The Complete Enneagram: 27 Paths to Greater Self-Knowledge

by Beatrice Chestnut

In these ways, Fours’ “positive” Shadow—the ways they don’t see, own, and make conscious the facts that they are just as deserving of love and capable of being loved as anyone else—keeps them from being able to access that part of themselves that could more confidently open up to fully participating in the kind of love connections they dream about. Their conviction that they are unworthy operates as an unconscious block to owning and acting upon their inherent lovability and ability to love. As a result, Fours may not only fail to see their own natural goodness, they may also take on Shadow aspects of their family or group, unconsciously carrying the Shadow—the darker feelings and parts of reality that others don’t want to acknowledge—of the larger collective. And this may intensify their inability to see themselves in a positive light.