The Restory Retreat Centre

Exploring the Enneagram through Art (final) Peacemakers, optimists, reconcilers, comforters are all Signatures of this gentle type, Their basic desire is to maintain inner stability and peace of mind but fear loss and separation and translate their inner harmony to those around them. Nines believe that they are okay when those around them are okay. Because it is impossible to meet everybody’s needs to create perfect harmony, Nines often numb out by denial, creating a fantasy world or adjusting to whatever life and others present to them. They avoid conflict at all costs and may come across as being emotionally distant or lazy. Being out of touch with what it is that they really want they are not self- assertive and may live life vicariously through others. Their essence emerges through engaging with life and experiencing that they have something important to contribute. They become dynamic joyful people, working for peace and healing their world. The laid-back , almos...

I constantly have to deal with monkey mind. The Buddhists describe a mind that’s all over the place, jumping from one thought to the next, restless in a never ending chatter, as monkey mind. As Westerners we place a high premium on the intellect, complicated thought processes, an active mind. Our dominant tool, to a very large extent, with which we relate to our environment, is our head. We think. Much more than we think. In my own case the situation is aggravated by me being a Five on the Enneagram. In the unhealthy state, I tend to rely totally on my thought processes. I find safety in all the facts and information I gather. My brain is overused to the detriment of my other faculties and senses. Although this rational approach has its advantages – the majority of our achievements in the West attest to that – our over reliance on it costs us dearly. It became an over exercised muscle while the rest of our being and our other abilities atrophied. With effort we have t...

Exploring the Enneagram through Art. (Continued) Eights are leaders, protectors, providers. Rock-steady with enormous willpower and vitality. They use this to effect change in their environment because of a basic desire to protect themselves and to determine their own course in life. They take on challenges but also challenge others to exceed themselves. The live their lives trying to be in control and independent as the message they received in childhood was that it is not okay to be vulnerable or to trust anyone. This had often led to Eights having lost their “innocence” early in life by having to put up a strong, defensive front. This simple embodiment of truth is their true Life essence. By allowing their vulnerability to surface, their self-reliance and assertion dissolves and they surrender to a larger plan for their lives which my very well change the course of history because of their ability to inspire and be truly heroic. A strong and challenging bull carrying...

Exploring the Enneagram through Art. (continued)  Sevens are the multi-taskers, brimming with enthusiasm and sunny energy. They live in an idealized reality and see the world as their oyster, carried by the belief that life is unlimited and there for the taking and enjoying. Their basic desire is be happy, satisfied and to find fulfillment and they fear being deprived or trapped in pain. As a result they tend to try everything but with divided attention and do not stay with anything long enough to  experience it deeply or to get any real satisfaction from it. They keep trying to fill up an inner emptiness with things and experiences. When Sevens understand that fulfillment is not the result of “getting” anything, but a state of being that arises from allowing the richness of the present moment to touch them without anticipating what the next moment may bring, the simple pleasure of existing arises in them. By working through their feelings of pain and deprivation, the...

Exploring the Enneagram through Art (continued)  Anxiety is the Signature trait  of this personality. Troubleshooters and stalwarts, guardians. Their fear of having no support or guidance drives them to always act in the appropriate or expected way. They do not feel that they are able to survive on their own and are forever seeking guidance and validation from outside themselves and especially in power structures, such as the Bible, state, science. They are loyalists and often overcommit themselves and may feel taken advantage of. Sixes need to get in touch with their own inner guidance to stop scuttling back and forth between whatever influence is the strongest in any given moment. In that respect Sixes are bundles of opposites. They attain a sense of peace when they get grounded in the here and now and face their fears. They learn to trust their inner authority and guidance and become courageous and self-reliant. The sculpture shows a very anxious an...

The time will come, when with elation,  you will greet yourself arriving  at your own door, in your own mirror, and each will smile at the other's welcome and say, sit here.  Eat. You will love again the stranger who was your self.  Give wine.  Give bread.  Give back your heart to itself, to the stranger who has loved you. all your life, whom you have ignored for another, who knows you by heart. Take down the love letters from the bookshelf, the photographs, the desperate notes,                                                                    peel your own image from the mirror.                                                     ...

Exploring the Enneagram through Art (continued) Fives are the investigators, thinkers, experts and innovators. They live by the power of knowledge and their basic desire is to be capable and competent. This they believe, lies in mastering everything in their lives by obtaining as much information as they can lay their eyes on. They don’t need social validation and are often withdrawn and emotionally stingy. Their essential nature however, is contemplatively gifted, They connect with this essence by daring to get out of their heads and use their bodies, get their hands dirty. They learn that wisdom is a deep knowledge that comes only through real life experience and they reach clarity  and a lived wisdom as opposed to the learned knowledge they believed to be their end-all. A head with the surface scored by symbols of knowledge and schemes depicts the Five’s quest for knowledge. A full figure emerges from the head and reaches for the earth to connect with his vitality an...