Re: Fours and Eights

Posted by Amy on October 15, 1999 at 21:52:18:

In Reply to: Fours and Eights posted by Jeremy on October 09, 1999 at 11:49:02:

Here's some interesting stuff from "Character and Neurosis" by Claudio Naranjo. (Has anyone else read this book? When I first read the description of the four in this book, I cried because it was so harsh.) He considers the four the masochist and the eight the sadist. "Opposite to envy on the enneagram, lust may be said to constitute the upper pole of a sado-masochistic axis. The two personalities, eight and four, are in some ways opposites (as these terms--sadist and masochist--suggest), though also similar in some regards, such as in the thirst for intensity. Also, just as a masochistic character is in some ways sadistic, there is a masochistic aspect in the character of lust; and while a sadistic character is active, a masochistic disposition is emotional: the former reaches out without guilt towards the satisfaction of its need; the latter yearns and feels guilty about its neediness. Just as the envy-centered character is the most sensitive in the enneagram, ennea-type eight is the most insensitive. We may envision the passion for intensity of ennea-type eight as an attempt to seek through action the intensity that ennea-type four achieves through emotional sensitivity..."

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