Archetypal Journey (Levels of Consciousness)

From least to most conscious, these archetypes represent the varying ways that a human may respond to the core motivation arising out of point 1 on the Enneagram. 

“Everyone learns their lessons in a different order. My experience has humbled me to that. I resolve my inner critic, first and foremost, by accepting myself. I seek to reform the world, first and foremost, by accepting others. I aim to build bridges with love rather than destroy others’ creations with hate.”

Integration and Disintegration / Connecting Points

Examples/Helpful Resources/Suggestions

1. The Tao Te Ching 

A spiritual classic, full of helpful passages for balancing energies and tips for embodying the Humble, Humane Reformer archetype.

“Simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures. Simple in actions and thoughts, you return to the source of being. Patient with both friends and enemies, you accord with the way things are. Compassionate toward yourself, you reconcile all beings in the world.” – Lao Tzu

2. The Gifts of Imperfection (Book) and Braving the Wilderness (Book) by Brené Brown, Ph.D 

The beauty of the Tao Te Ching is that it is a simple and impersonal document of timeless truth. The downside of the Tao Te Ching is that it is simple and impersonal, and that can make its timeless truth sometimes seem unapproachable or difficult to grasp. 

Brené Brown is a researcher and licensed social worker who has studied shame, fear, vulnerability, and empathy for over twenty years; interviewing thousands of people on these topics. Despite her academic background, her books are full of personal stories, struggles, and anecdotes. That could be seen as a downside, but that is also the beauty of her writing. You don’t just get research, you get the story of a researcher endeavoring to live the implications of her findings. Brown’s book, The Gifts of Imperfection provides helpful insights into universal human topics: shame, vulnerability, courage, authenticity, anger, perfectionism, resilience, love etc… Yet, because of her interwoven personal narrative, it can be also be read as an autobiography of a Enneagram 1*. Gifts of Imperfection was released in 2010 and largely portrays the narrative of the Self-Critical Perfectionist striving towards the ideals of the Humble, Humane Reformer.  A more recent book, 2017’s, Braving the Wilderness shows growth, maturity, and more embodiment of the Humble, Humane Reformer: “And if our faith asks us to find the face of God in everyone we meet, that should include the politicians, media, and strangers on Twitter with whom we most violently disagree. When we desecrate their divinity, we desecrate our own, and we betray our faith.”  

*(Brown largely comes off as a 1w2 throughout the book, although you can also see influence from a nine wing, the five-ness of academia, and the three-ness of being a public figure. Often people are predominately a type, not just a type.