Transmutation and Transformation

The Enneagram of Transmutation operates differently from that of Transformation. The inner triangle has rotated: instead of the mechanical shock that introduces lower-level energy at point 3, there is a conscious shock that introduces higher-order energy – this was point 6 in the former epoch. The higher-order energy makes possible acts of reconciliation through surrender and sacrifice at points 4 and 5, instead of the intense struggle and conflict that were required to transform the lower-order energy of the mechanical shock.

Missing Picture

Another way of putting it is that the agency of the conscious shock at point 6 now operates at point 3: for instance, Vollmar’s description of the process of writing his book: the publisher, the point 6 agent, gave him the idea at point 3. The intention of writing a book changed Vollmar’s relationship to the past (the ideas and impressions he had gathered over years of Enneagram study) and his relationship to the future (his idea of what was possible with his experience, knowledge and understanding). In another example, consider Bennett’s Enneagram of cooking and eating a meal. When point 6 (the community) acts at point 3 by providing the ingredients (raising food), then there is transmutation. At Sherborne, the community provided the ingredients, and the substance of the community (the people living on a course) was changed: at Claymont, the community was never able or willing to provide the ingredients. The result was that form of a community was destroyed.

Missing Picture

The energy liberated by the conscious shock at point 3 enables us to let go of our judgement of the past (point 4) and our dreams of the future (point 5). Contrast the sacrificial action at this stage with the conflict and suffering imposed in the Enneagram of Transformation.

Healing Through Co-Creation | Conflict and Co-Creation