Monks and Students Meet the Monks - St. John's Abbey

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FEATURE page 14 The Abbey Banner Fall 2003 Aaron with one of his Graphoanalysis textbooks photo by Monica Bokinskie Aaron Raverty, OSB, Certified Graphoanalyst by Daniel Durken, OSB Graphoanalysis ® is the systematic study of the strokes of writing to reveal the personality of the writer. Brother Aaron sometimes regrets that he did not live 2000 years ago. Then he might have made a signifi cant contribution towards understanding the personality of Jesus Christ. Aaron wishes he had been there the day the scribes and Pharisees brought to Jesus a woman caught in adultery. Jesus’ response to this accusation was to bend down and write on the ground with his fi nger (John 8:6). That writing on the ground is the key that Aaron would have used to open a little wider the head and heart of Jesus. Aaron is a Certifi ed Graphoanalyst or handwriting interpreter. He is quick to point out, however, that Graphoanalysis is not limited to handwriting alone. People lacking arms have mastered cursive script using their mouth or feet, but their writing still reveals their personality. Any of our motor gestures yielding script is really brainwriting since each person’s unique neurophysiology governs his or her expressive movements. This is why individual writing is so distinctive and diffi cult to be forged. Graphoanalysis is the brainchild of Milton N. Bunker (1892-1961), a teacher of almost twenty different systems of shorthand. He noticed that many of his students added their own unique stroke formations to standard shorthand characters. Interviewing thousands of people, Bunker began to correlate these unique stroke formations with distinctive personality traits. He gradually developed a psychological projective technique born of the marriage between the “frozen gesture” of writing and trait theory in personality psychology. Aaron became interested in handwriting analysis as a teenager in the 1960s and read extensively on the topic. He learned that the International Graphoanalysis Society of Chicago offers a correspondence course for obtaining professional certifi cation. A thirty-lesson course includes reading materials, exams and access to a personal instructor. The fi rst twenty lessons of the course enable the student to identify standard stroke formations and their correlation with basic personality traits. The last ten lessons teach multiple-trait evaluation and how to construct Graphoanalysis client reports. Aaron enjoyed the challenge of this very focused, labor-intensive process. To interested clients Aaron stresses that Graphoanalysis is not one hundred percent accurate. It can only tap the tendencies and potentials of the writer. Nevertheless, vocational guidance counselors use the system to help individuals fi nd work for which they are intellectually and temperamentally suited. Marriage counselors employ the analysis to spot potential incompatibilities between spouses. Credit managers can apply the technique for sizing up a likely credit risk. Historians and archivists can use
Graphoanalysis to aid them in rounding out the personality portrait of someone long dead. Aaron is available for lecture presentations on Graphoanalysis and for providing client analysis services. Readers may contact him for a complete list- ing of client services and fees at Brother Aaron Raverty, OSB / Saint John’s Abbey/ Collegeville, MN 56321. Phone: Offi ce: 320-363-3089; Residence: 320-363-3898. Email: araverty@csbsju.edu Daniel Durken, OSB, is editor of The Abbey Banner. The following are several handwriting samples and Aaron’s brief analysis of each script: SAMPLE ONE Look at the Greek e (ε) formations in almost every lower-case r in this sample. Besides revealing a desire for culture and refi nement, this structure also points to literary leanings. SAMPLE TWO The infl ated upper and lower loops in this sample reveal a very active imagination in both abstract and material areas. Such an ability would support the sharp-pointed m and n’s and inverted v-formations at the baseline that signal exploratory-analytical (research-oriented) thinking. Lack of slant (vertical writing) signals poise and objectivity. SAMPLE THREE This writer has a commanding presence. Note the heavy, down-slanting upper-left to lower-left t-bars in this sample. Described as a “projection of the will,” the writer displays the ability to mobilize and direct others in fulfi llment of his own goals. The very rounded, open o’s reveal a candid and tolerant nature and the inclination to listen to and welcome the ideas of others. SAMPLE FOUR Printed script is more diffi cult to analyze because it displays fewer strokes than cursive writing. Nevertheless, notice how tightly the I-dots are placed just above their stems in this specimen. This very careful attention to detail combined with rhythm and the long, straight and heavy downstrokes on the y’s and the p reveal a determined and dependable individual who will fi nish with precision what he starts. FEATURE The Abbey Banner Fall 2003 page 15
Page 1 and 2: Monks and Students ✙ Eight monks
Page 3 and 4: Kudos for Collegeville by Daniel Du
Page 5 and 6: and CDs—was his gift to Saint Joh
Page 7 and 8: John Patrick Earls, OSB, associate
Page 9 and 10: Peter Engel, OSB, fourth abbot of S
Page 11 and 12: Cyprian Seitz served in Liverpool a
Page 13: The 1961 yearbook of Melrose (MN) H
Page 17 and 18: When I was growing up in northern W
Page 19 and 20: New college oblates: l. to r., Kath
Page 21 and 22: Aelred examines an early musical ma
Page 23 and 24: Missionaries must learn to speak th
Page 25 and 26: Three New Master Monks The followin
Page 27 and 28: When Saint Benedict wrote his Rule,

Monks and Students Meet the Monks - St. John's Abbey

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