WHAT “SHAPE” ARE YOU?
— Spiral, Cross, Triangle, Round or Square?

Signs of Life: The Five Universal Shapes and How to Use Them, by Angelese Arrien

Diane Fitzgerald had pointed this out as an interesting book about shapes, I think in her book SHAPED BEADWORK. I read the book. Fascinating and goes into a lot of interesting detail.

In this book, the author, who is a cultural anthropologist, studied shapes, and searched for universals. She found that cross-culturally, people use 5 particular shapes to describe and understand themselves in relationship to others within their culture.

These shapes were:

Circle, Square, Triangle, Cross and Spiral

She developed what she calls the Preferential Shapes Test.

Take this test, and use Arrien’s book to interpret the results.

I’m going to oversimplify this test and paraphrase her words, so you can try it, if you haven’t already. However, to read more details about interpretations and to read stories about people who fit various patterns, I’d suggest you visit this book.

STEP 1:
On a piece of paper, write the numbers 1 thru 5 across the page.

Here are the shapes to play with:

SPIRAL, CROSS, TRIANGLE, ROUND, or SQUARE.

STEP 2:
Under the first position number, put your favorite shape.
Under the 2nd position number, put your second favorite shape.
Under the 3rd position, your third favorite shape
Under the 4th position, your fourth favorite
Under the 5th position, your least favorite.

STEP 3:
Use the information below to interpret the results:

POSITION 1: Where you Think You Are
This is where you think you are today or want to go in the future, but not necessarily the most accurate indicator of where you actually are right now.

POSITION 2: Your Strengths
An inherent strength predominant in you at this time, whether you know it or not. Often, this is how other people see you.

POSITION 3: Where You Are
This is the most significant shape.
This shape shows your true current self.

Think of the goldilocks story – the porridge is too hot, the next too cold, the third just right.

POSITION 4: Your Motivation
This shape points to past events or things which motivated or provoked you to get to Position 3.

POSITION 5: Old, Unfinished Business
A process you have outgrown, dislike, resist, or are judging. Unresolved issues you want to put aside.

CIRCLE: wholeness
Position 1: desire to be independent and self-sufficient
Position 2: strengths are self-reliance and resourcefulness
Position 3: process of achieving independence is at core of your nature
Position 4: something in your past motivated you to become responsible and self-reliant
Position 5: you may be resisting or denying this process of individuation

CROSS: relationships
Position 1: forming relationships is most important to you
Position 2: you rely on good people skills
Position 3: forming relationships is something deep within your nature
Position 4: a past shared journey inspired you to become who you are today
Position 5: you may want to ignore or dismiss relationships

SPIRAL: growth and change
Position 1: change holds great importance to you
Position 2: easy for you to handle change
Position 3: you are profoundly engaged in process of change
Position 4: your were challenged in your past to make significant changes in your life
Position 5:you are unlikely to show interest in process of change and growth

TRIANGLE: goals, dreams, visions
Position 1:process of envisioning seems especially important to you now
Position 2:you carry the gift of vision naturally, whether you are fully aware of this or not
Position 3:the process of envisioning is central to your current development
Position 4:your process of following dreams in your past motivated you to change your life
Position 5:you are resisting the process of honoring your dreams and establishing goals

SQUARE: stability
Position 1:stability and authenticity are inspirational to you
Position 2:you are responsible, authentic, and fully committed when you give your word
Position 3:it is vitally important to you to stabilize and implement your creative endeavors
Position 4:past issues of responsibility and accountability led you to make changes in your life
Position 5:you may be denying process of stability and responsibility