01 Sep Nine Types of Ugly & Nine Types of Embracing

Before you can hug your cactus you first have to admit that you have a cactus. I am sometimes asked, “does everyone have a cactus, or how do I know if I have a cactus to hug.”  My answer is always “don’t worry, you do.”  The point there is that you do not have to be amid a self-imposed crisis to have a cactus or ugly parts of your soul. In those times your cactus will be clearer and more damaging to self and others, but the cactus is always there.  Whether you are in crisis mode or not, it is important to be aware of your cactus and the harm that it can cause at moments notice.  To have that level of self awareness you need to know yourself well enough to know your cactus. Here the Enneagram of Personality can be an extremely helpful tool in identifying the cactus or ugly part of your soul; or how how you get lost in your false self or “glittering image” in the first place.  This also helps you discover the path to come back home to your true self. Identifying the cactus is different from learning to truly hug or embrace it, which will certainly take longer. However, naming this ugly part of self is the essential first step towards healing and a life of new meaning.

The cactus is found in a discernible pattern of behavior over time that can lead to crisis, but almost certainly leads to frustration. Taking the time to learn one’s type can be helpful because, “it’s a matter of inner work that can lend authentically to our spiritual path. At the same time the Enneagram creates new difficulties… for the Enneagram shows us, among the other things, the dark side of our gifts.”[1]  Therefore, your cactus can be found in working through the negative qualities and patterns of behavior related to your Enneagram type.

Here facing the cactus and dying to the ego involves exposing the state of ego deficiency. 

This state of ego deficiency, which can feel like a sense of being valueless, worthless, small, and weak, of feeling completely helplessness, impotent, inadequate, ineffective and suspended without support, forms the deepest layer and therefore the deepest experience of the personality.[2]   

In facing this ego- deficiency you understand that this is not a quick fix, for the cactus hugging journey is something that must be committed to for the long haul. However, “the Enneagram, like the Spirit of truth itself, will always set you free, but first it will make you miserable! So, don’t bail out in the miserable stage.”[3]  The misery here comes in facing your own type of ugliness and cactus. If one’s cactus can be found in the negative or ego feeding qualities of their type I would suggest that there are nine basic types of cacti to hug. Each type on the Enneagram has a virtue that it is striving for and in contrast a passion that the ego is trying to feed at any cost.  These passions can become harmful when taken too far or used to serve the ego, yet they also offer a great place to start in looking for your cactus.[4]

One Reformer : Virtue – Serenity; Passion – Anger. 

Two Helper:  Virtue – Humility; Passion – Pride.

Three Achiever: Virtue – Truth; Passion – Deceit.

Four Individualist: Virtue – Self Reliance; Passion – Envy.

Five Investigator: Virtue – Detachment; Passion – Full Engagement.

Six Loyalist: Virtue – Courage; Passion – Fear.

Seven Enthusiast: Virtue – Sobriety; Passion – Gluttony.

Eight Challenger: Virtue – Innocence; Passion – Lust.

Nine Peacemaker: Virtue – Innocence; Passion – Sloth.[5]

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[1] Rohr and Ebert, The Enneagram, 25.

[2] Sandra Maitri. The Spiritual Dimension of the Enneagram: Nine Faces of the Soul, 31.

[3] Rohr and Ebert, The Enneagram, xxiii.

[4] For a deeper dive into your type, let me suggest going to enneagraminstitute.com.

[5] From Christopher L. Heurtz, The Enneagram of Belonging, pp. 87-101.