Selecting a South African animal to represent
Enneagram Sixes was the biggest challenge of all because Sixes are so complex,
phobic Sixes are so different from counter-phobic Sixes and most of all, I have
a Six brother to whom I am accountable for all things Six I write. Given this
dilemma, I am happy to say that I found an animal that I think represents some
of the most salient characteristics of Sixes, no matter how the Six deals with
fear or how complex he or she is. My nomination is the Cape Buffalo.
General
characteristics
Owing to its unpredictable nature that makes
it highly dangerous to humans, it has not been domesticated, unlike its Asian
counterpart, the domestic Asian water buffalo. They are unpredictable and can
be particularly dangerous if cornered or wounded. Though they have been known
to ambush men and are often accused of deliberate savagery, they are usually
placid if left alone.
The front hooves of the buffalo are wider
than the rear, which is associated with the need to support the weight of the
front part of the body, which is more powerful than the back. A characteristic
feature of them is the fact that the adult bull's horns have fused bases,
forming a continuous bone shield referred to as a "boss," which cannot
always be penetrated even by a rifle bullet. Sight and hearing are both rather
poor, but scent is well developed in buffaloes.
Cape Buffalo are susceptible to many diseases
including Bovine tuberculosis, Corrider disease, and Foot and Mouth disease. As
with many diseases, these problems will remain dormant within a population as
long as the health of the animals is good.
Enneagram
Commentary:
Unpredictable, potentially dangerous, very strong in the front but a little
weaker from behind, and susceptible to disease; all of these characteristics
describe Sixes. A highly reactive style, Enneagram Sixes are unpredictable in
their reactions and behavior; often, the predictable aspect of Sixes is that
they will have a reaction. Sixes don’t necessarily perceive themselves as
unpredictable, but I suggest they might ask others near them what they think!
And sometimes their reactions are so strong, they can feel a bit dangerous. In
addition, many Sixes appear strong upfront, but more wobbly from behind or
underneath their shows of strength. Finally, I have noticed that many Sixes (of
course, not all) do tend to worry a lot about their own health issues and, as
we all know, stress, which many Sixes experience as a result of their more
chronic anxiety, makes us more susceptible to illness.
Communication
African buffalo make various vocalizations.
Many calls are similar to those of domestic cattle, but are generally of a
lower pitch. Buffalo emit low-pitched 2-4 seconds calls repeated at 3-6 second
intervals to signal the herd to move. To signal to the herd to change
direction, leaders will emit "gritty,” "creaking gate" sounds.
Extended maaa calls are made by
one to a few individuals up to 20 times a minute before and during movements to
drinking places.
When being aggressive, buffalo make explosive
grunts that may be extended into a sequence or become a rumbling growl. Cows
emit croaking calls when looking for their calves. Calves will make a similar
call of a higher pitch when in distress. When threatened by predators, buffalo
make drawn out waaaa calls. Dominant
individuals make calls to announce their presence and location. A more intense
version of the same call is emitted as a warning to an encroaching animal.
When grazing, buffalo will make various sounds such as brief bellows,
grunts, honks and croaks.
Enneagram Commentary: Look at
the picture of those sweet, docile looking Cape Buffalo. While on safari, we heard very few
sounds coming from them, but the ones we did hear sounded like sweet cow-sounds, and Sixes can be very
sweet. Their other vocalizations sound like distress calls, and this is also
Six-like. Most Sixes have rather kind voices – as if they would cause no harm –
and the other vocalizations from Sixes are primarily in the area of stress and
distress, as they express their concerns and anxieties.
Social behavior
The herd is vital to the Cape Buffalo, and
herd size is highly variable. Buffaloes can live in herds of a few hundred, but
have been known to congregate in thousands. The basic herd consists of related
females and their offspring, in an almost linear dominance hierarchy, but also includes
sub-herds of subordinate males, high-ranking males and females and old or
invalid animals. The young males keep their distance from the dominant bull,
who is recognizable by the thickness of his horns. Without the protection of
the herd, many of these lone bulls fall prey to lions.
When
chased by predators, a herd will stick close together and make it hard for the
predators to pick off one member. Calves are gathered in the middle. A buffalo
herd will respond to the distress call of a captured member and try to rescue
it. A calf's distress call will get the attention of not only the mother but
also the entire herd.
Remarkably,
there are few scuffles between herd members, perhaps the large males with their
strong curved horns realize they could seriously injure one another in a brawl.
Males will fight for dominance, but the battles are brief. Adult bulls will
spar in play, dominance interactions or actual fights. A bull will approach
another lowing with his horns down and wait for the other bull to do the same
thing.
During
the wet season, the younger bulls rejoin a herd to mate with the females. They
stay with them throughout the season to protect the calves. Some older bulls
cease to rejoin the herd, as they can no longer compete with the younger, more
aggressive males. Males have a linear dominance hierarchy that is based on age
and size. Since a buffalo is safer when a herd is larger, dominant bulls may
rely on subordinate bulls and sometimes tolerate their copulation.
African
buffalo are notable for their apparent altruism: an animal sacrifices its own
well-being for the benefit of another animal or the group. Female buffalo
appear to exhibit some sort of "voting behavior". During resting
time, the females will stand up shuffle around and sit back down again. They
will sit in the direction they think that they should move. After an hour of
more shuffling, the females will travel in the direction they decide on. This
decision is communal and not based on hierarchy or dominance.
Enneagram Commentary: What could
be more Six-like than the protection of the herd, even to the extent where a
dominant male will tolerate the copulation of a less-dominant male. Now, that
is true loyalty to the group, putting protection above ego. And many Sixes will
do that as well – that is, putting loyalty higher on the value chain than
ego-gratification. Then there’s the aspect of Cape Buffalo that has to do with
altruism. Self-sacrifice on behalf of another member of the tribe is also quite
common in Sixes.
Finally,
there is the communality and vigilance of Cape Buffalo herds. When we were on
safari, whether day or night, they were in humongous herds and always
hyper-alert to where our open-air land vehicle was in relation to them (and
there were a lot of them). Whenever we were closer than their comfort, the
entire herd would suddenly move all at once, mobilizing as a group to a safer
location. As an aside, we were warned in safari camp that almost every animal
we might encounter on the path would stop if we stood still, did not make
direct eye contact and if possible, slowly moved under a building or roof area.
However, with the Cape Buffalo, we were warned to get out of there as soon and
quickly as possible, because they would charge us no matter what or where. My
experience with Sixes is that when they become really angry, they are much
scarier than any Eight!
In
honor of Valentine’s Day, here are 9 versions of love through quotes and
symbols.
One Love
You
come to love not by finding the perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect
person perfectly. ~ Sam Keen
Two Love
True love begins when nothing is looked for in return. ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Three Love
Let yourself be silently drawn by the stronger pull of what you really love. ~ Rumi
Four Love
At the touch of love, everyone becomes a poet. ~ Plato
Five Love
Of
all fires love is the only inexhaustible one. ~ Pablo Neruda
Six Love
Being
deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives
you courage. ~ Lao Tzu
Seven Love
You
know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally
better than your dreams. ~ Dr. Seuss
Eight Love
Love
is not love until love's vulnerable. ~
Theodore Roethke
Nine Love
Harmony
is pure love, for love is a concerto. ~ Lope
de Vega
Like
Enneagram Fives, leopards are naturally solitary and stealthy creatures, secretive
and proud, and full of surprises. Here is more information about this mysterious
animal. (Am I referring to leopards, Fives, or both!?)
Physical characteristics
The
leopard is the smallest of the four “big cats” in the genus panthera, the other three being the
tiger, lion, and jaguar. The leopard’s head and body length is between 37 and
65 inches (95 and 165 cm), its tail reaches from 24 to 43 inches (60 to 110
cm), and it has a shoulder height between 18 to 31 inches (45 to 80 cm). Powerful
and graceful, the leopard has relatively short legs and a long body with a
large skull – they are able to take down large prey due to their massive skulls
that facilitate powerful jaw muscles.
Leopards are elusive and largely nocturnal. The most secretive and
mysterious of the large carnivores, the leopard is also the shrewdest. Leopards
demonstrate incredible strength and athleticism, being able to run in bursts up
to 36 miles an hour (58 kilometers per hour), leap 20 feet (6 meters) forward
in a single bound, and jump ten feet (3 meters) straight up.
Leopards
come in a wide variety of coat colors, from a light buff or tawny in warmer,
dryer areas to a dark shade in deep forests. The spots, or rosettes, are
circular in East African leopards, but square in southern African leopards.
Unlike other cats, leopards are strong swimmers and are one of the
few cats that like water; in fact, they even eat fish or crabs.
Enneagram Commentary: Although Fives come in various sizes (heights, weights, body
types, for example), they tend to keep themselves smaller than they actually
are by taking up less physical space than others, not emitting a great deal of
external energy, and more. Not only are Fives like leopards in this way, Fives
are also elusive and mysterious, primarily because they keep themselves to
themselves, sharing their verbal and non-verbal reactions less than almost
any other Enneagram style. Their more withdrawn nature makes them seem
mysterious to others.
Finally, many Fives have hidden talents and attributes that few
others know about because Fives don’t share that much information and are
reluctant to discuss their hidden talents. Who would guess a leopard could
swim!?
Social behavior
There
seems to be little or no overlap in territory among males, although overlap
exists between the sexes. Each individual has a home range that overlaps with
its neighbors; the male's range is much larger and generally overlaps with
those of several females. Leopards continually move about their territory,
seldom staying in an area for more than two or three days at a time.
Ranges
are marked with urine and claw marks, and leopards announce their presence to
other leopards with a rasping cough. Leopards do vocalize, but only with a
limited repertoire of verbalized possibilities; they growl, grunt, meow, purr,
and roar when they have to.
They
have a good sense of smell and also leave claw marks on trees to warn other
leopards to stay away. Leopards continually move about their home ranges,
seldom staying in an area for more than two or three days at a time. With
marking and calling, they usually know one another's whereabouts. A leopard
usually does not tolerate intrusion into its own range except to mate.
Unexpected encounters between leopards can lead to fights.
Female
leopards can give birth at any time of the year. They usually have two grayish
cubs with barely visible spots. The mother hides her cubs and moves them from
one safe location to the next until they are old enough to begin playing and
learning to hunt. Cubs live with their mothers for about two years; otherwise,
leopards are solitary animals.
Enneagram
Commentary:
Like leopards, Fives guard their own territory quite closely (they don’t like
intrusions on their physical space), and most Fives live isolated lives, even
to the point of being nomads (a way in which they express their detachment from
people, things, and places). Like Fives, leopards keep others away (leopards
with claw marks; Fives with non-verbal messages), and Fives like to know
exactly where others are in physical relation to them. I know many Fives who
insist on sitting at a restaurant table where they can have their back to the wall, so
they can observe who might be approaching them.
Predatory behavior
The leopard is a cunning, stealthy hunter, and its prey ranges
from strong-scented carrion, fish, reptiles, and birds to mammals such as
rodents, hares, hyraxes, warthogs, antelopes, monkeys, and baboons.
Leopards
are agile, stalking their prey silently, then pouncing on it at the last minute
and strangling its throat with a quick bite. Pound for pound, it is the
strongest climber of the large cats and capable of killing prey larger than
itself. Leopards can also hunt from trees, where their spotted coats allow them
to blend with the leaves until they spring with a deadly pounce.
The leopard is so strong and comfortable in trees that it often
hauls its kill into the branches. A leopard can climb as high as 50 feet (15
meters) up a tree holding a dead animal in its mouth, even one larger and
heavier than itself! They stash food up high so other predators, such as
lions or hyenas, can’t get it. Then, leopards can return and eat
more. One leopard was spotted dragging a 220-pound (100-kilogram) young giraffe
into heavy brush to hide it.
Enneagram
Commentary:
Fives are not exactly predatory in the same sense as leopards that prey on
animals in order to eat, but Fives in no way want to be another’s prey
(organizationally, psychologically, interpersonally). When Fives feel
threatened (whether this is an imaginary or real threat), they take precise and
carefully planned precautions, and these can include aggressive behaviors
toward others, even though the Five perceives this as a defensive rather than
an offensive action.
In
addition, the strength of Fives is often underestimated. They may keep to themselves
and not display all their agility, skills, and intellectual prowess, but Fives
are highly resourced and can access these when needed.
Leopard joke
Question:
How does a leopard change his spots?
Answer: When it gets tired of one spot, it just moves to another.
Enneagram Commentary: Fives do this. When they want to not deal with someone or something,
their first impulse is to move. They move inside themselves, leave a
conversation, or sever a relationship.
Gerry Fathauer has written a compelling Insight Activity on Holding On. Gerry is a Senior Member of
the Enneagram in Business Network (EIBN) and has remarkable insight into the
process of using the Enneagram for self-development and healing.
When we hold on to anything, energy cannot move through us. We
get stuck in our preferences and our ideas of what we think we want and the ideals
we think we must live by. Holding on, consciously or unconsciously, stops our
energy and assures a limited perspective.
Holding on to what we want is something we all do, whether
it’s a house, our stuff in that house, a desired business outcome, or the hunt
for the ideal partner. Holding on can permeate every aspect of our lives,
almost without our awareness, yet doing so colors our perspective, limits our
options, and may even sow seeds of disappointment.
How freeing it would be, if each time we’re aware of holding
on, we simply add “or not”! This single, simple pivot of awareness, the suggestion
of “or not,” frees us energetically. Musing about “or not” opens us to new
possibilities.
Think about something you hold on to, a desired outcome,
perhaps, such as being awarded a contract. Does your holding on to the desired
outcome of getting the contract serve you, or does it limit you? What happens if your awareness becomes
“I must be awarded this contract, or not”? Once you become aware of something
you hold on to, practice following that thought with “or not.” What happens
when you do this?
Holding on to what we think we want stifles us energetically
and invites dissatisfaction with life in the present moment.
So what is it we each, by Enneagram style, “hold on to,”
why, and what do we need to do to “let go”? In this Blog, which I have written
in response to Gerry’s Insight Activity, you can find out!
Enneagram Ones
Holding on to: being right,
not making mistakes, being in control, maintaining their structured lives, and harboring
built-up resentments
Why: to maintain their sense
of self as the person who is righteous, responsible, and faultless
Letting go of: the belief
that everything must be perfectly ordered and executed
Enneagram Twos
Holding on to: being
thoughtful, responsive, unselfish, considerate, without need, and slights when
others have wronged them in some way – i.e., taking them for granted, accused
them of malintent, acted in disparaging ways
Why: to maintain their sense
of self as a person who is so good that they consistently put others above
themselves
Letting go of: the belief that
their only value comes from how much they do for other people
Enneagram Threes
Holding on to: being
competent, resourceful, goal-driven, effective, successful, and confident, but
also under-expressed sadness, anxiety, and anger
Why: to maintain their sense
of self as a person who can make whatever they want happen through their goal
orientation, intense focus, and personal drive
Letting go of: the belief
that they must follow societal (or social-referent group) standards of success
to feel good about themselves
Enneagram Fours
Holding on to: being
different from everyone, feeling slighted on a consistent basis, and identifying
with their shifting emotional states, but also an idyllic “dream-world” in
which everyone feels the deepest sense of beauty and interconnectivity
Why: to maintain their sense
of self as person who is unique and separated from others because they have
chosen to be that way, which makes them feel in control of their feelings of
existential deficiency
Letting go of: the belief
that there is something wrong with them that is not wrong with others
Enneagram Fives
Holding on to: being autonomous,
needing very little privacy, and consuming limited space and resources, as well
as under-explored feelings and needs
Why: to maintain their sense
of self as a person who does not need to rely on anyone or anything other than
themselves
Letting go of: the belief of
false scarcity (of energy, resources, and more)
Enneagram Sixes
Holding on to: being the
object of harm by the environment and/or others, having to be the person who
raises difficult issues, and not being able to trust others, particularly those
in positions of strong influence or authority
Why: to maintain their sense
of self as a person who understands the risks and uncertainty involved with
being in the world and who can overcome this through their minds
Letting go of: the belief
that true authority resides outside themselves
Enneagram Sevens
Holding on to: being fun-loving, pleasure-oriented,
completely free, and their unalterable right to avoid restrictions or painful
experiences
Why: to maintain their sense
of self as a person who lives in a world where anything is possible and there
are no limits unless we create them
Letting go of: the belief
that freedom means having no limits
Enneagram Eights
Holding on to: being in
command and control, not showing weakness or vulnerability, avenging wrongs
done by others, being so strong that they can protect anyone of their choosing,
and can move mountains through their extraordinary will, energy, and power
Letting go of: the belief
that they have to be strong and big at all times and under all circumstances
Enneagram Nines
Holding on to: being in
positive resonance with others around them, not asserting or expressing
themselves directly, and believing that they don’t really matter as much as
others
Why: to maintain their sense
of self as a person who can bring reconciliation to disruption, rapport to
discord, and agreement where there is misunderstanding and/or disrespect
Letting go of: the belief
that the way they matter is to not matter
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