• Holy Ideas – Holy Plan, Holy Work, Holy Wisdom.
• Virtue - Sobriety.
• Fixation/Personality – Planning.
• Passion – Gluttony.

The Holy Ideas for Type Seven are Holy Plan, Holy Work, and Holy Wisdom.  Holy Plan is the insight that there is a Divine Plan that is present in our inherent nature and if we are true to who we are in the moment, our unfoldment will happen on its own.It is the understanding that there is a specific universal design for everything including all human beings.It encompasses the idea of, “as above so below.” Holy Work is whatever work we do in the “here and now.”When we are not in our planning mind things happen in a spontaneous way and our life moves according to a universal design instead of in some haphazard way.Holy Wisdom is the perception that reality is actually a succession of moments which we experience as the “here and now” – the present - and by living in the present, we experience the continuous unfolding of the universe.

When Sevens lose contact with their Holy Ideas they start believing that their needs will not be met by the universe. That there is a separate plan and a separate personal unfoldment for them. They feel lost and don’t know what to do or which direction to take. Their Fixation is Planning.This refers to the reaction they have to the loss of their Holy Ideas. Because they don’t think the universe has a plan that will take care of their needs and their unfoldment, they try to imitate their Holy Idea by mapping and planning their own care and personal unfoldment. This plan will ensure that they are never in pain or never experience deprivation again.

Sevens build their ego identity around the desire to always be happy and partake of the many pleasures of life. They may have received a message as a child that expressing fear, pain, or negativity of any kind was unacceptable. Anything negative must be reframed and presented as something positive. Nothing is too difficult – everything will turn our okay in the end. As a result, they always see the glass as half full instead of half empty. They put a happy face on everything.

Sevens are usually energetic, cheerful, optimistic, playful, and a lot of fun to be around. They are great entertainers and love to regale others with their stories. Sevens have been labeled the “Enthusiasts,” the “Eternal Youth,” and the “Peter Pans of the Universe.” They are often seen as the “happy wanderers” and others see them as carefree and light-hearted.

Sevens are always mapping and planning the next great adventure. In fact, they often get more pleasure from the planning and the anticipation of things to come then they do from the actual culmination of their plans. They are dreamers. They get enthusiastic about their plans but when they actually come to fruition, they don’t live up to their expectations. This may be because they live in the future instead of the present and once they are living that experience, their minds automatically jump to plans for the next great thing that they will embark upon instead of enjoying what is.

This constant planning and mapping is the Seven’s attempt to find the satisfaction and contentment they felt when they were in contact with their Holy Idea.They keep searching for that same sense of fulfillment but they don’t know what will fulfill them so they tend to “taste” and “sample” everything. Behind this drive for pleasure and happiness is their need to avoid physical and emotional pain at all costs. They don’t like to be uncomfortable or to be around overly serious people. This can result in them getting too caught up in their personalities. They may become restless and seek more and more experiences in hopes of finding the happiness and contentment that they seek. They want more choices; more options but may be reluctant to commit to any of them because if they do, they may miss out on something better.

The more Sevens indulge their appetite for new experiences and new pleasures the more difficult they find it to deny themselves anything.They become more impulsive and find it increasingly difficult to defend against painful feelings. This brings on another round of scheduling and planning that will provide stimulating and exciting experiences to keep their mind off anything that might interfere with them having a good time.When their energy is used to avoid pain and anxiety, Sevens think that planning and anticipating the future will bring happiness and satisfaction to them but instead they risk becoming shallow and impulsive with less and less will power to resist even the most minor impulses.

As with Types Five and Six, the underlying issue for Sevens is fear. Despite the fact that others see them as cheerful, light-hearted, and confident, deep down Sevens see the world as a fearful, threatening place. When they lose contact with their Holy Ideas they no longer feel supported and loved by the Universe. This creates a great deal of pain and fear. Their way of dealing with this fear is to put a positive spin on everything. They use intellectual activities such as mapping, planning, and brainstorming as ways to exert control over their feelings of pain and anxiety. They may jump from one planned activity to another in an effort to overcome boredom but this is also an effort to keep their attention focused externally so that they don’t have to face any internal discomfort. They are very good at setting their feelings aside and living in their mind.

Sevens value spontaneity and have a tendency to follow their impulses regardless of the outcome. As a result their energy and attention can become scattered. They may go from one idea to the next and keep anticipating possibilities for the future. This eventually leads to a great deal of stress and because they can’t focus and accomplish as much as they would like, they take on the characteristics of an average Type One to gain more organization and self-control. But they soon feel trapped and restricted by their self-imposed limitations (at Point One) and become irritable and frustrated. They may become critical and judgmental of themselves and others. This doesn’t fit in with their ideal ego-image of themselves as happy-go-lucky, eternally positive people and they are soon back to their old routine of mapping and planning to avoid confronting any internal conflict.

Sevens often have the attitude that it is their job to keep others happy and entertained. When they are with people they feel secure with, they may get tired of this role and take on some of the characteristics of an average Five. They may become withdrawn and get tired of expending their energy on others. They become focused, preoccupied, and seek the privacy of their own company until they can restore their depleted energy.

The Passion for Sevens is Gluttony. Gluttony is usually defined as in eating but it can also mean a huge appetite for anything such as food, drink, drugs, books, knowledge, ideas, etc. Sandra Maitri describes it as “an attachment to consumption.It is a need to be constantly taking something in, chewing and tasting rather than fully digesting anything.”(2001, pp. 238-239)< Gluttony for Sevens is a way of handling their anxiety. Their anxiety comes up when they are not receiving stimuli from the outside world. An inner hunger arises and behind that hunger pain and the feeling of being deprived of something. When Sevens feel this, their immediate reaction is to fill this gap with external experiences or something else that will make them happy. Maitri believes this is an attempt to recapture the “lost paradise within” – the lost connection with mother and on a deeper level, the lost connection with Essence – their true nature.

The antidote for the Passion of Gluttony is Sobriety or moderation. Sevens love to be cheerful, happy, bubbly, and upbeat and Sobriety doesn’t sound like much fun to them. However, Sobriety doesn’t require somberness and seriousness. Ichazo defines it this way. “[Sobriety] gives the body its sense of proportion. A being in the state of Sobriety is firmly grounded in the moment, taking in no more or no less than it needs, expending precisely as much energy as necessary.” It means living in the present moment instead of mapping and planning the future and jumping from one activity to the next.

Riso and Hudson describe Sobriety as a feeling of being “awake, sober, and in clear contact with our immediate experience. . . it is like a crisp morning or a refreshing breeze.”(2000, p. 55)

While Gluttony makes us feel that our emotions are out of control, Sobriety is experienced as a sense of quiet satisfaction and peaceful contentment. We are grounded in the present moment.It also brings a sense of gratitude for life just as it is in the present moment. We find that we don’t have to constantly plan and anticipate the future and that happiness is found in the journey itself; not the destination. The closer we get to our destination the more we experience the Essential quality of Joy which is the natural expression that spontaneously arises when we are in our true nature. Joy is a simple happiness filled with gratitude and appreciation for what we have. Along with this experience of Joy comes trust that there is a Divine Plan and that we are a part of that Plan.We trust that our personal and spiritual growth will unfold in just the right way.

Bibliography

Almaas, A. H. (1998).  Facets of Unity: The Enneagram of Holy Ideas.  Boston Shambhala Publications, Inc.

Lilly, John C. & Hart, Joseph E. (1994). The Arica Enneagram of the Personality Who am I?: Personality Types for Self-Discovery.  New York: Jeremy P.Tarcher/Putnam.

 Maitri, Sandra (2000).  The Spiritual Dimensions of the Enneagram.  New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam.

Riso, Don Richard & Hudson, Russ (1999). The Wisdom of the Enneagram.  New York: Bantam Books.

Riso, Don Richard & Hudson, Russ (2000).Understanding the Enneagram: The Practical Guide to Personality Types.   New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.  (Original work published 1990)