The Sacred Enneagram: Finding Your Unique Path to Spiritual Growth

by Christopher L. Heuertz

For people dominant in type Five, silence is the posture that allows them to learn to consent as an intention. To consent to silence for Fives means to be present to the silence as an agreement, to intentionally make room for it amid their compulsive mental interrogations. Rather than merely checking out, when Fives make room for silence in true consent they permit Divine interruptions and sacred answers to supersede their own ability to offer what they deem the most sensible solutions to life’s greatest questions. Consenting to silence helps Fives realize they are accepted as they are and safe in the unknown, even if they don’t have all the answers. In the end, when Fives can consent to silence, they wake up to Mystery, no longer distracted by the mental noise they’ve created as a way to avoid their fear of not finding solutions. By saying yes to silence, they find a way of living more freely, not emotionally or mentally detached, but unattached to needing to be the bearer of answers to make the world safe.