Beyond the Mind: Type 5 Subtypes
I’m fortunate to have taken a training on Instincts & Subtypes with Peter O’Hanrahan. He shared theories on how we develop a dominant instinct for either Self-preservation, Social belonging, or One-on-one relating. Said theories exceed the scope of this post, but Peter used a poignant metaphor I’d like to adopt—a 3 legged stool. He spoke of one’s dominant instinct as a “short leg” that throws the stool off balance. The key is to balance the stool by evening out these 3 legs—but how?
The first step is to know your Subtype, a.k.a your dominant instinct, so you can "check" the tendency to invest more energy in that instinctual arena. If you don't do this, you're pretty much sunk as far as working with these instincts (at least from my somewhat opinionated point of view).
Once you've learned to “check” the instinct you rely on most heavily/automatically, some energy starts getting “freed up.” Now you can redistribute that energy towards the other two instincts. I like to think of this as juicing up the secondary and tertiary instincts by “using them on purpose” - making conscious efforts to go forth and relate to the world through them.
With this in mind, let’s explore the subtype energies as they manifest for Enneagram Type 5s:
If you are an Enneagram 5, it can benefit you to understand how your curious mind, pursuit of knowledge, innovativeness, privacy concerns, minimalism, emotional detachment, scarcity-mindset, and literally ALL components of your type structure get channeled primarily through a particular instinctual drive!
Where are your privacy concerns and investigative mindset “aimed?”
Are they aimed at holding onto material resources (along with time, energy, personal space), and using information as a stand-in for connection with others?
Are they aimed at collecting knowledge for sharing with like-minded groups (to achieve a sense of belonging), or reaching a state of “empowered knowingness” in order to feel secure?
Or are they aimed at achieving/guarding mystical bonds with individual others formed through romance, shared secrets, and an intense “meeting of the minds?”
These are three very different ways of “living out” the Type 5 passion of Avarice. Your Subtype not only affects how others perceive/experience your “Five-ness,” but also the kind of self-work that will be most effective for you (and your specific expression of the type). Let’s dive a bit deeper:
Self-Preservation 5: Castle
These are the “bunker-building” 5s, who tend to withdraw into private spaces. Their personal sanctuary could be the home, the office, the lab, a backyard tool shed—or even one's own mind. As long as it’s a protected place where people will not intrude. They are good at staying hidden in one way or another, to minimize potentially “depleting” interactions with others. These 5s hoard personal energy, private time, and the material resources required for survival. Outside of that short list, they tend towards minimalism and may have a very sparse lifestyle. They find a certain pleasure in going without. In some SP 5s, minimalism may outpace the sanctuary-building drive. They can be quiet wanderers who survive with little else than the clothes on their backs. The basic aim is to reduce one's own needs/desires, so as not to need other people. The cost of fitting in seems too high. Underneath their boundaries, there often exists a personal warmth and pleasant sense of humor—to be shared only with the select/trusted few.
Social 5: Totem
These are the “knowledge is power” 5s. They hoard information, and other individuals who share their interests, dedication, and logical orientation. In regards to knowledge/information itself, “hoarding” may be the wrong terminology; these 5s collect information to dole it back out to others. They safe-guard “tribal totemic knowledge”—the wisdom they believe is worthy of passing on to future generations. They seek to form groups with special others who are a cut above the rest, those who can match their own intellectual depth. Beatrice Chesnut describes Social 5s as looking for people to share their “super-ideals.” With this Subtype, mastery of knowledge serves many purposes. First, it defines one's role in the community: collecting and translating information to others. Competence equals confidence. There is also power and safety in mastery—comprehensive knowledge helps with forecasting the future. In the words of Helen Palmer, “Knowledge is power and forewarned is forearmed. Insider information is protective.”
One-on-One 5: Confidence
These are the “quietly romantic” and possessive 5s. They’re possessive of closely-held secrets and special knowledge, and of those special/exceptional individuals who they trust to keep their confidences. In the words of Beatrice Chesnut, One-on-one 5s feel “a need to find a high exemplar of absolute love.” These 5s are looking for a strong bond, as they have the relational intensity common to One-on-one Subtypes. But the classic Type 5 preoccupations make them exceedingly selective regarding with whom they share that intensity. Their search is rigorous, their standards are high, so the “person who is special enough” may indeed seem quite elusive—or not even exist in the realm of reality. When/if the special bond is found, there is often a great deal of “testing for trust." In short, they hoard secrets and secret-keepers. Riso and Hudson use the handle, “This is my world,” to describe these 5s. The “keep out” sign is posted on their important relationships rather than a physical sanctuary. In the case of One-on-one 5s, those people who will keep their secrets are held even closer than the secrets themselves.
To explore more about Type 5, join us at our next monthly workshop! You can see all of our upcoming events here. You can also work one-on-one with us by emailing us here.
*Shoutout to the Enneagram masters: I owe my understanding of Instinctual Subtypes to a long list of authors and teachers, but extra special credit goes to Peter O’Hanrahan, Helen Palmer, Beatrice Chesnut, and Ginger Lapid-Bogda