You can access the pre-conscious but it’s a challenge. The pre-conscious exists just under the surface of the conscious mind. The conscious level is where you are right now. You can visualize the human mind as having three levels: conscious, pre-conscious, subconscious. (Even if you think you know this, you may want to give it a quick skimming! If you already know this, then skip down to the next section. Here’s a brief summary so we’re all on the same page. The drives are Eros and Thanatos (Love and Death, respectively.) The drives are not discussed in my post. Don’t confuse these with the Freudian drives. Collectively, they are called the Freudian agencies. INTRODUCTION TO THE FREUDIAN AGENCIESĪlmost everyone is familiar with the concepts of the id, ego, and superego.

My theory is that each enneagram type spends their libidinal energy in different ways, and this can be explained through Freudian psychoanalysis. There is a finite amount of libidinal energy, and someone who invests their libidinal energy into their id will likely be very different than someone who invests this energy into the superego. Every mental process takes some amount of this energy. I’m going to explore the connection between the nine enneatypes and the id, ego, and superego agencies.įreud proposed that a libidinal energy exists, which represents all psychic (mental) energy. Sigmund Freud developed the structural model of the psyche: he posited that there was an id, ego, and superego, existing at different levels of awareness within the mind. This is achieved by looking at the enneagram through the lens of Freudian psychoanalysis. My position is that the enneagram is not arbitrary at all: in fact, it’s entirely internally consistent. That’s a theme in the enneagram: there’s a great deal of accurate observational evidence, but there’s no lynchpin to tie it together. For example, wing theory is supported by extensive observation but the actual reason for wing theory is nebulous at best.

Many newcomers to enneagram reject it because it seems almost arbitrary. In other words, which elements of personality determine a person’s type? My interest in enneagram is not the behaviors associated with these core personality features, but why these fears and desires came into existence in the first place.

Strong superego