General description (9w8)
Average 9/8s are gentle, simple, unsophisticated people. They tend to be a bit impulsive because of their lusty eight-wing, and they have the ability to push hard enough to get their way, but they back down easily in most cases if others resist their impulses. 9/8 is more likely to ignore a challenge than the more power-oriented 8/9. Unlike the more refined 9/1, 9/8 feels rough around the edges. There is often almost a clumsy feel to their childlike ways. They are like puppydogs, eager to be happy and eager to forget unpleasantness.
Balanced and transcendent states
When they begin to wake up, 9/8s almost always use their lusty eight-wing to pull themselves out of the dream. For them, the expansiveness and energy of eight is a direct antidote to nineish apathy and resignation. When eight begins to pull in the benevolence of two and nine finds the ambition of three, there is no stopping these powerful, generous people.
Highly integrated 9/8 carries both the goodness and generosity of two and the deep self-actualization of three, without any trace of pride or vanity. People feel positively uplifted in the presence of such completely humble, giving, magnificent, fully self-created beings. Somehow just being in the presence of such a person can generate tremendous confidence and healthy self-regard. It is not what they do, it's how they are. They simply are Ñ without trying to be anything in particular. The utter naturalness is astounding.
Unbalanced and unhealthy states
Stressed 9/8 tends to fall into an unselfed dream state. If the dream deepens, apathy leads to sixish suspicion, while eightish defensiveness leads to fiveish paranoia. Nine's primary defense of withdrawal is enhanced by both tendencies, and 9/8 becomes a reclusive, lazy, mistrustful, hermit.
In the worst cases, the tendency to escape by going to sleep leads to total avoidance of any kind of real interaction. Bills go unpaid, the phone rings without being answered, and the lawn goes unmowed. Somnolence leads 9/8 deeper and deeper into self-negation, resulting in a paranoid sort of comatose sloth. No one is home in the body, and the body is powered down. Can there be any life at all in such a dead state?
Physical appearance
9/8 has a tendency to be physically big. Many 9/8s have long, solid bones, and they are often remarkably strong. If they are healthy, they move with a powerful, fluid grace. If unhealthy, they can be quite clumsy and uncoordinated. Because they would rather not be the subject of much attention, and they feel no need to be different, they usually dress in traditional, acceptable clothing, seldom flashy or odd. Like 9/1s, 1/9s, and 6/5s, their particular brand of utter normality may be one of their most distinguishing features.
Callings
Some 9/8s find work that combines quiet time and occasional aggressive outwardness. Middle managers, airline pilots, grant writers, behavioral therapists, talent scouts, casting directors. Others stay well out of the front lines, becoming postmasters, gardeners, bookkeepers, beekeepers, housekeepers. There are 9/8 newscasters, actors, singers, recruiters, executive secretaries, and many unremarkable jobs out of the public eye. Of course, 9/8s can also be found doing many other kinds of work.