Here is where the negative anticipation kicks in. The Enneagram Six’s fight/flight reactions will kick in when they believe that they are being denied access to valid information. They also find their body churning when they worry about being unaware of what is actually going on in a potentially threatening setting. As Helen Palmer observes, Enneagram Sixes has problems with follow-through. I would suggest that this absence of action is a sign of freeze—the option available to human beings who are too weak to fight their foe and too slow to get away from the impending threat. In this state of freeze, the Enneagram Six may, as Helen Palmer suggests, be all-thought and no-action. Alternatively, they may appear to be thinking but are actually churning with the adrenaline that accompanies freeze. With no action in the face of a threat comes the body-destroying impact of sustained stress. While Enneagram Three is inclined to burnout because of the number of real threats they face in this ambitious life, the Enneagram Six is inclined to burnout because of their inability to successfully confront the imagined or real threats that they face in their work and life.
Enneagram Seven: The Epicure
As we enter the world of Enneagram Seven, the vista is filled with hope, promise, vision, and an enjoyment of the “lush life.” All of this requires a fair amount of redirected and distorted anticipation of reality. Helen Palmer (Palmer, 1991, pp. 275-276) has this to say, in summary, about the Sixes. She begins by grouping together three of the Enneagram types:
“Points Five, Six, and Seven, grouped on the left side of the Enneagram, represent three different strategies for dealing with childhood fear. Sixes, at the core fear point, overprepare by vigilantly scanning the environment, and Fives withdraw from whatever makes them afraid. Sevens, looking not at all concerned, move toward people in an attempt to charm and disarm with pleasantry. Faced with a frightening early life, Seven children diffused their fear by escaping into the limitless possibilities of imagination. Sevens do not broadcast anxiety. They do not look afraid. They tend to be lighthearted and sunny, often addicted to planning and play. . . . This is the point of Peter Pan, of the Puer (and Puella) Aeternus, the eternal child. This also is the point of Narcissus, the youth who fell in love with the image of his own face reflected in a pool.”
It is not surprising that Helen Palmer references several mythic and literary figures when describing the world of the Enneagram Seven. I would add another image, inspired by the work of Michael Goldberg, who has written about both the Enneagram (Goldberg, 1999) and Homer’s Odyssey (Goldberg, 2006). I would suggest that the Enneagram Seven aligns with the world of the lotus eaters to be found in the Odyssey (and other romantic tales). Eating the intoxicating leaves of the Lotus plant, the inhabitants of a mythic Mediterranean island find no purpose in life other than to savor the dream-like life they are leading. As Epicureans, the Sixes seek out and enjoy many things in their life – food, music, art, drama, or sightseeing.
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