of a “golden” side of the shadow: the repressed potentials, the talents we deny, the radiance we fear to own.
In the Ontolokey framework, this Golden Shadow is more than a function — it is a personality sub-type with its own voice, energy, and trajectory. It represents the psychological function that is most natural for your Sibling — but still undeveloped in your conscious self.
Let’s take the INTP as an example. Their auxiliary function is Extraverted Intuition (Ne). The Golden Shadow, then, is the opposite-attitude version: Introverted Intuition (Ni). This Ni becomes the dominant function of the INTP’s Golden Shadow personality type — a kind of inner INFJ — paired with the INTP’s inferior function, Extraverted Feeling (Fe), in the auxiliary position.
We now have a personality structure that looks like this:
Golden Shadow type for INTP
Dominant: Introverted Intuition (Ni)
Auxiliary: Extraverted Feeling (Fe)
This Golden Shadow bridges the world of insight (Ni) with the emotional intelligence (Fe) the INTP typically struggles to access. It forms what Socionics calls the Id Block, connecting to the Super-Id through this archetypal bridge.
Psychologically, the Golden Shadow is a gift — but a buried one. To access it, the ego must humble itself and cross the threshold into unfamiliar terrain. Unlike the dark shadow that we disown, the Golden Shadow is often admired in others but feels unreachable in ourselves.
It is the music we long to write but don’t believe we can.
It is the visionary depth we respect but rarely embody.
It is the part of us we’re not sure we’re “allowed” to become.
Function vs. Personality Type
It’s crucial to make a distinction here:
- The Golden Shadow as a function is just one of the eight cognitive functions.
- The Golden Shadow as a personality type is a full internal structure — a sub-personality — defined by:
- a dominant function (your Golden Shadow function), and
- an auxiliary function (your inferior function in the main ego personality).
This structure acts as a psychological counterpoint to your dominant personality — often emerging during deep introspection, life crises, or moments of spiritual searching. It’s not your “main character” — but it might be the one with the map.
The Persona, The Anima/Animus, and The Toddler: A Psychological Drama Within
If the Sibling and the Golden Shadow are like inner rivals or distant guides, then the Persona is your mask — and the Anima or Animus your inner muse. Together, they set the stage for a profound inner transformation, one that Jung described as the individuation process — the journey toward becoming whole.
🟠 The Persona: A Composite of Strength and Seduction
In the Ontolokey model, the Persona is a sub-personality made up of:
- your auxiliary function, and
- your Anima/Animus function.
The auxiliary function represents the “supporting actor” of your conscious self — the one you often lean on in social or creative contexts. The Anima or Animus, by contrast, is a deeply internal figure. It often carries the emotional or imaginative opposite of your dominant function.
For example, if your dominant function is Introverted Thinking (Ti), your Anima/Animus is Introverted Feeling (Fi). It is the complementary opposite, sharing the same attitude (introvert or extravert), but a different function axis (Thinking ↔ Feeling, Sensing ↔ Intuition).
Let’s look at the INTP again. Their Persona type combines:
- Extraverted Intuition (Ne) (auxiliary), and
- Introverted Feeling (Fi) (Anima function).
This gives us an ENFP-like internal Persona — full of curiosity, playfulness, emotional depth, and imagination. While the INTP may not identify with this type on the surface, the Persona often takes over in interpersonal relationships, especially when attraction, art, or identity are involved.
The Persona is not false — but it is adaptive. It’s how we navigate society, charm others, or mask our deeper inner uncertainties. As Jung put it, “The Persona is that which in reality one is not, but which oneself and others think one is.”
🔵 The Anima/Animus: Soul-Mirror and Inner Other
The Anima (in men) or Animus (in women), according to Jung, is the archetype of the inner other — the unconscious image of the opposite gender, filled with potential for both projection and transformation.
In Ontolokey, the Anima/Animus is represented by:
- a function opposite in kind to your dominant (Thinking ↔ Feeling, Sensing ↔ Intuition),
- but sharing the same attitude (introvert or extravert).
For instance:
- If your dominant function is Introverted Thinking (Ti),
your Anima/Animus is Introverted Feeling (Fi). - If your dominant is Extraverted Sensing (Se),
your Anima is Extraverted Intuition (Ne).
This function is often hidden, even repressed — but it holds the key to emotional integration, especially in midlife. Jung saw the Anima/Animus as a guide to the unconscious. In the Ontolokey system, it also forms a sub-personality that influences dreams, attraction, imagination, and creativity.
🟣 The Toddler: The Forgotten Limb of the Psyche
If the dominant function is the “head” of the psyche, the Toddler is one of its legs — underdeveloped, clumsy, but essential. In the Ontolokey model, the Toddler function is the auxiliary of the Anima/Animus sub-type. It’s a deeply immature part of ourselves that only becomes integrated after the Anima/Animus is acknowledged and developed.
Using the INTP example again:
- Persona: ENFP (Ne + Fi)
- Anima sub-type: ISFP (Fi + Se)
- Toddler function: Extraverted Sensing (Se)
Se is typically one of the weakest function in the INTP’s stack — the one most likely to be ignored or even scorned. But ironically, it is this very function that holds the key to embodied vitality, spontaneity, and direct action. The Toddler is awkward, emotional, messy — but full of life.
In mythology, this process is mirrored in stories like Danaë and Perseus: the Anima (Danaë) gives birth to the Hero (Perseus) — the Toddler archetype who will one day slay inner dragons.
From Persona to Integration
In Socionics, the functions we’ve explored — dominant, auxiliary, Sibling, Golden Shadow, Anima, and Toddler — map onto the Ego, Id, Super-Id, and Super-Ego blocks. Each function belongs to a different Ring: the Mental Ring, the Vital Ring. The Ego and the Super-Ego belong to the Mental Ring, while the Id and Super-id belong to the Vital Ring. Ontolokey shares this very same knowledge and does further even visualize all these blocks, including the Mental and Vital Rings within the unfolded Ontolokey cube. It becomes herewith easy to “see” where within your personality these aspects can be found.
The Anima/Animus function and the Toddler function belong to the Super-Ego-block. The Sibling function and the Golden Shadow function belong to the id-block.
Integration is not about becoming all of these types at once. It’s about listening to their voices, recognizing their roles, and bringing them into conscious alignment. Jung called this “holding the tension of the opposites.” Ontolokey shows us how — function by function, sub-type by sub-type.
Becoming Whole: The Dance of the Inner Types
Each of us walks through life wearing a mask — our Persona — while guided by an inner compass, our dominant function. We build careers, relationships, even identities around this core. But beneath the surface, a symphony of other voices is waiting to be heard — voices that belong to a rich inner cast of characters.
In the Ontolokey model, personality is not a static “type,” but a living ecosystem: a psychological architecture of distinct sub-types, each with its own role, rhythm, and voice.
Let’s revisit these inner figures:
- The Ego Personality: your primary type, shaped by your dominant and auxiliary functions. It’s the captain of your ship — but not the whole crew.
- The Sibling: your psychological twin in reverse — same functions, but mirrored in attitude. A rival, a sparring partner, and often a source of inner conflict or unexpected insight.
- The Golden Shadow: the function you most admire but haven’t yet owned. It calls you toward unrealized greatness — toward vision, courage, or heart.
- The Persona: your adaptive, social mask. It helps you survive and perform — but when over-identified with, it can hide the deeper self.
- The Anima/Animus: your soul mirror. Emotional, symbolic, often projected outward, it’s also the key to inner transformation.
- The Toddler: one of the least developed function — raw, spontaneous, chaotic. But once integrated, it becomes a source of vitality and wholeness.
This isn’t just a typological model — it’s a map of inner alchemy.
Crowning the Self – The Completion of the Inner Journey
From Fragment to Sovereignty
Each sub-personality we’ve explored — from the confident Ego to the chaotic Toddler — has its place in the psychic structure. They are not accidents. They are the architecture of the Self.
Together, they form a multidimensional map of consciousness, emotion, conflict, and potential.
But this map is not just theoretical.
It has a destination.
The King or Queen: Returning to the Throne Within
At the farthest corner of the Ontolokey Cube — in the diagonal opposite of the dominant function — rests the most unconscious of all: the inferior function. Paired with the tertiary function, it forms the Super-Id Block.
These two functions, often the most emotionally charged and misunderstood, make up the final and most powerful sub-personality:
The King or Queen.
This sub-type does not emerge early in life.
It cannot be forced.
It only awakens when:
- The Golden Shadow has been embraced,
- The Anima/Animus has been integrated,
- The Toddler has been nurtured.
These three become the legs of what Ontolokey calls the Shadow Tripod, which supports the ascent of the inferior function into conscious rulership. Like the earlier Dominant Tripod that stabilizes our conscious dominant function, the Shadow Tripod stabilizes the deepest layers of our soul.
The Mythic Return
This moment of inner coronation is beautifully echoed in myth.
After his long odyssey of war, loss, and temptation, Odysseus finally returns to Ithaca. To his home. To Penelope, his Queen.
But he does not return as the same man.
He is wiser. Whole. Sovereign.
In psychological terms, the King or Queen is not about dominance. It is about integration.
It is the moment when you no longer fight parts of yourself — because all voices in the inner system have been heard, honored, and brought into alignment.
This is not the crown of the ego.
It is the crown of the Self.
The Cross and the Cube
In the unfolded Ontolokey Cube — rendered as a cross — the inferior and tertiary functions reside at the top beam.
Symbolically, this position represents ascension.
The cross is not merely a symbol of suffering, but of transformation — the vertical path from unconscious fragmentation to conscious unity. From the lower shadow to the upper light. From exile to enthronement.
When the King or Queen finally returns to the throne, the inner kingdom is whole.
Wholeness Is Not a Fantasy
This final integration — of Ego, Shadow, Sibling, Golden Shadow, Anima, Toddler, and finally King/Queen — is not abstract. It is lived.
In your choices.
In your relationships.
In how you hold your pain and express your joy.
In how you lead your life — not from ego, but from essence.
Carl Jung called this individuation.
Philosophy calls it entelechy — the actualization of your deepest nature.
Myth calls it the Hero’s Return.
And Ontolokey calls it:
Becoming Whole.
“The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.”
— Carl Jung
Individuation: From Fragmentation to Unity
Carl Jung called the journey toward wholeness individuation — the lifelong process of integrating these sub-personalities into a cohesive self. It’s not about “fixing” yourself or becoming someone else. It’s about remembering who you already are — in full.
And that journey is not linear. Sometimes the Golden Shadow bursts forth in a dream. Sometimes the Anima appears in the form of a lover. Sometimes the Sibling challenges your beliefs, and the Toddler throws a tantrum.
But as you learn to give each of them space, voice, and form, you begin to move differently in the world. Less fragmented. Less reactive. More centered, creative, and free.
In Socionics, these functions form dynamic Blocks — Ego, Super-Ego, Id, Super-Id. In Ontolokey, they are personified — so we don’t just analyze them, we relate to them.
The Inner Hero’s Journey
Every myth is a mirror of the psyche. From Theseus in the labyrinth to Luke Skywalker facing the shadow of his father, stories echo the movement of these inner functions.
You are not just your MBTI type.
You are not just your strengths.
You are the entire constellation.
A camera (dominant function) rests on three legs — Auxiliary, Sibling, and Toddler. To capture the full picture, it must move — and that movement comes from the Toddler. The vision comes from the Golden Shadow. The soul enters through the Anima. And the world meets you through the Persona.
To become whole is not to suppress these parts — it is to bring them into dialogue. To build not a prison of type — but a temple of self.
“One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.”
— Carl Jung
Repetition of the last chapter:
The King/Queen Personality: Psychological Sovereignty
After the Sibling has challenged us,
after the Golden Shadow has inspired us,
after the Anima/Animus has seduced and transformed us,
and after the Toddler has been embraced in all its mess and innocence…
something begins to emerge from the depths.
Something regal.
In the Ontolokey model, this final sub-personality is known as the King or Queen — a synthesis of your inferior and tertiary functions. Together, they form the Super-Id Block, as described both in Socionics and Ontolokey. But unlike the earlier sub-types, the King/Queen is not an internal adversary or child. It is the sovereign. The one who rules when all parts have been heard, accepted, and integrated.
The Shadow Tripod: Balancing the Inferior
Imagine your inferior function — the weakest, most unconscious part of your psyche — as a camera perched on a three-legged tripod. This function is often misunderstood, ignored, or overcompensated for. And yet it represents the hidden crown of your psychological structure.
The three legs that support it are:
- The Golden Shadow function,
- The Tertiary function,
- The Anima/Animus function.
Together, these legs form what Ontolokey calls the Shadow Tripod. It mirrors the Dominant Tripod — made up of your dominant function (head), with the auxiliary, toddler, and sibling functions — but exists on the diagonally opposite corner of the Ontolokey Cube. In this inversion, we see not opposition, but completion. The unconscious becoming conscious. The low becoming high.
Only when these three shadow legs have been consciously developed and integrated can the inferior function rise from weakness to wisdom — and the King or Queen personality take its throne.
Myth and Integration: Odysseus Returns to Ithaca
In Greek mythology, the journey to psychological sovereignty is beautifully symbolized in the story of Odysseus. After years of exile, wandering, war, and loss, he returns to Ithaca — to his kingdom, his Queen Penelope, and ultimately, to himself.
He is no longer just a warrior or a clever trickster. He is transformed — mature, tempered, whole. And in reclaiming his throne, he regains his youthful strength.
This is the essence of the King/Queen Personality: not childish dominance, but rightful sovereignty. Not control over others, but inner rulership — the ability to govern one’s instincts, emotions, and energies from a place of centered wholeness.
The Cross of Individuation
In the unfolded Ontolokey Cube, the inferior and tertiary functions are found at the top beam of the cross — the symbolic axis of integration. The entire cube, when flattened into this cruciform image, represents the path of individuation itself: a journey through tension, reversal, sacrifice, rebirth.
The whole cross depicts the Self — not as ego, but as totality.
In Aristotelian philosophy, this is called Entelechy: the realization of an inner potential into actual being.
The caterpillar has become a butterfly.
The exile has returned home.
The fragmented psyche has become One.
“Wholeness is not achieved by cutting off a portion of one’s being, but by integration of the contraries.”
— Carl Jung
Ontolokey 
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