Presentation, by Claudio Naranjo

I don't remember when exactly, but surely more than twenty years ago, I conceived the book that, with this seventh volume (of nine), continues to grow slowly.

It would not be a book written by me, but one that would embody and develop my understanding of the twenty-seven characters recognized by the application of the Enneagram to personality that I originally learned during the years 1969–1970 (more implicitly than explicitly) from Oscar Ichazo and that I have been developing ever since.

The conception of the book has been to present each of the characters through:

1.An autobiography written by another of my disciples, who could be said to have traveled a rich path of transformation and who was willing to produce a document that implied a public confession (given the sincerity that a biographical account would implicate before their family and their acquaintances). The usefulness of such an exercise in "transparency" through publishing one's own autobiography is something I had come to believe in the light of previous experiences, so I proposed it in that spirit, and indeed it has been a rich experience for the participants.

2.A theoretical chapter (whose set could well be considered a treatise on the psychology of Enneatypes) with a structure that I formulated a long time ago and proposed to develop with a series of disciples in collaboration with other volunteers.

Naturally, the presentation of the various characters through these two complementary modalities—the psychological essay and the narrative—would speak to the two cerebral hemispheres ("scientific" and "humanistic") of the readers.

Surely, the twenty-seven chapters that would make up the «treatise on the psychology of Enneatypes» would be of particular interest to academic psychologists, and it is to be hoped that the set of twenty-seven exemplary biographies will interest all readers who want to find among them their psychospiritual brother or sister. It helps a lot to become aware of ourselves when we encounter the process of self-knowledge of someone who looks like us and has had the courage and humility to discover their shadow and put their "descent into hell" into words.

Slowly, the project for this work matured into nine volumes (each dedicated to the three Enneatypes corresponding to one of the nine passions recognized by Ichazo's proto-analysis) until David Barba suggested that we set the publication dates for the books in question. This step would imply a more active editing work than the one I had been offering to my collaborators or the one that the co-authors themselves had taken until then, which is why I invited Grazia Cecchini to participate in this task. Since then, she has maintained a close correspondence with them in view of the improvement of the texts.

Having passed eighty-five years of age myself, I cannot help but feel that the completion of this work is coinciding with that of my life, and this gives this task a certain sense of "mission accomplished."

Interestingly, I never felt, during my early years of teaching this subject, as one with a duty to develop it or even any particular merit, and only in the face of the commercialization of the Enneagram and the quackery of imitators of my early work at Berkeley (originators of the community or international movement of the Enneagram) did I begin to become aware of my own merit in having offered a more serious work with more transformative power.

Only recently, however, with the hindsight of decades, have I come to feel that, just as Ichazo predicted, the task of being a mediator of this knowledge for the Western world of our time would fall into my hands. I hope that having put all these understandings in writing is more of a help than an impediment to your deep understanding, for I have often thought that the Egyptian god Thoth was right in imagining that the gift of writing would transform humans into mere repeaters of words, leading them away from wisdom. I imagine that, in this case, my future readers will be divided between those who take advantage of our efforts for their own transformation and those who prefer to dedicate themselves to their academic, cultural, and material enrichment.

It only remains for me to thank all those who have contributed to this seventh volume for both their efforts and their tolerance of my criticisms, and to wish that the success of what they have produced brings them the satisfaction of serving the massive process of self-knowledge that is characterizing our generation. I am especially grateful to Grazia for taking over as editor at a time in my life when my teaching activity and my other unfinished books require me, and also to David Barba, from Ediciones La Llave, without whose encouragement I would surely have continued to postpone the completion of these nine volumes until it was too late to tell with my supervision.

Foreword To The Seventh Volume

As I write these lines, feeling honored and grateful for the assignment, I once again experience the enthusiastic energy with which I set to work on the tasks that Claudio Naranjo entrusted to me years ago: that impetus that led me to revise my conviction that I did not have sufficient capacity to carry out the orders. I am preparing, then, to preface this seventh volume of this immense work on the psychology of Enneatypes, feeling, with the same energy, that Claudio is still alive among us—not only because we continue to nourish ourselves with his deep, extensive, and precise teachings, but also because he put us to work, to investigate, igniting and feeding our seeking spirit as reflected in the acronym SAT: Seekers After Truth, in such a way that the flame continues to burn among his students and disciples.

I began my work with Claudio in the first promotion of the SAT Program in Spain, and, together with Albert Rams—then my husband—he entrusted me to Guillermo Borja, "Memo." Memo's excellent clinical eye and confrontational style were decisive in my maturation as a psychotherapist: I was able to support myself on firmer ground, and I was also able to start embracing my madness. That year, at 27, and with the cognitive fixation of feeling lacking and incapable, as well as uneducated, I didn't get close to Claudio. I felt extremely small in front of him. Still, I was greatly nourished by his brilliant synthesis of gestalt therapy, as his teachings meant, for me, a very important structuring and expansion of the cognitive base of this approach. His transmission of the Enneagram gave me an understanding of the psychic machinery of people, which I lacked as a Gestaltist and even as a psychologist.

At that time, the stays in the SAT were twenty-eight days. The fuse was quickly lit among all the participating people: we questioned each other, we competed to see who said something more intelligent than the others or who knew how to confront better, and, at the same time, we also nourished ourselves from the brotherhood that was being created in the group, just as I have felt it in every SAT course I have taken. The SAT has been my third family, and many people belonging to the Spanish Association of Gestalt Therapy also agreed on this.

Upon returning home from that first course, I identified that I had gained a specific visual perspective: by looking at a certain area, I could more accurately determine the distance at which objects were located. I took that as a reflection of the depth acquired in seeing myself and in looking at the world. Claudio's ability to relate knowledge from different fields such as psychological, spiritual, educational, and musical, based on specific and extensive knowledge of philosophy, literature, history, and other disciplines, in addition to his spirit always open to new contributions, radiated a knowledge that had kaleidoscopic characteristics.

When he proposed to me to be a collaborator of the SAT in the following promotion, it was difficult for me to imagine that he could be interested in something in my way of doing things. I thought that perhaps he was including me in a pack with my ex-husband. For me, the capable and brilliant one was him, not me. So it was difficult for me to accept his recognition, and it was also very difficult for me to recognize Claudio as a teacher: one way of maintaining my closure to the world has been not allowing myself to enjoy the forms of admiring love. Precisely, writing some texts that he asked me to, and reviewing some chapters of the book for Gestalt Viva, helped me get closer to him and enjoy feeling like he was my teacher.

Later, I disassociated myself from the SAT due to complex personal and family situations, and also because, when Claudio set out to change the world through changing education, I did not like what I perceived as a devaluation of existing educational approaches that did take into account the value of personal growth as opposed to indoctrination. When I went to see him before he traveled to Berkeley, California, for the last time, he received me very well and made me feel openly heard in all my criticisms.

I feel satisfied to belong to this great family that has gone through the death of our teacher three years ago, in addition to the complications caused by the pandemic, which entailed great internal work between the different departments of the organization founded by Claudio, with very difficult moments and with outstanding journeys and fruits. For this reason, I want to express my gratitude to the Fundación Claudio Naranjo team, the SAT Program, and the Education Area of the foundation. I also want to highlight the effort to continue collaborating together with the managers and coordinators of SAT programs around the world.

One of the fruits of this effort to coordinate and continue working is the appearance of new volumes of the Psicología de los Enneatipos collection. In this book on E4, from what I have seen and experienced in collaboration with many volunteers in this work, I want to emphasize that the execution of most of this volume has been the result of choral work, as has been the case in the different volumes of this collection. Those of us who coordinated the theoretical chapters, guided and supervised by Claudio and later by Grazia Cecchini, made it easier for several people of each subtype to write in various chapters, guided the work, and also collaborated in its writing.

I began my involvement with this volume coordinating the people of Sexual 4 in January 2006, and I was lucky to have the close and highly valued collaboration of Cristina Dicuzzo—may she rest in peace. While coordinating said subgroup, I realized that I was a Self-Preservation 4, as I saw that the Sexuals worked in a very different way from mine. From that moment on, I put my tenacity at the service of finishing the theoretical part of the Sexual subtype. Later, Claudio asked me for my autobiography to be included in the

Self-Preservation subtype. And some time later, Rossana Pavoni resumed work with the Sexual subtype to update it and finish the book (together with Águeda Segado and Antonella Sabia, coordinators of the book on the Self-Preservation subtype, and Chiara Fustini, coordinator of the book on the Social subtype).

Regarding the work with character, we see that the function of each Enneatype, in addition to the construction of the personality in the face of emptiness and uncertainty, is one of survival and defense against traumatic experiences, pain, loneliness, and childish despair. Paradoxically, each gear of character perpetuates self-estrangement and, therefore, suffering, even when what we do is force the machine to try to succeed or distract ourselves or have a good time.

Envy, the passion of E4, has, from the outset, a very negative reputation. It is also an emotion that others find difficult to recognize. E4 is the Enneatype with the worst self-image. In early childhood, the individual introjects (incorporates within themselves) a mother—or primary attachment figure—who has been emotionally abandoned, as a way of maintaining a connection with her. By introjecting a mother who has not emotionally welcomed the child (one who, for various reasons, has rejected or distanced herself), the individual also internalizes a negative perception of themselves. This leads to a constant state of self-devaluation. As I wrote years ago about the Self-Preservation 4 in Claudio’s book 27 Characters in Search of Being: “By incorporating that rejecting mother, the child also takes in the bad look at themselves. In this way, constant devaluation becomes ingrained.”

The automatic mechanism by which envy sustains itself is comparison. The person always comes up short, as they focus on what they lack. They also tend to idealize what others possess—be it qualities, achievements, or circumstances—further feeding their sense of inadequacy. This reinforces the feeling of lack, which may have been real in childhood but is now largely illusory.

Satisfaction, therefore, becomes an experience that must be cultivated through therapeutic work. This process involves accepting and addressing one’s own wounds, as well as letting go of idealized notions of what one should be or do to have value and feel content. These processes are well illustrated in each book of this volume.

Each subtype addresses the experience of lack—both real and imagined—in distinct ways. The Self-Preservation 4, long-suffering and self-sacrificing, has a very demanding superego or "top dog." They believe that the harder they work, the further they can distance themselves from their negative self-image. They maintain significant energy to keep striving and working. However, it is difficult for them to recognize what is valuable in themselves or in the results of their efforts because their gaze remains devaluing. Their passion is tenacity, and their motto, “whatever it takes,” places value on effort itself.

The Sexual 4 subtype, which causes the most suffering to themselves and others, believes they must reclaim what they have lost. Their passion is hatred. This subtype carries the most aggressive charge, yet they are also the most fun and impulsive. However, their negative self-image and feelings of guilt prevent them from enjoying their creativity, expressiveness, or cognitive abilities. They are also the most histrionic of the subtypes.

In the Social 4 subtype, we find the most suffering. Their strategy is to showcase their sense of lack to elicit what they need from others. Their passion is shame: they cringe and withdraw while simultaneously longing to be seen. This subtype is the most melancholic. Like the others, they struggle to recognize their right to well-being.

Each book in this series revisits the challenges specific to each subtype, presenting different nuances and themes that help readers understand and identify with an Enneatype. The theoretical chapters include autobiographical excerpts that offer a lived perspective of what is being explained. (In the case of the Sexual subtype, it should be noted that due to the passage of time, the names of some contributors to the autobiographies have been lost.)

The autobiographies provide an experiential approach to understanding the subtypes and keep alive the ethos of “putting the meat on the grill”—continuing to work through one’s personal issues and demonstrating pathways for growth, as Claudio encouraged.

The analyses of relevant figures, film characters, and book protagonists, where each subtype is identified, further deepen our understanding of the distinctions among them.

Reading Claudio’s books on the Enneagram, particularly these volumes, allows individuals to see themselves reflected in a multitude of ways. This serves as an invitation to activate self-knowledge and begin internal work. While identifying one’s type and subtype facilitates a more direct approach, it is important to remember that all human beings share similar experiences. By exploring the reflections of ourselves revealed through different Enneatypes and subtypes, we open ourselves to a broader, more nuanced path of transformation.

As human beings, we are deeply complex. Embracing this complexity helps us feel more at ease in our own skin.

I hope that reading this and the other volumes expands your horizons and supports your journey of transformation with greater experiential understanding and more precise maps, even if the path is not always simple.

Have a good journey!