Introduction to Dimensional Tarot

 

 

DIMENSIONAL TAROT – Exploring the Enneagram & Tarot Construct

 

Energy can neither be created nor destroyed – this applies itself to emotions as well. We either process or store emotion – unconsciously and consciously. When we experience emotion consciously, we are evocative and alive. When we store them unconsciously, such as with stress, then we carry it in our body in the form of tight muscles and anxiety. They are there whether we like them or not and some of us have been conditioned into unhealthy, mostly unconscious habits that prevent us from our fullest selves. Emotions have their own energy and the spread above and described within this article looks for any stuck or stagnant emotional energy. It focuses on the Enneagram Personality system, so has 9 cards representing each type. If you look at the Enneagram, you will see how each card directly corresponds to each point of the Enneagram. See the figure below for an example of the Enneagram overlaid onto our spread. Susan Rhoades has performed incredibly enlightening work within The Fool’s Journey into the Enneagram and inspired this form of tarot. Her work can be found here, should you want to dive deeper into the technical intricacies of this system. More articles are to follow soon. 

If you are unfamiliar with Enneagram then this system may, at first, appear overwhelming; however, this combination opens tarot analysis to an incredible depth. Briefly, each point numbered 1-9 are key ego constructs. Think of each point as part of a council that comes to an agreement when trying to make a decision or as we transition through life. It can also be fun to envision these as the characters from the movie Inside Out – a group of nine people just arguing in your head. We use 9 cards in this spread and each card corresponds to the same numbered archetype. So, Card 9 is Type 9 – The Peacemaker, 1 to the Reformer, 2 to the Helper, 3 to the Achiever, 4 to the Individualist, 5 to the Investigator, 6 to the Achiever, 7 to the Enthusiast, and 8 to the Challenger.

• Type 1 - Reformers 
• Principled, purposeful, self-controlled, and perfectionistic. These people desire to be good, virtuous, balanced, and to have integrity in what they do. They fear being bad, defective, evil, or corrupt. 
• Reformers are
• Vice / Virtue: Anger / Serenity
• Triad: Anger / Instinct

• Type 2 - Helper
• Generous, demonstrative, people pleasing, and fear being unloved or unwanted, to find themselves alone, and desire to feel loved for who they are. 
• Vice / Virtue: Pride / Humility
• Triad: Feeling / Heart

• Type 3 - Achiever
• Driven, results-oriented, image-conscious, adaptable people who fear being worthless apart from their achievements and desire to feel worthwhile, accepted, and desirable. 
• Vice / Virtue: Self-Deceit / Veracity
• Triad: Feeling / Heart

• Type 4 - Individualist 
• Sensitive, dramatic, self-absorbed, temperamental, and expressive. They fear having their identity lost and desire to find themselves, their significance, and to show the world their inner experience (intensity). 
• Vice / Virtue: Envy / Equanimity
• Triad: Feeling / Heart

• Type 5 - Investigator
• The Mind of the Enneagram, the perceptive, innovative, secretive, and isolated investigator. They fear being useless or incapable and their utmost desire is to understand how things work. 
• Vice / Virtue: Avarice / Non-attachment
• Triad: Fear / Thinking

• Type 6 -Loyalist
• These are engaging, responsible, suspicious and anxious people that fear having no support or guidance, of not being able to survive on their own, and their basic desire is security and support. 
• Vice / Virtue: Fear / Courage
• Triad: Fear / Thinking

• Type 7 - Enthusiast
• Spontaneous, versatile, scattered, and enthusiastic about anything that catches their attention. They desire their happiness, satisfaction, and fulfillment. They dislike and fear being deprived or trapped in pain.
• Vice / Virtue: Gluttony / Sobriety
• Triad: Fear / Thinking

• Type 8 - Challenger
• Self Confident, Decisive, Willful, Confrontational with a basic desire to protect themselves, determine their own life course, and fear being harmed or controlled by others, or having their power/ability to be strong taken from them. 
• Vice / Virtue: Lust / Innocence
• Triad: Anger / Instinct
  
  
• Type 9 - Peacemaker 
• Self Confident, Decisive, Willful, Confrontational with a basic desire to protect themselves, determine their own life course, and fear being harmed or controlled by others, or having their power/ability to be strong taken from them. 
• Vice / Virtue: Lust / Innocence
• Triad: Anger / Instinct

BASIC DIMENSIONAL TAROT SPREAD

  

9. Type 9 – Peacemaker

1. Type 1 – Reformer

2. Type 2 – Helper

3. Type 3 – Achiever

4. Type 4 – Individualist

5. Type 5 - Investigator

6. Type 6 - Loyalist

7. Type 7 - Enthusiast

8.  Type 8 – Challenger

 

Information below summarizes the key information you will need for a Dimensional Tarot reading. This system can be profoundly insightful and this article is merely presenting the system. More information will be coming soon in the form of articles and youtube tutorials for analysis combining these two systems. For a further introduction to Enneagram, please check out the enneagraminstitute.com, as they have helped pioneer and modernize Enneagram theory. You can also take a test to determine your Enneagram type and you are sent a detailed packet that really helps you understand yourself in terms of this system. But let’s dive into understanding this type of tarot spread.

TRIADS

The Anger / Instinct Triad

The Anger / Instinct Triad is made of the Challenger, Peacemaker, and Reformer. These are the gut type of people. They are instinctual and operate from a facet of anger. There are differences in how each handles and experiences anger. The Peacemaker will disconnect from anger, the challenger will embrace it, and the reformer will suppress it. There is anger still felt directly by the reformer and challenger, but the peacemaker can be the most out of tune with this instinctual and anger triad - which is why they are the center of the triad. 

At the center and crowning the entire spread, we have the Peacemaker. They are the most out of touch with their instinctual energy and anger due to their gentle heart. They may repress aspects of their emotionality and self, finding themselves to be a hallowed shell of who they hoped they could be. They are the most malleable type and can embody any type that they wish, but due to a passion that they are afraid of containing, they can spend many years of their life subdued into a life they have passively accepted. This is not to say that they do not have their positive traits, passions, and strong stances - as once they balance this aspect of themselves, they are a powerhouse and embody fair, kind practice and just opportunities. With the influence of both the Reformer and the Challenger on either side, the Peacemaker acts as a regulating force between these two more rambunctious types.

The Feeling / Heart Triad

**Updating**

The Thinking / Fear Triad

**Updating**

INTEGRATIVE TRIANGLE

Next, at the center of each Enenagram is the triangle formed by the Type 9 – Peacemaker, Type 3 – Acheiver, and Type 6 – Loyalist. **Updating**

Peacemaker to Achiever. 

Achiever goes to the Loyalist. 

Loyalist goes to Peacemaker. 

HEXAD PATTERN

There is the first pattern of the Enneagram, which will be the Hexad – seen in figure 1.3 above. We will be going through those points and how they move together.

Position:	Movement:	Enneagram Types and Description:
	Type 4 / The Individualist goes to Type 1 / The Reformer.	The Individualist, Type 4, goes to The Reformer. This is a transition that is made when they are healthy and other cards in the spread will help you to understand more of what is driving them. The Individualist is part of the Feeling / Shame Triad and deals with X and X as its Vice and Virtue. They are transitioning to the Instinctual and Anger Triad when they step into the Reformer. This can represent an inner knowing after coming to terms with the self.   The Individualist is about the journey and establishment of the self – often, check for The Helper and see where they stand in the spread. Standing strong may signify that there was a codependency issue resolved within the nature of the Helper, empowering the Individualist to express themselves more thoroughly, and this could bring joy to the Reformer – as they survey growth and look forward to the future. Once optimistic, the Reformer can move towards the Enthusiast.
	The Reformer / Type 1 goes to The Enthusiast / Type 7	The Reformer, Type 1, goes to The Enthusiast, Type 7, as they find their vigor and zest for life renewed. The Reformer has the soul finding journey of the Individualist preceding it, seems to learn some type of lesson about the self, and then carries forward this vigor towards the Enthusiast who learns by trying everything. They can reinvent themselves but may have a tendency forwards escapism through a busy state of life that keeps them distracted from their emotional discontent.
	The Enthusiast / Type 7 goes to The Investigator / Type 5	Observing the Enthusiast, we have the Investigator, Type 5, which becomes the next step in the journey – as the new experiences that the Enthusiast has tried have hopefully brought some form of enlightenment to the Investigator. The Enthusiast is a thinking and fear triad as the Investigator; however, they are more apt to use the external world to escape the self, whereas the investigator uses the internal world to escape the perceived melodrama of the outside world.     If there is a more solemn and reflective energy, then there may be the Investigator pulling up into the Enthusiast, as it reflects on this emotional distraction that can be transferred from the Reformer and make itself manifest in the Enthusiast. Seeking the other cards in the spread can help set a profound stage for this transition, as we learn from the Individualist and the Reformer a sense of self and righteousness, the enthusiast strikes out, and the investigator learns a lesson that it will carry forward to the challenger. Seeing if there is any unaddressed pain for the Reformer, which can manifest as ‘secret’ habits and ways to blow off steam or perfectionistic standards that they enact on others and can bog down and distract the energy of the Enthusiast, as the Reformer turns to escapism. This becomes nervous mind chatter for the Enthusiast, which may turn into busy action as a distraction.   Even tracing back to the The Individualist / Type 4 bring more insight into what is getting resolved where and be overwhelmed with unresolved pain of their past and clinging to their pain narrative as a way to vindicate what they’ve gone through. This can create a powerlessness that goes unaddressed until they find that they do not have the foresight and strength necessary to complete what they set out to do – which is why the dynamic between the Investigator and Challenger then becomes important.
	The Investigator / Type 5 goes to The Challenger / Type 8.	The Challenger stands between the passive, detached thinking of the Investigator – and will return there to strategize when things don’t go as planned, and what beckons to the Challenger is their heart of gold that lies with The Helper. Often, the Challenger had to pick up a suit of armor at a young age, and sees itself as a defender of the outcasts and misfits of the world – especially if they have a social subtype. They champion the little guy and the underdog. The fear that goes unrecognized in the Challenger as they lean into their instinctual power can engulf the Investigator, so examining this dynamic is important for an overall pattern of the querent. The Helper / Type 2 can also move into Challenger energy,Seeking how sometimes disturbed elements in a spread align helps to see what aspects of psyche are being to the Helper can see if the Challenger is ignoring needs and shoving them into other parts of their psyche.
	The Challenger / Type 8 goes to The Helper / Type 2.	The Challenger can have issues surrounding vulnerability but are one of the types with physical vitality. They can be gluttons for punishment and disregard aspects of themselves as they strive for what they desire. When unhealthy, they can slip into isolation and delusion as an unhealthy Five, but their heart longs for connection. This forces them to a reckoning with their heart space and, should they do some internal work and tap into healthy emotionality, they will then shine their strength as The Helper. The dynamic between the Helper and the Challenger is fascinating, as the searing energy of the Challenger can empower the Helper to stand for itself by itself – a problem for The Helper is a tendency towards codependency. The fierce independence of the Challenger feeding into the Helper can help to resolve this matter though, and if the Individualist / Type 4 is also standing strong then the lesson can seem to take.
	The Helper / Type 2 goes to The Individualist / Type 4.	The Helper has one of the most altruistic hearts of all. They are kind, compassionate, and seek validation from what actions they can take for others. Due to desire to be seen as valid for what they do for others, they can fall into patterns where they don’t express their inner desires, in fact feel shame for them, and then repress their emotionality – which can lead to issues surrounding using food for comfort or lashing out in unconscious ways. In a truly unhealthy fit, a Helper could collapse under the weight of the burdens they take on, feel they cant speak to, and fear losing as it invokes a primal fear that they won’t be loved any other way; however, to prove to their own conscious that they do have value, they can fall apart to see who is there to pick up the pieces – as the cycles continues and leaves the Helper more exhausted and unable to speak to the vulnerability issue present – that is until they begin to realize with their wakeup call that their behavior isn’t actually what is best for them. They will surround themselves with new people and once healthy, they step into their Individualist. They have a renewed sense of self and the pattern can begin again. As standing in the strength of the lesson they’ve learned, they have a new perspective. This is passed to the Rerformer and the cycle begins again.

 

 

Wings

 

Process Enneagram / Process Reading

                         

 

There are two ways to interpret the Dimensional Tarot spread. We’ve gone through the first by going over the integrative pattern. Now, we will move through the Process Enneagram. The system starts at point 9, but on the initial point of the journey, it is also referenced as zero because it’s the beginning of the journey. You start at the peacemaker, which crowns the spread and is the most transmutable type, and it goes clockwise through each card as they journey through the spread. Go Peacemaker, to Reformer, to Helper, to Achiever, etc, etc. This is where they build to the 9 from ‘zero’. We recommend clarifying with another deck for the Process Enneagram spread.

 

EXPANDED SPREADS:

INTEGRATIVE TRIANGLE:

The Integrative Triangle in the center of each point

 

The Integrative Triangle is formed by the Peacemaker, Achiever, and Loyalist dynamic. Each the respective core of their types – i.e – the anger/instinct triad (Type 9), the feeling/shame triad (Type 3), and the thinking/fear triad (Type 6), expanding on these key types can provide the reader with an understanding of what is ground behavior witnessed in the main triad. Think of the influence of the wings and radical shifts in behavior indicated in these cards or confirmed by the querent when focusing on these points as well. Taking this into account when looking at the behavior patterns of the hexad types can help to clarify what elements of the psyche may be troubled or what type of work could be necessary for improvement.

 

Full Dimensional Tarot Spread:

Add past, present, and future to each point and the system allows immense complexity. Time is also variable in the system. As the system cycles upon itself, so what was once a consequence of action from another type suddenly becomes the motivation for action when you complete an integrative loop through the system. Adding in the Process Enneagram cards on top of the full dimensional reading will also provide massive insight – which is where you lay cards down in-between each point to see the connecting energy, or energy that’s being carried forward throughout the process; for example, you may find Death to be the rebirth for the Individualist / Type 4 and when you look at the connection between The Reformer / Type 1 and The Helper / Type 2, then if you clarify with another tarot deck and see Death again, then you know that this rebirth energy could have been strongly carried through the reading and may hold a powerful influence for the Reformer, or to wherever else in the spread the energy has been carried.