Ni: Manson obviously thinks in abstract images, and he’s fond of puns (“Why die when you can kill the father, Dad is missing an E.”) He never conveys his thoughts in concrete terms, but hints at it which later has to be analysed and then interpreted—this is why most people misunderstand him and his style. They give a whole new meaning to Manson’s entire character, which is why he’s widely known as the Satanist Antichrist, whereas according to his own words, he’s neither Satanist nor Christian. Manson is an infinitely intelligent individual, who has great knowledge, only he hides it under a mask made of a wide layer of makeup, hence most people fail to recognize the deepness he carries within. Since he is an Introverted Intuitive, the pictures made by him are much harder to interpret than if he were an Extraverted Intuitive. It is easiest for another Ni dom to get the hang of Manson’s style thanks to the NiSe frame which makes it easier for them to get what he wants to express. They can therefore analyse the apparently enigmatic pictures Manson offers in a meticulously-edited lyrics easier. He always conveys his thoughts in a literal way (“I’m a painting that’s still wet—if you touch me, I’ll be smeared you’ll be stained, stained for the rest of your life.”) One cannot interpret any of his lyrics individually, because it will make no sense—there are many and much more complexity to them, and just as many correlations with each other. The ‘grandiose picture’ in Manson’s case doesn’t mean one lyric of a song, but the whole album itself. If you treat his album as one complex symbol, you immediately have better chances of succeeding to interpret it than if you want to solve his puzzle by keeping an eye solely on its pieces alone.
Te: Manson is very logical and philosophic, even if this is unimaginable to others. He spends tremendous amounts of time just thinking, analysing things, and he isn’t afraid to share his conclusions with people. His opinions are all a result of his careful, practical thinking, observing every concept from different angles before arriving at a result, in which he will believe firmly. Manson has a matter-of-fact approach to things, even to emotions. When he questions something for having found a flaw in its logic, he gives voice to it: “When you’re taught to love everyone, to love your enemies, what value does that put on love?” (There is a reference for this in Coma Black: “I would have told her then/She was the only thing that/I could love in this dying world/But the simple word “love” itself/Already died and went away”) It isn’t uncommon for him to incorporate his philosophical threads into his lyrics either, just how I represented it in the previous sentence. Besides creating music, which he calls “the strongest form of magic”, his hobbies include painting—it allows him to sink into his thoughts and do nothing but just think, preferably in silence. He spends most of his time “alone at home”, according to his confession he has given in an interview. He also said, “It’s hard for me to make time to spend with other people.” He said, “Painting was something that if I got stuck or frustrated in creating something musically, or really just for fun if for nothing else.” Manson also likes setting up various scenarios where he can test out his theories—e.g. in his adolescence, he once hung a pinata filled with meat and said, “Don’t hit this, whatever you do”, then gave a bat to the person to see if they will be able to resist the urge. He called it “just a test in human psychology”.
Fi: Manson himself said that he has never thought of himself as a potential Antichrist, but since a lot of people have told him that he must be one, he has accepted the thought that maybe they are right about him. When he connects to people on an emotional level, he does so on a very strong one: he has also admitted to fearing getting close to someone because of being terrified that that person would leave him in some way. He has mentioned a paradox in connection with himself according to which, “I fall in love with everything, I also hate everything. It’s very hard to be a misanthrope and a romantic.” He himself said, “Hopefully, I’ll be remembered as the person who brought an end to Christianity”, because he believes that he would do good for humanity by that, because religion takes away the uniqueness of individuals. He wrote this into one of his textbooks during ethics class: “Fools aren’t born. They are watered and grown like weeds by institutions such as Christianity.” Manson is forever stressing the importance of being our own Gods in a world where restrained rules, dogmas and straining fears are trying to take away our individuality piece by piece—this life philosophy being presented by himself. “There’s nothing like the feeling of knowing that you’ve made a difference in someone’s life, even if that difference is a lifetime of nightmares and a fortune in therapy bills.” Manson has an humble attitude to him. Since his parents have retired, he’s been taking care of them. It makes him happiest to know that there are people around him who care about him.
Se: Manson takes serious care of his appearance. He picks out his clothes with meticulous detail, which is majorly to serve his dominant Ni’s fanatic symbolism—that is what determines his personality in the first place after all. His outfit is part of his personal symbolism, too. He’s encountered the so-called grip experience before—he was completely lost in the here-and-now and in the momentary pleasures. The lyrics he wrote during that period make little to no sense, because the inferior Se unhealthily overwrote the dominant Ni. (If you want an example for this, go ahead and check out the lyrics of This is the New Shit. At the same time, there are explicitly visual records of an INxJ being in the grip; for that, you may want to watch the video clip he made for sAINT. An INxJ in the grip reduces into someone who couldn’t even be the shadow of their real self.) Manson has become a symbol—and symbols never die.
Notes: I’m aware that the widely accepted type for Marilyn is INFJ, but I see TeFi dynamics in his case, not FeTi; he seems to feel responsible to take action (Te) to maintain/improve the well-being of others (TeFi), which he does through his music/lyrics. Also, I don’t see any sign of him being interested in social dynamics (Fe) at all, but more in individual characteristics (Fi) and in universal facts/truths (Te), for which he will do experiments, too. (A brief note for those who think Manson is INFP: he wrote a book full of complicated, personalized symbols, which is related to Ni, not Ne. More so, inf Se suits him, not inf Te.)
I could be pasting tons of quotes/lyrics from him to further prove my point, but I think I’ve already been clear enough. In the end, everyone will judge as they see fit, but I’m confident in my typing of him.
If you want a brief insight into the complexity of Manson’s lyrics I wrote about, go ahead and read the Notes section of this post.
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