Enneagram : The 3 SUBTYPES – Intro (#2)


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SUBTYPE INSTINCTS (cont)

🔷The SEXUAL Instinct (SX) = SNAKE
NOTE : SX is about “attraction”, NOT “one-on-one”, which romance, a heart issue.
In Nature, sexual reproduction helps genetically diversify the species, for survival. This instinct is aggressive, competitive, single-minded, on display, smells, stimulation. Use of energy is intensely creative, fiery, go-get-it, a life-and-death matter.

Humans have a drive to project ourselves into the environment, form alliances & extend ourselves through the generations, to leave a legacy – either by passing on our DNA, or more symbolically through ideas.

SXs types are the most “energized”, most emotionally charged. They fear incompleteness, loss of attachment & attractiveness. It explains why some people are more interested in intensity & shared experiences within special-others, rather than career, fame…..

They look for stimulating objects in their world & need a strong energetic charge in primary relationships, with attention on coupling, & having “chemistry” with others. Without it they stay dissatisfied. They enjoy deep involvement, even merging with others, & become disenchanted with partners who can’t meet their intensity.

SX energy is ‘The World experienced as a mating dance,’ broadcasting the Self as a beautiful object, attempting to allure with the ‘art of me’ (my aesthetic, my music, my art, my taste),
It throws out a net (pheromones) for that certain someone to complete an electrical circuit, a nose for the individualized scent of the soul we long to burn our imprint into, & theirs into us.

It’s Chemistry, not Intimacy. Involuntary attraction & repulsion :
— the sense of being a half-something on the hunt for the other half
— being ‘in heat’ (psychologically), exploring for ‘electrical juice’, the narcotic of attraction
— fanning out electric-colored peacock feathers
— pouring through the keyhole for a peak at something special. but also pushing the envelope, out on the edge
— exposure to potential self-destruction in the other 2 realms of Social & Self-Preservation.

SX energy is a raw narcotic of wanting, untethered by ethics & morality. It’s Reckless, a live wire longing to burn – & be burned to death.
The classical image of Eros’ arrow (erotic attraction) shot through the heart accurately indicates the danger : potential ruin & destruction under the guise of Love.
♥️

The SOCIAL Instinct (SO) = ROOSTER
SO explains a person’s patterns & behaviors which prioritize socializing & the good of the group, the instinct to get along with others & form secure peer-bonds. Attention is on the social structures in our community, with a need to belong, be accepted & therefore feel safe. It emphasizes a high awareness of social norms & status positions / levels, with energy put into a shared purpose or the greater good.

SOs tend to warm, more open, engaging & socially responsible. They want partners who can share their social activities & get involved in projects & events along with them.
They fear alienation, inferiority & loneliness. SOs lose their sense of identity & meaning when not involved with others in activities that go beyond individual interests.

Paradoxically, they tend to avoid long periods of exclusive intimacy & quiet solitude, which feels too limiting.

SOs want to be involved with both a special someone or some group – affiliating, co-creating, participating, contributing.  This is the parenting instinct, the bridge or link between instinct & the same broad-view emotions that inspire animals to care for their young.

SO is the physical sensation of not being a closed circuit (“No man is an Island”). Bonding & relationship-building belong in this category, not with the Sexual Instinct.  “Social” gives the ‘intelligence’ to read people & respond or adapt to them, communicating & interpreting subtleties. All language / words / verbal exchanges are part of this Instinct.

Lofty eternal principles & ideologies get their first push & continued attention from the Social Instinct. It expresses wholesome cleanliness & the ‘white light’ themes of order, law, history, medicine, higher education, government.  

The SO instinct is the connection to history, the participation in the collective human journey, the drive that animates our impulse toward
— the Humanities, altruistic vision, goodwill, the ‘higher good’, the concepts of civilization & religion.

However, It can also go low. It can spark the response that :
—  burns witches at the stake
—  exterminates populations that are deemed ‘diseased vermin’ or those that are lesser/lower in some way…
— or put too much attention on status, rank, respectability, pedigree, reputation, strata, provenance.

 

NEXT : Enneagram

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