Energy and The Enneagram Part III

Energy and the Three Triads
We've been talking about the "energy" of the Enneagram types in the latest blog posts. What is energy? How does this play out for each of the types.

The dictionary uses substance, intensity, spirit, and strength as synonyms for the word energy. We might even use the word vibration. We notice an energetic of each person we meet, though we usually don’t use the word energy to describe them. We might say “s/he really takes up a lot of space.” “I feel uplifted and excited just being around them.” “It feels like s/he doesn’t have much flexibility, once a decision’s been made.” It’s like his body’s in the room, but he’s somewhere else.”

These statements are all descriptions of energetic states that we sense. Feeling and sensing our environment are aspects of emotional intelligence and natural to us as human beings. We can also sense the energy of other people. And each of the Enneagram types has its own particular energetic. It is as if each of us has a force field that contains our energy or life force.

Each triad of the Enneagram is driven by an emotion linked to the primary intelligence center. The gut triad is driven by anger, the head triad by fear, and the heart triad by grief. Individual types within the triad play out the emotion in a different manner. In each group of three, one type externalizes the emotion, one type internalizes the emotion, and the third type has “forgotten” that emotion. The underlying emotion and the primary center of intelligence seem to ‘create’ the energy or force field of each of the type. Therefore the energy or force field is embodied very differently by each of the Enneagram types.

In attempting to recognize another person’s type, sensing their energy or force field can be invaluable. We all may embody all the traits and characteristics of the Enneagram types at different times or in different situations. The energy we feel from another can give us clues as to how they come at the world and narrow down their type for us.

Energy - Sensing The Force Field

In our attempt to discover another’s type, we can tap into our emotional intelligence and sense their energy or vital force. In blog posts to come, we'll examine descriptions of each type and how their energy or ‘force field’ feels to the rest of us. In so doing, we gain a map reading tool in finding another individual’s type on the Enneagram map.

It may be helpful in our understanding of the specific manifestation of the force field for each type to examine the triad, the underlying emotion, and the drive the emotion fuels. Most important, we will learn how to meet and honor other energies vis a vis their Enneagram types. Energy becomes a profound tool for understanding and connecting with others.