Intense, Cerebral: Perceptive, Innovative: Secretive, Isolated

Gifts: Exquisite sensitivity, and compassionate visionary, one step beyond the cutting edge.
In Search of: Mastery, to be capable; competent.
Sees Purpose of Life as: To know and understand the universe.
Gifts in Practice: Deep burning laser-like concentration, pioneering visionary, perspective observer, curious, focused innovator -attracted to the exception to the rule, generous and discriminating to those who are interested, perceptive.
Often Seen as: Intense, cerebral type: focused, original, withdrawn, seen as shy, eccentric ‘nerds,’ ‘weirdoes’: intensely pre-occupied, experts in specific (‘unique’ and specialized) areas into which they go deep: quirky off-beat sense of humour; very sensitive, unperturbed by ‘fashion,’ collecting, studious -in search of mastery, intense conceptualizer, plays the “‘what if…” game, often walks – without the whole foot touching the ground.
Wake-Up Call: Moving inside mental world, away from reality.
Wrong Turn: To be observant & bring capacity & agency using the mind.
Compulsive Style: Pre-occupied: pre-occupied often with the dark aspects: scornful, cynical, impatient with others, isolated, secretive, collecting, linking.
Addiction: Avarice, stinginess; holding out and holding onto.
Fear: Of being useless, helpless, incapable – can’t make it in the world, of being overwhelmed.
Avoids: Emptiness.
Defense Mechanism: Compartmentalization: separate thoughts from emotion. Isolation: separates one moment/event/… from another.
Challenge: To show up in an embodied way: can’t know the world from mind alone /through thinking (leads to spaciousness & trust).
Examples: Albert Einstein, F. Nletzche, Stephen Hawking, John Lennon, Vincent Van Gogh, Sigmund Freud, Jodie Foster, Wilhelm Reich, Stephen King, Bill Gates, Emily Dickenson, Georgia O’Keefe, Jean-Paul Sarte, James Joyce, lsaac Newton, Doris Lessing, Bobby Fischer, Glenn Gould, Isaac Asimov, Pierre E. Trudeau, Clive Barker, ‘Hermoine,’ – in Harry Potter series, “Ricky,” in American Beauty. Auguust Strindberg.

Centre: Mind

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Don Riso and Russ Hudson. © 2003. The Enneagram Institute. All Rights Reserved.
Canadian additions, and cartoons © 2004. Penny J. Whillans. All Rights Reserved.