The Enneagram Institute of Central Ohio, LifeStories

THE ENNEAGRAM WITHIN: Deepening Our Practice
© Belinda Gore, Ph.D., 2007

We have traced the story of the soul’s incarnation into a human personality.

At Point Nine we begin to fall asleep to our True Nature and lose contact with our personal Essence. Because the soul can no longer perceive its connection with the Ground of Being, it begins to experience an Inner Deficiency. There is no perception of an inner foundation.

Very naturally, the soul feels insecure and frightened, reflecting the quality of Point Six. It is at this stage of development, perhaps occurring before we are even out of our mothers’ wombs, that the Basic Fear begins to take form. There is a natural desire to relieve the fear and to find security, and the soul moves to the next point of disintegration, Point Three. At this Point, the soul begins to actively take on a personality structure and starts to believe itself to be the shell it has created. Living in this false belief further deepens the self-forgetting and the soul moves to Point Nine and the cycle continues.

We can learn more about the descent of the soul by following the track of the outer points, from One to Four to Two to Eight to Five to Seven and back to One. However, we most need to understand that we are not condemned to continual disintegration further and further away from our True Nature and Ground of Being. There are two paths available to us on the Journey of Return, through which we learn to live in full awareness of the soul.

The first path is to awaken the soul at the primary Points on the archetypal map. That is the path up the face of the mountain. The more familiar one is what we know as the Path of Integration. As we begin moving up our levels of development within our personality type, we begin to contact what Riso and Hudson call the Security Point, and what Sandra Maitri names the Soul Child. In both cases, they are speaking about the lower to average levels of our Point of Integration. Instead of first expressing this Point in a highly developed way, we find ourselves acting out less appealing behaviors. Maitri suggests that our challenge is to accept and embrace this part of ourselves that was unacceptable in our early lives. By doing so, we can begin to move into the higher levels of development of this Point and support the fulfillment of the personality as it begins to integrate consciously with the soul.

The following summary is taken from the appendix of Maitri’s The Spiritual Dimensions of the Enneagram.

The Soul Child of the Nine wants attention, to be in the spotlight (Three)

By acknowledging and accepting pushiness and drive to success, transform exhibitionism into sincere RECOGNITION OF BEING one’s own person

The Soul Child of the Three is inwardly shy, timid, self-doubting (Six)

By accepting insecurity and holding the child, transform fear into INNER CALM and effortlessness, INNER CONFIDENCE in ability to persevere & bounce back

The Soul Child of the Six wants to avoid the world, and to be comfortable and entertained (Nine)

By doing nothing to find and fix problems, transforms worry into realization that “I am the same as all that exists” and finds TRUE PEACE

The Soul Child of the One wants to play, have a good time, indulge (Seven)

By allowing pleasure-seeking, turn focus away from what is wrong with everything and discovers SIMPLE HAPPINESS and APPRECIATION OF LIFE

The Soul Child of the Seven is inwardly miserly, withholding, withdrawing (Five)

By allowing inner emptiness and avaricious, transforms gluttony into experiential understanding that there is ENOUGH and a true belief that ALL IS WELL

The Soul Child of the Five dreams of being lustily immersed in life and of “getting even” (Eight)

By allowing the bully and bigot, transforms into an embodiment of belly and heart, leading to COURAGE and the belief that life is an adventure

The Soul Child of the Eight is inwardly needy and clingy, a lonely child fearing rejection and wanting to be close (2)

By allowing neediness and pain, heart can open again and feel genuinely CONNECTED

The Soul Child of the Two is inwardly envious of other kids getting what they want, self-pitying (Four)

By putting themselves first, begin to respond to own impulses, fill own needs, set limits with others, become more CENTERED in SELF than self-centered

The Soul Child of the Four is inwardly bossy, pushy, critical of others who don’t follow the rules (One)

By accepting their need to be right and to control, begin to see INHERENT PERFECTION in things as they are, including themselves

In the next issue of THE ENNEAGRAM NEWS we will further explore the Path of Return. See you then!

If you have not subscribed to THE ENNEAGRAM NEWS, you can do so by sending an email to bgore@enneagram-ohio.com.

	SUBSCRIBE TO NEWSLETTER SEND US YOUR LIFESTORIES THE ENNEAGRAM WITHIN: Deepening Our Practice © Belinda Gore, Ph.D., 2007 We have traced the story of the soul’s incarnation into a human personality. At Point Nine we begin to fall asleep to our True Nature and lose contact with our personal Essence. Because the soul can no longer perceive its connection with the Ground of Being, it begins to experience an Inner Deficiency. There is no perception of an inner foundation. Very naturally, the soul feels insecure and frightened, reflecting the quality of Point Six. It is at this stage of development, perhaps occurring before we are even out of our mothers’ wombs, that the Basic Fear begins to take form. There is a natural desire to relieve the fear and to find security, and the soul moves to the next point of disintegration, Point Three. At this Point, the soul begins to actively take on a personality structure and starts to believe itself to be the shell it has created. Living in this false belief further deepens the self-forgetting and the soul moves to Point Nine and the cycle continues. We can learn more about the descent of the soul by following the track of the outer points, from One to Four to Two to Eight to Five to Seven and back to One. However, we most need to understand that we are not condemned to continual disintegration further and further away from our True Nature and Ground of Being. There are two paths available to us on the Journey of Return, through which we learn to live in full awareness of the soul. The first path is to awaken the soul at the primary Points on the archetypal map. That is the path up the face of the mountain. The more familiar one is what we know as the Path of Integration. As we begin moving up our levels of development within our personality type, we begin to contact what Riso and Hudson call the Security Point, and what Sandra Maitri names the Soul Child. In both cases, they are speaking about the lower to average levels of our Point of Integration. Instead of first expressing this Point in a highly developed way, we find ourselves acting out less appealing behaviors. Maitri suggests that our challenge is to accept and embrace this part of ourselves that was unacceptable in our early lives. By doing so, we can begin to move into the higher levels of development of this Point and support the fulfillment of the personality as it begins to integrate consciously with the soul. The following summary is taken from the appendix of Maitri’s The Spiritual Dimensions of the Enneagram. The Soul Child of the Nine wants attention, to be in the spotlight (Three) By acknowledging and accepting pushiness and drive to success, transform exhibitionism into sincere RECOGNITION OF BEING one’s own person The Soul Child of the Three is inwardly shy, timid, self-doubting (Six) By accepting insecurity and holding the child, transform fear into INNER CALM and effortlessness, INNER CONFIDENCE in ability to persevere & bounce back The Soul Child of the Six wants to avoid the world, and to be comfortable and entertained (Nine) By doing nothing to find and fix problems, transforms worry into realization that “I am the same as all that exists” and finds TRUE PEACE The Soul Child of the One wants to play, have a good time, indulge (Seven) By allowing pleasure-seeking, turn focus away from what is wrong with everything and discovers SIMPLE HAPPINESS and APPRECIATION OF LIFE The Soul Child of the Seven is inwardly miserly, withholding, withdrawing (Five) By allowing inner emptiness and avaricious, transforms gluttony into experiential understanding that there is ENOUGH and a true belief that ALL IS WELL The Soul Child of the Five dreams of being lustily immersed in life and of “getting even” (Eight) By allowing the bully and bigot, transforms into an embodiment of belly and heart, leading to COURAGE and the belief that life is an adventure The Soul Child of the Eight is inwardly needy and clingy, a lonely child fearing rejection and wanting to be close (2) By allowing neediness and pain, heart can open again and feel genuinely CONNECTED The Soul Child of the Two is inwardly envious of other kids getting what they want, self-pitying (Four) By putting themselves first, begin to respond to own impulses, fill own needs, set limits with others, become more CENTERED in SELF than self-centered The Soul Child of the Four is inwardly bossy, pushy, critical of others who don’t follow the rules (One) By accepting their need to be right and to control, begin to see INHERENT PERFECTION in things as they are, including themselves In the next issue of THE ENNEAGRAM NEWS we will further explore the Path of Return. See you then! If you have not subscribed to THE ENNEAGRAM NEWS, you can do so by sending an email to bgore@enneagram-ohio.com.
	©2002 Enneagram Institute of Central Ohio