Transcription
In his book, "Character and Neurosis," Chilean psychiatrist Claudio Naranjo presents an analysis of the degradation of consciousness, which was also called the theory of neurosis. This theory is likened to the mythical narrative of the Fall from Paradise, a theme present in many spiritual traditions.
Imagine consciousness as a once radiant light, now covered by layers of forgetfulness and ignorance, in which we fail to recognize the loss of potential, living in a delusion of freedom. This degradation affects not only our awareness but also our emotional life and motivations. Echoing psychologist Abraham Maslow, the fully functioning human being, driven by abundance, is contrasted with the normal state, driven by deficiency and lack. This shift from abundance to deficiency encapsulates the fall of our inner world.
The monkey mother experiment, conducted by psychologist Harry Harlow, revealed that a baby monkey requires more than just nourishment from milk; it also needs the comfort of physical closeness, demonstrated by its preference for clinging to the dummy mother that is covered in a cloth over the wire model, even when the latter provided milk. It's reasonable to assume that human needs are a lot more complex than those of monkeys when it comes to developing into a fully functioning adult. There is a multitude of factors influencing our development, and many ways that things can go wrong, many ways that we may feel inadequately loved. Even something such as a parent going to take the trash out can be perceived as an abandonment to the sensitive child.
In the face of unmet needs, the developing child has adopted a strategy to adapt to their circumstances. It is a problem when this strategy becomes fixed and persists throughout life, to the point that we automatically reference it without consulting the whole of our mind. One could call this our personality, which is divided into two aspects: a neurotic motivational one, called a passion, and a cognitive bias that sustains it, called a fixation. This ego structure is an attempt to escape deficiency and once again feel whole, but it is an artificial wholeness, as we look in the wrong places, which ends up perpetuating our deficiency and the corresponding strategy to escape it.
This diagram of Oscar Ichazo's view of personality captures the concept of the degraded consciousness and is very similar to the view of George Gurdjieff. However, Ichazo called what Gurdjieff called the "Movement Center" instinctual, which is divided into three: the self-preservation instinct, the sexual instinct, and the social instinct. When one of these instincts is most focused on, it becomes our dominant instinct, which creates a subtype, which I will expand on soon. But first, let's focus on each dominant instinct by itself.
The self-preservation type is primarily focused on personal stability, particularly in fulfilling basic needs and ensuring survival. They are constantly vigilant about their resources and personal security, driven by a fear of scarcity and a sense of instability, often blurring the lines between needs and desires. This preoccupation can lead to materialism and a proactive stance towards safeguarding their well-being. SP types are associated with the dichotomy of dependence and independence, and they may oscillate between the two, as the fulfillment of our needs means we will either be dependent on others or ourselves. They may also oscillate between selfishness and sacrifice, focusing on their own well-being but also using resource allocation as a means of expressing care or enhancing their own security. Despite their apparent competence in managing their needs, the dominant SP instinct means an underlying instability in their sense of security and well-being.
The sexual instinct is driven by a desire for deep, intimate connections, focusing on emitting and receiving signals to attract an ideal partner and repel those deemed undesirable, aiming for a bond that leads to unity or fusion with another person. Individuals with a dominant SX instinct are intensely involved in their relationships and experiences, often leading to a passionate and intense demeanor. Their interactions are characterized by a dynamic of attraction and repulsion, with sexual union being only one way to achieve the desired closeness and mutual satisfaction. While they are adept at forming deep, passionate connections, their underlying drive is often fueled by a fear of being out of sync, making their affective and intimate life the most unstable, as it is heavily compensated for in their psyche.
The social type prioritizes attention on broader societal structures, including cultures, authorities, roles, and values. They seek to affirm their worth and secure their place within a community, often leading to an idealized self-image and, in some cases, an inflated sense of self-importance. Their core desire is to belong and maintain connectivity with the wider world. The SO instinct is characterized by a heightened intellectual engagement, not necessarily indicating higher intelligence, but a focus coming from the importance they place on cultural and authoritative structures. Although SO individuals have a keen ability to navigate social structures and relationships, their emphasis on social belonging stems from a deep-seated fear of exclusion, a sense of instability in the social sphere in general.
The SP instinct focuses its attention towards the self. The SO instinct focuses its attention towards the collective. And the SX instinct focuses its attention on specific relations between the self and others. The SP instinct is also more concrete, while the SO instinct is more intellectual, and the SX instinct more emotional.
Now, I mentioned before that the dominant instinct creates a subtype, which is like a secondary passion or neurotic need. I'll explain how that works now. First, we have our instincts, and we have our passion and fixation. Then, we have a dominant instinct. And as we have both a dominant instinct and a passion and fixation, we also have a subtype. This is because the subtype is the result of the expression of the passion being distorted by the dominant instinct as it tries to fill the needs of that instinct. The expression of the instinct is also distorted by the passion because this is how subtypes work. It is theoretically possible to change your subtype within your lifetime. This is because you might undergo trauma that leads to so much insecurity in another instinct that it takes over as the dominant instinct, or you might overcome the insecurity of your dominant instinct, and because you still have the other instincts and your passion and fixation not overcome, you'd shift to another subtype.
Now, before I get into each type, I want to tell you about the Triads, aka the three centers on the Enneagram. These are three groups of three types, and they are the Head Triad, the Heart Triad, and the Gut Triad. Each Triad has a central type, and the central type of the Gut Triad, sitting at the top of the Enneagram, is Type 9. The passion of this type is sloth, and it is the most basic of the passions. In fact, the degradation of consciousness can be represented by these three passions. Sloth refers to a sort of psychospiritual laziness, a falling asleep to one's true self, a forgetting of one's essence. From this comes fear, which is the passion of Type Six. When we forget our essence, we have no basis from which to act, and when we do not have a basis from which to act in a world that requires action, we, without facing our true self, create a false self from which to act, a false self to identify with. This brings us to the passion of Type Three: vanity. As long as we identify with our false self, the more we repress our true self, which in turn perpetuates fear, which perpetuates our identification with our false self, so it is a cycle.
These basic passions also characterize the three Triads to which they belong. The Head Triad deals with fear. The Heart Triad deals with vanity. And the Gut Triad deals with sloth. Let's talk more about each Triad now.
The Head Triad encompasses Enneatypes 5, 6, and 7, and it is oriented towards intellect. This Triad overemphasizes thought to the detriment of emotion and spontaneity. The mind is their safe haven, cut off from emotions and spontaneous action, which are subordinate to the mind, for they fear not being able to mentally deliberate everything first. They over-rely on mentally managing their lives, leading them to have difficulties in truly relating to others or simply taking life as it comes. In times of stress, usually caused by their inability to naturally engage in the emotional and physical aspects of life, they effectively and/or instinctively give up, as they disconnect and withdraw into their own minds. In order to grow, these types must learn to lose their minds.
The Heart Triad encompasses Enneatypes 2, 3, and 4, and it is oriented towards emotion. The main concern of this Triad is of being seen and loved. They implicitly lack faith that their true selves are worthy of being loved, so they build an identity with the anticipation of being seen in order to gain love. As they are preoccupied with the attention they receive, they must also give attention to others, which gives them a developed interpersonal ability in the sense that they understand the desires of others in order to appeal to them. They experience life through feelings like desperation, love, approval, and feelings of hurt in the face of rejection or not being seen. They neglect the detached, rational aspects, as well as the concrete aspects of reality, by themselves, as they are processed in terms of their relation to the image or identity they create. These types need to let go of their image and focus more on their rationality and body as independent.
The Gut Triad encompasses Enneatypes 8, 9, and 1, and it is oriented towards action. As this Triad is related to the body and not the mind or emotions, there is a lack of abstraction, a lack of inwardness. They look out to reality without looking into their own inner mental and emotional life. This gives them a pseudo-contentedness, as they are the least in contact with the sense of inner deficiency. The original ignorance to our wholeness, which leads to this deficiency, seems to be countered by ignorance itself, ignorance to their lack of being. This double ignorance gives them their apparent satisfaction with themselves, but the root of the issue is not truly resolved. They still feel dissatisfied and try to resolve it by over-focusing on outer reality. Their experience of reality feels as though something is missing due to their neglect of the emotional and mental domains. In order to grow, they need to cultivate their own inner reality, enriching their experience.
Each of the nine types does not only have the Triad of the one they belong to; they have an auxiliary Triad, as shown here. There is also a tertiary Triad for each subtype.
Finally, let's get into each of the nine passions and fixations, as well as the 27 subtypes. First, a disclaimer: these descriptions will sound exaggerated, as they attempt to explain the types in their more pure forms.
Starting with the Gut Triad, we have Type 8. The passion of this type is lust, and its fixation is rebellion. The passion of lust is a thirst for excess and intensity, specifically intensity that is satisfied through action and is of the senses. Their focus is oriented outside of themselves, towards chasing intense experiences in order to distract themselves from the sense of an empty existence. This is also done through building a hard shell around themselves, not allowing anything to pass through. Lust is a passion for intensity in all manner of sensory experiences, not only sex. Their desires are intensified, giving them the sense of needing immediate gratification, and we can see in them an intensification of aggression as well. They can find satisfaction and pain, whether it be the pain of others who they are conquering or their own pain that they went through to triumph over obstacles. Their excessiveness can lead them to having a large presence, making an impact on their environment with their intensity and tendency towards dominance. As Enneatype Eights place so much weight on their natural impulses, they often go against authority, which is seen as a limiting force to be transgressed. This brings us to the fixation of rebellion. Eights feel the need to transgress and go against authority, for if they don't, they will not be able to satisfy their intensified desires, thus bringing them into contact with a sense of inner weakness, something that is buried deep within the psyche. They further bury their inner self by having an over-focus on the here and now, avoiding dwelling on the past and thinking of the future. This also leads them to take action against offenses to resolve them immediately, not allowing themselves time to come into contact with remorse or doubt, lest they feel vulnerable, which is a threat to their ego. This is also why we can see aggression and anger intensified within them, but not other emotions, because the others are more associated with vulnerability within their psyche. These types can be described as anti-intellectual, which does not mean they are unintelligent; what it means is that they can go against authoritative intellectual structures, as they have a sense of seeing reality as it actually is, without excessive abstraction obscuring the reality in front of them. They may try to prove to others that what is seen as bad is not really that bad, fueled by their empirical perception and desire to satisfy instinctive desires through rebelling against their limiting environment.
Moving on to the subtypes of Enneatype 8, we first have the self-preservation 8, whose neurotic need is satisfaction. This type is characterized by impatience and intolerance when it comes to any delay or frustration of their desires, giving them a sort of exaggerated selfishness. They are pragmatic in the direct action they take to satisfy their perceived needs, at times being inconsiderate to others who stand in their way. This is the most egoistic and least expressive of the Eights.
The sexual 8 has a neurotic need for possession. They are characterized by possessiveness in their relationships, as well as taking ownership of the scene. They possess and dominate through seduction and intimidation. They are the most passionate and aggressive Eight, the one most likely to provocatively express their "badness."
The social 8 has a neurotic need for complicity. They seek solidarity with the weak and oppressed and use this to justify their aggressive acts, as they rebel against social norms and authoritative structures, viewing their rebellion as righteous and for the sake of justice. This Eight can come off more like a strong, good person than a troublemaker, but they are still quite aggressive in their seemingly righteous rebellion.
The next type in the Gut Triad is Enneatype 9, whose passion is sloth and fixation is indolence. Sloth does not necessarily refer to physiological laziness, as some Nines can be quite active; instead, it refers to a self-forgetting, falling asleep to oneself. They lose touch with their inner desires and focus their attention outwards, leading to a dispassionate and jovial disposition. The lines between the environment and the self are blurred, and they seek to maintain internal and external harmony between themselves and their environment. They identify with their surroundings, whether it be people, leading to empathy and harmony-seeking in relations, or their sensory experience, leading to a desire for comfort. It can be said that they are simple people, passive and without problems, except for their avoidance of and difficulty with conflict and troubles. These types are characterized by an over-adaptation to their environment, an over-receptivity, leading to sensitivity to what is happening around them. This sensitivity is subdued, however, as they have fallen asleep to their inner desires, for their over-adaptation would be too much to bear if they were in contact with their inner self. This type forgets their own being, forgets to love themselves; they turn away from themselves towards their environment, searching to find their own being and love outside of themselves, reinforcing the suppression of the self for the sake of being one with their environment.
The self-preservation 9 has a neurotic need for appetite. This can manifest through eating, but it refers to any form of comfort. They use these comforts to distract themselves from their inner being, for them, their being is contingent upon the simple things they are doing, for example, "I sleep, therefore I am," or "I am sitting, therefore I am." Their inner longing for love can also be transformed into less physical forms of distraction, such as curiosity and a search for novelty. Although all Nines tend towards kindness and conflict avoidance, this is the most stubborn of the Nines.
The sexual 9 has a neurotic need for fusion. They seek to merge with the other, losing themselves in the process. They take on the other's desires as their own to distract themselves from their own desires; they seek to substitute their own being with the other. These types also do not stand out in a crowd; they usually blend into their surroundings. Of course, their kind nature is not rooted in abundance but in the lack of love they have for themselves.
The social 9 has a neurotic need for belonging or participation. These are really cheerful and extroverted people. They are very generous and would make good leaders in terms of their attentiveness to the needs of others. These behaviors are of course neurotic, and they are motivated by a need to fit in, to belong in the group, to merge themselves with it. As they have lost touch with their own desires, they will do anything to feel a part of the group, which makes these types very active and workaholics, as they attend to the needs of those around them, all while wearing a big smile on their face.
The last type of the Gut Triad is Enneatype 1, whose passion is anger and whose fixation is perfectionism. Anger isn't necessarily passionately felt, and Ones may not be aware of their anger; many Ones suppress their anger, seeing it itself as imperfect. Anger still exists within them as a rejection of their experience, as a motivator moving them towards changing their situation rather than accepting and adapting to it. They may appear very adapted, however, following social norms, but in this case, this comes with the feeling that others do not follow the norms enough and the desire to change how things are to be more in accordance with the norms. It's as if they cannot internally relax until everything is perfect. Their unnaturally high standards cause them to constantly go against the currents of reality, a futile endeavor, as reality will flow as it should on its own. The reality that things will not conform to their standards of perfection perpetuates anger. Unconsciously, there's a sense of being imperfect, but this is suppressed while they project their imperfection onto their surroundings and consciously see themselves as perfect or supposed to be perfect immediately, instead of facing and accepting their own imperfection. This overly disciplined and critical character seeks to resolve it by reforming reality with their self-perception as being virtuous, as well as the tendency to lack introspection. Like all Gut types, they feel justified in their actions, feeling minimal guilt for anything others might deem wrong. This is similar to Enneatype 8, except instead of rebelling against them, Ones feel justified through authoritative structures, be it ones they have created themselves or ones from the outside that they deem correct.
The self-preservation 1 has a neurotic need for worry or concern. This One is constantly worried about things, even things that are okay. They neurotically want things to be under control so that nothing can go wrong. Sometimes they try fixing things that don't need to be fixed, which ends up making it worse. Their self-image is of being imperfect, fueling their improvement, for if they are not perfect themselves, they have no right to judge others. Their anger outwardly manifests as warmth and benevolence.
The sexual 1 has a neurotic need for zeal. This One has very intense desires, as their perfectionistic anger lends itself to fueling their desires. These Ones can be invasive and exploitative, justifying their desires with their standards, believing themselves entitled to satisfaction. This One is the most expressive of their anger, and it mostly manifests as perfecting others, especially a partner, as they try to mold them according to their standards.
The neurotic need for the social 1 is superiority. These Ones seem aristocratic. There is a rigidity to their character that makes them, in some ways, unadaptable. This is rooted in a feeling of being right, that others are the ones who need to adapt. In them, there is a sense of intellectual and/or moral superiority. These types have a passion for feeling that they are right and others are wrong, which gives them power, for if they are correct and others are wrong, they have more of a right to be the authority figure. Outwardly, they appear cold, but inwardly, there is fire that sometimes leaks through when their standards are not conformed to.
Moving on to the Heart Triad, we first have Enneatype 2, whose passion is pride and fixation is false abundance. Pride is the feeling of being deserving of love and attention for being so great, for giving love to others. An Enneatype Twos seduce others, not just sexually, but also through things like flattery and good deeds, which they do because they believe they must give love in order to deserve love. This implies an unconscious belief that without giving love, they are unlovable. Of course, this low sense of self-esteem is deeply buried within their psyche, as their fixation is false abundance, an exaggerated grandiosity of the self to the point of seeing themselves as without limits, including an exaggeration of how much love they have. They believe they have more love to give to others than they actually do, which makes them like a beggar disguised as a king, someone who doesn't give out of abundance but due to a secret lack. Meaning their expression of love is implicitly transactional; they expect you to give them love back, and if you don't, it hurts their self-image, since it implies that they aren't loving enough to deserve love. To avoid coming into contact with this feeling, they stubbornly stick to their grandiose self-perception and skillfully make others feel indebted to them for being so giving, in a way that does not make their love hunger so obvious. This type projects their repressed lack of love onto others, believing that they have so much love to give to others who lack it. Their inflated self-image in comparison to the lacking image they project onto others gives them a sense of superiority and, consequently, a sense of entitlement to their desires. If they did not feel superior and entitled, they would feel needy, and to feel needy for a Two is to feel undeserving and worthless.
The neurotic need of the self-preservation 2 is privilege. These types have a need to be the center of attention, the most important person. They feel entitled to satisfaction simply for being who they are and for what they have done for others. When they do not get their way, they may resort to tantrums and emotional manipulation. They act and seduce childishly and are the most dependent of the Twos, even if unaware of it.
The sexual 2 has a neurotic need for seduction. These passionate and intense Twos are described as femme fatale and the male equivalent. They are extremely seductive and want to feel irresistible, weaving webs in which they can capture the other. For them, seduction is confused with real love. They seduce more aggressively than the other Twos and are the most emotional of the Twos.
The social 2's neurotic need is ambition. These people are seducers of crowds, wanting to be loved by everyone and to be seen as people of reference. Their seduction is more intellectual, believing that in order to climb the ranks, they need to use their head more. They like to make connections with important people and give advice, feeling indispensable.
The next type of the Heart Triad is Enneatype 3, whose passion is vanity and fixation is deceit. Vanity is similar but different to the passion of pride. Instead of the inflation of one's self-image, vanity is an excessive concern for one's image, for how they are perceived by others. They do not implicitly believe themselves to be superior like the Twos, but they strive to make their idealized self-image a reality, as well as maintain it. A self-image that is not rooted in their own personal identity, but one that is decided by their environment. This makes them chameleonic; their identity seems to be based on trends and generally accepted standards. Of course, it is, as they live for the eyes of others. They are more controlled and efficient than Twos for this reason. They believe they have to put an effort to maintain an image that is in accordance with what the public desires, and they do not feel entitled to go against the public like a Two might. This can give them a feeling of superiority, however, one that is rooted in their ability to achieve their idealized self-image and their ability to control how they come across to others. Their worth is based on the attention others give them for not just adhering to what is socially accepted, but for being exemplary at it, which is why they don't feel like mere copies. It is as if they view the self as a product to be marketed to others, and they are always focused on what is in style and in demand, and what is not, what their customer wants and doesn't want, distancing themselves from unhappy customers. In some cases, this can lead to competition with others, as they want to be the best product. As with Enneatype 9, over-adapting to those around you can be overwhelming when you are in contact with your inner self, which is why the fixation that sustains the passion of vanity is deceit. They deceive themselves into identifying with outer values, believing in their false image as being authentic when in reality it is inauthentic. This means they are not only deceiving themselves about who they are but deceiving others as well with their false image. They confuse their own identity with their idealized image, an idealized image defined based on the public eye. So, in other words, they confuse their own identity with how others perceive them. Their focus is turned away from themselves towards the anticipation of the eyes of others. If they are not receiving the approval of others, it is equivalent to lacking an identity and is avoided through vanity.
The self-preservation 3 has a neurotic need for security. This Three desires to be the best role model. They are very efficient, productive, and responsible. They are more difficult to identify as vain, as their desire to be seen as good gives them a sense of taboo against explicit vanity. Nevertheless, they confuse their being with doing, constantly problem-solving and doing what is expected of them. If others do not seek them out for their abilities, it can make them feel like a failure, since they depend on others to validate to them that they are good, no, great at what they do.
The sexual 3's neurotic need is attractiveness. This Three excessively puts their energy into their own attractiveness in order to obtain love. They tend to be complacent, attending to others' needs in order to promise intimacy and keep up their image of being attractive. To them, they usually conform their appearance and actions to their love interest, as the relationship is what matters most to them. Being desirable is confused with being loved. This is the most shy and insecure Three.
The social 3 has a neurotic need for prestige. This is the most obviously vain Three. They seek to shine and be admired by their social group to secure their place as an important person in the eyes of all. This gives them an orientation towards chasing success, money, and power. They coldly calculate their every move to gain recognition and are also the most competitive Three, putting down their opponents indirectly through tricks and lies so as not to ruin their own reputation.
The last type of the Heart Triad is Enneatype 4, whose passion is envy and whose fixation is false lack. A trend with the types at the top of the Enneagram is that they focus their attention outwards, away from their inner being, to avoid the existential suffering that is entailed by the sense of a deficient being, a sense that all manifestations of the degraded consciousness have, since they are rooted in it. At the bottom of the Enneagram, we see the opposite. An Enneatype 4's focus is very existential, as they over-focus their awareness inwards at their own being, giving them a predisposition towards suffering for being so in contact with their sense of deficiency. They are called "poor in spirit" for this reason.
The passion of envy includes comparing oneself, including one's inherent characteristics and/or one's situation, to those of others or even to those of an idealized self. This comparison leads to a constant longing for a better state. More generally, Enneatype Fours have a sense of lack that they seek to have filled by goodness that is to be found outside of themselves. Envy is sustained by false lack, which is the erroneous perspective that they are inherently deficient in some way, and it also manifests as general pessimism. This leads to their constant craving for love and value, which is never satisfied because their exaggerated sense of lack devalues what they receive and achieve. This makes them over-desiring, insatiable. They are frustrated with what others would call satisfactory. It is as if they want to remain in a state of lacking, for their lack is what motivates them and gives them the right to get what they crave. But continuing to crave when they have what they want implies this underlying false sense of lack, so they want to lack because they think they lack. This is also seen in how their lack and the suffering that it entails is what gives them the right to get what they long for. They feel incapable or undeserving of it under normal circumstances, so there is a level of masochism and victimization to this type. Deep down, they fear satisfaction, even though they perpetually aim towards it. Psychologically, if they let themselves feel satisfied, they will no longer feel like they have a reason to obtain more, which is simply them projecting their current sense of deficiency onto their potentially satisfied and non-deficient future self, which will not exist as such if they continue to feel deficient. With their constant longing and dissatisfaction, Enneatype Fours can suffer quite a bit. This type tends to oscillate between neediness and feeling guilty and undeserving, just as they tend to oscillate between idealization and devaluation. Ultimately, the Enneatype Four's fixation of erroneously feeling deficient leads them to devalue what they attain, perpetuating the over-desiring nature of envy, which will lead to even more frustration, as their intense desires for a better state cannot be satisfied.
The self-preservation 4 has a neurotic need for tenacity. This subtype directs envy not towards others but towards the self. They long to achieve their idealized self, leading them to be very self-demanding in an effort to improve. However, they end up once again focusing on what's missing, what could be better, devaluing their actions, leading to even more effort. They are stoic in the face of frustrations and seek to obtain love through the recognition of their efforts and sacrifices.
The sexual 4 has a neurotic need for competition, resulting in hate. Envy is the most apparent in this Four. They compare themselves to others and find themselves lacking, but as they do not have sufficient faith in themselves to improve, they devalue those they envy, as if it will give the illusion that they are better than them and rid them of their envy. They are also very demanding, believing themselves to be entitled to their desires as compensation for how cruelly the world treats them. This is the most aggressive and emotional Four.
The social 4's neurotic need is shame. This is the Four that is in contact with their sadness the most, and especially their sense of shame. They withdraw from the world, yet long to be seen. They suffer deeply as they fail to achieve the goodness they idealize, constantly disqualifying themselves. Masochistic and melancholic, this Four maintains their self-image as a misunderstood victim to sustain the feeling that one day they will be recognized and saved. This is the most introverted, empathetic, and dependent Four.
Now for the last Triad, the Head Triad. We first have Enneatype 5, whose passion is avarice and whose fixation is isolation. Avarice is not an explicit greed that strongly defends its possessions; avarice is the passion for retentiveness, and it would not exist without an underlying sense of lack, of poverty, that leads to a passionate holding on for fear of impoverishment. Along with Enneatype 4, the Five is a character described as "poor in spirit," being situated at the bottom of the Enneagram. Unlike the Four, however, the Five does not transform their sense of lack into a desire to be filled. Instead, it's quite the opposite: the Five does not look to others but distances themselves from them. The world of others is perceived as too demanding, and as they feel an inner sense of poverty, an Enneatype Fives do not feel they have it in them to guard themselves from the invasions of the world. They tend to be passive, so they withdraw from the world so that others do not take what little is left of them (be it themselves, their time, energy, love, knowledge, etc.), as well as to reconnect with themselves. Due to their passivity, in this we see how they are stingy when it comes to giving themselves up. They have a passion for avoiding being subject to demands, although they cycle between hypersensitivity and apathy. Resigning oneself is not so hard for a Five; it does not bother them except vaguely. This is because of their fixation, which is isolation. Isolation refers to both an inner and outer isolation. Outwardly, they isolate themselves from the world, but when it comes to their inner world, it is fragmented; emotions and thoughts are separated, which serves to protect their fragile interior, leading to their detached nature. This is not a virtuous detachment, however, but a pathological one. It is a detachment rooted in fear, fear of being overwhelmed by others, and even a fear of being overwhelmed by their own emotions. They fear feeling, especially feelings of desire, because if they let themselves desire, they will want to seek out others, which involves putting themselves out there and becoming indebted. This is something that is seen not worth it. They feel like they will end up losing more than they gain. Freely experiencing life in the world of relationships is replaced by an over-intellectualization of their experience; they replace life with knowledge, remaining detached observers. Fives end up feeling guilty for their detachment, further motivating them to not ask for anything nor accept what is offered to them, fueling their lack and detachment. So, we see how an Enneatype 5 isolates themselves, which means they do not go out and get what they want or need, minimizing their desires, which is something that ends up perpetuating their sense of poverty. Of course, someone who robs themselves of the spirit of wanting and getting is going to want to save what they have.
The self-preservation 5 has a neurotic need for refuge. This is the most inhibited of the Fives. Their veracity is incredibly suppressed, leading to an extremely docile and detached character. As a result of this, they seek solitude the most. They convince themselves that they don't need much; they can do with little. Their hyper-adaptability leads them to want to protect their own well-being from outside invasions and demands to the maximum, so they neurotically reflect on how to limit external disturbances. This is the most timid and soft of the Fives.
The sexual 5's neurotic need is trust. This is the most emotional of the Fives. They seek an ideal relationship where they can fully trust their partner, rooted in a lack of self-confidence. They also want to fully know them and be known. This can lead to a subtle possessiveness, as their greed manifests in the relational sphere. Their ideal exists in their head more than it does in reality, due to their own difficulties with maintaining relationships, as well as their extremely high standards for the perfect partner.
The neurotic need of the social 5 is totem. This Five idealizes a model representing divinity and sacredness. They aim to resemble such ideals, as it gives them a sense of importance. This leads them to seek meaning in the transcendent, spiritual, and extraordinary. They cycle between feeling superior due to their ideals and feeling worthless due to their inner poverty. They withhold their knowledge, as it gives them significance, and their significance is most affected by avarice. Their hyper-idealization of the profound leads them to devalue what is mundane and ordinary. They are the most distant of the Fives, despite being the most social.
The next type in the Head Triad is Enneatype 6, whose passion is fear and whose fixation is doubt. It is not always outwardly apparent that these types are excessively fearful. They do not have adequate trust in themselves and their environment, so they try to cope with their anxiety by seeking security, whether it be in people, authority, or even concepts. They can appear controlled, as they excessively think about their actions and how they interact with their environment. This type is an overthinker; they are always thinking about everything, trying to foresee any potential troubles, analyzing their causes and effects. They want to be sure they can have certainty about something or someone, so that they can seek security in it. This leads these types to give a lot of value to thought and objectivity, at times becoming fanatical. It also leads to a lack of spontaneity to their thoughts, paralyzing them from acting freely. Fear is sustained by doubt, specifically self-doubt, a lack of confidence in oneself to make the right decisions and act appropriately. They fear doing something wrong, being responsible for things going wrong, such as being controlled, tricked, humiliated, etc. This is why they seek certainty, a reference by which they can act and to which they can divert responsibility. They don't trust themselves, and for fear of coming into contact with their own vulnerability and guilt, project this mistrust onto others, leading them to be extremely skeptical and even accusatory at times. Deep down, they are always accusing themselves. Ultimately, Enneatype Sixes lack faith in themselves, which leads them to feel fear about how they are meant to act in the world, neurotically searching for certainty and security.
The neurotic need of the self-preservation 6 is warmth. This Six is warm, friendly, and submissive. They act this way because they expect warmth in return, a warm, friendly environment. They have an extreme fear of aggression, as well as indecisiveness, as they see shades of gray in everything and lack faith in themselves, so they can become dependent on others. However, they also fear being controlled and overwhelmed, so they may try to maintain a distance.
The sexual 6 has a neurotic need for strength. This is the most aggressive and confrontational Six. To them, offense is the best defense. They fear being seen as weak, as it will make them vulnerable to being taken advantage of. Their doubting leads to indecision and inaction, but they do not tolerate so much doubt, so they can impulsively make decisions and act, suppressing their doubt and appearing confident, validating to themselves that they can go against perceived danger. Of course, they're still highly paranoid under their mask of courage.
The social 6 has a neurotic need for duty. This type searches for the perfect authoritative structure they can refer to. They may seem to be too certain once they find that structure, following it rigidly. However, a lot of their focus goes towards doubting the structures they encounter, as they want to be completely sure of whether they should follow them or not. This type ends up being too analytical and normative, giving too much priority to theory or ideology to the detriment of their personal desires and intuitions.
The final type of the Head Triad is Enneatype 7, who has a passion for gluttony and the fixation of self-indulgence. Gluttony is a passion for pleasure and for the avoidance of pain. These types are always mentally on the move, seeking satisfaction. This pursuit for satisfaction directs their focus away from any inner pain, making them quite happy and optimistic people. Grief for lost opportunities is short-lived, as it is replaced with an eye for the next opportunity. They may also fear commitment, as it limits their opportunities for ecstasy; they like to keep their options open. Their hedonism comes with a disdain for rules and regulations, as they are limiting to the Enneatype 7's never-ending search for satisfaction. They may sound similar to Enneatype Eights, but they are not as physical as this Gut type and instead more mental, being part of the Head Triad, meaning they are more strategic and attracted to mental stimulation, such as ideas. They also seek variety more than they seek excess, as they are constantly chasing pleasure. Naturally, they are going to be frowned upon by a world that suppresses hedonism. This is why their fixation is self-indulgence, which allows them to use their intellect and persuasiveness to justify to themselves and others that their hedonism and the rebellion that comes with it are acceptable. Enneatype Sevens have an inner sense of emptiness that they fear coming into contact with, which is why they always look for what is exciting in life. This inner void is projected onto others, giving them the impression that they see the goodness in life and others are sort of blind to it. They take it upon themselves to show others the possibilities and positive aspects of things, painting situations to be sunnier than they actually are. This charlatanism serves to rationalize their selfish hedonism, as well as give them a positive image, which can save them from the consequences of their actions. They also avoid negative consequences by using their wit to strategically escape such situations. Their motto is: "If you are smart, you can do and get whatever you want." However, they confuse their trickery with intelligence.
The self-preservation 7's neurotic need is family. This does not refer to family in the positive sense of the term, but rather alliances of mutual benefit, motivated out of self-interest. They are always looking for opportunities to make deals with people to ensure gratification. They fear being excluded, as this puts their wants, which are confused for needs, at risk. This is the most grounded and materialistic Seven.
The sexual 7 has a neurotic need for suggestibility. These Sevens tend to be easily swayed by novel ideas; it is like they get drunk on interesting possibilities. They view life through rose-colored glasses, turning the mundane or even painful into something captivating or funny. They also charm others with their ideas, addicted to their own fascination, as well as the fascination they create in others. This is the least grounded and most imaginative Seven.
The social 7 has a neurotic need for sacrifice. Gluttony is not always apparent in this Seven, as they tend to be self-sacrificing, obviously not motivating out of selflessness. Their sacrificial nature is motivated out of the sense that it will purify them from the guilt that comes with their gluttony and also by the recognition they receive, the image of being self-sacrificial, good, even superior. Their seemingly generous attitude allows them to maintain their saintly image, reduce conflicts, and create debts for others to repay. It can be said, then, that they have a gluttony for the fruits of their sacrifice.
Finally, that concludes the nine Enneatype types and 27 subtypes. I only gave a brief description of the types, and if you want to learn more about them, I recommend reading Naranjo's books or Chestnut's, as hers can be easier to understand. If you don't want to read books, go to the PDB Wiki; it's a great resource that contains content from the former two sources plus more. Another thing I want to say is, when typing yourself or others, to always focus on the passion, fixation, and neurotic need of a type over its traits. These are the fundamental aspects of a type, and the associated traits come from these fundamental aspects, but not always.
Now, you may have seen people write things like this in their bios: 4w3. If you didn't know what it meant before, you probably do now. One thing we haven't covered is this: the "w" between a type and another. This is called a wing, and the first number is someone's core type, and the second is their wing. A wing is basically the type that a person relates to the most out of the two that are beside their core type. For example, an Enneatype 4 will either be a 4 wing 3 or a 4 wing 5. This is not necessary, though, and I would not put too much importance on wings. However, it is true that it can be said that a type is similar to the two beside it, as if it were a combination of the two. Using Enneatype 4 as an example again, their lack and clinging is shared with Enneatype 5, while their need for love and recognition is shared with Enneatype 3. Thus, if we combine Enneatypes 3 and 5, we get something like the "impoverished attention seeker."
Another thing we haven't covered is this: the three numbers, like 468. This is either a trifix or a tri-type. Both include the first number as the core type, and the second and third being types from each other Triad. For trifix, created by Oscar Ichazo, the other types are ones the person identifies most with according to their fixations. Technically, these are Ichazo fixations and not Naranjo's, but you could use the latter if you want. Trifix is supposed to begin with the core type, and the other two go in clockwise order, for example, 468 instead of 486. Tri-type, created by Katherine Fauver, doesn't need to be in clockwise order, just in the order of relatability based on the whole type.
The last thing I should note is that if you see something like this: 46X, it means the first instinct is the dominant instinct, and the second instinct is the secondary instinct. In the future, I will be making videos that cover individual subtypes in-depth and other typology videos, so subscribe if you want to see it, and comment your type below. I want to see who watched this. Thanks.