SIX: The Domain of Work
The Enneagram Six space is the Domain of Work. Work is what validates us in the world. The first question we ask after meeting someone for the first time is often, “What do you do?”, typically meaning, “What work do you do?” or even “What work do you get paid to do?” Work allows us to develop our talents, contribute meaningfully to society, and build community by joining others in a common task. Work resonates in our three centres: this is what I know, this is what I love, this is what I do.
On the other hand, if we are not happy at work, the underlying current is fear. If I leave my job, how will I sustain myself? What will happen to me? If I do not work, who am I? How will I continue to be part of the community? This is true even if your work has been unpaid, but of real importance, and for whatever reason you cannot or will not continue to do that work.
Polarities
Everything is a struggle at Six. I heard a story about someone asking a Six, “How’s it going?” whenever they met and always getting the response, “Oh, it’s a struggle.” Six is about the struggle, but also about the conscious release of the struggle.
The following word pairs describe the polarities of the Six space.
| Push | Surrender |
| Attack | Retreat |
| Effort | Rest |
| Work | Play |
| Complicate | Simplify |
| Rehearse | Ad Lib |
| Labora | Ora |
| Responsible | Delinquent |
| Panic | Who cares? |
The word pairs suggest a rhythm, like breathing. When we succumb to anxiety, we tend to hold our breath, bracing ourselves for an impact. Anxiety is all push, no surrender, or in terms of the Law of Three, all Initiating Force, no Receiving Force. For balance, we must push, then surrender, move forward, fall back, breathe in, then breathe out in a continual rhythm. It is possible to hold our breath, but not for long. Eventually, the body will force us to breathe. One way or another, the rhythm of breath continues from the beginning of our bodily life to its end.
We meet the rhythm of push and surrender in work, in prayer, and in study. The Rule of St. Benedict, the 6th-century monastic blueprint for a life in community, enjoins us to Ora et Labora, that is to pray and to work. The Benedictine Rule is a constant rhythm of work and prayer, regulated by the Rule. This also applies to study. There is a time for focus and concentration and then a time to lay aside the study material and let it work within you.
Spirit of Contemplation
Contemplation is “long, loving look at the real”[1], not what you want, but what is. The work of the Six space is obedience, from the Latin ob + audire, meaning to give ear to or to listen. When the polarities of Six are held equally, the rhythm of the breath can emerge and the Spirit of Contemplation is invited to reign over this space. In a contemplative stance, we are both alert and relaxed.
Contemplation is an obedience to the Real Authority, done not out of fear, but out of love. The temptation at Six is to listen to the voice of an external authority. Contemplation is the work of moving to listen to the inner voice and to trust one’s own knowing, which is the work of Spirit.
The rhythm of dialog and exchange is at the heart of the Six space: I need you to listen to me, I want to listen to you, and between us we will find a word that will help us go forward.
Inhabitants: The Worries
When we are out of balance between effort and rest, the inhabitants that show up are The Worries. These can manifest when we work compulsively out of necessity, duty, or fear and end up exhausted. In this case, there is no real rest from our labour, only collapse. We might feel that the resources we need for us to keep working are beyond us and we fall into endless anxiety or worry.
On the other hand, if we feel exhausted and cannot focus on work, we might put it off, but worry constantly that our delinquency is going to catch up with us. Worry can freeze us up so that it becomes almost impossible to act, even when acting might alleviate the worry.
Fear and Worry
Fear, as opposed to worry, is a response to the unknown; it is necessary to keep us from harm. Real fear – felt in the body – won’t let us harm ourselves. When we are about to cross a busy street, a healthy fear of the unknown makes us look for traffic before we cross. Without that fear, we would assume that we were safe, because it would not have occurred to us that there was any other possibility. This fear is necessary for our survival.
Worry is a waste of energy. It gives us the illusion of doing something, when there is nothing to be done. We focus on imaginary perils that will never come or real perils that we can have no effect on. Try carrying around a notebook and pen to keep track of how many of your worries do not come to pass or are beyond your control. Chances are it’s almost 100%.
Death
The biggest unknown, and also the greatest certainty, is death. We can choose to worry about death or we can take a conscious walk with our fear of death. If you believe in an afterlife, death is not the end, merely a threshold. Even if you do not believe that some part of you survives after death, life on earth goes on “within you and without you”, as George Harrison once said.
This is the invitation to the ultimate long, loving look at the real. Those of us who have walked to the edge of this life with a loved one know that this is a sacred space. It is one of the few chances we have to encounter what Celtic Christianity calls the “thin places”, where the barrier between matter and spirit becomes almost permeable. As we arrive at this barrier, for one of us it is the last release of breath, the end of a rhythm. For the other, it is the continuation of that rhythm, as we carry on, forever changed, until our next visit to the gate or until it is our own turn to cross the threshold.
Totems:
The Military is a totem of the Six space. The military is, at core, about preserving the safety of the tribe, the nation, our people. This relies on a large force of people willing to show up and do their duty. We either have an attraction to this totem, as a symbol of security, or a repulsion from it, as a symbol of fear and terror.
Other totems of the Six space include industry associations, factories, hobbies (something you love that requires work and focus), cooperatives, sports (teamwork), parks and recreation (leisure), tool stores, and kitchen stores.
[1] McNamara, William; Mystical Passion: Spirituality for a Bored Society; Paulist Press, 1977