Today we will talk about the upper part of the Enneagram map: we have already said that Anger, expressed and not, covers the emotions of Fear and Sadness, so it is no coincidence that the three enneatypes that feel Anger as the main emotion, are placed at the top of the diagram.
By “expressed or not” I mean that the nuance of this emotion varies greatly between the characters of “belly”.
We try to feel the energy of Anger in the body, an energy that by nature wants to come out: the muscles stretch, we feel discomfort, irritation. The body is filled with energy and is ready to attack. I didn’t study Latin, but I learned that “ad” means “toward” and “degrees” walk.
In our common language “attacking” can have a negative, violent meaning, but in reality it means “going towards”, going to get what you need.
For the Enneatipo positioned at the top left of the map, this movement is direct, natural, characterized by a precise action, which is not dispersed, without doubt.
EIGHT: THE BOSS.
Passion: Lust.
Cognitive fixation: vindictiveness.
Nuclear emotion: Anger.
He lives life with intensity: his lust is not necessarily linked to sexuality, but it is a need for strong experiences that make him feel vital; his passion for excess manifests itself in all areas. It is characterized as the Chief, the one who has a significant tendency to domination. Aggressive, overbearing, possessive, full of energy, loves fighting and goes on the attack for himself and others. He despises weakness, he can be very protective, but he tends to always have control of the situation: leader par excellence, he takes on the problems, but he demands obedience and loyalty. He easily manifests his anger, even with violence; he can have sadistic or antisocial tendencies, with strong psychopathic traits. Pragmatic, action-oriented, impulsive, with a strong organizational spirit, he does not grasp the subtleties and is not led to analysis.
How I live it: as I was saying last week, the EIGHT is my wing, so I partly feel it is a mode in line with mine. When I’m strong, centered and serene it’s a direct, effective, working mode. When, on the other hand, I feel more insecure, when I wander through the thoughts and doubts typical of the SEI wing, then I find it hard to hold the EIGHT there. I was talking with a friend of this enneatype, and I understood that when many doubts come into my speeches, it is simply difficult for her to understand the mechanism of thought. I, on the other hand, read his look as judgment, and when I feel judged I get even more confused! Now that I know it, now that I realize it and I see it, I don’t suffer anymore; maybe I hook up, but then it passes quickly.
Let’s go now to the right of the map, where the Anger is there, but it must not be shown as it would not be socially accepted.
ONE: THE PERFECTIONIST.
Passion: anger.
Cognitive fixation: perfectionism.
Nuclear emotion: Anger.
The value of doing everything well and behaving according to the rules, trying to be always perfect in what he does and in his relationship with the world. Idealist, champion of legality, he feels ethically superior. Sure that there is a right way to act, he makes great use of the phrases “must” and “must”. It is a rigid, schematic character, often with obsessive traits. Although he is characterized by anger, he does not recognize his own anger and finds it hard to see the deep resentment that broods within himself with respect to his own behavior and especially that of others which is not as it should be. He aspires to a perfection that is always unattainable, living an inner anxiety that makes him from time to time harsh and severe criticism of himself and others, to the point of extreme intolerance.
How I live it: my connection with the ONE is very useful when I work on projects, it helps me to complete the work with punctuality and precision. The energy I feel on those occasions is active, in my tummy. I feel like a tension that leads me to harder and faster modes of communication (compared to my usual). People who work with me say I go into “drone mode.” For those who are not used to it, I seem to be angry, serious, I make others uncomfortable (which I normally don’t do). It’s that energy right there that helps me stay focused, get things right. Then there are moments where I realize that I exaggerate, so when I finish the job I quit and go back to mine (SEVEN). I relate well with the other ONES, it amuses me a lot to see how they perceive me: at first I am light, I seem to be on the clouds, with unlimited imagination; then when you go into action they recognize their mode, and trust them.
You will have noticed that all enneatypes are distributed symmetrically on the map:
EIGHT-ONE; SEVEN-TWO; SIX-THREE; FIVE-FOUR.
NOVE is at the top, in the middle.
NINE: THE MEDIATOR.
Passion: sloth.
Cognitive fixation: mediation.
Nuclear emotion: Anger.
He tends to be lazy, sometimes inert, especially on an existential and intellectual level. Comfortable and often surrendering, he finds it difficult to say no, to get involved, to take a stand by expressing dissent, to invest energy; as a good mediator/diplomatic he does everything to avoid conflict and to consider and reconcile the various points of view. He finds it very difficult to self-centre himself and to recognize his own needs, forgetting his own point of view and identity, and he is more inclined to feel those of others, converging to the point of forgetting himself. He has strong symbiotic and/or masochistic traits, which make him unable to contact and express his anger. This leads him to narcotize himself with food and things and can be prey to food or other addictions; he tends to abstract himself, to procrastinate, putting secondary activities before the real objectives.
How I live it: I don’t know why but I have a lot of clients NINE. What I’m seeing is that for them to feel anger is wrong, it’s not good. They connect anger to violence, to something terribly wrong, they have often had examples of violence in the family, and have decided not to feel this emotion. In depriving themselves of this emotion, they activate a mechanism whereby they feel the discomfort, but unable to take it out they turn it towards themselves. So they save themselves conflict, but they get hurt.
With the NINE evolved, i.e. for those who have become aware of this mechanism, I feel very well. I have esteem and admiration, I feel their balance, firmness, right action.
I want to tell you once again that this map is just one of many tools for self-knowledge, and it is a map in constant evolution, as we are.
A lot of people don’t like it, others get ideas and benefits from it.
During these last three weeks I hope I’ve given you some insight into your path of self-knowledge. I shared some of my notes and a lot of my own thoughts.
I’d really appreciate your feedback on the topic. Did these readings move anything in you? Write to me and we’ll talk about it together!
