A Guide to Unlocking the Mysteries of the Enneagram for Self-Development

Posted on July 21, 2020 by David Cunningham, One of Thousands of Spirituality Coaches on Noomii.

A Guide to Unlocking the Mysteries of the Enneagram for Self-Development

“Before we become conscious of who we really are, we must become conscious of the fact that the person we think we are, here and now, is at best an imposter and a stranger.”
-Thomas Merton

What is the Enneagram?
The Enneagram (Ennea=9, Gram=Diagram) is simply a map for self-discovery and personal growth based on 9 basic personality types. The personality comes from the Greek for mask (persona). The Enneagram accurately and clearly describes why you think, feel and behave in particular ways based upon your core fears and core desires.
The power of the Enneagram is in its ability to harness and transform self-limiting behaviors into life-enhancing personal empowerment.
The gift of the Enneagram is that through self-discovery, one can create and sustain meaningful and lasting relationships with others, God and themselves.

Origins
Versions of the Enneagram are found in multiple different spiritual, oral, mathematical and philosophical traditions. Some authors claim strong Sufi roots, while others point to connections to early esoteric Christianity.

Oscar Ichazo (born 1931) is generally recognized as the principal source of the contemporary Enneagram of Personality which is largely derived from some of Ichazo’s teachings, such as those on ego-fixations, holy ideas, passions and virtues. Claudio Naranjo (1932-2019) was a Chilean-born psychiatrist who first learned about the Enneagram of Personality from Ichazo at a course in Arica, Chile. He then began developing and teaching his own understanding of the Enneagram in the United States in the early 1970s, influencing others including some Jesuit priests who adapted the Enneagram for use in Christian spirituality. Ichazo disowned Naranjo and the other teachers on what he felt were misinterpretations and uses of the Enneagram. Among Naranjo’s early students there are also differing understandings of Enneagram theory. Numerous other authors, including Helen Palmer, Don Richard Riso, Richard Rohr and Elizabeth Wagele, also began publishing widely read books on the Enneagram of Personality in the 1980s and 1990s.
The Figure

The enneagram figure is usually composed of three parts; a circle, an inner triangle (connecting 3-6-9) and an irregular hexagonal “periodic figure” (connecting 1-4-2-8-5-7).

A Circle, representing the Oneness of life, and the container within which we as humans live out the context of our lives. It represents the Wholeness of a humans, before we were seemingly fragmented by ego and after we have become aware that we have never lost that Wholeness.

A Triangle, representing what is known as the Law of Threes, which states that every whole phenomenon is composed of three separate sources: the Active, the Passive and the Neutral. It’s easy to find examples of the Law of Threes: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one. Another is the concept of The Perceiver, the Act of Perceiving, and The Perceived. In his Fourth Way teachings, George Gurdjieff applied the Law of Three in a process of transformation which required, as he saw it, affirmation, denial, and reconciliation.

And lastly, the Hexad, a six pointed figure that follows seven points from beginning through six changes in momentum, and then back to its origin, which is the seventh point. The Hexad represents the Law of Seven, which considers the path of movement toward and away from anything in our world as not a straight line, but rather periods along the journey of striving, failing, and striving again…a rising and falling of energies along the path. The Hexad has its origins in Sufi tradition.
What do the lines mean?

The relationship of the number and the lines in the diagram represent how each personality changes under moments of growth or stress. For instance, a 9 during times of growth will shed some of its “sloth” ways and embrace some of the action and performance of a 3. Under stress it can begin to take on some of the fear based worse case thinking of 6.

The Triads
Each number is in one of three different triads
Gut Triads (8,9,1) When you encounter life your first reaction is to do something. Tend to act before thinking. Anger is always waiting beneath the surface
Heart Triads (2,3,4) When you encounter life, your first reaction is to feel something. Tends to be overly emotional. Shame is always waiting beneath the surface.
Head Triad (5,6,7) When you encounter life, your first reaction is to think and plan. Tends to overthink things. Fear is always waiting beneath the surface.

How do I find my number?
There is much debate on this with most of the experts saying the best way is to study each of the types, contemplate each types characteristics and discuss with a coach or counselor which type you feel best relates to you. This process could take a number of months and in our world few people are willing to invest that much for some possible payoff.
Another method, the one I chose and recommend to others, is to take an online test which will give you a few ideas about possible numbers. There are paid tests and of course free ones each with different degrees of accuracy, time requirements, and calculations.

Questions

1. Which of the 9 types sound most like you and why?
2. Is there something about that type that makes you feel especially uncomfortable or embarrassed?
3. Is there something about that type that delights you?
4. Every triad struggles with a particular difficult emotion. Can you think of a time in your life when you were dealing with the emotion that is associated with your triad? How did that play out?
5. What is the default behavior you employ when you are anxious or stressed? In what ways is this behavior healthy or unhealthy?
6. In the road back to you Cron states “We don’t know ourselves by what we get; we know ourselves by what we get wrong.” What is something you learned about yourself from a time where our darker side surfaced?
7. What do you wish people knew or understood about you (your number)?
8. “Every number on the Enneagram reveals and teaches us something about the characteristics of the God who made us.” In what way do you think your number reflects some aspect of God?
9. What number do you wish you were on the Enneagram?
10. What action can you take as a result of what you have learned about yourself?