Introduction/Background
The key spiritual insight to the Enneagram is that self-actualization (or contemplation or union or enlightenment, to use older terms) is a process that is not exactly the same for everyone, BUT (and that’s a big but) there are some discernible, recognizable patterns that repeat again and again. Therefore, it is helpful to locate your path, so you can figure out how to articulate what is standing in the way of your own actualization. This is vitally important because what is standing in your way will look like it’s the key to your success and survival. That’s what is so tempting about it (because we are still talking about the Deadly Sins, after all). So, let’s see if we can grid out these paths, I’m getting all of this information from Riso and Hudson’s master-work Personality Types. I thoroughly recommend this book, and I’m only redesigning this matrix, because it took me forever to figure out how to read their version. I hope this helps you…
Important Terms
Basic Fear – Your basic fear is that something you avoid at all costs. The wrinkle is that you might not realize what you are actually avoiding. Typically, there are lots of secondary and subsidiary fears, but this is the big one – it is what you existentially dread.
Basic Desire – Your basic desire is the flip-side of the basic fear. It is what you want to do (or want to happen) at all costs in order to protect yourself from your basic fear. You can see here that your Enneagram type is a defense mechanism, but it might not feel like the coping strategy that it is.
(Damaging) Self-Image – Your damaging self-image is the identification that you have internalized about yourself that you need to let go. While this is really the key of the whole process, your damaging self-image (or “ego image”) is likely so deeply entrenched that it seems just as true as the sky being blue, so you can’t just decide to disagree with it.
Levels of Health – There are nine levels of health that Riso and Hudson describe very fully in their works. I heartily recommend reading their books, especially Personality Types and The Wisdom of the Enneagram, but I’ll try and give you the short version here. Try to keep in mind that almost everyone you meet will be in the Average levels (4-6). Very healthy people – paragons, role models, living saints – are the people who consistently live at the Healthy levels (1-3). Conversely, the people you meet who have noticeable and significant issues consistently and/or clinically are the ones who populate the Unhealthy levels (7-9). While we all can to an extent “slide” up and down the scale on our good and bad days, you do tend to have a “home base” level where you consistently make your home. It is only with dedicated spiritual work that this level can change. BUT, it can change over time! That’s the utility of the Enneagram. In this series, I will describe the fears which move someone down the levels of health and the positive, but counterintuitive, attitudes and actions that move one up the levels of health. Of course, the actually moving “up” is easier said than done.
Disclaimer – The recommendations that I offer with regard to counterintuitive truths to move up levels and the warnings that I offer about the fears that may kick you down levels are general in nature. Please do not take them as clinical prescriptions that must apply to you or disregard them if the specifics of the recommendation/warning don’t quite describe your situation. I’m offering them as “food for thought” not “gospel truth.”
General Description of the Levels:
Healthy
Level 1: The Level of Liberation – This is the level where essence shines out rather than personality. The basic fear has been confronted and overcome; the basic desire has been achieved. Great spiritual depth and virtue emerge at this stage.
Level 2: The Level of Psychological Capacity – At this level, one still worries about their basic fear (though maybe only subconsciously), and the basic desire manifests to combat this basic fear. This is still a very healthy individual, but internal anxieties are present. One’s cognitive style (i.e., MBTI) shines through clearly at this stage.
Level 3: The Level of Social Value – Secondary desires (and fears) begin to manifest, and the individual becomes less and less aware of what the root problem (i.e., basic fear) might actually be. She or he begins to “hustle,” becoming more active and contributive to the groups and environment around him or her. One develops a characteristic “persona.” While those around the individual would likely praise the worth of her or him, there has been a subtle shift to what that person adds to the group rather than his or her intrinsic qualities (and the person begins to see herself/himself in the same way). Overall, however, this is still a healthy place to be.
Average
Level 4: The Level of Imbalance – At this level, the individual begins to give in regularly to a characteristic recurring temptation that goes against her/his best interests. As a result, one becomes more defensive and begins to “disappear” into strong identification with a stereotypical role. Beginning at this level, it becomes easier and easier for others to see this person as one of the nine types (because they are really nine “defense mechanisms”).
Level 5: The Level of Interpersonal Control – Beyond initial defensiveness, the individual at this level begins to exert his/her ego to try and control the environment and the people around her/him. “Control” might be asserted through passive or passive-aggressive means, depending on the type. The point here is that the individual has fully moved away from essence into a particular self-image (i.e., ego), and it is now the job of others to prop up and reinforce that image. This level is a turning point. Following the fifth level, the individual is more noticeably deteriorated and disintegrated.
Level 6: The Level of Overcompensation – The person may sense at this point that something is wrong, but it is likely that anxieties, worries, and problems are pointed outward. Others are responsible for his/her problems. Some awareness emerges that the defense tactics of previous levels have failed, so the individual begins to swing more wildly from doing too little to doing too much, always trying to rediscover the point of greatest protection from perceived threats. Also, at this level, one tends to inflict on others actions related to one’s own basic fear.
Unhealthy
Level 7: The Level of Violation – The individual is growing more anxious and desperate at this level, beginning to employ tactics that go against their core self. These actions bring regret, shame, and the fear of being found out. Issues with mental illness are likely but, perhaps, not yet permanent. Typically, this level is reached as a result of extreme environmental stress or severe childhood issues.
Level 8: The Level of Delusional Thinking and Compulsive Behavior – The behavioral and perceptual issues that began to emerge at the previous level become characteristic features of the individual. Their concept of reality may become severely distorted, leading to delusional thinking and compulsive patterns of behavior. Hospitalization and/or incarceration may occur at this level if the person becomes a danger to himself/herself or others.
Level 9: The Level of Pathological Destructiveness – At this final level, the person has reached a fully pathological state. They may fully break from reality or disintegrate entirely from a defined personality. Willingness to destroy self, others, or both in desperate attempts often result in the permanent realization of the basic fear. Mental breakdown, violence, or death likely ensues. Pay special attention to the counterintuitive moves at each level. Those are the “rungs” on the “ladder of ascent” to rediscover your true self, the transcendent essence beyond your ego.
Levels of Health by Type