How The Enneagram Can Put Us In Touch With Our Soul
The Enneagram is an ancient mystical symbol adapted by modern psychologists in the 1970s.
We are unique. There is no-one else in the world quite like us. On a planet of almost 8 billion people that is something truly remarkable. But what makes us unique?
There are many contributing factors that add up to uniqueness including; our DNA and appearance (with exception to identical twins); our life experience including the parents we were born into and the home we grew up in; our specific value system and perspective on life (often strongly influenced by our parents); our likes, dislikes and passions; and our personality. It is the combination of all these attributes that creates a seemingly unique being, but none of these on their own create uniqueness.
Most people think it is their personality that makes them really unique, but as I will share with you in this article, the personality is far from unique, and in fact follows pre-determined patterns of behaviour based on our Personality Type. The only thing that is truly unique is a person’s soul or True Self.
It is a person’s soul and its unique essence that makes them truly unique, but most people are not familiar with who they are at a soul level. For a person’s soul to express itself it needs space within their body, mind, spirit complex to shine through. Most of us however, have blocked our heart and soul’s expression from a very young age because we felt it wasn’t safe to or we got the subconscious message that we wouldn’t be loved or accepted if we expressed who we truly were at that deep level.
Thus, we allowed conditioned programs from parents, peers and personality to write the script about how we should behave. This kept us safe. This allowed us to be part of the group, and most importantly, it allowed us to receive love from our parents and society.
Now that we are older however, we no longer need to follow pre-determined patterns of behaviour in order to survive and we can get in touch with our own unique essence in order to thrive.
The Enneagram is a personality profiling tool that can help us with this by identifying which of the Nine Personality Types (and 18 subtypes) our behaviours and attributes most align with. With it, we can clearly see what are our personality behaviours and thus not our soul’s expression — theoretically if we could somehow subtract our personality, we would be left with our soul’s pure unique essence / expression. By working with this knowledge of your personality you can grow and mould your personality out of dysfunctional behaviour patterns created as a coping mechanism to trauma and into an authentic expression of who you are at the deepest soul level. Naturally, this creates a much happier, more vibrant and more fulfilling life, one in which you can live out your highest human potential.
What is the Enneagram?
The Enneagram is a mystical symbol that is believed to have been around for at least 2,500 years, but some say much longer. It is thought to have originated from esoteric religious traditions such as the Sufis and the Kabbalah. The exact origins and meaning remain a mystery, but some think the symbol can be used to explain the unfolding of creation itself.
Since the 1970s the Enneagram has been adapted by modern psychologists and used as a powerful tool to understand and work with the nine distinct personality types. Everyone emerges from childhood with one of these nine types dominating their personality (and one or two subtypes). This orientation is born out of our childhood trauma and conditioning and is the result of how we learned to adapt to our early childhood environment. These adaptations form patterns of behaviour which become imprinted into our psyche and help create the personality structure (the ego) we operate out of in later life.
The nine personality types of the Enneagram are not static categories as they reflect our growth and decline over time. They offer insight into how stress disintegrates our personality into lower vibrational behaviour patterns (our dysfunctions) and how we can cultivate and liberate our personality into higher vibrational behaviour patterns (our gifts). Put simply, it is an incredibly powerful tool for overcoming the shackles of limitation and dysfunction inherent to each Personality Type so that we may grow and evolve into true reflections of the unique creative souls we are.
What are the 9 Types?
Type 1 is ‘The Perfectionist’, also known as ‘The Reformer’.
These are people who at a fundamental level believe they and everything around them needs to be perfect. They hold very high ideals for themself and others and may use control and manipulation on themselves and others in order to try and obtain those ideals. You can notice these people because they have a strong attention to detail and they love lists, plans, routines and organising. They believe there “is a right way” to do things and get stressed if things don’t go to plan or if people don’t follow the rules and guidelines. At lower levels they can be resentful, impatient and moralising and at their best they are conscientious, noble and wise.
Type 2 is ‘The Giver’, also known as ‘The Helper’.
These are people who at a fundamental level believe they are unworthy of love and so have developed patterns of kind and generous behaviour in order to help earn them love. In order to prove their worth they are constantly giving and attending to other people’s needs, at the expense of their own. These are people who you notice may be too kind or generous for their own good. They give and give and give and leave little to nothing left over for themselves. Unconsciously they hope their generosity will earn them the love and attention they so desire, but it very rarely does and so they can become resentful of others for not giving as much as they do. They create expectations for others that cannot be met. At lower levels they can be possessive, co-dependent and in denial of their own needs, and at their best they are altruistic, empathetic and unconditionally loving.
Type 3 is ‘The Achiever’, also known as ‘The Performer’.
These are people who at a fundamental level believe they are not good enough and so have orientated themselves for a life of competition and success in order to prove that they are. These are people who make dreams a reality. They get shit done. They collect accolades, certificates and promotions to show themselves and the world that they are worthy and significant. They appear very confident, ambitious and goal oriented, but they unconsciously seek validation through their accomplishments and are very image-conscious. At lower levels they are workaholics, overly self-conscious and competitive and at their best they are self-assured, authentic and inspirational.
Type 4 is ‘The Individualist’, also known as ‘The Romantic’.
These are people who at a fundamental level believe they don’t belong and that in order to find belonging they need to showcase their uniqueness. They don’t believe they will be accepted as they truly are so they lean into their weirdness, uniqueness and their eccentricities in order to stand out and make a case for their individual existence. They fear being ordinary and that their ordinariness will lead to rejection. This typically makes them highly creative and individualistic, but also extremely sensitive to the views of others, moody and self-conscious. At lower levels they are temperamental, melancholic, self-absorbed and at their best they are profoundly creative, inspired and expressive.
Type 5 is ‘The Observer’, also known as ‘The Investigator’.
These are people who at a fundamental level believe they are incapable / incompetent and that in order to be capable / competent they must figure out how things are. They prefer to sit back and observe from the comfort of their minds in order to accumulate knowledge and figure out how things work. They are typically quite intense, cerebral and are reluctant to get actively involved with social and physical activities. They can become loners and isolate themselves from the rest of the world as they can easily become overwhelmed by the needs and expectations of others. At lower levels they are highly-strung, detached and pessimistic and at their best they are highly perceptive, innovative and visionary.
Type 6 is ‘The Loyalist / Skeptic’, also known as ‘The Questioner’.
These are people who at a fundamental level believe they are not safe and secure and so seek to ally themselves with trustworthy authority figures and establishments and avoid what they deem to be untrustworthy or risky people and situations. They are extremely loyal to ideas and people they trust and extremely skeptical to ideas and people who have not yet earned their trust. They are typically very committed, hard-working and are strong team-players, but can also become overly-cautious, indecisive, reactive and defiant when they feel their safety or security is threatened. At lower levels they are anxious, suspicious and defensive and at their best they are self-reliant, courageous and display strong leadership capabilities.
Type 7 is ‘The Enthusiast’, also known as ‘The Optimist’.
These are people who at a fundamental level believe they don’t have “it” (fulfilment) within them and so seek “it” (fulfilment) outside in a great variety of activities and experiences. They are pleasure seekers who want to experience everything that life has to offer and avoid the pain and discomfort that lies within at all costs. They are busy, fun-loving and hedonistic and typically have problems with impatience, impulsiveness and becoming overly-indulgent in distractions. At lower levels they can become physically and mentally exhausted, scattered and undisciplined and at their best they are versatile, spontaneous and joyous.
Type 8 is ‘The Challenger’, also known as ‘The Leader’.
These are people who at a fundamental level believe they are powerless and that they need to protect themselves from control and harm and so they use control and domination tactics on others as a pre-emptive strike to gain the upper hand in their interpersonal relations. They are strong, assertive and confrontational. They seek to gain power in all areas of their lives and can appear ego-centric and domineering in their efforts to do so. At lower levels they cover up their fear of being vulnerable with aggression and intimidation and at their best they are decisive, heroic and use their inner strength to improve others’ lives.
Type 9 is ‘The Peacemaker’, also known as ‘The Mediator’.
These are people who at a fundamental level fear conflict and tension and believe they are not allowed to be assertive and capable for fear it will create conflict and tension. They are very easygoing, agreeable and likeable often at the expense of their own wants and desires. They don’t want to appear needy so will go with whatever everyone else wants so as to keep the peace. They can often simplify or minimise problems, preferring to live in a fantasy of “everything is fine”. At lower levels they can have problems with inertia, stubbornness and complacency and at their best they are indomitable, equanimous and deeply accepting of life and other people.
What are the Enneagram Triads?
Each Personality Type is subdivided into one of three Triads that indicate which ‘Centre of Intelligence’ they primarily use to make decisions from (Gut, Heart or Mind) and which dominant core emotions drive that decision making process (Rage, Shame or Fear).
The Feeling Triad (2, 3 & 4) primarily uses their feelings to make decisions and struggles with emotions and dysfunctions centring around shame. The Thinking Triad (5, 6, & 7) primarily uses their thoughts to make decisions and struggle with emotions and dysfunctions centring around fear. Lastly, The Instinctive Triad (8, 9, & 1) primarily uses their instincts to make decisions and struggles with emotions and dysfunctions centring around rage / anger.
Each personality type handles the emotion in their triad differently. 2’s, 5’s & 8’s externalise their feelings of shame, fear and rage by becoming hostile, anxious and aggressive against others or their environment. 3’s, 6’s & 9’s suppress and deny their feelings of shame, fear and rage by shutting down their feelings, thoughts & anger. 4’s, 7’s & 1’s internalise their feelings of shame, fear and rage by becoming hostile, anxious and aggressive against themselves.
How do we use the Enneagram?
There are now many different schools of thought on how to best use the Enneagram, but they all hinge on defining to the best of your ability what fundamental type you are. There are tests you can purchase from Enneagram institutes like here or here, which will likely help you define the top two or three candidates of your dominant type and subtype with a solid degree of accuracy.
Once you know your Personality Type(s) your journey has only just begun. You must hold your Type(s) lightly, investigate deeply into them until you see how their “healthy” “average” and “unhealthy” behaviour patterns play out in your life. Just be careful not to over-identify with your Type, as over-identification with your Type can become a psychological limitation — a box that will inhibit you, rather than help you grow. The Enneagram differs from other personality profiling tools as it is designed to help you get out of the psychological boxes, not to put you in them.
We must use our types as a gateway into a journey of self-discovery of our own psychology, because the more aware we are of ourselves the more we heal ourselves and our relationships. In the beginning it is enough to have a good read into the behaviours, personality traits, basic fears and desires of each type to see which types resonate with us most. If we are not in a good place we tend to retreat into the fear patterns of our most dominant type, but if we are growing and evolving, we tend to move into the high vibrational patterns of our dominant and subtypes. So, depending on where you are developmentally (unhealthy, average, healthy) you should identify quite strongly with one, two or three of the types.
Ultimately, by making us aware of our unconscious low vibrational behaviour patterns of our dominant personality, we can tune, balance and hone our personality to be well rounded (incorporating positive aspects of all the types) and representative of our true nature and soul’s essence.
Final Words
Working with the infinite depth and nuance of the Enneagram is a life-long journey for many, but one that bears much fruit in the form of deep acceptance and understanding of ourselves and other people. It can be used to build bridges of deeper understanding to our friends, colleagues, family members and partners. It can heal our interpersonal relationships and most importantly it can heal our relationship to ourselves. When we understand why we do the things we do we can finally accept and love ourselves unconditionally and when we stop identifying with our limited personality we can live free as the beautiful soul we are underneath it all.
The Enneagram is a truly remarkable tool for psychological healing and spiritual growth. I as part of my services currently offer Core Wound / Enneagram Personality readings that will reveal with a very high degree of accuracy which type and subtype you are, (as well as strategies for growth) so feel free to get in contact if you are interested in a reading or free consultation. Otherwise explore further online — there are many books and websites dedicated to the wisdom of the Enneagram. I will also be exploring each of the 9 Personality Types in much more detail in future blog articles. In the meantime, let me know which types you most resonate with.
With Love, Your Friendly Neighbourhood Shaman
