Question: Which instinct subtype is the most blind and problematic?

Katherine: For what it’s worth, all three instincts can be trouble when they flip into overdrive… and become an excessive preoccupation which operates at a mostly unconscious manner. 😉

Where did the term come from? I am to blame as I was the one that taught that the 3rd instinct was blind during my workshops in the late 80s and early 90s…and felt it was confirmed in my first two years of formal research during the 3-hour In-depth Inquiry Interviews that began in 1994. I labeled it as blind because it was most hidden and unseen of the three instinctual subtypes. And, att he time, in 1994, it was believed that you had one instinct. And, that this instinct was secondary to fixation of the types.

Subsequently, however, after working with hundreds and then tens of thousands of people in an in-depth manner, I discovered a great deal more about the instincts. First and foremost is that the dominant instinct runs the defense strategy. The lead instinctual type at the top of the instinctual stacking order runs the show and triggers the Tritype® stacking.

Tritype® and Tri-fix
At the same time, I also found that we use all 3 centers in a stacking, descending order as well… but alas, no one understood what I was talking about yet…. But the subtypes were out there so people were interested in participating in my Enneagram research studies…So, I had people interested in discussing the instinctual subtypes… but I had yet to find people that understood the same was true with the centers. I called this concept 3Types and Tricenter at the time… I then learned in December of 1996 that Ichazo had begun to apply his term “tri-fix” to individual as well rather than just as an overall concept. He had begun to give people their own tri-fix. Then I knew my findings were very similar to Ichazo. The maid thing was that we all use all three centers or as Ichazo would say “Triads.”

Back to the beginning
For almost 24 years Naranjo did not teach the Enneagram in the US. He shared in the course that he stopped teaching in the US because he was frustrated that people were not giving him attribution for his work and were taking his work and calling it there own.

Where did the idea of instinctual stacking and the 3rd instinct is blind come from?
It came from my 1994-1995 research study and book, A Study of Instinctual Subtypes.

When I was conducting my first research on the instincts and subtypes, I discovered that we all use all 3 instincts in a stacking, descending order. Claudio Naranjo validated my 1994-1996 Subtypes Research in April of 1996.

I gave my research findings and book, A Study of the Instinctual Subtypes to Naranjo in that intensive. He read it and was very supportive of my work and said that, “He ‘validated’ that my research had validated his work (and original hypothesis).” ;)

He also said he appreciated that I always gave attribution to authors and teachers in my work. As a result, he asked me to include a paragraph of his ideas definition of the 27 subtypes in my book, A Study of the Instinctual Subtypes. I did so immediately…that is once he confirmed that I had accurately understood what he intended for each of the 27 subtypes.

As a result, of my findings and his validation of my work, he was willing to add subtypes to the 10-day intensive. Naranjo stated that he had never taught them as a full understanding unto themselves until 1996. He said that is why people did not understand them and mistyped.

Instinctual Stacking Order
Naranjo said that he was intrigued with the idea of the instinctual stacking order. When I explained the 3 different patterns of these stackings, he pondered what he had observed in people over the years. He considered that those with the first pattern I described, where one type is so dominant and the other are much lower, potentially matched what he has found with those that had an instinctual type that was so strong that the type was much harder to confirm. I too had found a version of this. So as we discussed it further and, Naranjo further hypothesized that, “ It could explain why some people had an instinctual subtype pattern that was so strong that it obscured type… so much so, that he considered it to be a mini passion.”

A little back story on the instinctual Subtypes
Many people so not realize that the Instinctual Subtypes were created by Naranjo…not Ichazo. They were and are not a part of Ichazo’s teachings and work.

But, Naranjo said that he did use Ichazo’s theme of “trialectics” and his view of the law of 3, the kernels of which, he taught in 1970, in Arica Chile, (The Enneagram of Personality).

Naranjo said that he noticed that there were three “more primitive” aspects of Ichazo’s triads within each type and called them “subtypes” for that reason.

Each type then has three “more primitive” expressions of Ichazo’s instinctual triads. For example, a 4 is one of three types in the heart triad that wants to find a role that confirms their drive for aesthetic excellence. More on the history of Type, Tritype®, and instinctual types here: https://enneagramtritypetest.com and www.katherinefauvre.com.

Sexual 4
At the time, Naranjo had found that the sexual 4 had the heart type role (4) which was the drive for aesthetic excellence in the domain of the intimate relationship (sx) …and that the primitive expression of the heart type was “Eros” and when combined the role of aesthetics creates a primitive need to have idealized intimate romantic love and intimacy. This results in an ongoing quest for ideal love but that the 4 knows that they are fundamentally flawed so will never be desirable enough to have such an exquisite love…and that the 4’s flaw prevents them from having the ideal love. So they instead must long for it and will never feel safe enough because of the absence of such a love that would reacue them…

So the drive for security based on desirability is entwine with a corresponding fear of undesirability. When combined the role of the misunderstood romantic genius emerges as the one that is fundamentally flawed with the need for perfect love to feel whole and complete.

Working with the Instinctual Types and Subtypes
Working with so many people in such a short period of time, I found that the third instinct was “immature” rather than blind. That is when I changed the word from blind to immature because once the third instinct is brought into awareness, it can mature at an impressively rapid rate.

The last to be detected as problematic were the nonchalant aspects of the second instinct. The issue was the hidden parts of the second instinct that were not easy to see, at first glance, that is. 😉 This seemed to pose many problems not easily seen as coming from the primary instinct.... and this is where people could easily stack their instincts in an order that may not be the most accurate.

For personal growth, we need to balance our instinctual types. First, we need to work on our primary instinct, then our third, immature instinct, and thereafter, the hidden arrogance of the second instinct that is hidden from us.... it is a true blind spot and very hard to see. And even hard to full bring into awareness but worth the investment and it unlocks so much about the instinctual patterns and lead type and Tritype®. To fully understand this we need to receive and be open to feedback from others… it is really essential in order to have the big picture.

Working with your instinctual types can dramatically improve your self-awareness and opening to you higher levels of empathy and compassion. This is because they represent the most primitive aspects of the personality. So, all work with the instincts is great work as they run your defense strategy...in essence, they run the show.

If your instincts are triggered, you will feel on red alert and be unhappy.... so, if your instincts aren't happy, you aren't happy no matter how hard you try. When triggered, it is the dominant instinct that triggers the other two and launch of the Tritype® stack. The instincts and Tritype® are intimately tied to one another. A so/sx/sp 784 can still be very different from a sx/sp/so 784 or 484 or 847 can be very different from one another with different childhood experiences. The interacting nature of the instinct stack combined with the Tritype® stack plus one's history creates an amazing understanding on one’s defense system… which when understood, leads to getter opportunities for growth and transformation. In particular, it gives meaning to the subtitles within type and Tritype®.

So the key is to learn to recognize what triggered your instinctual reaction and either let it manage what is crucial for your safety or if it is a habitual false alarm from stored patterns of suffering as a child, gently teach your hindbrain that from a scale of 1-10 this is a 1. It could happen that you do not need to expend the energy of a 10 alarm when it is a 1 alarm. I am oversimplifying this, and it is very difficult to do if you are sp or a 6. However, there are ways to work with your defense systems.

More on Tritype® here:
Katherine created a test that has been programmed to pick up particular patterns that the types use.
Take the Test here: https://enneagramtritypetest.com
General Information: www.katherinefauvre.com/tritype
YouTube: Katherine Fauvre | Creator of Tritype®