EIGHT: The Domain of Culture and Behaviour
The Eight space on the Enneagram is the Domain of Culture and Behaviour. It is a return to the Gut or Body Centre, moving from the Head Centre at Seven. In other words, it is a move from thought to action. At Seven, we discern our place in an ever-shifting hierarchy. In the Eight space, this hierarchy is embodied in culture. When we know our place, we know how we should act. We call this code of spoken and unspoken expectations of behaviour ethics, from the Greek word ethos, meaning “the spirit of a people”.
Polarities
The polarities of the Eight space are called rules and tendencies. This domain is about rules and norms of behaviour, but not in their rigid application. In the Eight space, we find that it is important to learn not only the rules, but the spirit behind them, so that we know when to follow them and when to break them. At Eight we develop and apply the discernment necessary to make this distinction. In learning how to do this, we are learning to be free.
Word pairs that describe the Eight space are:
| Rules | Tendencies |
| Expectations | Desires |
| Follow the rules | Break the rules |
| Puritan | Hedonist |
| Convention | Do what I please |
| Thy will | My will |
| Rewarding good | Punishing bad |
| Overjudging | No evaluation |
| Standards and guides | Whims and fancies |
Spirit of Will
When we hold the rules and tendencies as equally important, the Spirit of Will can arise and operate in the Eight space. “Will” is not “willfulness”. Will is the freedom to choose and the power to do or to act. It is about being, choosing to be who I am. This, in particular, is where the Enneagram is so helpful. It allows us to confront the blocks and obstacles that get in the way of our becoming our true selves and to freely choose – to exercise our will – to become who we truly are.
When I ask myself, “What do I want?”, I am operating in the Eight space. How do I behave to get what I want? At the surface, my will is very ephemeral; it passes on a whim. As I go deeper in to my will, as I am more and more purified, I find that my will is the same as God’s will, with the divine power to act. God wants us to choose this.
Ethics and Will
We use ethics to determine our behaviour within the context of a culture or subculture. A code of ethics is an explicit expectation of behaviour in an organization or profession. Ethics is also the unspoken code of conduct in a society. Will allows us to choose these behaviours freely.
The Spirit of Will allows us to empower others to make a choice. When we support others in their free-will choices, even when these are not the choices we would make, we make something true in the world and do it with compassion.
The diagram below shows the connection between Eight, where we find ethics and codes of conduct, and Five, where we interact with others. Eight holds the tension between expected conduct and individual desire. The collaboration with others at Five ensures that we hold this tension with compassion for ourselves and others.
Morality and Religion
In contrast, at One, we find the place of morality, which is about behaviour that arises from our individual attempts at goodness. At a very low level of engagement, this is about good versus evil. If we are able to work at a higher level by connecting to our personal integrity at Four, it goes beyond good and evil and becomes about full acceptance of ourselves, the obviously good and the not-so-good within us.
Good does not get rid of evil. Evil is a fact of life in our world. It is even in some sense necessary for freedom, as a real choice implies alternatives, but it need not be the final word. If we allow it, good absorbs the evil within us and transforms it into a new strength. For example, fanaticism that would kill for a cause can be transformed into zeal, which would die for that cause. The Apostle Paul embodied this transformation in his life and death.
Morality, at One, is on the personal side of the Enneagram, and is therefore directed inward, building internal strength. Ethics, at Eight, looks outward to societal norms of behaviour. At Nine, we find Religion, where behaviour is dictated by internal and external codes of conduct.
Inhabitants: The Obligations
When we become attached to rules or tendencies, the Inhabitants that show up are called The Obligations or The Shoulds. These manifest as an over-investment in behavioural codes and customs. We might adhere strictly to the rules or impose them on others. We might flout the rules and follow our personal desires. When we give in to the tyranny of The Obligations, we punish ourselves or others for violating these externally-imposed rules or define our actions by our opposition to the rules. Giving in to these inhabitants robs us of the experiences we actually desire. Our actions are the opposite of free.
We can be very hypocritical in our approach to the rules. I might find it useful to impose rules on you, but feel no need to follow them myself. It might be convenient for me to appear morally upright. However, if my actions are not founded on true conviction, there is no life in them. My behaviour can turn on a dime when it is no longer convenient for me to act as before. There can also be a tyranny of non-conformity. An expectation to oppose existing systems of power can itself be an imposition of power, as when I expect you to use certain language to show that you are on the right (or left) side of the political spectrum.
Totems
Culture is a totem of the Eight space. We can allow our culture to guide our behaviours, but for our choices and actions to be live, we must make our own decisions within these norms. If we do not actively make choices, we can end up blaming the culture for our actions, stating that we are obliged to do certain things. Well, maybe, maybe not. This calls for our discernment.
Social conventions and manners are two other totems of Eight. When we know what is expected in a given situation, we are free to let that part of our social interaction run automatically and pay attention to something more important. At a working dinner, for example, if I know how to eat and drink according to generally accepted rules and manners, I can forget about those details and concentrate on the work we are at the meeting to do.
Other totems of Eight include courts of law (rule of law enhances freedom), jails (someone’s freedom is curtailed to change their behaviour, even If only by restraint), lawyers (who facilitate the rule of law), and politics (which has the power to change the rules).