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The Enneagram : A Journey of Self Discovery
The Enneagram is a most helpful instrument in assisting persons to see themselves in the mirror of their minds, especially to see the images of personality distorted by complusions and other basic attitudes about self.
224 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1984
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February 18, 2022
I wanted to read a book on the Enneagram from before it was trendy, and this $1 find from the 80's really did the trick
August 18, 2022
On the surface this is an extremely boring self-help book. Don't let it fool you! In fact it is an extremely boring self-help book with a ridiculously convoluted backstory.
I picked it up for $1 out of nostalgia for online deep-dives on the Enneagram that I've done in the past—it's a fun concept, essentially equivalent to a horoscope in my mind. I never thought to look into the origins of the Enneagram, as I figured it was a product of the same psycho-spiritual Jungian personality jumble that produced the Myers-Briggs in the 20th century. This is sort of correct, in that the contemporary Enneagram relies on those ideas. But that alone really doesn't do justice to the strange, syncretic, apocrypha-ridden journey this silly nine-pointed diagram went on in order to become the online phenomenon it is today.
First I’ll offer to you this book’s claims on where the Ennegram comes from:
The authors of the book—all Catholics in the Jesuit tradition—then explain how a student of Ichazo, Claudio Naranjo, passed on the Enneagram to Loyola University of Chicago professor Bob Ochs, S.J. The authors, having learned the Enneagram from Ochs in connection with Ignatian spirituality, went on to teach and apply the concept, first in spiritual workshops and then in this book.
This introduction left me with a lot of questions. First: how did Oscar Ichazo get ahold of a Sufi tradition in the middle of South America?
Oscar Ichazo himself made what seems like dozens of contradictory statements about where the Enneagram came from. In one quote from this painstakingly researched article he ultimately seems to attribute it to a revelation he received from the archangel Metatron. Metatron, he clarifies (!) elsewhere online, “is the state of ‘the presence of god’ in which one remembers the unity of god constantly and without interruption.” Though he claimed to have studied under Sufi teachers —“I had contact with Indians and they introduced me to psychedelic drugs and shamanism while I was in my early teens”; “Ichazo often told the story of how, at the age of nineteen, a mysterious teacher whose name he has pledged never to reveal, found him and introduced him to a mystical school composed mostly of Orientals but located in South America”—he also repeatedly defended the Enneagram system as entirely his own personal revelation. This insistence seemed to be important to legitimizing his authority over his spiritual institute, the Arica School.
All this and we haven’t even gotten to George Gurdjieff. He was an Armenian mystic and philosopher, and my understanding is that Gurdjieff’s teachings on the Enneagram predate Ichazo’s, but that his don’t apply the diagram to personality. Rather, he used it to illustrate some vague cosmological and alchemical concepts, as well as to choreograph “sacred dances”. This point (that Gurdjieff didn’t use the Enneagram as a personality test) is stressed in every source that discusses the topic, making me think Ichazo had some serious beef with Gurdjieff about who came up with what. Regardless, Gurdjieff also claims that the Enneagram was an ancient secret which was only recently uncovered.
With his claims of access to a secret flow of knowledge from an ancient source, Gurdjieff’s teachings have a similar esoteric flavor to occultism and Helena Blavatsky’s Theosophy. But where Blavatsky got her knowledge from the ~Masters of the Ancient Wisdom in Tibet, Gurdjieff got his knowledge from the ~Sarmoung Brotherhood, a Sufi group in central Asia. Gurdjieff is the earliest source on the Sarmoung Brotherhood, and I can say with great personal conviction that Gurdjieff made them up.
Though they were originally Gurdjieff’s invention, it seems that the Sarmoung Brotherhood are the same Sufi masters that Oscar Ichazo interacted with as well. Claudio Naranjo (remember him?) describes how his “‘main interest in learning from Oscar Ichazo was a conviction that he was a link to the Sarmouni—the school behind Gurdjieff.’
So ok, how did Ichazo get ahold of this ancient Sufi tradition? He was riffing on a made-up concept that this other guy concocted a story about a couple decades earlier. No shame in that, of course. Everything has to be made up by somebody. That being said, the modern-day Enneagram Institute (though not affiliated with Ichazo or Arica School) seems to be very touchy about the provenance of the Enneagram. While they seem to have enough self-awareness to state that “the ‘Traditional Enneagram’ only goes back to the 1960's when Ichazo was first teaching it”, they also maintain that Ichazo “drew on his knowledge of a number of such traditions” “handed down from the Sufis or from some other ancient school”. Though they praise the Arica School, they would rather you not associate them with Metatron and the Green Qutub and the Sarmoung Brotherhood. Rather, they cherry-pick some rough (but more legitimate-sounding) associations with Plato and Kabbalah, adding that “the Enneagram contains components from mystical Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Taoism, Buddhism, and ancient Greek philosophy.” That’s a lot of ancient religious tradition to be stuffed into a circle with some triangles in it, but what do I know.
.
Alright, alright. Let me circle back to the Catholics. I’m so curious as to how much the Jesuit priests and nun who wrote The Enneagram: A Journey of Self-Discovery actually knew about Oscar Ichazo. Clearly very little. Based on what I gather of Claudio Naranjo’s background, I suspect that when he went about teaching the Enneagram to folks in the United States, he toned down some of Ichazo’s spiritual imperatives and integrated some concepts from psychology into the original framework to lend it some more legitimacy. The book does cite an interview with Ichazo, however, so clearly they were familiar with some of his direct teachings. Regardless, either the Enneagram was seemingly inoffensive enough by the time it got into their hands, or they made it inoffensive enough.
It was funny seeing the Enneagram that I only knew from silly Internet quizzes reinterpreted for Catholics. There was a long and boring section about Jesus being like all nine of the types (“THE ENNEAGRAMMIC JESUS”), some integration of St. Paul’s fruits of the Spirit and St. Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises. That being said, though, it doesn’t seem like the authors really had to change anything about Ichazo’s Enneagram—they had all the standard stuff about the types, the directions of integration and disintegration. They even included his four “Enneagons”: Enneagram of the Passions, the Enneagram of the Virtues, the Enneagram of the Fixations, the Enneagram of the Holy Ideas. They really just adapted them to Catholic use. Classic Catholic move :)
As far as I can tell, the authors of this book only made one significant innovation upon the origin myth of the Enneagram. It’s in that second sentence of the introduction: “It is reputed to have originated in Afghanistan almost 2000 years ago, perhaps in the early years of Christian influence in Persia”. I have no clue where they got that idea—I can’t find mention of these Persian Christian Enneagram originators anywhere else in this stupid lore. My best guess is that the authors felt a conflict between their view of the Enneagram as containing uniquely Christian insights and their knowledge of its supposed Sufi origins. Similar to how Ichazo and Gurdjieff fabricated ancient sources to lend authority to their creations, they too felt compelled to speculate on an origin myth that made the Enneagram’s Christian uses feel more legitimate.
I should note that the speculation on early Christian origins for the Enneagram by these Catholic authors likely also served as a feeble defense against arguments from other Catholics against the Enneagram, because it was a very hot topic at the end of the last century. Oddly, the most concise, no-bullshit account of the Enneagram I’ve read is actually the statement on it issued by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Doctrine in 2000. Great quote: “While the enneagram system shares little with traditional Christian doctrine or spirituality, it also shares little with the methods and criteria of modern science. The absence of scientific substantiation of the enneagram does not of itself mean that there is no truth to be found in the enneagram, but it does serve as an important caution against relying on enneagram teachings until such time as such substantiation is provided. The burden of proof is on proponents of the enneagram to furnish scientific evidence for their claims.”
All this for a personality quiz. I'm a 9 btw
.
Sources:
https://www.enneagraminstitute.com/th...
https://theologythinktank.com/the-enn...
https://synergetics.io/library/the-gr...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudio...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_...
http://www.natcath.org/NCR_Online/doc...
I picked it up for $1 out of nostalgia for online deep-dives on the Enneagram that I've done in the past—it's a fun concept, essentially equivalent to a horoscope in my mind. I never thought to look into the origins of the Enneagram, as I figured it was a product of the same psycho-spiritual Jungian personality jumble that produced the Myers-Briggs in the 20th century. This is sort of correct, in that the contemporary Enneagram relies on those ideas. But that alone really doesn't do justice to the strange, syncretic, apocrypha-ridden journey this silly nine-pointed diagram went on in order to become the online phenomenon it is today.
First I’ll offer to you this book’s claims on where the Ennegram comes from:
“The Enneagram has a long but shrouded history. It is reputed to have originated in Afghanistan almost 2000 years ago, perhaps in the early years of Christian influence in Persia, and then to have infiltrated into Moslem circles after that religion invaded central Asia and the subcontinent of India. Until the present century it remained strictly an oral tradition known only to Sufi masters who would reveal to an individual disciple only the part of the Enneagram pertaining to that person’s personality type. Oscar Ichazo is credited with bringing the Sufi Enneagram to public attention first in Chile and then in the United States. Ichazo grew up in Bolivia and Peru and was taught the Sufi tradition of the Enneagram in La Paz, Bolivia, by a man whose name he pledged not to reveal.”
The authors of the book—all Catholics in the Jesuit tradition—then explain how a student of Ichazo, Claudio Naranjo, passed on the Enneagram to Loyola University of Chicago professor Bob Ochs, S.J. The authors, having learned the Enneagram from Ochs in connection with Ignatian spirituality, went on to teach and apply the concept, first in spiritual workshops and then in this book.
This introduction left me with a lot of questions. First: how did Oscar Ichazo get ahold of a Sufi tradition in the middle of South America?
Oscar Ichazo himself made what seems like dozens of contradictory statements about where the Enneagram came from. In one quote from this painstakingly researched article he ultimately seems to attribute it to a revelation he received from the archangel Metatron. Metatron, he clarifies (!) elsewhere online, “is the state of ‘the presence of god’ in which one remembers the unity of god constantly and without interruption.” Though he claimed to have studied under Sufi teachers —“I had contact with Indians and they introduced me to psychedelic drugs and shamanism while I was in my early teens”; “Ichazo often told the story of how, at the age of nineteen, a mysterious teacher whose name he has pledged never to reveal, found him and introduced him to a mystical school composed mostly of Orientals but located in South America”—he also repeatedly defended the Enneagram system as entirely his own personal revelation. This insistence seemed to be important to legitimizing his authority over his spiritual institute, the Arica School.
All this and we haven’t even gotten to George Gurdjieff. He was an Armenian mystic and philosopher, and my understanding is that Gurdjieff’s teachings on the Enneagram predate Ichazo’s, but that his don’t apply the diagram to personality. Rather, he used it to illustrate some vague cosmological and alchemical concepts, as well as to choreograph “sacred dances”. This point (that Gurdjieff didn’t use the Enneagram as a personality test) is stressed in every source that discusses the topic, making me think Ichazo had some serious beef with Gurdjieff about who came up with what. Regardless, Gurdjieff also claims that the Enneagram was an ancient secret which was only recently uncovered.
With his claims of access to a secret flow of knowledge from an ancient source, Gurdjieff’s teachings have a similar esoteric flavor to occultism and Helena Blavatsky’s Theosophy. But where Blavatsky got her knowledge from the ~Masters of the Ancient Wisdom in Tibet, Gurdjieff got his knowledge from the ~Sarmoung Brotherhood, a Sufi group in central Asia. Gurdjieff is the earliest source on the Sarmoung Brotherhood, and I can say with great personal conviction that Gurdjieff made them up.
Though they were originally Gurdjieff’s invention, it seems that the Sarmoung Brotherhood are the same Sufi masters that Oscar Ichazo interacted with as well. Claudio Naranjo (remember him?) describes how his “‘main interest in learning from Oscar Ichazo was a conviction that he was a link to the Sarmouni—the school behind Gurdjieff.’
So ok, how did Ichazo get ahold of this ancient Sufi tradition? He was riffing on a made-up concept that this other guy concocted a story about a couple decades earlier. No shame in that, of course. Everything has to be made up by somebody. That being said, the modern-day Enneagram Institute (though not affiliated with Ichazo or Arica School) seems to be very touchy about the provenance of the Enneagram. While they seem to have enough self-awareness to state that “the ‘Traditional Enneagram’ only goes back to the 1960's when Ichazo was first teaching it”, they also maintain that Ichazo “drew on his knowledge of a number of such traditions” “handed down from the Sufis or from some other ancient school”. Though they praise the Arica School, they would rather you not associate them with Metatron and the Green Qutub and the Sarmoung Brotherhood. Rather, they cherry-pick some rough (but more legitimate-sounding) associations with Plato and Kabbalah, adding that “the Enneagram contains components from mystical Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Taoism, Buddhism, and ancient Greek philosophy.” That’s a lot of ancient religious tradition to be stuffed into a circle with some triangles in it, but what do I know.
.
Alright, alright. Let me circle back to the Catholics. I’m so curious as to how much the Jesuit priests and nun who wrote The Enneagram: A Journey of Self-Discovery actually knew about Oscar Ichazo. Clearly very little. Based on what I gather of Claudio Naranjo’s background, I suspect that when he went about teaching the Enneagram to folks in the United States, he toned down some of Ichazo’s spiritual imperatives and integrated some concepts from psychology into the original framework to lend it some more legitimacy. The book does cite an interview with Ichazo, however, so clearly they were familiar with some of his direct teachings. Regardless, either the Enneagram was seemingly inoffensive enough by the time it got into their hands, or they made it inoffensive enough.
It was funny seeing the Enneagram that I only knew from silly Internet quizzes reinterpreted for Catholics. There was a long and boring section about Jesus being like all nine of the types (“THE ENNEAGRAMMIC JESUS”), some integration of St. Paul’s fruits of the Spirit and St. Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises. That being said, though, it doesn’t seem like the authors really had to change anything about Ichazo’s Enneagram—they had all the standard stuff about the types, the directions of integration and disintegration. They even included his four “Enneagons”: Enneagram of the Passions, the Enneagram of the Virtues, the Enneagram of the Fixations, the Enneagram of the Holy Ideas. They really just adapted them to Catholic use. Classic Catholic move :)
As far as I can tell, the authors of this book only made one significant innovation upon the origin myth of the Enneagram. It’s in that second sentence of the introduction: “It is reputed to have originated in Afghanistan almost 2000 years ago, perhaps in the early years of Christian influence in Persia”. I have no clue where they got that idea—I can’t find mention of these Persian Christian Enneagram originators anywhere else in this stupid lore. My best guess is that the authors felt a conflict between their view of the Enneagram as containing uniquely Christian insights and their knowledge of its supposed Sufi origins. Similar to how Ichazo and Gurdjieff fabricated ancient sources to lend authority to their creations, they too felt compelled to speculate on an origin myth that made the Enneagram’s Christian uses feel more legitimate.
I should note that the speculation on early Christian origins for the Enneagram by these Catholic authors likely also served as a feeble defense against arguments from other Catholics against the Enneagram, because it was a very hot topic at the end of the last century. Oddly, the most concise, no-bullshit account of the Enneagram I’ve read is actually the statement on it issued by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Doctrine in 2000. Great quote: “While the enneagram system shares little with traditional Christian doctrine or spirituality, it also shares little with the methods and criteria of modern science. The absence of scientific substantiation of the enneagram does not of itself mean that there is no truth to be found in the enneagram, but it does serve as an important caution against relying on enneagram teachings until such time as such substantiation is provided. The burden of proof is on proponents of the enneagram to furnish scientific evidence for their claims.”
All this for a personality quiz. I'm a 9 btw
.
Sources:
https://www.enneagraminstitute.com/th...
https://theologythinktank.com/the-enn...
https://synergetics.io/library/the-gr...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudio...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_...
http://www.natcath.org/NCR_Online/doc...
May 14, 2016
Extremely practical and helpful overview of the Enneagram. It is written from a clear, passionate Christian perspective, so know that going into it. That being said, the chapter on 'conversion' is a much more thoughtful treatment than the topic usually gets.
I'm amazed at how much one can draw from the Enneagram. It's a remarkable system for analyzing one's own compulsions, and the book gives very realistic advice for overcoming them. I found myself humming and nodding in agreement while madly flipping the pages, and I will probably refer back to this many times in both my professional and family lives.
I'm amazed at how much one can draw from the Enneagram. It's a remarkable system for analyzing one's own compulsions, and the book gives very realistic advice for overcoming them. I found myself humming and nodding in agreement while madly flipping the pages, and I will probably refer back to this many times in both my professional and family lives.
July 3, 2018
I know this is a hot topic, but reading this book, it all sounds kind of horoscope-y. I had a clear idea where I was on the chart, and then I took the test. I was not the person I thought I was. I took it again, and came out differently, and again, a different test from a different source, with a different result, and took the the first again, with a result combining the two different tests I had taken.
I think there are things that you can learn about yourself that will help you to do things better, and to better understand how others do things. I like that (according to this author) the test was developed by Jesuits. I'm just not sure I really buy it.
I think there are things that you can learn about yourself that will help you to do things better, and to better understand how others do things. I like that (according to this author) the test was developed by Jesuits. I'm just not sure I really buy it.
November 4, 2018
I think the ideas of personality are very complicated. But yet, it's pretty funny how a thoughtful reading about enneagrams can bring you to some clear self realization and reveal patterns of behaviour that you may not have seen in yourself prior.
I think it's something to think about. At any rate it's a good exercise.
I think it's something to think about. At any rate it's a good exercise.
June 2, 2009
Best justification and explanation read to date of the Enneagram journey into the self in three stages: discovering one's compulsion, understanding its causes, and overcoming the compulsion.
February 2, 2026
One of the early books on the Enneagram before it got popular in today's Protestant circles.
It could use an update, but generally gives you the basic idea. I loved the history of it in the first chapter - the enneagram goes all the way back to the late first century!
I'm glad I snagged it off the thrift store shelf. I'd like to read one of the more recent books on this to compare and contrast.
It could use an update, but generally gives you the basic idea. I loved the history of it in the first chapter - the enneagram goes all the way back to the late first century!
I'm glad I snagged it off the thrift store shelf. I'd like to read one of the more recent books on this to compare and contrast.
September 14, 2019
One of the best enneagram books I’ve read. I would not consider this a beginning level book. I’m certain most of the reason I enjoyed it is because I have a pretty good grasp of all of the concepts presented. As a fan of Suzanne Stabile and her teaching on the enneagram, I think I see many of the roots of ideas she teaches on now in this book.
November 18, 2018
A little slow going for me at first, but the last part on overcoming one’s compulsion was of greater interest and may be helpful to me. Something I’ll come back to and ponder.
November 24, 2019
One of the oldest books I’ve read on this subject. Enjoyed the perspective of the nine types revealed in Jesus life & ministry
December 19, 2019
Interesting, but it was hard to get past all the Jesus stuff (which was admittedly unsurprising, given the authors).
May 31, 2020
I don't buy this. I'm a 5w4, and a lot of this just sounds weird with dubious origins. This book doesn't explain methodology, either.
September 1, 2021
This book got really redundant at times and dragged on a bit too long but overall I learned a lot and think it’s a great tool. I think it could have been a little more concise.
June 8, 2023
THREE CATHOLIC AUTHORITIES EXPLAIN THE PERSONALITY MODEL
The Introduction to this 1984 book explains, “The Enneagram has a long but shrouded history. It is reputed to have originated in Afghanistan almost 2000 years ago… and then to have infiltrated into Moslem circles after that religion invaded central Asia and the subcontinent of India… Oscar Ichazo is credited with bringing the Sufi Enneagram to public attention first in Chile and then in the United States… Some years later Ichazo attracted the attention of some members of the Esalen Institute of Big Sur, California… Among those persons from the Esalen Institute was Claudio Naranjo who later passed on the tradition of the Enneagram to Bob Ochs, S.J. …
“It was in a course on Religious Experience given by Bob Ochs … in 1978 that Pat O’Leary. S.J., was first introduced to the Enneagram system. Later… O’Leary participated in a seminar reflecting on the Enneagram with some other Jesuit priests under the leadership of Ochs… O’Leary began teaching the Enneagram in workshops on spiritual direction. Maria Beesing, O.P., learned the Enneagram in 1974 and later joined O’Leary in developing his theories about the Enneagram… The contribution of Fr. Robert Nogosek. C.S.C., to the writing of this book follows from his participation in three of the workshops… This book is intended to help persons see themselves in the mirror of their minds, especially to see the images of personality distorted by basic attitudes about self.”
They explain in the first chapter, “The Sufi Enneagram represent a ‘journey into self.’ … the main purpose of the Enneagram is to DISCOVER ONE’S OWN TYPE. The result… can bring a whole new understanding of one’s personality, which will be valid for the rest of one’s life. Finding one’s Enneagram type is meant to be a SELF-ENLIGHTENMENT which leads to authentic personal freedom on a level never before experienced. The term ‘enneagram’ … [means] nine. According to the Enneagram, there are nine, and only nine, types of human personality. Each personality type is identified in a negative way though it also has positive characteristics. The identifying negativity stems from a specific compulsion ingrained in one’s self-concept and having a great influence on one’s behavior. The compulsion typical of a given personality is experienced as a BASIC DRIVING FORCE… The compulsion is a kind of ‘hidden sin,’ where sin … causes people not to understand themselves in their real motives and in the underlying drives of their personalities.” (Pg. 5-6)
They outline, “The types are numbered 1 though 9 on a circle within which are interlocking figures… it remains best to identify them simply by their numbers… #1. ONES avoid anger… They are very dedicated to being perfect… #2. TWOs avoid recognizing they have needs… They pride themselves in being helpful… #3. THREES avoid failure. Something drives them to be always working for success… #4. FOURS avoid ordinariness. It is very important to them always to be special… #5. FIVES avoid emptiness. They are preoccupied with growing in their store of knowledge.… #6. SIXES avoid deviance. They see life as governed by laws, rule and norms… #7. SEVENS avoid pain. They are optimistic and fun-loving persons…. #8. EIGHTS avoid weakness. They glory in being strong persons… #9. NINES avoid conflict. They feel uncomfortable with any tension or lack of harmony between people.” (Pg. 11-12)
They assert, “this second chapter will study the personality of Jesus as reflected in the Enneagram types. If Jesus… had these personality types, that makes them much more accessible to anyone else, despite the weakness they portray… Why would Jesus have ALL NINE TYPES?... Because he accepted all nine ways of human personality and lived them without their compulsions, he is able to be a MODEL for all personality types in their journey to true freedom.” (Pg. 49-50)
They state, “Anyone under a compulsion needs help. That help can come from three sources: oneself, other and God… All three forms of help are aspects of REDEMPTION…. Compulsions cause a kind of slavery. They are prevailing inner drives preventing persons from living in the freedom of fully integrated humanness.” (Pg. 156)
The final chapter says, “what remains crucial for a deep inner healing of the self is a direct personal relationship with God… Conversion occurs because being rooted in God through faith---accepting God as God---results in the development of a reliance on God’s power and love in one’s life. Through this reliance on God the less conscious parts of one’s being are trusted to respond from one’s inner well of energy without the self feeling threatened by some loss of control or other disaster.” (Pg. 178)
This book will primarily interest Catholics studying the Enneagram.
The Introduction to this 1984 book explains, “The Enneagram has a long but shrouded history. It is reputed to have originated in Afghanistan almost 2000 years ago… and then to have infiltrated into Moslem circles after that religion invaded central Asia and the subcontinent of India… Oscar Ichazo is credited with bringing the Sufi Enneagram to public attention first in Chile and then in the United States… Some years later Ichazo attracted the attention of some members of the Esalen Institute of Big Sur, California… Among those persons from the Esalen Institute was Claudio Naranjo who later passed on the tradition of the Enneagram to Bob Ochs, S.J. …
“It was in a course on Religious Experience given by Bob Ochs … in 1978 that Pat O’Leary. S.J., was first introduced to the Enneagram system. Later… O’Leary participated in a seminar reflecting on the Enneagram with some other Jesuit priests under the leadership of Ochs… O’Leary began teaching the Enneagram in workshops on spiritual direction. Maria Beesing, O.P., learned the Enneagram in 1974 and later joined O’Leary in developing his theories about the Enneagram… The contribution of Fr. Robert Nogosek. C.S.C., to the writing of this book follows from his participation in three of the workshops… This book is intended to help persons see themselves in the mirror of their minds, especially to see the images of personality distorted by basic attitudes about self.”
They explain in the first chapter, “The Sufi Enneagram represent a ‘journey into self.’ … the main purpose of the Enneagram is to DISCOVER ONE’S OWN TYPE. The result… can bring a whole new understanding of one’s personality, which will be valid for the rest of one’s life. Finding one’s Enneagram type is meant to be a SELF-ENLIGHTENMENT which leads to authentic personal freedom on a level never before experienced. The term ‘enneagram’ … [means] nine. According to the Enneagram, there are nine, and only nine, types of human personality. Each personality type is identified in a negative way though it also has positive characteristics. The identifying negativity stems from a specific compulsion ingrained in one’s self-concept and having a great influence on one’s behavior. The compulsion typical of a given personality is experienced as a BASIC DRIVING FORCE… The compulsion is a kind of ‘hidden sin,’ where sin … causes people not to understand themselves in their real motives and in the underlying drives of their personalities.” (Pg. 5-6)
They outline, “The types are numbered 1 though 9 on a circle within which are interlocking figures… it remains best to identify them simply by their numbers… #1. ONES avoid anger… They are very dedicated to being perfect… #2. TWOs avoid recognizing they have needs… They pride themselves in being helpful… #3. THREES avoid failure. Something drives them to be always working for success… #4. FOURS avoid ordinariness. It is very important to them always to be special… #5. FIVES avoid emptiness. They are preoccupied with growing in their store of knowledge.… #6. SIXES avoid deviance. They see life as governed by laws, rule and norms… #7. SEVENS avoid pain. They are optimistic and fun-loving persons…. #8. EIGHTS avoid weakness. They glory in being strong persons… #9. NINES avoid conflict. They feel uncomfortable with any tension or lack of harmony between people.” (Pg. 11-12)
They assert, “this second chapter will study the personality of Jesus as reflected in the Enneagram types. If Jesus… had these personality types, that makes them much more accessible to anyone else, despite the weakness they portray… Why would Jesus have ALL NINE TYPES?... Because he accepted all nine ways of human personality and lived them without their compulsions, he is able to be a MODEL for all personality types in their journey to true freedom.” (Pg. 49-50)
They state, “Anyone under a compulsion needs help. That help can come from three sources: oneself, other and God… All three forms of help are aspects of REDEMPTION…. Compulsions cause a kind of slavery. They are prevailing inner drives preventing persons from living in the freedom of fully integrated humanness.” (Pg. 156)
The final chapter says, “what remains crucial for a deep inner healing of the self is a direct personal relationship with God… Conversion occurs because being rooted in God through faith---accepting God as God---results in the development of a reliance on God’s power and love in one’s life. Through this reliance on God the less conscious parts of one’s being are trusted to respond from one’s inner well of energy without the self feeling threatened by some loss of control or other disaster.” (Pg. 178)
This book will primarily interest Catholics studying the Enneagram.
August 12, 2012
This book was given to me by my own Spiritual Director after I began using the Enneagram as a tool for growth in self knowledge. I love how it focuses on understanding our compulsions and overcoming them. I particularly like the second Chapter: The Enneagramic Jesus which is a study of the personality of Jesus as reflected in the Enneagram types.
Jesus as Idealist
Jesus Serves Others
Jesus Works for Success
Jesus is Sensitive
Jesus Loves Wisdom
Jesus is Loyal
Jesus is Optimistic
Jesus Confronts Injustice
Jesus is Patient
Although I've not read from cover to cover, it is an excellent resource book to have for yourself or if you are accompanying anyone who is using the Enneagram as a tool for growth.
Jesus as Idealist
Jesus Serves Others
Jesus Works for Success
Jesus is Sensitive
Jesus Loves Wisdom
Jesus is Loyal
Jesus is Optimistic
Jesus Confronts Injustice
Jesus is Patient
Although I've not read from cover to cover, it is an excellent resource book to have for yourself or if you are accompanying anyone who is using the Enneagram as a tool for growth.
January 10, 2010
It was fun (for me) to learn more about this system of personality types and to analyze myself to figure out my type. I'm always interested in self-analysis like that. I started reading every word of the book, but toward the end, I just read the parts that applied to my type, plus a couple others that seemed interesting or like friends that I have. I don't know if it is just the enneagram system in general or the way the book presents it, but at times the writing/concepts were a little cryptic and convoluted to me. Still, it was worthwhile to figure out my number and apply the knowledge of it to myself and my behavior.
I still believe I'm a SEVEN. Take that as you will.
I still believe I'm a SEVEN. Take that as you will.
October 10, 2013
Whilst I wasn't expecting a grand depth into the history and practices of the Sufi mystics, the conclusion that everybody should accept not only a monotheistic, but the Christian god in order to practice the teachings of this book seemed to smack of Western appropriation. A few useful bits here and there for self-reflection and analysis, which is the only reason for the 2 star rating given.
October 31, 2010
This is a great introduction to the enneagram and puts it in a Christian perspective. The book even goes so far as to look at how Jesus lived out the positive aspects of the nine personality types. I highly recommend this for anyone who wishes to grow in greater self-awareness and personal growth.
September 2, 2008
This book was a recommended read.
It goes far beyond anything else I've read about personality typing.
It goes far beyond anything else I've read about personality typing.
June 14, 2011
A lot of this book was discussing the Enneagram in terms of Jesus, which I didn't like so much, though it was still interesting. I do feel I learned more about the enneagram.
June 17, 2012
this book really does a good job of comparing Jesus to the enneagram types and seeing all the types in him.
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April 4, 2013good
June 2, 2013
If you find the enneagram to be a useful self-awareness and growth tool, this book is well written. It's an old publication but the material is timeless.
June 9, 2016
Interesting perspective on personality types
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