Enneagram Type 7 - The Enthusiast
Characterological Structure
Modern Enneagram
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Passion: Gluttony
Fixation: Self-indulgence The cognitive support for gluttony which allows the E7 to replicate the relationship with their parents in their relationship with other people. Using words and creative fantasies they change the perceptive reality of other people to suit their desires, creating a permissive environment where the E7's selfish insatiability appears acceptable to others.
Defense Mechanism: Rationalization The invention of a reason for an attitude or action the motive of which is not acknowledged[4]. It reinterprets the reality of a situation or one's actions, focusing on positive aspects in order to justify or explain one's behavior by making it appear good and noble, thus getting around obstacles to one's pleasure as well as fleeing from consequences, setbacks and feelings of guilt.
Basic Traits: Hedonistic, permissive, rebellious, indiscipline, seductive, persuasive, narcissism. |
Passion and Fixation
Nothing is seriously forbidden to the self-indulgent, for there is a sense that authority is bad and one who is clever may do what she wishes.
(Claudio Naranjo, 1994)
The passion which defines the E7's lower emotional habit is Gluttony and the cognitive support to this passion which is the fixation is Self-indulgence. Gluttony in its religious undertones may refer more to the literal meaning of eating without satiability, while the passion of gluttony more so refers to having a sweet tooth for all of life, wanting to fill it with good experiences in order to avoid pain at all cost. The glutton chooses only that which provides an element of pleasure and satisfaction and has a neglect for everything that may provide dissatisfaction, under-stimulation, and most importantly, suffering.
The pleasure of the search for stimuli requires a constant movement that prevents the E7 from feeling the lack or frustration that the world, obviously, puts in front of them. If someone or something disappears, it’s enough to just go toward something else pleasant.
- 27 Personalities in Search of Being
In this denouncement of suffering and complete avoidance of it, the E7 forgets how to suffer and they end up cultivating an underlying anxiety which only grows more it is frustrated the more it is avoided. However, such an insatiable and selfish attitude does not exist in a void, it was brought up in a world which seeks to suppress hedonism in the name of civility. As a result, the glutton develops the fixation of self-indulgence, a means of making their gluttony acceptable to the people around them through intellect and strategy, using a verbal intelligence which is persuasive to both others and to themselves.
In some cases we may speak of a “cosmic okayness,” in which the individual’s contentedness is supported by a view of the world in which there is no good or evil, no guilt, no shoulds, no duties, and no need to make any efforts—for it is enough to enjoy.
- Character and Neurosis
Rebellion, Charlatanism, & Narcissism
Just as in the E2, the basis of seduction in the E7 is projection. The E2 projects their own unconscious feelings of deficiency in love onto other people and then nurture them in order to feed their passion, and the E7 does much the same. The project in others their own unconscious feelings of void, a background anxiety which is the basis of Nihilism and annihilation which they project onto others. Through their verbal intelligence they show others the bright side of life, a notion of "eat and be merry for tomorrow we die," which implicitly conveys an image of annihilation covered up by the realization of the true desire to live happily and optimistically. In this, others build an image of goodness around the E7, which the E7 uses as a support to their narcissism and self-fascination. So it happens that the E7 uses intellect and words to shape reality through conveying the glorified fantasy of paradise, making them excessively opportunistic characters. Naranjo refers to it as "selling dreams as realities."
When I first heard Ichazo’s ideas of Protoanalysis, this was in Spanish, and he used the word “charlatan” for the ennea-type VII individual (and “charlatanism” for the fixation). This word also needs to be understood in more than a literal manner: that the glutton is one who approaches the world through the strategy of words and “good reasons”—one who manipulates through the intellect. Ichazo’s later word for this personality, “ego-plan,” makes reference to the fact that the “charlatan” is also a dreamer—indeed, his charlatanism may be interpreted as a taking (or offering) dreams as realities.
- Character and Neurosis
This image of goodness, which first came from their relationship with their parents, allows the E7 to do whatever they please. They live according to the idea that so long as one is intelligent enough, there is no law which can ultimately tell them what they can or can't do, and they avoid prosecution through their strategic avoidance of consequences. This may entail an excessive charlatanism and knack for lying which persuades others of a perspective they have never seen before, or to conceal a perspective the E7 does not want them to see.
Because of this the E7 is a rebellious character, although it is not the same rebellion as in E8. Naranjo uses the word "anti-conventional" to refer to a rebellion which is not coarse, intense, and violent, but to a rebellion which regards the manipulation and subversion of the conventions of intellectual society.
The glutton shares rebelliousness with the lustful character, but this is not an open, direct form of rebelliousness, but indirect and subtle, for which a different word is more appropriate: anti-conventionalism. This character disdains the habitual and always feels attracted to the unusual and innovation.
- Character and Neurosis
Defense Mechanisms
It should come as no surprise, then, that the E7's defense mechanism is rationalization, the invention of a reason for an action whose motive is otherwise unacknowledged. This involves a distraction from the real reasons of the E7's action and reformulates it into a justified and good reason, one that is satisfactory to live by. We can think of it like a counter-reaction-formation, where instead of justifying a perfection which inhibits the impulses, the impulses are justified
In the analogy given in E1's page, Aristotle (E1) is given as an example as the primary factor in the defeat of sophism in hermetic philosophy. In this way, sophism corresponds to E7, as this is a type who relativizes truth according to how it best suits their interests. Just as the E7 is convinced of their ability to convince anyone of their fantastical delusions, they also subconsciously conceive mankind as a primarily moral species, and man can be convinced that anything is moral, therefore moral fact is not only irrelevant, but a useful rhetorical device. Through rationalization the E7 relativizes the importance of truth to themselves, if an action aligns somewhat with an external code of conduct it is easy to rationalize without mental gymnastics, but if it goes against it or supersedes it, the E7 may change the code to fit the action.
But among the ills of the world there is one which is fairly serious, that has to do precisely with this light attitude: corruption. If one believes in nothing, if one implicitly thinks that authority is of no use, that the system is corrupted, then one must do what is the most convenient for oneself. And with many people like that, it is impossible for the collective to function.
- Enneagram of Society, Naranjo
in Character and Neurosis there are more defense mechanisms which are mentioned in relation to E7. One of them stems from rationalization as idealism, which supports the E7's "cosmic okayness" that everything is not only okay, but has the capacity to be realized into a grand ideal. The E7 tends to idealize themselves in their self-fascination, but lacks any trace of this mechanism in the face of authority figures.
The third defense mechanism is sublimation, the transformation of impulse into socially desired outcomes, veiling selfishness behind altruism.
Childhood - Active Child vs Responsive Parent
The permissiveness of the child begins with the permissiveness of the parents, who responds to their demands and needs with a support and benevolence that creates a carefree and optimistic household, one that may secretly be supported by a need for toxic positivity. In some cases, the child lives in an aggressive and oppressive household which the child learns how to use their intellect to survive in. With this support from the childhood they quickly develop a self-confidence that flowers into narcissism, a narcissism that they are always intelligent enough to get what they want precisely because they were able to seduce the parents into permitting them to do many things. They take these seductive and verbal abilities with them into the real world and seduce others into doing the same for them.
Theophrastus & Commedia Dell'arte
Theophrastus - "Loquacity"
And when he has left a few (people) speechless, he is the one who then speaks to the groups and dedicates his time to distracting the people who have met to talk about a subject. He goes to the classrooms or to the wrestling school and bothers the students who are having lessons by gossiping with their teachers and trainers.
With his verbiage, he impedes the development of a trial or the contemplation of a spectacle at the theater or people from eating their dinner at ease ...
- Enneagram of Society
Commedia Dell'arte - Arlecchino
I am Arlecchino Batocio, from Bergamo, the humblest of servants of my lords. Who is this little man under the tracagnotto? He seems to be made of rubber, with his jumping and prancing around, with the pirouettes he mixes with his words. He uses a leather mask with two small holes for the eyes. He certainly is not handsome, but rather the opposite. Is he frightening? No! Look at the funny way he moves, his parrot-like voice, the lively expressions that he mixes with the nonsense that comes out of his mouth ... You don’t know whether he is a bit stupid or whether he pretends to be, and the trouble he stirs up is done without malice, and he is the one who ends up the most entangled of all. He does not have much of a desire to work, just a little, he is a servant by trade, who never finds a master who is content with him. His wages are often made up of potatoes and thrashings with a stick. Whether he merits them or not, that is the question. It’s not my fault I’m ignorant, he sustains, and tells whoever wants to hear that when he was going to school a curious accident occurred: a cow ate his books with great relish. How could I interrupt such a substantial meal? I didn’t have the courage. I let the cow eat the spelling book, the Pythagorean table, and all the other sources of science, down to the last page. Since that day on, poor thing, he has not been able to study. This may not be a good excuse, but the story works for Arlecchino, and he himself is the first to believe it … One thing he is never without: hunger. He is eternally hungry. When he is finally about to fill the huge hole that he feels in his stomach—which seems to last him days, weeks, months—ninety times out of a hundred, something stands between him and his meal. And now he dreams. His name, Arlecchino, is derived from the word lecchare (to lick) in reference to hunger and gluttony. (He was probably first called Lecchino and then Arlecchino.)
Idealized Aspect - The Yellow
The Essential Aspect of the Yellow is the experience of joy, delight, appreciation, and simple happiness. It is a warmth in the heart, which might be ebullient and bubbly or calm and deep. Sevens want to feel this gentle happiness rather than their parched and dry inner emptiness. So they look for stimulating ideas and things to get excited about, and their style is one of appearing optimistic, enlivened, enthusiastic, and above all, okay. They try to plot their course toward whatever holds the promise of joy, and so mapping and planning are central to their process. Lacking trust in their natural unfoldment, they try to make their inner process conform to their mental map, which they hope will lead them to the treasure that will finally bring them happiness. Driven by fear of how things will unfold, they always have backup maps and plans. They usually have many different things they are interested in and can get excited about, and lose their motivation when things get repetitive and difficult. Sevens often seem wired and mental, charming and talkative, but sometimes leaving you wondering where the substance is.
- The Spiritual Dimension of the Enneagram, Maitri
Protoanalysis
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Fixation: Planning Trap: Idealism Holy Idea: Holy Work Passion: Gluttony Virtue: Sobriety |
Structure
“The idealist starts testing himself in some adventure [VI], the active, that will lead him to move to the next point where he will want to make justice [VIII] for all, the attractive. Frustrated by reality, the function, he moves to his fixation where he is going to elaborate idealistic plans, the result.”
Point 7 is known as “Ego-Planning”. The fixation is also known as “Over-Idealist”.
“The over-idealist character plans for the future, farther than he can see. The result is over-enthusiasm. He carries out his plans outside with enthusiasm until they fail. Enthusiasm then turns to the inside, and he becomes isolated by his internal plans.”
As John C. Lilly explains, "If a little of something is pleasant, then an unlimited amount should bring unheard-of pleasures, so the Ego Plan feels. This projection of present enjoyment into future ecstasy through more and more of the same is a recurring emotional reaction to the good, though each time it ends in uncomfortable satiation and physical distress."[8]
This ego derives from the Practical Ego, which is a response to the Adaptation Instinct. The planner strategically plans to avoid unpleasant experiences it does not want to have, so the question of "where am I?" is answered by strategic movement through reality and a happy state of mind. The psychic poison of the Adaptation Instinct at the root of Ego-Planning is Mythomania, confusing reality with the fantasy of his ideals.
Ego-Planning experiences a sense of being Inferiorized in the childhood relationship with siblings and/or peers.
The main ego-characteristic of this fixation is Dreaming, creating ideals which glamorize life out of the lens of an inferior perspective. The Passion which feeds this ego is Gluttony which is a voracious consumption of ideas and pleasant experiences. The primary defense mechanism is Displacement, redirecting negative thoughts that were originally aimed at the original source to somebody else, or a repression of these thoughts and warping them into something positive. Worsening of this fixation can lead to Schizotypal Personality Disorder. A secondary defense mechanism is Disassociation. Further worsening leads to psychosomatic illness.
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Domain of Position and Authority |
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Self-Respect |
Modesty |
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- |
Superiority |
Inferiority |
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= |
Pretentious |
Loser |
Domain
Becoming fixated in the Domain of Position and Authority, there is a swing to the dichotomies of that domain. This can manifest in a positive sense as Self-Respect on one side, or Modesty at the other side. It can manifest in a negative sense as Superiority at one extreme or Inferiority at the other extreme. These dichotomies are represented by two characters: the Pretentious character at one end, the Loser at the other. Rivalries invade the consciousness in this domain. The stress of being fixated and imbalanced in this domain can lead to Gluttony as a compensatory mechanism. The poison of this domain is Confusion of thought.
Dichotomies
Inhabitants
Reconciliation
The Trap which simultaneously restricts but potentially liberates this ego is its focus on Idealism. The Way of self-realization of this ego is the Way of Presence, continuously being aware of the Presence of the Eternal.
The Holy Idea which acts as a catalyzer for the transformation of this ego is Holy Wisdom or Divine Wisdom (sometimes described as Holy Work). This can lead to the Virtue (energy) of Sobriety.
According to Ichazo, Divine Wisdom (or Work) is:
“The awareness that Reality exists as a succession of moments, each experienced as ‘the present,’ and that it is only by existing in the present that the constant unfolding of the Cosmos [can] be experienced. Only by working in the present can real work be done and real results achieved.”
On the Symbol
Lines to E5 and E1
Antipode to E2
This antipode is also called the "oral-positive" axis, which represents the psychosexual stage of being fixated on orality. The focus is on false positivity, warmth, friendliness, liveliness, hedonism, narcissism, and impulsivity, with the E2 enacting an emotional seduction and the E7 enacting a verbal and intellectual seduction. The E7 is in the paternal triad and is seductive of the mother, while the E2 is in the maternal triad and is seductive of the father. These characters are also known as the pseudo-socialites for their outwardly seductive demeanor that allows them to satisfy what they want, appearing to be pro-social, but in reality serving the hedonistic impulse.
E6 and E8 Adjacence
Triads
Corner
Intellectual - Emotional
Being located in the head triad, the E7 is a highly intellectual character whose primary neurosis orbits the distortion of information in delusion, as evidenced by their excessively visionary and idealistic attitude accompanied by their propensity to sell dreams as realities. This is the most curious character on the Enneagram as their gluttony is primarily intellectually oriented. It is also noted how, as is characteristic of the triad of doing, they have a resourcefulness that extends to the collection of means for action, rather than acting in itself.
The emotional auxiliary is expressed in E7's way of interpreting the pleasurable experience, as the need for good is supported by the need to feel good. It is like the endless pursuit of dopamine which trigger emotions of happiness and avoid the emotions of suffering and of privation. Through this emotional elaboration they are able to further validate their location in existence as a full and indubitably human one.
Hornevian
Moving-toward
Considering the seemingly capable and independent nature of the E7 it might be hard to imagine them as a type who is characterized by pervasive helplessness and a dependency on others. Even so, these patterns are traceable from their childhood experiences to their mapping on the Enneagram. In childhood the E7 felt as though they must seduce one of the parents (often the mother) into providing a permissive and indulgent environment that the E7's childishness was allowed to flourish in. As he repeats this relationship with other people in his life, he expresses a fundamental idea that he cannot be be without others, he cannot be deprived of this affectivity and emotionality for the good things in life.
Just as Horney explicates of the compliant type, there is also an underlying repressed aggression to the E7's actions which constitute the selfish reality of this character, and the subsequent neurotic need, the need to make this action socially acceptable, corresponds to the compliant type's need to decorate with good reasons. Naranjo also notes that the fixation of the E7, self-indulgence, comes from a place of privation "It is curious that self-indulgence is described by some sources as a feeling of pity towards oneself in the face of situations that are perceived as adverse" (Golosos), and similarly, Horney explains that one of the compliant type's fundamental characteristics is a "pervasive feeling of weakness and helplessness" (Our Inner Conflicts). However, Horney does not say that this is an explicitly conscious acknowledgement, rather, it may often be unconscious and still yet used as an excuse for one's egocentric desires. Just as in the E7, whose preceding flow type is E5, a type highly identified with the underdog of their superego.
Other things that correspond are the "cosmic okayness" of the E7, who may invariably view others as "good" and through their rationalization see only the idealistic images of others that they have. In the compliant type, the very same thing occurs out of a need to quell the notions of a threatening and deprived reality. As the basis of seduction, the E7 also projects onto others their own depravity in order to realize people's "true desires," that which comes most natural. Likewise:
In sum, this type needs to be liked, wanted, desired, loved; to feel accepted, welcomed, approved of, appreciated; to be needed, to be of importance to others, especially to one particular person; to be helped, protected, taken care of, guided. When in the course of analysis the compulsive character of these needs is pointed out to a patient, he will be likely to assert that all these desires are quite "natural."
- Our Inner Conflicts
Love
Erotic (eros) - Compassionate (agape)
The love expressed in the E7 is dominated by the self-referential and child-like eros, as this is a hedonistic character who puts themselves in the pursuit of pleasurable experiences, and subsequently express a dominant "pleasure-love" which is flighty and exploitative. Secondary to eros is compassion which is linked to the E7's emotional nature in comparison to the rest of the head types (intellectual - emotional) and is based similarly on the E2's compassion. The E7 tends to enjoy giving love by seducing the other, not only expressing the selfish love of the child but also an amiable and socially adjusted love used to seduce, further serving love directed at themselves.
Freudian
Id
The E7 corresponds to the domination of the id in the psychic structure as this is a type mostly led by their whims and desires, and whose adjacence with a superegoic type causes an integration of fantasy and delusion into these desires. They are most clearly led by their individual impulses for pleasure and satisfaction like a child.
References
[1] Naranjo C. (2019), Psicología de los Eneatipos - Golosos: Tramposos, Soñadores y Charlatanes; 15
[2] Naranjo C. (2012), 27 Personajes en Busca del Ser; 333
[3][5] Naranjo C. (1994), Character and Neurosis: An Integrative View; 161-166
[4] Jones, E. (1908), Rationalization in every-day life
[5] Lluíz F., Naranjo C. (2019), Psicología de los Eneatipos - Golosos: Tramposos, Soñadores y Charlatanes; 508
[6] Ichazo Ó. (2022), Letters : The Ultimate Purpose of the Arica School, Beyond Plagiarism and Misuse
[7] Ichazo Ó. (1976), The Human Process for Freedom and Enlightenment
[8] Lilly J. C. & Hart J. E. (1975), The Arica Training
[9]Beatrice Chestnut(2021),The Complete Enneagram: 27 Paths to Greater Self-Knowledge
[10]https://www.enneagraminstitute.com/type-7
[11]Riso and Hudson(1999),Personality Types Using the Enneagram for SELF-DISCOVERY
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Edit: all done