Type 4
Mystical Longings - Four's Search for the Beloved
Paula Raines
There are numerous paths on the mystical quest. Each of the Enneagram points uses energies unique to its fixation to either fuel the drive to Unitive Consciousness or to fodder personal suffering and malcontent. The classic depiction of Fours by most Enneagram teachers and writers is of introverted emotions driving emotional intensity and suffering. Certainly when Fours are functioning within the average to unhealthy levels of the Riso-Hudson continuum this description is accurate. At these levels, Fours are perceived as overly indulgent in emotions, too sensitive to perceived slights and criticism, and as melancholic outsiders who are self-involved with issues or attitudes about most other people. Fours at these psychological levels lose touch with day-to-day practical and physical needs as they become wrapped in their romanticized world of suffering and belief they are defective, different or special.
Paula Raines
There are numerous paths on the mystical quest. Each of the Enneagram points uses energies unique to its fixation to either fuel the drive to Unitive Consciousness or to fodder personal suffering and malcontent. The classic depiction of Fours by most Enneagram teachers and writers is of introverted emotions driving emotional intensity and suffering. Certainly when Fours are functioning within the average to unhealthy levels of the Riso-Hudson continuum this description is accurate. At these levels, Fours are perceived as overly indulgent in emotions, too sensitive to perceived slights and criticism, and as melancholic outsiders who are self-involved with issues or attitudes about most other people. Fours at these psychological levels lose touch with day-to-day practical and physical needs as they become wrapped in their romanticized world of suffering and belief they are defective, different or special.
On Being a Four
Susan Rhodes
Upon discovering I was a Four, I knew I was in trouble. Sure, I could relate to some of the descriptions (“intense, individualistic, emotionally sensitive”); I knew this was me. But there was more: melodramatic, envious, and elitist. I wasn’t so sure about that. And then there were some things that I had considered assets—like determination, the yen for authenticity, and the ability to stand up against public opinion—that were made to sound like problems. I didn’t understand why. I mean, I could understand how they could become problems, if we didn’t take the right attitude. But they still seemed like gifts in need of proper development to me.
I had a hard time relating to type labels like the Romantic or Tragic Romantic, too. They sounded positively Gothic! But then maybe they weren’t so far off; all those sweet but strange 4w5 Sexual (SX) subtype Goths are definitely Fours….but not quite my kind of Four. A lot of type descriptions seem to be for Sexual Fours (and not-terribly-well-adjusted SX Fours, at that).
Susan Rhodes
Upon discovering I was a Four, I knew I was in trouble. Sure, I could relate to some of the descriptions (“intense, individualistic, emotionally sensitive”); I knew this was me. But there was more: melodramatic, envious, and elitist. I wasn’t so sure about that. And then there were some things that I had considered assets—like determination, the yen for authenticity, and the ability to stand up against public opinion—that were made to sound like problems. I didn’t understand why. I mean, I could understand how they could become problems, if we didn’t take the right attitude. But they still seemed like gifts in need of proper development to me.
I had a hard time relating to type labels like the Romantic or Tragic Romantic, too. They sounded positively Gothic! But then maybe they weren’t so far off; all those sweet but strange 4w5 Sexual (SX) subtype Goths are definitely Fours….but not quite my kind of Four. A lot of type descriptions seem to be for Sexual Fours (and not-terribly-well-adjusted SX Fours, at that).