Overview
General Archetypal Names: Challenger, Protector, Leader, Boss
Core Motivational Theme: Strength/Self-Reliance, Control/Power
Core Fear: being weak, vulnerable, dependent, powerless; getting taken advantage of, harmed, controlled, manipulated
Core Desire: to be self-reliant, strong, in control of situations; to have an impact on others and their environment; self-determination, self-mastery
Center of Intelligence: gut/instinctive
Connecting Points: 2 (heart/feeling), 5 (head/thinking)
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 8 on the Enneagram.
“It’s a dog eat dog world, survival of the fittest, only the strong survive. Control or be controlled; I chose the former.”
“I must acquire resources, hide vulnerability, and be completely self-reliant. We’ll get along just fine as long as you recognize that it’s my way or the highway.”
“There is strength in vulnerability, and power in letting go. I surrender my stubbornness to cosmic will. I seek not confrontation, I share love; but when I need to, I protect what I love.”
Integration and Disintegration / Connecting Points
Examples/Helpful Resources/Suggestions
1. Understand Masculine and Feminine Energy
Much of what spiritual author and teacher David Deida says about masculine and feminine polarity can more or less be transferred directly to Enneagram points 8 and 2. As Deida points out, the essential feminine desire is love, and the essential masculine desire is freedom. Although freedom is sometimes listed as a 7 value; and it is, that freedom more so deals with the freedom of choice—the desire to experience things and not be tied down mentally. Deida’s concept of freedom refers more so to themes of self-reliance and the desire to go beyond limitations; something more characteristic of point 8.
As Deida cautions, masculine does not just mean man, nor does feminine just mean woman. In Enneagram terms, it’s perfectly fine to be a “type 8” female or “type 2” male. In either case, as pictured in the archetypal drawings, both of the healthiest 2 and 8 archetypal expressions contain a mature integration of the opposite energy; something that is generally lacking in the less healthy/conscious expressions of those points.
I suggest a tandem of The Way of the Superior Man (Book) and It’s a Guy Thing: An Owner’s Manual for Women (Book) to understand masculine and feminine from both perspectives. Just remember, the goal of learning about these energies is to become empowered—to be able to respond with either energy as a situation requires—not to become a constrained caricature of gendered stereotypes. Life effortlessly dances between masculine and feminine; any human looking for true freedom and love must learn to do the same!