the loyalist, the defender

INFJ 6w5 641 ☽ angel twirls his halo around his trigger finger and says, you'll get through it, kid. trust me.

[infjblues]

I want to believe No, I choose to believe That I was made to become A sanctuary

Fear won’t go away But I can keep it at bay These invisible walls Just might keep us safe

— Sleeping At Last, “Six”

[blueopinions49]

Enneagram 6 Subtypes Explained

Social 6 "Duty"

The Social 6 is characterized by their desire to belong to a specific group of people. They look for these social and emotional systems in which they can find comfort and emotional safety. Usually perceive as a rule follower by many in the community. However I find this to partial true. The SO6 does look for a system of support however, they can also look for a support system that rebels or is against the status quo. The groups they look need to share similarities to them or desirable traits. This 6s can be very outgoing and sociable BUT make no mistake they are still a 6. Meaning that they still share a general skepticism/cynicism of others. They can look like 1s (very responsible) and imo 7s (due to their outgoing and social nature especially if they have a w7)

Characters: Susan Pevensie, Marie Moore, Percy Jackson, Leon S. Kennedy, Xiao Yu, Scott Summers, Kagame Higurashi and Kendall Roy.

Self Preservation 6 "Warmth"

The anxiety the Sp6 harbors can be linked to their high awareness of their current environment as well as the ongoings of it. This subtype usually gravitates more to system that maintain their emotional comfort via order. Usually practical and hardworking this 6s maintains itself safe by maintaining a strict order around themselves. For this 6s the safety in their environment is both physical and metaphysical. Imo they are the most skeptical of all 6s approaching most things with cynicism. Being very careful as to who they let in their space. This subtype can look like a SP5 (due their more reserved nature however the SP6 does look for connection) and SP9s due to their environment focus.

Characters: Edward Cullen, Miles Morales, Bonnie Bennett, Chihiro, Asami Sato, Armin Arlert , Dipper Pines and Pearl

Sexual 6 "Strength"

Often confused by 8s this subtypes fight the fear the inner 6s have by standing on their own. However, unlike the 8 (who look for power and autonomy by themselves) the SX6 looks to fight their fear (by trying to connect with others). This subtype has an edge to them unlike the other 6s. Their desire for connection is more on the aggressive side. They are the most open about their skepticism of others. The focus for this subtype is stability in interpersonal relationships. As mentioned previously this subtype can look like an E8 (simply due to their reactivity) and some 4s (due to their edginess and over expression of emotion).

Characters: Claudia, Joel Miller, Laura Palmer, Sasuke Uchiha, Maggie Rhee, Killua, Chloe Price and Jared Grace

[inkpressedpetals]

[rainytypology]

Enneagram system

A rewrite/more in depth post of the Enneagram system compared to my last post on it. Not an expert. May change later.

If you like kpop and typology, check out my blog. I do type analysis on idols and typology notes.

___

What is Enneagram?

I mainly took notes from Riso Hudson theory.

A typology system that categorizes personalities into 9 different types. Each type is numbered from 1 - 9.

Each type has a desire and fear that motivates their actions in life.

Core and Wings

Core: Our main type. It is the foundation of our personality and does not change.

Wing: Acts as a complement to our core. Wing can be one of the two types that sit beside core type. E.g a core 2 can have a 1 wing (2w1) or 3 wing (2w3). But is not necessary to use since wings can change and/or can be balanced.

Levels of Development

Summary of healthy - unhealthy levels of personality

- Healthy levels -

Level 1: Liberation

Let go of self image so we are free to express ourselves however we want. Self acceptance of all traits.

Level 2: Pyschological Capacity

Begin to identify with positive qualities in our personalities and learn to improve ourselves with them.

Level 3: Social Value

Still strongly identify with our set self image and make effort to maintain image. Want to share our good talents and abilities to make a positive effect on self and others.

- Average levels -

Level 4: Imbalance/Social roles

Idealization of self image; have a major focus on either good or bad qualities, no in between. Fear is an obstacle here.

Level 5: Interpersonal Control

Insist on self image being accepted by others, which can cause conflict. Can lead to controlling and manipulation.

Level 6: Overcompensation

Overcompensate due to underlying negative feelings. Desperate for others' acceptance.

- Unhealthy levels -

Level 7: Violation

Desperation for acceptance leads to violation of one's self and others. Serious conflict can occur. May victimize themselves to excuse offensive actions.

Level 8: Obsession and Compulsion

May be overly obsessed with an image of who they want to be. Deceives others

Level 9: Pathological Destructiveness

Most unhealthy state, display very toxic traits and behaviours, may have mental breakdown

Disintegration vs Integration

Or basically Stress vs Growth

Disintegration: When under heavy amounts of stress, a type will go into their disintegration type. They will pick up the negative traits of that type and act like the unhealthy version of it.

Integration: When maturing/developing positively, a type will go their integration type. They will pick up the positive traits of that type and improve their character.

___

* I will only give short descriptions for the triads. I will explain more in depth in individual posts.*

Centers of Intelligence

There are 3 centers of intelligence. Each center shows how and why we solve issues in life.

Gut/Instinct/Anger (types 1, 8, 9)

Gut center focuses on reacting and taking action immediately. This triad has an issue with control and anger.

1: Often perfectionists who repress their anger in order to remain morally good. They see their anger in a negative light.

8: The most open and comfortable with their anger. Uses it to assert boundaries, especially since this type fears vulnerability.

9: Often a passive type that dismisses or downplays their anger. They fear conflict and may worry being more assertive will cause a negative effect on themselves and others.

Heart/Image/Shame (types 2, 3, 4)

Heart center focuses on self identity and connections. This triad wants love and recognition and do what they believe is best to get that. They struggle with self worth.

2: They want to be needed and helpful to others. Pride themselves on being of service. Wants to receive love and to give love.

3: The most image oriented type. They always try to show their best selves and best efforts in order to seem admirable. Fears being worthless.

4: Wants to create a unique image for themselves, believes being boring will make them unloveable.

Head/Thinking/Fear (types 5, 6, 7)

Head center focuses on ideas, making rational decisions, and gathering info. This triad deals with fear and uncertainty.

5: The most internalized head type. 5's want to gather as much knowledge and resources as possible in order to stay secure and independent.

6: Quite an anxious type who seeks security through relations with others.

7: This type fears pain and suffering and seek out experiences in order to avoid negativity.

___

Other triads

- Harmonic Triads -

How types handle conflict, coping mechanism

Reactive (4, 6, 8)

Reactive types are not afraid to show and speak about their true feelings. They may seem "dramatic" in a way.

4: Melodramatic and self absorbed in negative feelings, drowns in intensity

6: Will argue, stick up for the right thing, moody, anxious

8: Big and loud reactions, can be very fiery

Positive (2, 7, 9)

Positive types dislike negativity and conflict and have their own ways of avoiding such tension. Optimistic during hard times.

2: Actively tries to be a good and kind person, only tries to focus on the good aspects of people

7: Seeks out fun opportunities to make their life exciting (basically distraction)

9: Values harmony and peace, will not risk any type of action that will disturb these values

Competency (1, 3, 5)

Competent types are often perfectionists who want to show their best selves. Objective and rational.

1: Strives to be correct and right, wants to be precise in what they do

3: Represses softer emotions to keep up a certain image, thrives with work/passions so they can be the best at what they do

5: Detached from feelings to remain logical and objective, knowledge seeking

- Hornevian Triads -

Relationships with others, how they get what they want

Assertive (3, 7, 8)

Assertive types go against people to get what they want. Do not back down easily, can seem aggressive and forceful.

3: Pushes through obstacles for achievements, goal oriented

7: Asserts their right to have fun, refuse to be restricted

8: Asserts power and strength, places boundaries

Withdrawn (4, 5, 9)

Withdrawn types are very internalized and do not show their needs openly. Deals with things alone.

4: Feels something is wrong with them internally, feels misunderstood

5: Detached from others as to not drain their own energy, will figure it out themselves

9: Introspective, lets life happen

Compliant (1, 2, 6)

Compliant work with people to get what they want. Builds relationships for security, wants to be helpful to others.

1: Doing the right thing instead of one's own wants

2: Focus on other's needs more instead of self

6: Tries to build a safe and secure environment by getting ppl to work together

- Object Relations -

How we are affected by others, our own affect on others, how we react to personal wounds

Attachment (3, 6, 9)

Seek out bonds and companionships for particular reasons. Individuality vs adaptation.

3: Changes their image to suit whoever they are with in order to meet expectations

6: Creates support systems to help with their self doubt and indecisiveness

9: Adapts to the energy of the environment to keep harmony

Frustration (1, 4, 7)

Triad gets frustrated when their needs aren't met.

1: Has a need to improve every little imperfection they find

4: Dislikes shallowness, longs for depth and complexity

7: Not enjoying experiences, not feeling fulfilled

Rejection (2, 5, 8)

Their own needs feel unimportant to others, so they reject their own needs as well.

2: Rejects the need to receive love and guidance, instead focuses on connecting with others and helping them.

5: Ignores and minimizes all their needs, offers knowledge and expertise in some hope of being acknowledged for their intelligence.

8: Rejects by being never putting their guard down, wanting to appear strong and as the protector of others.

___

Subtypes

Claudio Naranjo theory

There are three subtypes/instinctual variants that show our drive in life. There are 27 different subtypes in total.

Self Preservation (Sp)

Focuses on physical safety and security. Our physical health, financial security, obligations, and comforts.

Sexual/One - on - one (Sx)

Wants intensity and deep connections, one on one relationships are preferred.

Social (So)

Prefers to be in a community, wants to create good connections and bonds with others. Socially aware, focus on group goals and contributions.

___

Tritype

Katherine Fauvre theory

A minor but still interesting piece of Enneagram. Tritype is formed of your 3 dominant types from each center. The first number will always be your core, followed by your other 2 dominant types.

E.g 369. 3 = core, heart. 6 = head. 9 = gut.

___

Enneagram notes

___

Side blog:

Kpop astrology @rainy-astrology

Kpop fanarts @rainy-artworks

[infjblues]

this was so enlightening, especially the additional triads which i hadn’t heard of before! the harmonic triad especially made so much sense.

[enneagram-reblogs]

Wings. From NineTypesCo by Steph Barron Hall.

[subconsciousmysteries]

"Integration is healthy and disintegration is unhealthy" is an overly simplistic, spiritual bypassing view to throw in the bin. I'm going to invite you to view it in a different way.

Integration is your heaven. Your light. It represents what you aspire to embody, but feel scared to embody, or cannot seem to embody no matter how hard you try. You do not have enough personal development, insight or healing to embody your integration type properly. False security is when you embody your integration type in a shallow way. You indulge in your integration type without having done enough healing to make the transformation secure, deep-rooted and long-term. You're reaching up to heaven but your roots don't reach down to hell, and so your extension is very short-lived. The excess branches you have grown to reach up to your integration type quickly die or worse, get infected, as your root system down in hell is not strong enough to sustain the tree. After periods of false security you are left with a lot of trauma, a big mess in your life, and you get pulled right back into your disintegration type's grip. You indeed can integrate in an unhealthy way... and you can also disintegrate in a healthy way. Keep reading.

Disintegration is your hell. It represents your natural stress response, your toxic coping mechanism, the thing you just really hate in yourself and in other people, your default way of overcompensating for your core type's missing pieces, your darkness. Inside your disintegration type is a wealth of secrets and wisdom that you need to uncover, including your wounded inner child. When we analyze our disintegration type and our own personal disintegration experiences, we learn a lot about ourselves. We can only learn what we are missing and what we need to work on from our disintegration type, not from our integration type. Healthy disintegration provides us the necessary foundation that we need in order to reach up towards our integration type. Disintegration is not something to be resisted the same way that cleaning your room and doing exercise is not something to be resisted just because it doesn't feel good. Conscious Disintegration is an essential part of shadow work. It is what Carl Jung would call "making the unconscious conscious".

-----

Integration and disintegration are definitely not the same. But they are also not black and white, "one is good and the other is bad". If you view it this way you are bound to bypass your necessary shadow work and end up in a cycle of false security and extreme disintegration.

[farewell-to-lorien]

A poem for each EnneaType.

By Melissa Kircher, transcribed from @enneagrampaths.

A poem for EnneaType 1

and failure isn't failing it's actually an event creating space for new life to burst into wild reality

A poem for EnneaType 2

the soot and ash a charcoal facade behind which two eyes, glowing watch out she burns hot

A poem for EnneaType 3

I think poetry might be inside you the words there ready to tumble out I think the stars shine only for you tonight and the earth turns to keep you on it

A poem for EnneaType 4

if I let out the pain I said it will shatter galaxies that's fine she replied I made lots of them you can break a few

A poem for EnneaType 5

stay anchor in the depths every drop in the ocean sings for your presence here. now.

A poem for EnneaType 6

opening like petals rooted like pines woven back whole one thread at a time stretching up, out, down new rhythms like rhyme mothered soul tender finding child eyes dancing forest wild tasting deep like prophets wise

A poem for EnneaType 7

the sun hanging by a thread details that weigh mountains I want to find you again the girl in the tutu that sparkled and when I do pulling you into my lap I'll whisper you already knew the wisdom of the Universe

A poem for EnneaType 8

strong is two feet solid in the soil toes curled into the loam strong is letting pain sweep through your branches and losing some leaves strong is allowing the shadows to surround you to change you and then gently letting them pass

A poem for EnneaType 9

what could I do? these were my people so I went I entered their anguish I felt their relation and then I understood the spectrum of my own heart

[bisexualcroissant]

enneagram type six | the loyalist, the skeptic, the truth-seeker

Sixes are reliable, hard-working, responsible, and trustworthy. Excellent “troubleshooters,” they foresee problems and foster cooperation, but can also become defensive, evasive, and anxious. They can be cautious and indecisive, but also reactive, defiant and rebellious.

fear won’t go away, but i can keep it at bay these invisible walls just might keep us safe

[driftwoodsix]

sleeping at last really wrote nine songs based on the nine enneagram personality types and said here you go have some songs. but just know that one of them is gonna fuck you up and force you to reevaluate your life

[infjblues]

me with six (“these invisible walls just might keep us safe”). i absolutely love his music

[loveaquarium]

BASICS OF ENNEAGRAM TRIADS

There are three triads in the enneagram: heart, head, and gut. All consist of three enneagrams, which represent the core's fixation.

Heart triad consists of enneagrams 2, 3, and 4, and the fixation of this triad is shame. 2 externalizes shame, 3 represses shame, and 4 internalizes it.

People belonging to heart triad deal with self-hatred and try to gain love and approval from others.

Head triad consists of enneagrams 5, 6, and 7, and the fixation of this triad is fear. 5 internalizes fear, 6 represses fear, and 7 externalizes it.

People belonging to head triad deal with paranoia, anxiety, and suspicion of the world.

Gut triad consists of enneagrams 8, 9, and 1, and the fixation of this triad is anger. 8 externalizes fear, 9 represses fear, and 1 internalizes it.

People belonging to gut triad deal with anger in different ways, but they all view the world as a dangerous, flawed place.

[triplefrustration]

My enneagram hot takes:

most common mistype on this site is 9s who mistype as 5s (as opposed to 9s and sometimes 6s who mistype as 4s), but i do think tumblr has a higher concentration of withdrawn types overall

you can use enneagram to create characters but you can’t effectively type fictional characters

HOWEVER… you can absolutely type artists/writers based on their work, and you can identify certain types and instinctual drives as overarching themes in a piece

enneagram is only useful as a subjective personal/spiritual growth tool and taking any kind of scientific approach to it is useless

6s rule actually

[infjblues]

agree w this (as a 6 who mistyped as a 4 for a long time). also thanks for the 6 appreciation:)

[rares-posts]

What would it feel like

To put this baggage down?

If I'm being honest

I'm not sure I'd know how

Six - Sleeping At Last

[moderatelyquicksilversposts]

(via Enneagram Comparisons - Type Six and Type Nine)

[enneadonis]

STOP FOLLOWING SUPERFICIAL CLASSIFICATIONS OF ENNEATYPES AND THEIR INSTINCTS

I'll start these with the Sexual Six since it's my type and, in my opinion, one of the worst examples of this.

Every Enneagram type is defined by a core passion that stems from their Triad Center's primary shared problem. The E6 is in the Head Triad, thus, like all Head Triad types, is characterized by anxiety. Sevens escape the anxiety outwards, Fives lean into it inwards, and Sixes are caught up in the middle. The passion of Fear is what rules over them the most, nothing feels certain to them and is subject to questioning in order to make it be more certain, and incur in less fear. It's funny how everyone considers Fives to be the resident academics and researchers of the Enneagram when Sixes can very well be their close partners in crime. Sixes are a mental, logical type.

In the same way, every instinct is characterized by focusing the personality on seeking one of three spheres of our lives. The Self-Preservation (SP) instinct seeks conservation of their personal sphere, the Social (SO) seeks adaptation of that sphere to external demands, and the Sexual (SX) seeks relations in that sphere.

So! What do we get when we apply the passion of Fear to the sphere of relations?

Well, according to some, it just means Sixes become these aggressive types, using intimidation and status symbols as a way of seeking security, basically making everyone else afraid of them so they themselves can feel like the fear isn't there. Okay. Where does this even come from??

This common understanding of the SX6, going as far as to getting the nicknames of "Strength/Beauty" and "Intimidation", is completely ridiculous. They miss the fundamental reason as to why people with these fixations would behave like this in favor of focusing on superficial characteristics that show up in some examples and do nothing but alienate people who would benefit so much from seeing themselves in what this type is really about! Think about that portrayal once more. Doesn't it sound much more focused in the security of the self?

That's not inherent to Sixes as many believe, that's just the sp insinct, conservation of the self, making sure the self is safe. Sixes are about Fear and constant surveyance in the service of certainty and safety, yes, but it gets applied to different spheres, not just to the self. This is why SP6 get portrayed as these meek little dudes who just don't want any trouble, when you're already applying the SP instinct to every portrayal of type 6, how are you supposed to differentiate the actual SP variant?

Fear, when seeking relations, makes us scared of not having relations. Or the relations that we want, or in the way that we want them. Doesn't matter, the point is that the focus is on relations, on others, on emotions, not the self and personal safety. The SX6 craves the intensity, romanticism and devotion that any other sx type would. Their fear of not being someone who could live up to the standards of others so they would want to have that with them is what rules over them. That is the primary focus.

What does an actual SX6 do then? Like all Sixes, they try and live by certain applied sets of rules, while simultaneously pushing back against them. This push-pull relationship with authority entities (unspoken rules like social conventions can still be an authority, even if more subtle) is what encapsulates the E6 experience. This gets applied to questions of "how must I be (compliant/dutiful Hornevian Triad) in order to be someone others want?". It's here that we arrive at the actual focus:

The SX6 is about Desirability

And not in a deceitful way, like Threes or Twos could possibly fall into. Sixes genuinely want to embody what characteristics and ways of life they see others deem desirable and worthy of admiration. This is how we get the current SX6 stereotypes: fitness influencers, jock bullies and the like. And those people could very well be behaving under SX6 motivations! Just not because strength and intimidation is the point, but desirability. It's not the need for being intimidating or strong that needs to be let go of.

What SX6 needs to let go of, in order to grow, is the need to abide by what they are so sure they have to follow in order to be desirable to others. Only then will they actually allow themselves to bloom on nothing but their own terms and actually be someone who attracts people to their side with their strength of character and courage. At their best, they might even have somewhat of a chivalrous air about them.

SO NO, NATE JACOBS IS NOT AN SX6, STOP LUMPING US IN WITH THE LIKES OF HIM

Thanks for coming to my ted talk, I will be dumping more about the Enneagram on here in the future byeeeeee

[funkymbtifiction]

Healthy / Unhealthy Head Triad:

Pulled off PersonalityCafe. Saw no cited source. (Know it? Tell me.)

Enneagram 5

At their best: profound vision, objective insight, innovative exploration.

Mid-levels: comprehensive knowledge, intense preoccupation, cynical argumentation.

At their worst: eccentric nihilism, phobic delirium, psychotic paralysis.

Healthy 5w4: more able to participate in life. When the fiveish desire to withdraw and sort things out is no longer compulsive, the consciously chosen time alone becomes a tool for understanding the world, rather than an entrapping habit. The fourish passion for beauty emerges as the conscious result of harnessing the emotions rather than being their slave. Begin to deeply understand the simple, elegant way the awesome complexity of the world emerges from fundamental principles. They find great joy in watching and learning. When the perception of five and the passion of four are augmented by eight’s power and leadership, plus one’s intuitive wisdom, clear comprehensions can be transmitted to others.

Unhealthy 5w4: gets lost in the details. The compulsive analysis of five can lead to elaborate pseudo-logical constructions designed to explain everything. The four-wing’s emotionality adds a flavor of dramatic hopelessness. Others Simply Do Not Understand. No one could understand. Retreats to a place of safety, hoping to escape from view, continuing to uncover the truth. There is little to no social involvement. The panic and scattered mania of seven combine with twoish self-congratulatory hysteria. Can come back into the world, awkward and excitable, ready to bolt but ready to passionately defend a bizarre, baroque fantasy world. As inner tension builds, schizoid withdrawal becomes more and more likely. The end result is a kind of terrified fugue, completely cut off from reality. The only escape from constant overwhelming chaos is inward.

Healthy 5w6: gains social ease. Deep perception and serene faith combine for a kind of knowing that focuses on the truth of human interactions. Overcomes the fear of intimacy and finds satisfaction in genuine relationships. Strikes a balance between the urge to withdraw to sort things out and the desire to feel safe among trusted friends. The need diminishes to protect against deceit by constantly analyzing people, leading to greater comfort and depth in friendship. Brings together the powerful insight of five, the stamina and leadership of eight, the deep faith and genuineness of six, and the inner peace of nine.

Unhealthy 5w6: becomes afraid of people. Mistrust interacts with reductionist analysis, and the world begins to seem more threatening. Threeish competitive urges might emerge, combining with sevenish mania to create a kind of intense, argumentative combativeness to hide a deep sense of inadequacy. This turns people away, leading to a greater sense of isolation. Tends to rationalize that most people are not honest anyway, and since other people fail to recognize the value of their brilliant ideas, they are not worth knowing at all. Paranoia and anxiety lead 5w6 into a terrifying spiral in which increasingly bizarre fabrications may be used to explain meaning into even the most mundane events.

Enneagram 6

At their best: self-affirming courage, faithful affection, responsible discipline.

Mid-levels: dutiful loyalty, anxious ambivalence, belligerent scapegoating.

At their worst: needy conformism, paranoid obsession, self-destructive panic.

Healthy 6w5: becomes free of anxiety and reductionist analysis, allowing their endearing gentility and good humor to emerge. Laughs easily, with a sense of relief. Can it really be so simple to live and enjoy life? There is a feeling of relaxed good nature and certainty. This is a person you can trust, someone to rely on for true friendship. Turns into a warm and deeply loving person, someone in touch with a real universal authority, internally and externally available. Acts with quiet confidence, coming from a place of peaceful faith. Essential sixness brings deep interpersonal bonding, essential fiveness builds penetrating perception, and nineish tranquility combines with eightish personal power.

Unhealthy 6w5: begins to feel anxious and wants to run away to a protected place. Unable to trust inner or outer authority, they search for an explanation for the constant tension. Others are easy to blame, and by projecting the causes of anxiety outward, 6w5 can find a temporary release. With increased stress, 6w5 loses faith in the blaming. No explanation for the anxiety satisfies, and the world begins to seem like a horrible, frightening game. Paranoia escalates. Bounces rapidly from fearful withdrawal to tense, overconfident pretense. Everyone is out to get me, and there is no place to run. I’m frightened out of my wits, and I know I am headed for a complete breakdown, but maybe if I can get myself into enough trouble someone will come and rescue me.

Healthy 6w7: has a feeling of firm steadiness, sure-footed and quiet. Sevenish impulsivity and sixish anxiety diminish, replaced by a calm deliberateness. Although fun and companionship are still highly valued, the desperate longing for security converts into inner strength. Finds a deep sense of belonging to the universe, and to mankind. Nineish calm and sixish faith combine with sevenish joy and fiveish perception. Shares with others a sense of eternal companionship and security.

Unhealthy 6w7: visibly desperate. Anxiety and insecurity become powerful controlling influences. Jumping from one colorful emotional state to another, trying to find any way to quell the increasing sense of uncertainty and vulnerability. They looks for someone out there who will help, but finds no one to trust. Will try anything to escape from the increasingly intolerable situations that arise. Physical illness, car troubles, boyfriends, girlfriends, landlords, all become scapegoats for the real problem of inner helpless dependence. You are either all-good or all-bad, and whether I like you or not can change from moment to moment. My very identity splits into fragments as I desperately cut myself into pieces to escape the horrible sense of impending catastrophe.

Enneagram 7

At their best: ecstatic gratitude, spontaneous enthusiasm, passionate accomplishment.

Mid-levels: active materialism, restless superficiality, addictive excess.

At their worst: irresponsible debauchery, manic hysteria, burnt-out debilitation.

Healthy 7w6: finds a new kind of centered calmness, as impulsivity and the desire to entertain fall away. Instead of shifting to another mood, they wait and see where this one leads. The slippery, happy-go-lucky quality is replaced by a smooth feeling of attentive watchfulness. A kind of directed, joyful intelligence like a sure presence, with an unlimited attention span. Becomes the master of many talents because of fiveish perceptivity, combined with deep fulfillment and pleasure from the experience of being fully present. Profoundly grateful for the continuing opportunity to take part in the unfolding drama of life. What a gorgeous, unpredictably fantastic world! What incredible beauty there is in even the smallest details of this universe! How excitingly alive I feel, and how at-one with the world! Let’s celebrate together the deep abundance of life and love.

Unhealthy 7w6: the search for ever-increasing levels of excitement and stimulation seems like a way out of the apparent trap of boredom and unease, but it brings only temporary relief. Maybe another kind of fun will help me avoid this increasing sense of hopeless ambivalence. Maybe I should start a new company, or have a great big party! Tries to find the answer in increasingly grand plans for great, exciting events. As the ever-growing fear and boredom keep coming back, excessive stimulation approaches dangerous levels. Without increasing awareness, this course of exciting overload leads to extreme exhaustion, and an incapacitating despairing depression. At the bottom of the scale of health, 7w6 becomes a worn-out husk, utterly debilitated by drugs, sexual excess, and general over-stimulation, and totally incapable of self-care. At every opportunity, every means available is used to provide some escape.

Healthy 7w8: settles down. Become aware of the compulsive nature of the desire for excess and learn how to moderate the constant power-trip. Finds other people are easier to get along with when they are not being pushed or receiving a hard-sell on some wild idea. Love and appreciation for subtlety become important aspects of a life that includes increasing amounts of silent, peaceful contemplation. Discovers by letting the mind’s chatter come to an end, a new level of perception emerges, with a greater understanding of how the world fits together. Instead of exploding outward into impulsive activity, 7w8 harnesses enthusiasm for practical uses. Life becomes a joyful, loving celebration. Look how much we have been given! Jump into the universe with both feet! Find your power and become what you were meant to be!

Unhealthy 7w8: gets ever-wilder. When others fail to respond with enough enthusiasm to high-pressure sales tactics, and the high of the latest exciting trip begins to wear off, it’s time for the next wild ride. Maybe just a little bigger dose will do it. New ideas seem to erase old problems, and each one is bigger and better than the last one. If it doesn’t work, forget it and move to the next grand scheme. You’ve got to try this, it’s totally fantastic! As the highs get higher, the lows scrape lower. The miserable mornings are soon forgotten, because there’s an even better high coming. Heads into ever-deeper entrapment, promising ever-greater rewards to those who will finance (or otherwise support) rapidly exploding levels of excessive indulgence. It all leads inevitably to the great crash, and utter dissipation.

[funkymbtifiction]

Healthy / Unhealthy Gut Triad:

Pulled off PersonalityCafe. Saw no cited source. (Know it? Tell me.)

Enneagram 8

At their best: heroic mercy, resourceful action, decisive honor.

Mid-levels: rugged pragmatism, expansive domination, belligerent aggression.

At their worst: ruthless brutality, megalomaniacal rage, murderous cruelty.

Healthy 8w7: softens up, gains charm and tact. Loses some of the compulsive combativeness and moderates the tendency to go to extremes. Real personal power, from essence, becomes more available in place of artificial bravado. Realizes sometimes the most powerful thing to do is to wait, rather than charging in blindly. Finds that when dominance is a choice (and eight integrates to two), one can choose to be kind and gentle, using power constructively instead of combatively. Seven integrates to five, and impulsive action is replaced by considered, perceptive understanding, making rash actions unnecessary. A person who may have been unpolished, rude, and rough becomes a sophisticated judge of situations, intuitively in touch with the flow of human interaction.

Unhealthy 8w7: can become physically dangerous. With little or no concern for the rules, almost no emotional sensitivity, and an unsociable, highly belligerent nature, this person can become a rough character. Here is the schoolyard bully, the street thug, and the uncultured slob. If you don’t like it, tough. Why bother to be careful when I can get what I want through brute force? Becomes violent, rude, and deadly, lashing out at whatever gets in the way. As the violence increases, so does the need to defend against counter-attacks. Eight pulls in the worst of five, creating the need for walls and protection, while seven’s stress to one brings increasingly intolerant, judgmental thoughts. The world becomes a crazy battlefield, where one must kill or be killed, and every moment requires constant defensive and offensive maneuvering.

Healthy 8w9: uses gentle strength with kindness. Becomes more in touch with the inner self, the drive to dominate becomes less compulsive, and the contradictory desire to withdraw and be settled is less overwhelming. This frees the will, allowing them to see the value of choosing carefully when to be powerful and when to pull back, rather than being enslaved by alternating sleepiness and angry outbursts. Others benefit from the well-timed use of personal power. Someone whose healthy, unselfconscious threeish ambition (from integrated nine) is augmented by a twoish benevolence (from integrated eight). Abe able to be tough when toughness is needed, and gentle and loving at other times.

Unhealthy 8w9: carries within a deep conflict between self-forgetting and combativeness. As these contradictory urges intensify, becomes less predictable and more dangerous. Times of quiet are deceptive, because anger simmers under the surface. Sudden explosions of rage become more intense and frequent. In extreme imbalance the influences of nine stressing to six and eight stressing to five add two different flavors of paranoid anxiety, which combines with the withdrawal of the nine to bring 8w9 into a state of self-protective isolation.

Enneagram 9

At their best: serene exuberance, receptive sensuality, imaginative synthesis.

Mid-levels: conventional compliance, habitual complacence, indolent resignation.

At their worst: obstinate neglect, helpless amnesia, catatonic vacancy.

Healthy 9w8: use their lusty eight-wing to pull themselves out of the dream. For them, the expansiveness and energy of eight is a direct antidote to nineish apathy and resignation. When eight begins to pull in the benevolence of two and nine finds the ambition of three, there is no stopping these powerful, generous people. Carries the goodness and generosity of two and the deep self-actualization of three, without any trace of pride or vanity. People feel uplifted in the presence of such completely humble, giving, magnificent, fully self-created beings. It is not what they do, it’s how they are. They simply are without trying to be anything in particular.

Unhealthy 9w8: tends to fall into a dream state. If the dream deepens, apathy leads to sixish suspicion, while eightish defensiveness leads to fiveish paranoia. Nine’s primary defense of withdrawal is enhanced by both tendencies, and they become a reclusive, lazy, mistrustful, hermit. In the worst cases, the tendency to escape by going to sleep leads to total avoidance of any kind of real interaction. Bills go unpaid, the phone rings without being answered, and the lawn goes unmowed. Somnolence leads them deeper and deeper into self-negation, resulting in a paranoid sort of comatose sloth. No one is home in the body, and the body is powered down.

Healthy 9w1: becomes more present. Now there is really somebody home, a genuine being with actual goals and self-interest who happily starts creating results in the world. Nine begins to show some threeish ambition and the one-wing begins to loosen up its perfectionism. While such a person is still involved in activities that are non-threatening and not particularly visible in the world at large, the results often affect others in useful and subtle ways. Finds deep sevenish joy in the accomplishment of personal goals. Usually the goals involve teaching or empowering others. Oneish intellectual rigor assumes real importance when the desire for withdrawal diminishes, allowing them to risk genuine involvement. Thoughts and internal images finally correspond to actual reality. They are able to transmit to others a special and powerful kind of integrated self-actualization.

Unhealthy 9w1: nineish withdrawal increases, accompanied by oneish judgment of self and others. Retreats into a fantasy world inhabited by comfortably fuzzy generalities and stereotyped images of other people. These are the people 9w1 wishes could inhabit the real world – wishful, perfect images of real people. Unfortunately, because 9w1 is convinced of the reality of these internally generated images, real-life interactions suffer when people do not live up to their idealized images. But the 9w1 tries very hard not to notice. It becomes nearly impossible not to see the discrepancies between the perfect inner images and the outward reality. Total isolation becomes the only way to avoid seeing the world is populated by disturbingly imperfect, unpredictable, demanding, untrustworthy beings. Life falls apart at the seams and psychotic 9w1 may reach a state of catatonic pseudo-coma. Even eating and drinking can become too much work. No one is home in the body, and the body itself is allowed to fall into ruins.

Enneagram 1:

At their best: wise acceptance, discerning rationality, self-disciplined ethics.

Mid-levels: preachy idealism, rigid logic, perfectionistic judgment.

At their worst: vitriolic self-righteousness, hypocritical obsession, sadistic condemnation.

Healthy 1w9: overcomes emotional repression, discovering an inner warmth. Although they still have a tendency to judge, they do not take their judgments as seriously, admitting they may be wrong. They consciously control their nineish tendency to withdraw from stress, allowing them to take a more active role in life, although there’s still a gentle, quiet feeling. The compulsive workaholic turns into a responsible but fun-loving person who allows time for letting go and relaxing. Has a 7ish joy for life and 3ish charisma and accomplishment.

Unhealthy 1w9: over-controls their emotions, resulting in physical rigidity and an undercurrent of explosive energy. The repressed emotions, particularly anger, build up unnoticed and leak out. One disintegrates to four, resulting in hostility, introspective withdrawal, and deep self-hatred, while nine disintegrates to six, bringing in suspicion, blaming, and passive-aggressive behavior. Keeps the fearful blaming and suspicion inside, where they bottle up more tightly. All of life becomes a lockstep repetition of stylized routines. Extremely anxious about getting everything right. Every tiny move is subject to intense, painful scrutiny, and past behaviors are examined in agonizing detail. (Did I leave the oven on? Did I lock the door? Did I run over somebody on the way to work?) Psychotic 1/9 might become completely paralyzed into inaction, stabbed through the heart by the endless need to repeat behaviors until they feel precisely correct.

Healthy 1w2: loosens up, becoming able to let go of righteous judgments. They allow for the possibility their views might not be accurate. Their other-directed corrections soften and become helpful rather than intrusive. They are able to see the difference between proud perfectionism and healthy tolerance of differences. One integrates to seven, bringing in joy and enthusiasm, while two integrates to four, replacing selfish manipulation with genuine compassionate concern for others. Deep oneish wisdom combines with twoish loving generosity for an intensely personal kind of guidance, even when addressing large groups. Healthy 1w2s seem to know exactly what is needed for maximum teaching value in any situation. They teach by asking the right questions, gently guiding the student to deeper insights.

Unhealthy 1w2: pride and perfectionism. Tremendous inner conflict rages between the 2-wing that says “I am a good, generous person” and the one that sees every tiny error as a sign of fundamental worthlessness. One disintegrates to four, where self-critical introspection creates a spiral of hopelessness, while two disintegrates to eight, so when the heavily repressed anger erupts it does so in sudden (but usually short) fits of hyper-critical rage, sometimes accompanied by overt violence. These violent fits become more food for the self-judgment spiral, as the 1w2 falls into guilty remorse. In the worst cases, repressed oneish anger and hostile twoish pride combine, creating intense sessions of wrenching, hand-wringing despair. If my anger is not expressed towards others, it is directed at myself. I am not good enough if I cannot meet my own standards. I must work harder and harder, or I will fail my own increasingly difficult self-tests. Self-punishment is necessary, in the form of grueling work days, endless tormented repetitions of not-quite perfect tasks, and every kind of refusal to experience any sort of pleasure.

[funkymbtifiction]

Healthy / Unhealthy Heart Triad:

Pulled off PersonalityCafe. Saw no cited source. (Know it? Tell me.)

Enneagram 2

At their best: radiant altruism, selfless empathy, appreciative nurturing.

Mid-levels: sentiment, intrusive intimacy, sanctimonious vainglory.

At their worst: manipulative blame, coercive hysteria, parasitic victimization.

Healthy 2w1: find their true calling involves helping others grow, often children. They become able to help themselves as wisely and lovingly as they help others. They enjoy watching people find their calling, accepting the delightful differences among us. Sevenish joy from one’s integration combines with fourish depth and empathy from the integration of two. The result is tolerant, patient celebration of growth and diversity. Advanced 2w1s have deep love and inspired wisdom. They are especially good at helping those who in the most desperate situations. They plunge boldly into terrifying scenes to bring forth glorious hope, love, and healing. Usually it is the least self-sufficient who benefit the most from their endless charity.

Unhealthy 2w1: lose the ability to sense their own needs, and become more likely to speak their negative judgments of others. Their increasing self-criticism usually gets repressed, because the vainglory of the two is more powerful than the one’s guilt. Their inner conflict is as dangerous and powerful as the 1w2, but less visible because it is heavily repressed by self-deception. When two goes to eight, violence erupts. In the name of love, manipulation turns into physical coercion. Self-deception reaches amazing levels as destructive acts are rationalized into hard love. Fourish guilt is submerged and converted into further denial. I am doing this for your own good, and it hurts me more than it hurts you. In the end, “loving confrontations” may generate such hatred and fear in others that they may become the target of violence, as well as the origin.

Healthy 2w3: get beyond the immediate desire to please. Pride and image-consciousness drop away and they experience real, heartfelt love. They no longer need the constant reassurance of someone else’s admiring gratitude. Two integrates to four, opening up new realms of creative expression, while three goes to six, bringing in a deeper appreciation of the value of belonging to a real community of friends. They become genuine, loving companions. Someone whose generosity is so continuous and so genuine it seems an inseparable part of the personality. Never is there the tiniest hint anything is expected in return – advanced 2w3’s become so good at giving, the recipient never finds out where the help came from (or even that it has happened). Generosity comes through them, not from them.

Unhealthy 2w3: less able to restrain repressed desires. In a misguided attempt to get others to meet their (unspoken) needs, they manufacture more and more imaginary needs to fill for others. Their intrusive, self-satisfied help causes others to move away. 2w3 may hide the resulting loneliness and anger behind an outwardly carefree appearance, but others can see the hypocrisy involved. They may break down under the stress. Suddenly the truth pops out from under the increasingly strained wrappings of self-delusion, and in a desperate effort to paste over the uncomfortable vision, they may fly into an eightish homicidal hysteria or sink into nineish psychotic withdrawal. The repressed feelings of a lifetime might spew out in days or weeks. Relationships that have lasted for years might be discarded like used tissue.

Enneagram 3

At their best: genuine acceptance, poised assurance, motivated confidence.

Mid-levels: competitive diplomacy, efficient expedience, self-promoting narcissism.

At their worst: opportunistic scheming, deceptive sabotage, relentless monomania.

Healthy 3w2: loses the false polish and becomes more real. The vanity of three turns into genuine self-observation, and the seductive pride of two turns into humility. Friendly and personable people whose natural social skills help others feel comfortable. They find a new kind of pleasure at playing without always having to win, although they still choose to be competitive when it’s appropriate. Genuine feelings emerge and are given expression as two integrates to four, while three going to six provides a sense of belonging that builds powerful bonds of friendship. Further 3w2 integration leads to an astonishing ability to generate enthusiastic optimism and self-confidence in others. Usually an expert motivational speaker, often taking advantage of that skill. The uplifting message is delivered with style and power, zooming to the heart of the listener, where the magic of positive thinking can begin. Unhealthy 3w2: become trapped by the vain desire to be admired and attractive. They hide behind their false emotional facade. Trying ever harder to show the emotional states they think others think they should show, they get further out of touch with whatever real emotions they are ignoring. The anger and pushiness from the two-wing’s disintegration to eight combine with the three’s nineish emotional deadening, for an annoying hostile self-promotion. Eightish anger at the world is the only emotion strong enough to penetrate the cotton wall of nineish deadness. They might commit horrible atrocities in a peculiar, zombielike state. A façade of niceness that covers a veneer of cruelty. See who brought you to ruin! I am the one.

Healthy 3w4: gentle, compassionate, and effective. When three integrates to six and four integrates to one, a new sense of social responsibility combines with the wisdom of emotional equanimity. Effective at accomplishing real-world goals and intuitive good advisers. Quiet self-assurance with deep emotional insight into other people’s experiences. Good at spreading confidence and optimism among team members. Wherever they go they leave behind a feeling of deep connection and belonging.

Unhealthy 3w4: hides loss of self-worth behind a veneer of artificial coolness. If the success-orientation of the three becomes too compulsive, and the fourish introspection gets out of hand, 3w4s lose their genuineness. They become less socially adept, and manipulative, as their fourish self-dislike leads to a twoish desire to reinforce self-image by “helping” others. The resulting self-deceptive pride is hidden behind emotional deadening as three pulls in the worst of nine. Such people can be difficult to like, because of the way they constantly remind themselves and others of their accomplishments. Capable of great atrocities just like 3w2, except that due to the greater self-examination of the four-wing, such crimes are more likely isolated cases. Can be self-destructive as all the normal rules of social conduct are abandoned in an attempt to generate attention of any kind from others.

Enneagram 4

At their best: inspired originality, self-aware intuition, subtle humanity

Mid-levels: symbolic drama, withdrawn melancholy, self-indulgent disdain.

At their worst: desolate confusion, guilt-ridden torment, suicidal despair.

Healthy 4w3: finds the peace of equanimity. When four integrates to one and three integrates to six, deep compassionate wisdom is augmented by a feeling of brotherhood and belonging. Reaches a point where comfort is possible without being tormented by a desire others recognize their special uniqueness. Gives sensitive, unselfish understanding to others who are feeling emotional difficulty. Tremendous emotional integrity. Others feel they are being heard, but not judged. An equal and a teacher, a sympathetic listener and a disciplined advisor. Real transformations happen in the lives of those who tell their stories to them. People become powerfully motivated to find real meaning in their lives.

Unhealthy 4w3: swings through wild emotional cycles. As fourish emotionality gets more out of control, bringing in the selfish expectations of special treatment of the unhealthy two, the three-wing’s nineish tendencies cause a split within the psyche. The more intensely the dramatized pseudo-emotions are felt, the less in touch the 4w3 becomes with the real, honest feelings underneath. The dramatic emotions become more and more staged and false. In the unhealthy extreme, there is little actual contact with real feelings, despite the possibly awe-inspiring intensity of outward expression. All the theatrical emotionality is a fearful cover for an inner emptiness that will not go away. Extremely unHealthy 4w3 has become so attached to the outward expression of the false emotions that the real feelings are overwhelmed and drowned out. The conviction of being hopelessly flawed may lead to desperate attempts to end it all in some dramatic, attention-grabbing way.

Healthy 4w5: lightens up. The five-wing’s integration to eight adds solidity and strength, while the integration of four to one provides clear judgment and rationality. Begin to escape from the obsessive, dark, inner view, looking more outward into the world. There they find new connections with others, to their surprise. They discover they have been loving people all along, although they may not have known it. The realization love has been present all along strengthens into an unquenchable thirst for deeper inner connections with an inner source of meaning. These connections are strengthened by loving compassion for other humans. A gentle, strong, deeply passionate teacher. Keen observations of the subtle states of others provide a miraculous ability to elicit powerful, transforming feelings.

Unhealthy 4w5: can move into the extreme withdrawal of depression, then into dark impulsiveness. Deeply troubled by feelings of utter worthlessness and extreme isolation, may look for opportunities to perform degrading, menial tasks, rationalizing that they deserve such a fate. Servility and self-abasement provide a kind of barely-adequate, temporary relief from the constant torment of self-hatred. As life becomes less tolerable, suicide becomes increasingly likely, and may be done in a gruesome way. Extremely dark, horrifying inner imaginings are welcomed and encouraged. The whole world, both inner and outer, is seen as grotesquely diseased and utterly without redeeming qualities. 4w5 Hell is a place of unimaginable ugliness, populated by those deformed, psychotic monsters, the human race. Revels in hopelessness and despair.