The Instinctual Drives and the Enneagram

"John Luckovich does not beat around the bush and lets us know right away that the material in this book is explicitly for inner work and soul development. And with great eloquence and patience, he unpacks this potentially complex material in a way that makes it understandable and relevant. While there are a number of teachers working in this area who have my love and respect, I dare say there is no one in the world who has spent more time contemplating the meaning and context of this material than John."

- from the introduction, written by Russ Hudson, author, The Wisdom of the Enneagram

The Enneagram is a profound tool for self-observation and inner work. While there are plenty of resources on the topic, most Enneagram literature is largely limited to entry-level descriptions of the Nine Types. The Instinctual Drives and the Enneagram focuses on a crucial but misunderstood facet of the Enneagram Typology--our “animal” Instinctual Drives and how they are related to our spiritual nature.
While nearly every school of thought on the Enneagram acknowledges the importance and role of the Instinctual Drives, there’s a deep lack of understanding what they actually are, the role they play in personality, and most importantly, their implications for inner work. This book achieves, for the first time, a coherent theory of the instinctual drives based in biology, evolution, and developmental psychology, and it paves the way toward a more accurate view of inner work that directly addresses our animal nature. In so doing, it turns our current understanding of the Enneagram on its head by showing that the personality does not exist in parallel with our instinctual drives, but in reaction to them. In other words, instinct comes first — and one’s Enneagram type is nothing more or less than a strategy to fulfill instinctual needs.
This clarified orientation has important implications for our spiritual development, self-remembrance, and the transformation of our personhood into a conduit of Essence.

“This book can fundamentally shift how you understand yourself, how you became who you are and how you can transform into a more real authentic you. John Luckovich accomplishes what’s nearly impossible in one book. He thoroughly transparently combines the roots and history of Enneagram studies with clear, deep, bold methods for taking it powerfully into our daily lives. His main method is taking up the instincts, an often neglected and misunderstood aspect of the Enneagram, and powerfully showing how they simultaneously keep us stuck and asleep and can be the pathways to profound awakening. An indispensable guide for anyone on the inner path.”
-James Flaherty, MCC
Founder New Ventures West & Integral Coaching
“An insightful, original, and sophisticated contribution to the field of Enneagram studies, establishing a strong bridge between familiar Enneagram of personality starting points and the more subtle, sensation/attention-based transformational psychology of the Gurdjieff Work. Newcomer John Lukovich weaves these two streams together in a way that is fresh, sensitive, and pragmatic, establishing a new baseline for collaborative dialogue and deepening practice—hopefully, for both camps.”
-The Rev. Cynthia Bourgeault, author, The Eye of the Heart and The Holy Trinity and the Law of Three.

“In The Instinctual Drives and the Enneagram, Enneagram teacher John Luckovich draws together many influences and synthesizes them into a unique model. The book presents the Enneagram and Instincts as deep pathways to spiritual and psychological growth. It offers a dense range of useful insights - from the arcane to the practical - that further opens up the Enneagram as a tool for powerful positive change.”
-Tom Condon, author, The Dynamic Enneagram