Enneagram Type Five
By Denise L. Dahl, M. A.
Oscar Ichazo, a Bolivian spiritual teacher, developed the basic principles of the Enneagram by drawing on ancient spiritual ideas from Greek philosophy, Taoism, Buddhism, mystical Judaism – the Kabbalah, and early Christianity.
Last month we described Type Four the third of the three feeling types. This month we will describe Type Five – the first of the three thinking types. Next month we will describe Type Six and then finish up with Type Seven. Previous articles on the different types can be found at the PTCI website www.transformationANDcourage.org
As mentioned before, each personality type has a particular Holy Idea (some of them have more than one) and a Virtue to which they especially resonate. When contact with the Holy Idea and the Virtue are lost, the ego substitutes a Fixation and a Passion to compensate for the loss. Here is the Holy Idea, Virtue, Fixation, and Passion for Type Five.
- Holy Idea – Holy Omniscience and Holy Transparency.
- Virtue - Nonattachment.
- Fixation/Personality - Stinginess.
- Passion – Avarice.
Holy Transparency is the insight that we are not separate, isolated individuals with bodies that separate us from everything else. It is the direct experience that we are an inseparable part of the whole. When Holy Transparency, is present we also experience the Holy Idea of Omniscience which is the experience of knowingness.
When Fives lose contact with their Holy Ideas they are convinced that their needs will not be met and no one will nurture them. They feel like things are in short supply and this includes knowledge, time, and energy. This is at the heart of the Fives Fixation of Stinginess. Because they fear they won’t have enough of what they need to sustain them, they hang on to what they do have. Some Fives purposefully live a very frugal and Spartan life so that if a catastrophe comes along, losing everything will be less painful. Hanging on to what they have and not letting go usually are themes that can be found in some area of the Five’s life. It may show up as a tendency to hang onto money or some other material resource but very often it is time (Fives like their privacy and need time to study and gather information), energy, and knowledge.
Holy Omniscience is the experience of knowingness, and when Fives lose contact with this Idea they often feel a need to “know” and understand everything. The loss of contact with Holy Transparency leaves them feeling that they are separate from everything else and that they are alone, weak, helpless, and incapable of functioning in the world. Because they feel inadequate to deal with the world, their reaction is to withdraw and gather knowledge until they feel they have become an expert in something. Mastering a field of study gives them the strength and confidence they need to engage in some kind of activity. But, until they feel they are ready to rejoin the world, they prefer to observe life at a distance and gather the information they need to understand how everything works.
This feeling of being powerless and incapable of coping was an unconscious childhood message that most Fives took in. It says, “It’s not okay to be comfortable in the world.” This message left them questioning whether they were strong enough and capable enough. To compensate for this, they accumulate vast amounts of knowledge in a field of study that interests them, in the hope that it will create a niche for them and help them function in a competent manner.
Fives also learned at an early age that they could overcome painful emotions by withdrawing into their minds. Eventually this leads to becoming identified with their thoughts and mental processes. They withdraw into the privacy of their minds where they can observe life from the sidelines and try to understand and figure things out because this makes them feel safe and secure. One of their defense mechanisms is isolation, which is the process of separating emotional feelings from thoughts and memories. This gives them the ability to recall painful and traumatic events without experiencing the emotional feelings that usually accompany them. Identification with their thought processes makes it hard for Fives to identify their feelings at the time they are happening. They often go off and think about it before they can get in touch with how something has really affected them. If you ask them how they feel they may respond by telling you what they think.
Fives like their privacy and they usually establish strong personal boundaries and give off an air of detachment or superiority that may prevent others from connecting with them. They like predictability and certainty. They may look at things from many angles and spend a great deal of time gathering data and analyzing it before they actually begin to engage in activity. Fives build their personalities around the belief that they need to “know” everything before they are safe and secure enough to function in the world. They gather and fill themselves up with knowledge to avoid feelings of inadequacy and emptiness. They want to gather enough knowledge so that they can be self-sufficient and not depend on others, and they also want to understand everything in the hope that this will give them the confidence that they need to effectively function in the world. Their attention and focus is on the outer world but they actually live in their minds. They spend a lot of time and energy trying to figure things out and trying to understand what is going on around them. Because they feel like they are separate and cut off from life, they can easily slip into believing that they have an affect on the world or the people and things that they observe. They think they can understand and figure things out by being an observer of life instead of a participant. This also serves to keep everything and everybody at a distance.
Psychologically healthy Fives are known for their sharp intellect, intense desire for knowledge, and independence. With their observation and investigation skills they set out to understand how everything works. Their desire for predictability and certainty motivates them to learn enough about the world so that they can explain how it works and be able to predict with certainty what will happen next. You can find Fives in every field of study but because of their observation skills, their objectivity, and the desire to understand things, they are often thought of as the archetypal “scientist.” They also have good listening skills and the ability to be objective and nonjudgmental about people and circumstances. Many become psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, or, because of their love of knowledge, teachers.
Fives prefer to work things out in their mind before taking any action and this sometimes leads to indecision. Because they are very sensitive, they often feel that they are not strong enough to defend themselves from the world, and they retreat to the safety of their mind. They can become too absorbed with their thoughts and mental processes, and this can lead to a preoccupation with what is going on in their mind to the extent that they become too detached from the practical world. Eventually, they may become overwhelmed by an over-active mind. They often find it difficult to put their ideas into action. Fives can get stuck in preparation mode and continuously gather the information and never move into action mode. This need to gather more and more information can become an addiction.
Fives experience stress when they can’t maintain their privacy and the boundaries they have set to keep people at a distance. They don’t like intrusiveness. They also become stressed if they get over-tired and don’t have enough time to learn everything they think they should know before they take action. If they become too stressed, they may come to the conclusion that living in their minds didn’t get them what they wanted, and so they move to Point Seven and take on some of the traits of the average Seven. Sevens seem to be having more fun and they are continuously involved with people and various activities. At Point Seven, Fives become engaged with life. If inaction didn’t work for them, perhaps taking action and seeking pleasure in various ways will be the answer. This can lead to scattered thinking and impulsive behavior and bring about the mental instability and recklessness.
Psychologically healthy Fives have learned to use their thinking, feeling, and instinctive centers in a more balanced way. They are not identified with their thoughts and mental processes. They are clear-headed and have wonderful observation and investigative skills, and they notice everything. They are objective and nonjudgmental about people and circumstances and have a great love of knowledge. They are often lifetime students in whatever field of study piques their interest. They often master many subjects and then find an innovative or inventive way to bring all of that knowledge together in a way that benefits others. They are insightful, mentally alert, and curious. At their best they can be visionaries and possess a deep understanding of the world and how it works. They are objective, open-minded, and capable of seeing the big picture.
When the Enneagram types feel secure, they go toward the Enneagram type that has the qualities that they most need to develop. This is called the direction of integration. For Fives, this is Enneagram Point Eight. When healthy Fives move toward Type Eight, they become more assertive and generous with their time and resources. They become more grounded in their bodies and this gives them a stronger sense of self and more confidence. They become more engaged with life and are able to connect with others on an emotional level as well as on an intellectual level. At Point Eight, Fives feel they have the strength to deal with the world. They no longer feel that others will deplete their time, energy, and knowledge. They can freely give of themselves and allow their energy to flow out into the world instead using most of it to maintain their mental world. They no longer feel the need to isolate themselves and they get in touch with their instinctual energies. This helps them overcome their feelings of vulnerability and weakness. Being present in the body and in touch with their instinctual energies gives them confidence, strength, stability, and the sense that they are capable and competent. They become more trusting and compassionate towards others and can reconnect with the world by reaching out to others and being supportive of them.
The Enneagram Virtues are essential qualities of the heart that are experienced when we are in touch with our true nature. The Virtue of Point Five (or the Five part of us) is Nonattachment. The Passion is Avarice or hoarding. Nonattachment is the ability to see things with an open mind without becoming identified with any particular point of view. The most common definition of Avarice is synonymous with the definition of greed and has to do with a drive for the excessive accumulation of material wealth or gain. However, in terms of the Enneagram, Avarice has more to do with “retention” or hanging on to what one already has. This sense of retentiveness could have something to do with wealth but most often it seems to exhibit itself as a fear that the world does not supply what we need, and so we hang on to what we have and perhaps even restrict our needs so we won’t need too much. Avarice can be something internal or external. Fives may hang on to some of their knowledge and not share everything that they know because it makes them feel secure to know something that others don’t. Their ideal picture of themselves is that they are knowledgeable, perceptive, and wise. Having knowledge that others don’t helps keep this self-image in place.
The antidote for Avarice is the Virtue of Nonattachment. Ichazo assigned Detachment as the Virtue for Type Five but many authors feel that his definition of detachment is more characteristic of Nonattachment. Ichazo defines this Virtue as:
It is the precise understanding of the body’s needs. A detached being takes
in exactly what he needs and lets everything else go. Detachment
[Nonattachment] is the position which allows the energy of life to flow easily
through the body. (Maitri, 2005, p. 201.)
Nonattachment has to do with letting go of the endless identification with thoughts and mental processes and just letting the universe unfold without getting attached to any particular point of view. Then it becomes easier to be compassionate and forgiving – “To understand all is to forgive all. . . It is being in the world but not of the world.” (Riso, Hudson, (2000), p. 50.)
When Fives release the idea that they have to know and understand everything before they become a participant in life, they discover that they are already capable and competent. They quit living in their head and start connecting with their emotions – they reconnect to the world and others. They also realize the importance of living in the present and being grounded in the body. They lose their reputation of being stingy and a hoarder of time, energy, and knowledge and generously share what they have to offer with others. Instead of living a life filled with mental conceptualizations and abstractions they become a participant in life and their quest for knowledge is gradually replaced by direct understanding and inner knowing.
Bibliography
Almaas, A. H. (1998). Facets of Unity: The Enneagram of Holy Ideas. Boston Shambhala Publications, Inc.
Keyes, Margaret Frings (1992). Emotions and the Enneagram. Muir Beach, CA: Molysdatur Publications.
Maitri, Sandra (2000). The Spiritual Dimensions of the Enneagram. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam.
Maitri, Sandra (2005). The Enneagram of Passions and Virtues. 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).
| 
