The Virtue of the Six

Being as the Virtue of a Type stems from the transformation of its Passion, we need to look firstly at the Passion of the Six which is Fear or, more precisely, Angst. Sixes project into the future, trying to anticipate what will happen in an attempt to navigate the vagaries of life and to ensure some sort of security. Although not knowing the future is part of the human condition, it is exacerbated when we are unsure of ourselves and Sixes are unsure of themselves because they feel unsupported and without guidance and so are plagued by anxiety and doubt and so are unsure of how to move into the future. They may plan and prepare but how do they know that their plans, their preparations will be sufficient? How do they know that the outward guidance they seek and receive can be trusted? This is really the core of the Six's dilemma. However, if they take time to look into their fearful feelings and where they are really coming from - an imagining of a future situation which they cannot know - and take steps to bring themselves down from their chattering mind to ground themselves in their body and the present moment (meditation is particularly good for Sixes), they are able to tap into a deep-rooted inner strength and support. They realise they do not need to look outwards because they already have what they are looking for inside. This knowledge brings greater solidity and the understanding that they do not need to know what is going to happen or to fear it, that they have the courage to deal with it. And so the Virtue of the Six is Courage - courage to accept the not knowing and the courage to handle it, whatever it may be.