Frédéric Schmitt
Carl Gustav Jung determinated four basic functions: sensing, feeling, intuition, thinking plus consciousness as a fifth function.
Through the study of analytical psychology, Jung explained the idea of quaternary or wholeness. Quaternary is a total of four parts combined to create a whole and in this case, quaternary describes the completion of human beings.
In the psychology of Jung, people have four elements or a quaternary as fundamental patterns depicting thoughts and behavior.
As a circle is whole, there are four equal parts pieced together to form the thoughts of human beings. In the same way, the quaternary composes every individual with four pieces perfectly fitting together to create wholeness. The mandala is an example of quaternary in a depicted form. Carl Jung explained the quality of four parts or the quaternary in people. The pieces are as follows, the mind or intuition, the body or sensation, the intellect or thinking, and emotion or feeling. The four elements or quaternity as described by Jung create the basis of every human being.
Our discovering of the fourth subtype (see more EM, issue 200, ) leads us to give to enneagram the missing part : the female aspect of the totality or the Self. The three centers and the nine types symbolize the male aspect, and the four subtypes the female aspect. The union of the two, is the sacred marriage of the opposites.
On the contrary, and as Jung himself stated, each function is correlated symbolically to an element like that : Sensing : Earth, Feeling : Water, Intuition : Fire and Thinking : Air, so it’s very easy and logic to correlate the four functions to the four subtypes like that :
- Self preservation : Earth and Sensing
- Sexual venus : Water and Feeling
- Sexual mars : Fire and Intuition
- Social : Air and Thinking.
We can represent these four functions with the four Subtypes, with their Yin(Introverted) and Yang (Extroverted ) aspects, on this schema :
In this diagram, the four subtypes are represented in the form of Jung’s famous cross, with the corresponding four elements (Earth, Water, Fire, Air), the four psychic functions of Jung and the three somatotypes of William Sheldon (plus the new somatotype “Venus” we discovered). Each Yin/Yang aspect of the four subtypes, corresponds to the eight characters of the French psychologist Gaston Berger, as well as the eight psychological types described by Jung. (For more details on that topic see EM # 200).
You can find some more explanations on the 8 Jungian functions :
http://www.transpersonalscience.org/types.aspx
A whole article of the subtypes will be published soon in EM. Patience !!
A new article on Enneagram Monthly about Enneagram and constitution and also share your comments with us on enneagram monthly group
Our next article will be on the System of the 5 subtypes of the Enneagram, related to the Cross of Jung, the 5 Wilhem Reich character structures, the 5 Wisdom Families.
Naranjo is credited to have the first put the personality disorders (PD) of DSM IV in the Enneagram (in character and neurosis), but Ichazo before propouned his own classification.
| Ichazo | Naranjo | |
| Type 1 | Obsessive-Compulsive | Obsessive-Compulsive |
| Type 2 | Narcissistic | Histrionic |
| Type 3 | Histrionic | X |
| Type 4 | Borderline | Masochistic |
| Type 5 | Schizoid or Anti-Social | Schizoïd |
| Type 6 | Paranoid | Paranoid |
| Type 7 | Schizotypal | Narcissic |
| Type 8 | Passive-Aggressive | Sadistic |
| Type 9 | Avoidant/Dependent | Dependant |
As note Jeffrey Young (in his book, Shema Therapy), the different personality disorders of the DSM IV correspond mainly to behavior disorders. Young states that the core personality schema is cognitive and emotional, and behavior is a defense mechanism to cope with the schema. In our clinical observations since fifteen years, we clearly see that ennea-types is connected to cognitive and emotional schemas, and subtypes to the behavioral defense mechanism. For example, type 6 is schema of vulnerability. If the subtype is more introverted, the individual will surrender to his schema (phobic 6), and if he is more extraverted he will counter attack his schema (counter phobic 6). It’s exactly the same with the nine types as we already stated earlier (#Enneagram Monthly, Issue N° 206)
Our clinical observations confirm the statement of Young : the personality disorders of the DSM IV is more connected to the subtypes (behavioral defense mechanisms) rather than the types (core personality schemas).
For example,
- sx mars : obsessive compulsive PD,
- sx venus : histrionic PD,
- sc : masochistic PD,
- sp : narcissic PD,
- st : schizoid PD
(sx : sexual, sc : social, sp : self preservation, st : spiritual).
The consequences is that every type can be histrionic (and not only the 2), every type can be narcissic (and not only the 7), every type can be obsessive compulsive (and not only the 1), every type can be masochistic (and not only the 4), every type can be schizoid (and not only the 5).
Most of people say a type is not a behavior, although most of the time, we can hear such things as : he is a 4 because he is an artist, he is a 5 because he is a loner, he is a 1 because he is perfectionist, he is a 8 because he is strong, and so on… but don’t you think that artist, loner, perfectionist, strong… sounds like behavior ?
We need to re define ennea-types for what they are : distortion of perception on a cognitive and emotional level, and subtypes for what they are : behavioral defense mechanisms.
We will deepen that topic in the next article on enneagram monthly.
The link between constitution and enneagram leads us to deepen the knowledge of enneagram. It represents the fondamental basis on which our model is built. In order to understand all its implications it is needed to fully aknowledge what is constitution and how it applies to enneagram.
Body, Energy and Mind:
the anthropological model
In the classic medical traditions, since ancient times, constitution is described on three levels: body, energy and mind. Let’s define these three terms to avoid misunderstandings.
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