The Sacred Enneagram: Finding Your Unique Path to Spiritual Growth

by Christopher L. Heuertz

My gift became my curse and yet it is still my greatest gift, and it seems that I cannot have one without the other. One knows oneself only at the price of one’s innocence.

When it comes to recognizing the truth of our own identities, most of us experience a symbolic version of blindness that keeps us from seeing ourselves for who we really are.

Overidentifying with our success or failure, allowing the fragments of our identity to lay claim to the whole, and falling into the addictive loop of our mental and emotional preoccupations keep us stuck.

My own consistent struggle is to recognize my addictive tendency to validate my worth (dignity) by curating an unrealistic and unattainable projection of who I think I need to be (identity).

“Every unrealistic expectation is a resentment waiting to happen.”

And as I constantly fail to meet my own standards, the resentment keeps me trapped.

Nouwen suggested we all find ourselves bouncing around three very human lies that we believe about our identity: I am what I have, I am what I do, and I am what other people say or think about me.*

Though I had a beautiful life, did meaningful work, and enjoyed fairly positive reviews of it all, those things didn’t ultimately define me, nor could they possibly capture the essence of my identity.

much of the inner work can be boiled down to faithful contemplative prayer practice.

Our inner critic is that part of ourselves that we turn into the pet that needs our constant attention and routine feeding.

mark of spiritual growth is when we stop polishing the mask and instead start working on our character.

Enneagram is not a tool for self-absorption but instead a map for self-liberation.

“Type isn’t a ‘type’ of person, but a path to God.”

Our shadow—and we all have one—is the part of our ego we are unable to consciously recognize.

It is the loss of our original righteousness, that Edenic state of sinless perfection and unbroken relationship with the Source of love, that creates the delusions of our Holy Idea and Virtue.

think of the Fixation and Passion as a tiny flashlight that our ego attempts to use to find our way home in the dark.

“Human behavior flows from three sources: desire [body], emotion [heart], and knowledge [head]”) and echoed in every major world religion.

Everything that pragmatic Threes set out to do has practical implications for advancing their notions of success that functionally support their desire to feel accepted and loved.

of all Enneagram types from their own dreams, feeling an internal drive to accomplish the unrealized dreams of their caregiver(s).

HOW THE HARMONY TRIADS RELATE TO THE WORLD The Harmony Triads are made up of three equilateral triangles connecting types Two, Five, and Eight (the Relationists); Three, Six, and Nine (the Pragmatists); and One, Four, and Seven (the Idealists).

“Threes seek a practical and sustaining role in the world.

So if the Harmony Triads tell us about how we relate to the world, the Dominant Affect Groups go a step further by telling us how we relate to the world specifically as a result of our defining family relationships—what drives the Harmony Triads or the why behind the Harmony Triads.

“Attachment represents the desire of the ego to maintain a comfortable and stable relationship with people or things that [those in the Attachment group] are identified with . . . [they] want to hold on to whatever works.”

Simply put, the Attachment Group scaffolds their inner insecurities in relationship to their needs for recognition (Threes),

Threes attach to the positions that draw attention back to their empty hearts;

The affection the Three gives or receives from their nurturing caregiver fuels their natural ability to self-nurture;

contemplative prayer does feel like death because it’s a way to practice how to die.

step into the life that is truly life, we’re invited to practice for our death. But voluntarily preparing to die seems counter-intuitive, and contemplative prayer hardly seems the obvious first step on this journey. What’s so difficult here is how undramatic the process is for such a dramatic hoped-for result. But as author Eckhart Tolle writes, “True happiness is found in seemingly unremarkable things. But to be aware of little, quiet things, you need to be quiet inside. A high degree of alertness is required. Be still. Look. Listen. Be present.”4

What the rest of the world is discovering is that mindfulness connects us with our head, meditation opens our hearts, and yoga reconnects us with our bodies.

Sabbath is for rest, retreats are for reflection, vacations are for recreation, and sabbatical is for renewal.

still experience these lies today: • If you’re God’s child, prove it! Do something. Show me your power and demonstrate who you are. • If God loves you, test it! Jump and see if God will protect you. Show me how loved you really are. • If God is pleased with you, show me the sign of favor! Show me the security symbol of God’s pleasure.

Baptismal Affirmations Temptation to Affirmation This is my child → Turn stone to bread (prove your power) Who is loved → Jump (if you’re loved, you’ll be rescued) Upon whom favor rests → Bow down (your reward will symbolize your favor)

Enneagram Intelligence Centers Nouwen’s Lies Keating’s Programs Jesus’ Temptations Contemplative Prayer Posture Gut/Body Type Eight Type Nine Type One “I am what I do.” Power + Control “Tell these stones to become bread.” Stillness (Engagement) Heart/Emotions Type Two Type Three Type Four “I am what others say or think about me.” Affection + Esteem “Throw yourself down.” Solitude (Presence) Head/Mind Type Five Type Six Type Seven “I am what I have.” Security + Survival “All this I will give you.” Silence (Listening)

But listen to yourself: usually the way you judge yourself or “feel bad” about your practice is the very thing that begins to open your type to the graces of the practice.

When Threes engage solitude, they access a part of their heart that seems to have been lost. Threes need to engage solitude as a gift, not detaching from relationships to fuel the addiction of self-nurturing. Threes who are able to face themselves alone, being in the present moment, dismantle their Fixation of vanity.

Engage Solitude Intelligence Center Heart/Feeling/Emotion Harmony Triad Pragmatist Dominant Affect Group Attachment Prayer Posture Solitude Prayer Intention Engage

Because of this emotional disconnect, Threes almost seem to observe their feelings at arm’s length.

Coming home for the Three requires facing their feelings, listening to the subtext of their emotional intelligence, and engaging their own hearts without judgment or prejudice. In so doing they can overcome the lie of their identity, “I am what others think or say about me,” and their Childhood Wound—their malformed perception of love, which seems tucked underneath the admiration of others.

Threes may be tethered to the addiction of casting aside their feelings as not practical enough or not sensible enough to aid in making clearheaded decisions. This is where they stay stuck. Appealing to their other centers will lead to integration, but only after they’ve integrated the gift of their own heart.

many Threes, solitude may seem easy since emotional reservation or detachment is part of the hustle, part of the strategy of observing their environment to determine how they are perceived and therefore how they need to adjust to be loved. Engaging solitude is where Threes will find difficulty, but ultimately their liberation, because engaging solitude forces them to discover who they are apart from the perceptions of others.

As fluent as Threes appear to be socially, many note that they find themselves revitalized by disengaging and removing themselves from the public. The distance Threes need from relationships and communities can be a way of coping with their own inner pain of feeling disconnected from their hearts. Thus, for many Threes the idea of solitude is a welcome change to their highly visible lives. But the invitation to engage solitude requires Threes to be really present in their solitude rather than checking out or getting lost in it. Engaging solitude allows them the rare opportunity to look inward at the truth of their value.