April 12, 2006
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Worldview and Spiritual Path
One – The Perfectionist
Worldview
The world is an imperfect place. I work toward perfection.
Spiritual Path
A preoccupation with error points for perfection. From the spiritual perspective, the child felt anger at being separated from the perfect environment of essence. Anger is focused on violations of standards. The commitment to perfections is at stake. Anger disturbs the serenity of being in a perfectly balanced flow of events. Resentment develops from seeing the difference between life as it is and how much better life could be. The Perfectionist strategy is a child’s attempt to construct a perfect outer life both to cope with a critical world, and to protect the vulnerable sense of perfection. The search for perfection and a serene emotional life are both spiritual and psychological catalysts. The perfectionistic personality bias mimics the perfection of higher being.
Famous Ones
· Emily Post, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Mary Poppins, George Bernard Shaw, Charles Dickens, jerry Falwell, Martin Luther.
· Ynottw
Two – The Giver
Worldview
People depend on my help. I am needed.
Spiritual Path
Two’s involvement with pleasing people points to a search for will. From the spiritual perspective, the promptings of higher will were subverted when the child’s attention turned to flattery, which serves the will of others. Pride is an inflated sense of self-worth that masks dependency on approval and the humility of knowing our real worth to others. A Two’s bias toward strategic giving mimics the action of higher will. It is a child’s attempt both to survive by pleasing and to protect the sensitive connection to essence, one’s spiritual being.
Famous Twos
· Madonna, Elvis Presley, Elizabeth Taylor, Mary Magdalene, Jerry Lewis, Dolly Pardon.
· PilgrimOfTruth, shrek_azn, insertcreativeusername, gentlefootprint, chelseathi, momofjenmatt
Three – The Performer
Worldview
The world values a champion. I must avoid failure.
Spiritual Path
The preoccupation with personal performance points to a search for hope. Threes place hope in their own efforts rather than in work aligned with universal principles. Vanity elevates personal achievement to a place of great psychological importance. Projecting the image of an achiever mimics honest efforts that are carried by universal energies. A high-profile image of productivity is a child’s attempt both to gain approval and to protect a connection to the powerful energies of essence. Deceit involves maintaining an image of success in the eyes of others. Hope and honest effort are both a psychological growth edge for Performers and potential access point to higher awareness.
Famous Threes
· Werner Erhard, Ronald Reagan, Walt Disney, Farrah Fawcett, John F. Kennedy.
Four – The Tragic Romantic
Worldview
Something is missing. Others have it. I have been abandoned.
Spiritual Path
Melancholy is a reminder that something is missing; it’s a sweet sadness based on the perception of loss. From the spiritual perspective, the child lost the connection with essence, or true being, when attention turned to matters of survival. Unsupported by the original source, the child became acutely sensitive to human abandonment and the loss of significant people. The longing for authentic bonds of connection swamps emotional equanimity in the pitch and roll the dramatic moods. Envy is a reminder that others seem to enjoy the happiness the Fours has been denied. Four’s search for authentic moments of connection mimics an ongoing awareness of essence. The search is motivated by the conviction that there is more than ordinary life. We would not be seeking if we were complete.
Famous Fours
· Martha Graham, Keats, Shelley, Alan Watts, Joni Mitchell, Orson Welles, Bette Davis, Joan Baez, Marlon Brando
· NightComesOn, yet_still_learning, ronlawhouston
Five – The Observer
Worldview
The world is invasive. I need privacy to think the to refuel my energies.
Spiritual Path
All of the potentials of essence are “paranormal” in the sense that their intelligence lies beyond the boundaries of thought. Omniscience clearly refers to a dimension of awareness that not mediated by intellect or analysis. It is an accurate knowing that appears before any data is analyzed, and it opens a broad range of nonlinear and predictive information that cannot be grasped by logical thought. Following the idea that aspects of essence are mimicked by the central preoccupations of type, the potential for omniscience or pure knowing is mimicked by a Five’s lifelong attachment to information and private study.
Stinginess toward oneself and others can guarantee some degree of that treasured independence, because when one has fewer needs, one feels less pressure to reach out. Greed, or avarice, can develop the resources that support private survival. Protecting knowledge, money, energy, and time becomes psychologically important. The desire to grasp reality through force of intellect can be seen as a child’s attempt both to detach from the painful emotions and to preserve a fragile connection to the nonattachment of mind that leads back to the essence awareness.
Famous Fives
· J. Paul Getty, Emily Dickinson, Jeremy Irons, The Buddha, Meryl Streep, Franz Kafka.
Six – The Trooper
Worldview
The world is a threatening place. I question authority.
Spiritual Path
Doubt involves a loss of faith. The child reacted with fear to losing the permanent security of essence, initiating a lifelong preoccupation with courage. Fear creates dependency on rules and protective authority, which mimics the certainty of faith. The Enneagram’s Fear type has a parallel in the Doubting Mind category of Buddhist practice, in which attention shifts from belief to intense internal questioning. Success and goodwill seem particularly doubtful. This cowardice and doubt of mind are a natural starting place from which to develop faith. The path of faith begins with the firmly hold beliefs seen in psychological mature people, but, like all the qualities that originate in essence, faith can transform consciousness.
Famous Sixes
· Woody Allen, Godon Liddy, Krishnamurti, Jane Fonda, Rev. Jim Jones, Sherlock Holmes, Hitler (counterphobic), Hamlet (phobic)
Seven – The Epicure
Worldview
The world is full of opportunity and options. I look forward to the future.
Spiritual Path
Work is a word in common usage that can used to describe an aspect of essence involving single pointed-attention. Spiritual work depends on the ability to shift inward and to tell the difference between outer and inner reality. If the mind becomes fascinated with the delights of outer life, then spiritual work deteriorates to pleasant planning and gluttony for life experience. Sobriety is another word in common usage that points to a return to essence through the route of moderation, concentration, and commitment.
Famous Sevens
· Zonker, Ram Dass, Thoreau, Peter Pan, Kurt Vonnegut, Groucho Marx, Rajneesh, Tom Robbins.
· lennbell, momofjenmatt, ronet41
Eight – The Boss
Worldview
The world is an unjust place. I defend the innocent.
Spiritual Path
Eight’s preoccupation with justice points to a search for truth. If undivided truth prevailed, control would be unnecessary. From a spiritual perspective, the child saw how truth could be distorted and innocence betrayed. Eights were once such innocents, vulnerable and without protection. The Eight child found that innocence was seen as weakness, that the strong dominated the weak, and that good things in life went to those to took control. The inevitable confrontation fueled vengeance and mobilized power, energy, and lust for the satisfaction on needs. Eights confuse their own subjective needs with objective truth. Maintaining a personal power base is confused with protective acts and mimics serving the objective truth. It is a child’s attempt both to ensure fair treatment and to protect the connection to the undivided truth of essence.
Famous Eights
· Henry VIII, Fritz Perls, Gurdjieff, Madame Blavatsky, Pablo Picasso, Sean Penn, Nietzsche, Eldridge Cleaver, Garfield the Cat.
Nine – The Mediator
Worldview
The world won’t value my efforts. Stay comfortable. Keep the peace.
Spiritual Path
Babies “are” essence, in that their awareness is permeated by love, or the unconditional pleasure of pure being. When personality formed, attention turned to momentary comfort, and the child became indolent or forgetful of the self-perpetuating pleasure of essence. Sloth is an overaccomodation, a desire to remain comfortable and undisturbed. It feels more comfortable to go along with others than to oppose them. Sloth is a failure to initiate, to take right action toward the essential features of life. Nines avoid conflict and merge with the agendas of others, which mimics the comfort of union with the environment and all beings.
Famous Nines
· US Postal Service, Julia Child, Luciano Pavarotti, Buckminister Fuller, Oblavmov, Eisenhowser, Alfred Hitchcock, Ringo Starr.
· infinitezone1, Zeal4living, gentlefootprint, momofjenmatt
Notes from The Enneagram in Love and Work by Helen Palmer.
Comments (9)
I missed it ! Where did you put trimtab
Ha! I thought no one would ever asked. I am an Eight.
It is hard to see Ron as the tragic romance type. He is more like the shining armor knight:)
Interesting stuff Trim Tab thanks for presenting it, Judi
I took the test, but my answers seemed to be evenly distributed among all the types. I guess I’m a mutt
It is good to see we are in the same category. Although I never would have put myself in that group.
Very cool! I think you put me in the right catagory:)
Good job!
hey! how is your week going?
This series of post are really interesting. You should open up a service. Peace.
-Pilgrim of Truth