Let’s take a look at the Enneagram Intestine Triad, one of many three intelligence triads that the Enneagram proposes.
Although it’s highly effective to know your dominant Enneagram kind or varieties, understanding whether or not it belongs to the Intestine, Head or Coronary heart Triad additionally helps you know what your dominant emotional theme is and get a deal with in your fears and needs.
What Are Triads?
To provide you some context, there are 9 Enneagram character varieties, numbered 1 to 9, and every belongs to one of many three intelligence triads, referred to as the Intestine triad, the Coronary heart triad, and the Head triad.
Every triad is a novel approach of understanding and interacting with different individuals and the world round us.
Sorts 8, 9 and 1 belong to the Intestine triad; 5, 6 and seven type the Head triad, and a pair of, 3 and 4 type the Coronary heart triad. Because the varieties inside every intelligence triad are all adjoining, the Enneagram diagram provides a pleasant visible illustration of the triads:


Let’s look extra carefully on the Enneagram Intestine Triad.
What’s the Enneagram Intestine Triad?
As we all know, the Enneagram Intestine Triad consists of Enneagram Sorts 8, 9 and 1. It additionally contains 4 of the eighteen wing varieties, 8w9, 9w8, 9w1 and 1w9, whereas the 4 wing varieties 7w8, 8w7, 1w2 and 2w1 are partially within the Head triad. To maintain issues easy, we’ll concentrate on Sorts 8, 9 and 1, but it surely’s fairly doable you’re a wing kind.
You may see this referred to as the Considering triad.
The three Enneagram Intestine triad varieties have some frequent traits. An individual centred in considered one of these varieties tends to…
- depend on instinct and intestine feeling to make selections,
- be instinctive, visceral, spontaneous,
- want free expression of their needs and desires,
- primarily expertise anger in difficult conditions,
- intention to search out independence and freedom, and performance greatest once they do,
- handle relationships by way of spontaneity and self-expression.


The challenges of being a Intestine kind embrace over-reliance on intestine feeling and intuition, and feeling unseen or unrecognised.
Within the Enneagram, there may be the concept that every triad has one predominant emotion related to it: anger (Intestine triad), disgrace (Coronary heart triad) and worry (Head triad).
I perceive why the Enneagram theorists described it on this approach, however I discover it laborious to consider that these are the three dominant human feelings and that your kind absolutely determines which one you expertise. It appears reductionistic and oversimplified to me.
The Enneagram Intestine Triad: Sorts 8-1
Let’s look somewhat on the three varieties that type the Intestine Triad. You’ll discover that they’re comparable sufficient to type a bunch, however completely different sufficient to be distinct varieties.
Enneagram Kind 8: The Challenger
The Ennegram Kind 8 is known as the Challenger. Challengers are sincere, assured and open. They thirst for private energy and self-reliance.
8s dislike weak spot, falsity, banalities and small speak. They wish to get to the purpose and see individuals’s true colors.
Like all Enneagram varieties, the 8’s strengths will also be weaknesses. For one factor, 8s worry being managed, manipulated and harmed by others.
Enneagram Kind 9: The Peacemaker
Kind 9 is known as the Peacemaker. 9s want peace and stability above all else. This kind is nice at remaining calm and sustaining concord but tends to cower away from battle.
Kind 9s dislike separation and discord, so attempt to create unity and reference to others. They’re extremely empathetic and tolerant, so have a tendency to not rock the boat.
Their must construct and keep concord usually has a number of drawbacks, like their avoidance of confrontation and tolerance of unhealthy conditions. Obsessive about pleasing others, they’ll overlook about their very own wants.
Somebody who’s a 9w1 predominantly reveals Kind 9 traits however a big variety of 1 traits, and vice versa for a 1w9.
Enneagram Kind 1: The Reformer
The Enneagram 1 is known as the Reformer. This kind is inspiring, visionary and idealistic. Basically, 1s wish to make constructive change occur.
They spend a variety of time creating their imaginative and prescient for the world and taking laborious motion to make it actuality. On one hand this implies they’ll garner help and enact constructive change, although usually they turn into forceful and overbearing in doing so.
They’re perfectionistic and idealistic, and have a tendency to lament the state of the world. All this implies they often overlook to floor themselves within the harsh realities of life.
Somebody who’s a 1w9 predominantly reveals Kind 1 traits however a big variety of 9 traits, and vice versa for a 9w1.
Within the Enneagram Intestine Triad? What to Do Subsequent
Maybe you’ve taken a take a look at or learn the descriptions above and have garnered that you simply’re predominantly an Enneagram Kind 8, Kind 9, or Kind 1, or one of many all-Intestine wing varieties (8w9, 9w8, 9w1 or 1w9). What do you do now?
To begin with, your character kind and triad are neither essentially good nor unhealthy. All 9 Sorts and three Triads have upsides and disadvantages. In sure conditions they assist, in others they hinder.
For me, it was very useful to uncover my kind as a result of I realised that a lot of my character traits, together with the quirky ones, are primarily regular and to be anticipated given my kind. Isn’t that a large aid?
You’ll be able to then start to ask how your kind and triad assist you reside absolutely within the completely different domains of your life, like work, household and friendships. The place do they offer you an edge or very important abilities that you’d be misplaced with out?
However, the place do your kind and triad hinder you in these domains? The place do they create points in your life?
It’s necessary to not assume that your character kind and triad definitively describe who you might be and can at all times be. We’re remarkably moldable and adaptable, and in any case all these classes and labels are simply approximations, shorthand methods of describing human character. They don’t outline us.


I wish to assume that our kind and triad current particular challenges that it’s our job to work with, to work by means of, slightly than be accosted by. For instance, in the event you’re a Kind 9 and spot you’re at all times attempting to create concord and please individuals, simply realise that. Observe your self when caught on this behaviour, and watch the way it’s each a blessing and a curse.
Then you’ll be able to work to intensify the constructive and iron out the detrimental. Maybe as an antidote to this tendency, you determine to apply imposing your self extra. After some time, you may realise that you simply’ve reworked or transmuted this inherent high quality of 9 in order that the professionals are accentuated and the cons are tempered.
The identical goes for the various qualities of the categories and triads. Be self-observant and inventive as you channel them to your profit.
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