ONE: The Domain of Sentiment
On the spiritual journey, when we come around the circle of the Enneagram out of Nine, we first meet the domain of One – the Domain of Sentiment. By sentiment, we mean sense-impression or sense-feeling – stimuli from the natural world. The compulsive energy of Nine is that of self-forgetting. Our first response to meeting the new energy of One is to numb ourselves. In order to continue our journey, we must allow ourselves to feel the impacts of the material world upon us – all the intrusions, perceived hurts, and personal offenses that life sends our way, but also the inclusions, joys, and satisfactions we are invited to receive.
Since we are talking about the spiritual domains of the Enneagram, the experiences at One apply to all of us – not just those of us whose personality is type One. Hence, the language changes a bit. Instead of talking about Ones (persons of Enneagram Type One), we speak of being at the One space, referring to the domain in which we are currently working.
Working with Polarities
In the struggle to hold the polarities of the Enneagram domains, we are doing the work of soul growth. This soul work is the fruit of the reconciling force, which arises when we allow both poles of a domain to truly exist together, each having its own place. Personality (the ego) emerges from a domain when we cling to one or the other of its polarities.
It is worth emphasizing that this work of holding both polarities of a domain without grasping onto them requires long-term, ongoing contemplative practice, such as meditation or centering prayer. We do not hold the polarities directly during our contemplative practice. Contemplation, rather, acts as practice in letting go of attachments. When we work with the polarities at times other than in meditation, we will find we have built capacity to hold each of the polarities without attaching to either of them.
Polarities of the One Space
The polarities of the One space describe how we meet the impact of sensation upon us. Both polarities are ways of avoiding our experience. These can be characterized as Sentimentality And Rigidity. Sentimentality is an over-sensitivity to the external world. Rigidity is an attempt to armour ourselves against these impacts.
Some descriptive word pairs for this domain are:
| Sentimentality | Rigidity |
| Thin skin | Thick skin |
| Effusive | Holding back |
| Gushing out | Tightness |
| Tears | Stiff-necked |
| Zealous for a cause | All about me |
| Fire | Ice |
| Excited | Not affected |
At One, we are thin-skinned, very sensitive to stimuli. As part of the Gut or Body triad, the One space is very close to the earth; it is grounded in the oldest parts of our brains and reacts viscerally to all sorts of external stimuli. Even a stimulus that causes an emotional response, such as anger, hurt, or elation, is first felt in the body as a jolt, a pain, a rush of feeling to the chest or gut, or a sudden sensation of heat or cold.
These reactions are very quick, almost instantaneous. If we attach to the pole of Rigidity, we automatically react to this kind of stimulation by adopting a defensive, critical stance. By developing a thick skin, we try to protect ourselves from the wounding we would otherwise sustain.
If instead, we cling to the pole of Sentimentality, we might react in a very overtly emotional way to mundane things. The sight of a child picking dandelions might reduce us to tears. Or if we see an injustice that has not been addressed to our satisfaction, we might lash out in righteous anger.
So, either we let sense impressions bounce off us or we react strongly to them, depending on which pole we have chosen to cling to.
Spirit of Intuition
Sensation continually bombards us and so we need to be selective about what we attend to. We need to exercise discernment, but we can only access it in a limited way on the material level. If we are able to hold the two poles of Sentimentality and Rigidity as equally important, the Spirit of Intuition or Discernment can arise in the One space. When this happens, we can allow our sense impressions to affect us, but not overwhelm us.
When a reaction strikes in our body, our work is to remember who we are. The reaction is there to wake us up when we have been asleep, unaware of our inner or spiritual states. We don’t want to wake up, so we defend ourselves with long-held patterns. The defense mechanism at One is “reaction formation” – a reaction to the initial reaction.
At the One space, we want to be good and to be seen to be good, so we try to cover our anger. Suppose someone says something you find hurtful. Rather than express anger or some other “negative” emotion, you present a face that is “better” or more “positive”. In reaction to this untruth, you form resentment toward your reaction, toward yourself, or toward anything or anyone that “caused” the reaction. You can avoid this if you allow your feelings to truly affect you. At the same time you can recognize and honour the boundaries that keep you from being overwhelmed by your sensations.
Inhabitants: The Jealousies
When we cling to either the polarity of Sentimentality or Rigidity, “The Jealousies”, move in. We speak of them in the plural because there are so many and they are found everywhere. We can think of jealousy as “comparing with a hot anger”. It’s not the same as Envy, which is more about intense desire for what someone else has. Jealousy is not about things – it’s personal, fiery, all-consuming.
Suppose you are betrayed by a partner who has been unfaithful. You might feel angry enough to kill them. You might also have an intense feeling of missing out on what they have been getting outside the relationship. If you compare their actions to yours, it is pretty clear who is in the right — as far as you are concerned — and who has been missing out on the action. Unchecked, your hot anger could inflict irreparable damage or land you in jail.
To work with this situation, you would have to allow yourself to really feel the hurt you have received (Sentimentality). At the same time you could make a boundary of what you will or will not accept as behaviour from the other (Rigidity). If you can really do this without preference for either pole, you will know what to do — leave the relationship, stay and try to address underlying wounds, or some other action. But this holding is a grace that can only be invited, not commanded.
Totems
A totem is a symbol that embodies the spirit of a domain. Originally, the word was used to describe an emblem that represented the spirit of a village or clan. Totems address themselves to the three centres of head, heart, and body. They invoke thoughts, feelings, and sensations that remind us of the important characteristics of the domain. They are things we can look at and immediately get a sense of the spirit of the domain.
We can also use totems as symbols in which to park our inner work so that we can avoid doing it. In other words, a totem can be an excuse or a cliché that explains away our work, rather than engaging with it.
The totem of One is Administration — work that serves people and promotes their wellbeing. At One, if the Spirit of Intuition is operating, we really do see what needs to be done in a selfless way. We can see right into the heart of things and find the imperfection that needs to be addressed.
Nostalgia — a yearning for the past when things were right and settled — can distort this impulse. Nostalgia distracts us from our true work since this idealized past is almost certainly an illusion. We can also misuse a talent for administration to avoid our work by administering our feelings, rather than engaging with them directly.