How The Enneagram Speaks in your Dreams
Odilon Redon, Christ and the Samaritan Woman (1895)
A client of mine recently shared a couple of her dreams with me, prompting me to think about the rich connections between Enneagram work and our dreams.
Our dreams provide us access to an unknown landscape, allowing us to wander between territories deep inside the self and wells of collective memory and wisdom, peppered with bits of our daily waking experience that our mind is sorting through. These dreamscapes can feel mundane, otherworldly, thrilling, gorgeous, or nightmarish – sometimes all of the above.
Working with dreams, like working with the Enneagram, is not a simple, finite process. Much of the most effective dreamwork is done over time, allowing us to see the symbols that keep showing up.
As we move deeper into winter – which I think of as the dreaming season – I want to invite you to step more into dreamwork and bring the Enneagram along. Here's a simple activity you can do with your dreams, as well as questions to help you work with dreams and the Enneagram. I am indebted to Tara Eschenroeder of Great Abiding Yoga for the opening dream practice (and check out her upcoming course, "Unleash Your Verse: A Poetry Immersion Series"). I also loved a class last year on Dreams and the Enneagram from The Enneagram School that focused on the Instincts (more info here).
Dreamscape Exercise
Choose one symbol from your dream (this can be a person, an animal, a non-sentient thing, or a part of the landscape).
Imagine yourself as that dream symbol. Answer the following from that entity’s perspective:
Who or What are you? How do you feel?
What is your purpose or function?
What is your message for the dreamer?
Now, step back into your own perspective. What do you want that dream symbol to know?
Then, ask these Enneagram-specific questions of your dream, repeating with as many types as you like or want to work with more actively. Don't worry about answering "correctly."
Type 8
Who has access to power in the dream? If power is not present in a person, is it present in the dreamscape in some other way? What is the dreamer's relationship to power in the dream?
Type 9
Is the dreamscape harmonious or discordant? Where does energy flow in the dream? Is the dreamer occupying a single perspective, or multiple points of view? Does the dreamer feel expansive, or fragmented and numb?
Type 1
Does the dreamscape feel ordered (even if that order is unfamiliar) or chaotic? Does the dreamer feel a sense of control, up to and including moments of lucidity, or is control unavailable (or actively taken away)?
Type 2
Does the dream offer a sense of connection, or a sense of disconnection and rejection? Is the dreamer in need of something, or does the dreamscape ask something of the dreamer they may or may not be willing to give?
Type 3
Does the dream feel like a quest with a particular goal? Is that goal achieved, or is it actively (or passively) thwarted? How does the dreamer see themselves as an active agent in the dream? How do others view or perceive them?
Type 4
Is the dream filled with hidden depth and secret meaning, or does it ask the dreamer to engage with the mundane? How do dream symbols reflect the self? How do they incorporate external information?
Type 5
What hidden knowledge does the dream contain? What is the deeper meaning of specific dream symbols? How does the dream ask the dreamer to engage with the dreamscape? What elements cause the dreamer discomfort and fear?
Type 6
Does the dreamscape ask the dreamer to show courage in the face of challenges? How does the dreamer respond? How does the dream engage questions related to security, safety, and trust?
Type 7
What adventure is the dreamer on? What are the details of the world they are exploring? Where is there an opportunity to explore the happier/lighter and darker/heavier aspects of the dreamscape (without preferring one over the other)?
Have you ever put your dreams in dialogue with the Enneagram, or are you planning to now? I’d love to hear what you discover.