– Jan Scholten
Cobaltum is reasonably well known, although it has mainly been prescribed on a few keynotes. Pelt has done a proving in 1995.
Signature The name is derived from the word kobold, meaning bad spirit, because this metal was an unwanted discovery in the search for more precious metals like copper, silver and gold.
Cobalt increases the strength and corrosion resistance of steel and makes it easier to cut. Cobalt alloys are used in cutting instruments such as razor blades, surgical instruments etc.
Cobalt blue, which is cobalt aluminate, CoAl2O4, is a colouring pigment used in pottery, porcelain, paints, and photography. Other blue pigments containing Cobalt are a.o. Cobalt stannate, CoSnO3. Some cobalt salts turn to a pink colour in a humid environment, and to blue in a dry environment, hence its use in weather forecasters.
Vitamin B12 contains cobalt.
Concepts
Stage 8 Ferrum series
Getting ready Task Work Duty
Setting up Craft Use
Extension Harvest Ability Perfection
Presenting yourself Routine Order Rules
Finishing touches Control Exams
Test Observed Criticism
Trial Failure Guilt crime
Blunder Pursued Tried
Not quite Nearly Adult
Cancelling Village
Group analysis
Getting ready for the task.
Setting up your project.
Anticipatory fears about the task.
Success is just out of reach.
Checking for faults.
People who default are brought to trial: police.
Getting ready for the exam.
Trial runs, mocks.
Committing blunders in your exam.
Criticism is felt as failure.
Afraid to take the step to the next task: cancelling.
Fear of committing a blunder at work.
Letting down the community.
Picture of Cobaltum metallicum
Essence: getting ready for the task.
Getting ready for the task
They are ready to take on a task. They are preparing themselves to start a trade or a craft. They want to be perfect in what they are about to start, showing others that they are capable of putting their knowledge into practice. They are setting up the job.
Testing for faults: details
Before they really start they like to have a trial run to see if everything works. They know that the overall plan is sound, but there might be some minor snags that could cause a problem. That is why it is better to have a trial run, they like things to be perfect. Overlooking a minor detail now could ruin the whole project.
They have every reason to be calm because there is still time to correct any mistakes. But usually they tend to be nervous and hurried, afraid that everything will go wrong at the last minute.
People who default are brought to trial: police The testing may also be done by people in the village who are especially appointed for this task, for instance the police.
They can be quite frightened of the police. We sometimes hear of children who are scared of the police without any apparent reason. As if they have done something wrong, but they don’t know what. The English word for policeman is cop which is very similar to cob, the abbreviation of Cobaltum.
Criticism is experienced as failure
They quickly get the feeling they have failed. They have little self confidence and always feel they are not up to their task.
They know they can do it, but always feel that it will go wrong at the last minute, that they just wont make it. The feeling of not quite is very typical of Cobaltum. They are nearly there, but not quite and they feel as if they’ll never get beyond this point.
They also feel they are being observed and they can’t escape from this fact. Everybody knows that they can’t quite make it.
That is why they don’t like to talk about themselves or to look people straight in the eye. Whenever they have a problem they want to solve it first before they talk to anyone about it. At least the risk of failure has passed by then.
They don’t like to criticise others either. They are afraid of being too harsh and making him feel that he is no good. Not only that, but there is also the rule that what you give you might get back, so it is better to be very careful.
Afraid to take the step: cancelling
Their attitude towards work can be twofold: on the one hand they look forward to it, feeling they might make it after all, and on the other hand they can have an aversion to the whole thing, knowing that it wont come to anything, as usual. A typical situation is the last minute cancellation of a project. Everybody is surprised because it was all set to go, but they themselves felt that it would have gone wrong anyway.
Getting ready for the exam They are afraid of failing their exams, of having a black-out or committing a blunder. This may actually become a self fulfilling prophesy. They study till deep into the night before the exam, partly because they tend to put off everything until the last moment. Another typical situation is that they get so worked up that they give up just before they are about to take the exam, or they decide not to turn up on the day, because I will fail anyway.
These people constantly feel like a student in the final, nail biting days before his exam.
Fear of committing a blunder at work
When they feel they have failed they get depressed and give up. This is the theme we know best from rubrics such as: Delusion he has committed a crime and everyone knows it, or Thinks too little of himself (Allen, vol. 3, page 361) and Condemned, mean feeling, as though guilty of some deeds of which others knew.
They feel let down in the eyes of the community. A negative report about them in the newspaper makes them feel totally isolated.
Expressions
Fears: failure, criticism, opposition, observed, anticipation, let down, exam, tests, blunders, lessons, impotency.
Dreams: unsuccessful attempts, paralysis, blunder, failure, erotic, lively, no dreams; no way forward, last bit of nature, castration, cancer of the tongue, isolation, cancer of lung, oesophagus or larynx, patients cancels appointment, not being able to leave on time, people are in the way, nits, guilt.
Delusion: is a criminal and everyone knows it, despised, pursued, being too small, being tall.
Mood: lively, excited, gloomy about self, restless, nervous, hurried, impatient.
Irritability: suppressed, aggressive.
Mental: clear, active, confused, () and (