Overview of the Enneagram

The term personality is derived from the Greek word “persona” which means mask. Our personalities are the personas or masks we have built over time to protect our true nature. They are made up of the reactions and responses we’ve found to be effective in things like pleasing our parents as children, fitting in as teenagers, meeting cultural expectations. These responses help use to navigate through a variety of situations and become automated. Over time these adaptive strategies grow in complexity to the point it can be hard to differentiate the personality from the true nature. An enneagram (little e) is a nine-pointed geometric figure. It consists of a circle with a triangle inscribed and an irregular hexagonal figure within the circle. The Enneagram (big E) uses the figure to describe the relationship between various personality types that are numbered 1-9 to associate with a point on the hexegonal figure or triangle within the circle. Personalities are fun and interesting to study. However, people are so much more than just a type, number, or description. They should be used to better understand ourselves and those around us. It can be easy to fall into the trap of saying, well she’s a nine so she’ll be a push over because she doesn’t like conflict or I’m a seven so I don’t take anything seriously. These types are ways of categorizing ourselves to help us understand the way we respond or react to situations. They don’t always reflect the inner drive because while that nine may desire to avoid conflict but they may also have an idea that will make development on a project much easier or be passionate about things that they don’t mention for fear of being shot down or having to argue. The benefit of learning these types and about personalities is so that we can work with and through them to get to the inner person with whom we are interacting. Episode Breakdown Background on the Enneagram History of the Enneagram The enneagram is very old, noone is sure where the idea for it started. It’s current form has been traced to the Christian monk and mystic Evagrius Ponticus. The idea of the Seven Deadly Sins comes from his work. The nine-pointed geometric figure shows up in relation to personality in other areas of the world as well. In the early 20th century a Russian philosopher named George Gurdjieff used the enneagram to teach on esoteric subjects not related to personality. In the 1970’s a teacher from Chile, Oscar Ichazo learned of it, made significant contributions by combining what he had learned about the enneagram with studies of inner work he’d learned in South America and Asia. One of his students was Claudio Naranjo, an American trained psychiatrist. Naranjo brought those teachings to the United States and taught them to a group of Catholic priests and seminary students. Criticisms of the Enneagram There are two main criticisms of the Enneagram. One from the scientific community and the other from the religious community. It has been accused of being psuedoscience because the types are claimed to be too subjective and difficult to validate. However, to combat this the book “The Enneagram: A Journey of Self Discovery” compared the types to the work of Karen Horney, a psychoanalyst. Because of it’s early connections with mysticism there has been some religions scrutiny over use of the Enneagram for personal growth from several larger organizations including the Roman Catholic Church. Different Types of Enneagrams Originally Ichazo created over 100 different enneagrams to relate to each number, however when the idea came to the US it was reduced to four: Virtues, Passions(Deadly Sins), Holy Ideas, and Ego-Fixations. The virtues represent the natural state of the person in that number in their healthiest ...