The Enneagram Cycle is my newest writing project, begun in 2021. Inspired partially by Sleeping at Last’s album of nine songs based on the nine Enneagram types, and partially by Michael Ward’s academic analysis of C.S. Lewis’ Narnia books, I’ve spent the past several years creating a cycle of nine short stories, each embodying the energy, core issues, strengths, weaknesses, and unique struggles of a different Enneagram type, employing my own system of symbolism and structure to subtly connect each story to the others, the same way the Enneagram connects each type to others.
What is the Enneagram?
The Enneagram is a dynamic system exploring human personality structure, pioneered by Greek-Armenian and South American wisdom teachers.
If you’re unfamiliar with it, there are tons of helpful books and podcasts that explore the subject (see below), and I’ve written three articles approaching various pop culture properties—LOST, Stranger Things, and Star Wars—through the lens of the Enneagram. The system splits the mosaic of human personality into nine basic types, each with three further subtypes. The Enneagram is like a fractal: you can go as deep and complex with it as you want, or stay in the basics, and it still provides useful and revelatory insights into not only how we act and interact with others, but why—what basic desires and unconscious motivations are driving us. The needs, experiences, or beliefs we take for granted as much as the ground we stand on are often the things we are most surprised to learn are not shared by all humanity.
The Enneagram can shed light not only on our own strengths and limitations, and how we can grow beyond them, but also affords insights into others that can help us build deeper empathy for others and cultivate growth in ourselves. It’s this insight into the diversity of the human experience that makes the Enneagram so beautiful, and that I aim to capture artistically with this cycle of stories. Ultimately, if used properly, the Enneagram can be a tool for psychological liberation.
The Enneagram doesn’t put you in a box. It shows you the box you’re already in and how to get out of it.
—Ian Morgan Cron
Below you will find a (necessarily incredibly simplified) outline of the nine Enneagram types, as well as a few details about each of the nine stories that will make up the cycle.
One
The Type: Ones tend to focus on flaws, on what is wrong or imperfect, and feel a need to fix or improve themselves, others, their relationships, and the wider world. They can be felt as overly critical, but in reality they hold no one to a higher standard of perfection or moral goodness than their own selves, and tend to beat themselves up when they inevitably fail to live up to these standards. At their best, they are a source of goodness and vision in their lives and for the wider world.
The Story: A moderately successful sculptor, Elden Reef emigrates to Mexico in order to opt out of a systemically unjust society, only to find that a blameless life is elusive no matter where he goes or how hard he strives.
Two
The Type: Twos tend to focus on the needs and emotional states of others and try to meet those needs as a way to make themselves indispensable, while inwardly resenting that others don’t lavish the same attention on them. They fear they won’t be loved if they aren’t needed, and are so externally focused on others that they often lose touch with their internal states, denying they have any needs. A source of support, encouragement, and empathy in a world sorely lacking in such things, at their best they are also in touch with and able to attend to themselves as much as others.
The Story: When Nico Weller hears his mother has lupus, he crosses south over the Canadian border to visit her in her Vermont hometown, along with service dog in training, Mabel—only to find that his mother already has a caretaker, her new boyfriend, who Nico suspects is not up to the task.
Three
The Type: Threes tend to focus on what is valued and considered important by others. Inwardly, they believe the only worth they have is earned, not inherent, so they move with great energy and ambition to prove themselves, often becoming what they feel others define as successful and drifting further from their true selves, which they’re often unable to recognize. Driven by achievement and accolades, they unconsciously long to be reassured that they are valuable and worthwhile in and of themselves, regardless of their performance. Brilliant and productive, they can shine like few others can, but at their best they’re able to put aside others’ standards and authentically embody their true selves.
The Story: Clare Misaka is a successful professor of Arthurian literature in northern Alabama, excited for an academic conference she helped organize—until she meets a woman who everyone thinks looks like a younger version of herself, who claims to know her, and who Clare has no memory of…
Four
The Type: Fours tend to focus on their emotions and on what is missing in themselves, their relationships, and their experiences. Fearing they are somehow fundamentally defective, they are drawn inward to explore the darker aspects of themselves and are attracted to sadness, melancholy, and strong emotional states. With a keen eye and appreciation for beauty in the world, they are often unable to see any in themselves. Known for their heightened aesthetic sensitivity and creativity, at their best they are able to find light, wholeness, and happiness as well as darkness, surrendering to the full spectrum of emotions, positive as well as negative.
The Story: Oren Luna hasn’t seen his two best friends in years, so when one of them calls him out of the blue, suggesting a return to Folly Beach, the site of a summer trip the three shared years ago at the peak of their friendship, Oren is ecstatic—until he arrives at the remote island town to find himself unexpectedly alone.
Five
The Type: Fives tend to focus on intellectual understanding and their level of mental resources. They observe the world from a distance, which they feel will protect their limited supply of energy, preferring to process their thoughts and insights slowly and carefully. Their range and depth of knowledge is expansive, but they often have trouble translating it into meaningful action or engagement with others. Often perceived as distant and unfeeling, in reality they have a rich inner life and are as emotional as anyone, though it often takes them more time to fully experience and process their feelings. At their best they’re able to share their wisdom freely, as well as act with confidence on it.
The Story: Ondreia Corwin-Byrd has never known her father, so when she hears he has suddenly died and left her his house in southern Arizona, she’s not quite sure what to think. Arriving there, she finds herself lost among his effects, trying to unravel the mystery of just what kind of man he was…
Six
The Type: Sixes tend to focus on future security and what could possibly go wrong. Warm and loyal, they both seek from and provide safety to members of their group by forecasting hypothetical problems and fending them off with planned solutions. Sixes tend to either flee from or confront the sources of their fear, and to either crave the stability authority offers, or confront poor or corrupt leadership. They often have trust issues and can be suspicious of outsiders, but this ultimately stems from a difficulty in trusting their own judgment. At their best they are courageous, reliable, and decisive, often foundations of their community or group.
The Story: Currently in research / development stage.
Seven
The Type: Sevens tend to focus on freedom and pleasure, and the various options for attaining them. The most future-oriented type, they tend to live in continual anticipation, often at the expense of the moment—even when the present holds fun and excitement. Their sunny outlook makes the world a brighter place, but it tends to ignore and deny anything negative, uncomfortable, or painful about the world and their own or others’ experiences. Often perceived as shallow, they nonetheless carry reserves of pain and suffering, though they tend to ignore them in favor of what makes life lively and interesting. At their best, they’re able to be present in a way that provides the joy and satisfaction that otherwise eludes them.
The Story: A native Hawaiian, Leillani Kokua knows she can’t stay in the islands any longer, driven out by overpriced real estate and runaway tourism. When an old college friend, Julien, comes to visit, the two fly out to the one island she’s always wanted to experience but never has, all while avoiding the fact that she’s really saying goodbye to the only home she’s ever known and loved.
Eight
The Type: Eights tend to focus on power dynamics and are always on the lookout for injustice. They project a confrontational energy that many find off-putting, but which they feel is necessary for them to weather a world they see as essentially unsafe. Withholding vulnerability from most, they are extremely protective of the weak and disadvantaged, seeing in them an image of the inner child they so fiercely protect. Often misunderstood as harsh, cruel, or aggressive, they secretly long for others to see the very tenderness they so tenaciously hide. At their best, they are champions of social justice, able to restrain their overpowering energy to only what is necessary for the present moment.
The Story: As a child Rowan was an active member of her family’s church, until a leaked secret resulted in her entire family being expelled from the congregation. Now, as an adult, Rowan is forced to confront news that the man behind their expulsion is ready to assume leadership of the church…unless she can do something to stop him.
Nine
The Type: Nines tend to focus on their internal and external comfort, seeking environments where all are fully connected and accepted. Lovers of peace and harmony, they are willing to deny their own needs in order to build consensus and coexistence, a strategy for preventing disconnection from others. Sympathetic and understanding, they can see issues from all sides, and will reach out to include every viewpoint—except their own, which they tend to suppress in favor of an often too dearly-bought unity. Often perceived as complacent or indolent, they actually expend enormous amounts of unconscious energy avoiding or repressing sources of conflict or drama in their life. At their best, they are optimistic, proactive, and in touch with their truest selves.
The Story: This story has yet to be developed, researched, or written.
* * *
My ultimate goal is for these stories to be collected as a hardcover book, illustrated by various artists and perhaps containing my own photography, perhaps funded via a Kickstarter project. That will probably be a long way off: after all nine stories have been written and edited and artists can be commissioned and at least begin their work. The title, The Enneagram Cycle, is tentative.
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For more information about the Enneagram, I recommend the following resources.
Books
The Complete Enneagram, by Beatrice Chestnut
The Buddhist Enneagram, by Susan Piver
The Wisdom of the Enneagram, by Don Richard Riso and Russ Hudson
The Sacred Enneagram and The Enneagram of Belonging, by Christopher Heuertz