What Types Of Masks Do People Wear? - Big Picture Questions

Previously, we learned that our souls incarnate here to try to balance the three spiritual forces of Love, Wisdom and Power. To do that, we come back as different versions of ourselves with different personalities or “masks” to learn about the right use of these forces. What types of masks do people wear? Do they also affect the types of spiritual practices we are meant to do?

What are our primary needs?

The ego is the personality or “mask” that we develop when we are in human form. Our souls use the ego as a tool to experience “being human” with all the challenges and delights that come with it. There are many personality typing systems, but the Enneagram goes to the core of the three spiritual forces of Love, Wisdom and Power like no other system, because everything occurs in triads.

There are nine personality types (or enneatypes 1-9) distributed around three centers of intelligence corresponding to the body (doing), heart (feeling) and head (thinking). Each center is focused on a different primary need, which is having autonomy, attention or security (below).

What types of masks are there?

Susan Tsesenga (“The Undefended Self”) said the mask is usually based on a distortion of one of the three divine principles of love, power or serenity. We tend to see these principles in opposition to one another and unconsciously choose one of them to try to appear “perfect,” so we can get our needs met. She explained:

The Mask of Love is an attempt to get love from others by always appearing to be perfectly loving, good or nice. In my view, this mask corresponds to enneatypes 1, 2 and 6, who believe they can “earn” love by being compliant, helpful or dutiful. They are out of touch with their head center (inner guidance or Wisdom).
The Mask of Power is an attempt to get control of life by always appearing competent, independent or domineering. This mask corresponds to enneatypes 3, 7 and 8, who “demand” power by being assertive. They are driven by power, which leaves them out of touch with their heart center (feeling, affection or Love).
The Mask of Serenity is an attempt to escape the difficulties and vulnerabilities of life by always appearing serene and detached. This mask corresponds to enneatypes 4, 5 and 9, who are withdrawn into their own fantasies, thoughts or space. They are “alone” and out of touch with their body center (energy or Power).

These three masks and their corresponding enneatype triads are summarized in the Figure below:

How do people cope with unmet needs?

When we don’t get what we want and have some unmet needs, we develop certain coping strategies. That’s the ego’s way of defending us against loss and disappointment. These coping styles can be seen as another triad of masks that people can wear (based on the work of Riso, Hudson and others):

The Mask of Positivity is an attempt to adopt a “positive attitude” by denying, avoiding or reframing any problems or disappointment. These people don’t want to look at anything painful or negative in themselves. This mask is worn by enneatypes 2, 7 and 9, who are out of touch with their body center (Power).
The Mask of Competency is an attempt to deal with difficulty by putting aside their own feelings. They strive to be rational, competent and objective. This mask is worn by enneatypes 1, 3 and 5, who try to solve problems logically and expect others to do the same. They are out of touch with their heart center (Love).
The Mask of Reactivity is an attempt to get an intense emotional response from others to mirror their own reactive state. This mask is worn by enneatypes 4, 6 and 8, who have strong likes and dislikes. They have difficulties knowing how much to trust others. They are out of touch with their head center (Wisdom).

These three masks and their corresponding enneatype triads are summarized in the Figure below:

How do Love, Wisdom and Power fit into the masks?

I have drawn a wheel to summarize how we use the different centers of intelligence or spiritual forces of Love (heart), Wisdom (head) and Power (body). Each personality type has a particular combination of a preferred center, a support center and a repressed center, which makes all of us different from each other. The way we operate depends on how imbalanced or out of touch we are with one or more of these centers. As Riso & Hudson put it:

When we are healthy, only the preferred center is being drawn on by the personality. We are not strongly identified with our identity and can express a wide range of higher acting behaviors (our “best” self).
When we operate in the average range, another center becomes imbalanced, so two of the centers become scrambled or distorted. We are more focused on our identity and want others to see us in a certain way.
When we are unhealthy, all three centers become distorted, because we’re desperate to get our needs met. We see ourselves as victims and justify low acting behaviors that violate ourselves and others. We need professional help.

Below is a Figure that summarizes the centers that can be distorted in each personality type:

The inner circle corresponds to the preferred center for each type, which may be the body center (Doing or Power), head center (Thinking or Wisdom) or heart center (Feeling or Love).
The middle circle shows the support center for each type and the coping strategies they use to deal with unmet needs. That’s where we get the masks of the Reactive, Competency and Positive types.
The outer circle shows the undeveloped or repressed center for each type. This circle corresponds to the masks of the Compliant, Withdrawn and Assertive types.

The dynamics of the three centers create characteristic “issues” associated with each personality type (below). For more information on each Enneatype, please see Type Descriptions — The Enneagram Institute:

Final Thoughts

You may recognize some of the masks that you or those around you may wear on a regular basis, which explains a lot of about our personalities. But more importantly, it gives us clues as to how to unscramble our distorted centers. As Riso & Hudson noted, working on the third (repressed) center will rapidly bring balance in most of us operating in the average range. They suggested a daily practice based on developing the third center in the following way:

The Withdrawn (types 4, 5, 9) need to engage the physical body, to become grounded, to sense things within it and to move their energy or charge around it (e.g. breath work, martial arts, reiki, etc.). When the gut/instinctual center is functioning properly, it grounds Presence, which keeps us from becoming identified or lost in what our minds or hearts are engaged in.
The Compliants (types 1, 2, 6) need to work with quieting their mind, to learn to listen to their inner guidance (e.g. meditation, develop intuitive functions, psycho-spiritual healing, cognitive therapy, hypnotherapy, etc.). When the thinking center is functioning properly, it brings openness and the quality of “allowing.”
The Assertives (types 3, 7, 8) need to open their heart, to cultivate sensitivity and compassion for self and others (e.g. FOAL technic, heart-based meditations by HeartMath Institute, etc.). When the feeling center is functioning properly, it is fully engaged with the experience, which touches our heart and connects us to others.

To unscramble the other masks we wear, a secondary practice is needed that is specific to each group:

The Competency group (types 1, 3, 5) needs to work on opening up their feelings, to experience moments of grief and release blocked feelings. They need to process their feelings, such as frustration and resentment (1), hostility, inadequacy and shame (3), or rejection and futility (5).
The Reactive group (types 4, 6, 8) needs to quiet their mind and to reframe their distorted thinking and perceptions, especially negative interpretations of self and others (4), those caused by projection and anxiety (6), or by denial of fear and vulnerability (8).
The Positive Outlook group (types 2, 7, 9) needs to learn to be grounded in their physical body and allow whatever energy is locked there to flow. They also need a direct experience of their bodily sensations to release fears and emotional blockages trapped in their bodies, such as repressed needs and hostility (2), sadness and regret (7), or repressed anger and fear (9).

Riso & Hudson (“Understanding the Enneagram”) wrote:

“Once we are three-Centered, we have all the capacities that are the natural birthright of human beings. We are grounded and autonomous by fully residing in our Being. We are open-hearted, joyful and compassionate, and we are able to discern and discriminate exactly what we need to do from moment to moment…

Of course, we cannot “will” our Centers into balance, but we can learn to relax more fully into ourselves by cultivating Presence. Presence is the medium in which the three Centers can be unified. This is the goal of real Inner Work… Our true identity lies beyond the realm of any of these Centers.”

Note: The spiritual paths for transformation associated with the three centers are called the Way of the Fakir (path of mortification/body), the Way of the Monk/Nun (path of devotion/heart) and the Way of the Yogi (path of knowledge/head). The Way of the Sly Man is the fourth way that works on all three centers at once by living ordinary lives out in the world, as most of us do.