Enneagram Type Nine

Type Nine on the Enneagram is agreeable, peaceful, and good natured. They appear to be content and laid back. But Nines have a core issue of Anger which they share with the other Instinctive Types.

Nine "goes along to get along" and has difficulty saying "No". Nines discovered early on that acceptance and comfort can be purchased by merging with others people's agendas. But the price that a Nine pays for this neglect of their own aspirations is unconsousness. They are often the strong silent type and are called "Mediators" because they see all sides to every issue. As peacemakers and harmonizers they step in to avoid conflict and look for harmonious solutions.

Down to earth, steady, patient and easygoing, a Nine brings a sense of calm to any given situation. Publicly, they may go along to get along, but when in private they make sure that they have what makes them feel happy and comfortable. To truly be at ease, Nines need to have their creature comforts and are not willing go without them.

Self-forgetting by nature, Nines will neglect important needs for small comforts and the agendas of others, or for some minor project. Nines tend to dissipate energy into secondary or trivial activities as a way of avoiding primary goals, of forgetting themselves. They can be ambivalent about their own needs, maybe not knowing what they are. 

A Nine feels that they have been overlooked or passed over. This can be due to their reluctance to promote themselves, preferring to be "discovered". If Nines do not get their needs met, Anger can build until there is an eruption.

Type Nine's Vice is Laziness.

Work on Self
Nines can move towards integration with Self by not indulging in the illusion of "union" with others, but by being present in situations even if it means risking conflict. By representing their own needs a Nine can build real union with others. This reduces their fear of separation.