- A brief guide to the Enneagram
- Enneagram history
- The Enneagram and other belief systems
- Glossary of Enneagram terms
- Enneagram book reviews
Brief guide to the Enneagram
What is an enneagram?
The word “enneagram” comes from the Greek “ennea” meaning 9 and “gram” meaning something written or drawn. So an enneagram is a drawing with 9 points.
The nine points on this diagram represent 9 different personality types, with 9 different ways of thinking, feeling and acting. Understanding these 9 different worldviews can help us to understand why other people do the things they do, and it can help us to understand ourselves better.
Three Centres of Intelligence
The 9 personality types of the Enneagram are based on three centres of intelligence: the intellectual centre, the emotional centre and the instinctual centre. These are also known as the head, heart and gut centres. Types 8, 9 and 1 are in the gut centre, Types 2, 3 and 4 are in the heart centre and types 5, 6 and 7 are in the head centre.
Although each type has a home in the head, heart or gut, everyone can use all three of the centres. However, each type has their own strengths and weaknesses. You can use knowledge of your Enneagram type to help you build on your strengths and work on your weaknesses.
Head Centre
Head centre types tend to filter the world through their mental faculties. The goals of this strategy are to minimise anxiety, to manage potentially painful situations and to gain a sense of certainty through the mental processes of analysing, envisioning, imagining and planning. The higher qualities of the head centre are wisdom, knowing, intuition and thoughtfulness.
Heart Centre
Heart centre types tend to perceive the world through the filter of emotional intelligence. They are attuned to the moods and feelings of others in order to maintain a feeling of connection with them. They depend more than other types upon the approval and recognition of others to support their self-esteem and feeling of being loved. To get that approval and recognition, they create an image of themselves to get others to accept them. The higher qualities of the heart centre are empathy, understanding, compassion and loving kindness.
Gut Centre
Gut centre types tend to filter the world through an intelligence of kinesthetic and physical sensations and gut instinct. They use personal position and power to make life the way it should be. They devise strategies to assure their place in the world and minimise discomfort. The higher qualities of the gut centre are being in touch with the energy needed for action, discerning how much power to use in situations and being grounded in the world.
Nine Types
Here are some brief descriptions of the nine different Enneagram types. If you want more detail on the types then come to one of my workshops! The best way of learning about the types is the panel method, where people of a particular type tell their own stories. Alternatively, there are plenty of books and websites around on the Enneagram. I recommend Helen Palmer and David Daniels' website, http://www.enneagramworldwide.com, which has short video clips showing the different types. You can also get a more intuitive feel for the types by checking out my Enneagram iMix on the Multimedia page.
Type One: The Perfectionist
Ones at best are ethical, conscientious and responsible, but at worst can also be judgemental, rigid and irritable.
Type Two: The Giver
Twos at best are nurturing, generous and empathic, but at worst can also be intrusive, manipulative and martyr-like.
Type Three: The Performer
Threes at best are hardworking, motivated and successful, but at worst can also be unfeeling, superficial and workaholic.
Type Four: The Romantic
Fours at best are creative, compassionate and deeply feeling, but at worst can also be moody, self-absorbed drama queens.
Type Five: The Observer
Fives at best are analytical, objective and self-sufficient, but at worst can also be intellectually arrogant, emotionally detached and negative.
Type Six: The Loyal Skeptic
Sixes at best are loyal and practical with enquiring minds, but at worst can also be paranoid, defensive and self-sabotaging.
Type Seven: The Epicure
Sevens at best are spontaneous, joyful and enthusiastic, but at worst can also be unreliable, manic and narcissistic.
Type Eight: The Protector
Eights at best are direct, authoritative and protective, but at worst can also be excessive, bullying and insensitive.
Type Nine: The Mediator
Nines at best are friendly, unselfish and accepting, but at worst can also be spaced out, stubborn and unassertive.
History
The Enneagram was brought to Europe by George Gurdjieff in the 1920s. We know that he described people as three-brained beings and spoke of individual people as having a chief feature, possibly their Enneagram fixation. He also used the Enneagram symbol. Gurdjieff claimed to have learnt about the Enneagram from the Sufis.
However, the Enneagram as we know it today comes from Oscar Ichazo's Arica school in South America in the 1960s. Ichazo said that although he had been in contact with Gurdjieff scholars he was already familiar with the material from other sources and claimed to have seen the Enneagram symbol in an ancient grimoire in his uncle's library. Claudio Naranjo brought the teachings to California and taught them to students including Helen Palmer and Robert Ochs.
In recent times Evagrius Ponticus has been linked with the Enneagram because of his teachings on the eight evil thoughts (missing only fear from the nine Enneagram vices) and the conversion of the passion or vice to its corresponding virtue. Evagrius was influenced by Neoplatonism through Clement and Origen, and there are obvious links between Plato and the Enneagram in the idea of the three centres. In Phaedrus
The Enneagram and other belief systems
Who knows where Plato got the idea of the three-part soul from. Perhaps he came up with it himself (or perhaps Socrates did as the concept appears in the Socratic part of Plato's work). It does seem to have appeared fully formed though. Plato was also influenced by Pythagoras and both Pythagoras and Plato studied in Egypt. Maybe this is the "pre-sand Egypt" Gurdjieff spoke of?
What we can say is that there are correlations with other spiritual teachings. Chinese medicine tells of three treasures - jing, chi and shen - which are three types of energy located in the three tan t'ien centres in the gut, heart and head. The three very specific locations of the tan t'ien centres - and their functions - in turn correspond very well with three of the seven major chakras in yoga - Manipura, Anahata and Ajna. Three of the four other major chakras - Muladhara, Svadisthana and Vishuddha - have functions which nicely match the three subtypes or instinctual variants in Enneagram teaching - the survival, sexual and social subtypes in order from lowest to highest. The remaining chakra - Sahasrara, the crown chakra - is very different from the others and its function is the merging of the self with the divine, which can only be done once the other chakras are open and balanced.
There are also correlations with the Jewish mystical tradition of the Kabbalah. This again speaks of the three-part soul, divided into Nefesh (instincts), Ruach (moral virtues) and Neshamah (intellect). In this system the parts of the soul are ranked with the head centre at the top and the gut centre at the bottom. There are also very good correlations between the nine lower sephirot on the tree of life (and their darker counterparts, the qliphoth) and the nine Enneagram types. The other sephirah, Kether, the crown, is like the crown chakra above and apart from the others and represents a higher form of consciousness.
In the diagram above I have placed the Enneagram type numbers I believe correspond with each of the sephirot. These are not to be confused with the numbers of the sephirot which are also numbered from one to ten. If I am correct, then the lightning bolt path on the tree of life matches perfectly the path of integration on the Enneagram. (Relationships between the sephirot and the Enneagram types has been drawn before, for a different interpretation see The Enneagram and Kabbalah
Malkuth, corresponding with type 6 on the Enneagram, represents the material world and it requires a qualitative leap to the next sephirah up. This leap is paralleled on the Enneagram diagram by a move, not along the line of security, but sideways to get to point 5 on the hexad. The lightning bolt path then follows the lines of security on the hexad, from 5 to 8 to 2 to 4 to 1 to 7. At this point on the Enneagram we would normally follow the line of security back to 5. However, we have reached another division on the tree of life. We have got to the point where we have to cross the Abyss to get to Binah and point 9. There is no direct link between points 7 and 9 on the Enneagram, but then there is no direct link between Chesed and Binah on the tree of life either. Some versions of the tree of life have an eleventh sephirah, Da'at, which is a bridge across the Abyss. Da'at has been linked with both Malkuth and Kether, Kether leading into the Malkuth of the next level. So type 6 actually gets three sephirot.
Therefore, on the Enneagram diagram we take another step sideways from 7 to 6. We can now follow the lines of security again from 6 to 9 to 3. From 3 we follow the line of security again to 6, which takes us to Kether and the Malkuth of the next level where we can start again.
It is an interesting exercise to follow different paths up the tree of life and contemplate how the balance of the three centres changes.
Enneagram angels
The thing that got me started on looking into the links with Plato and with other spiritual teachings was angels. Some time ago, purely by accident, I came across the website of an Eastern Orthodox organisation (which is no longer there) listing nine different types of angel and describing their attributes. Of course I had to try to match them up with Enneagram types and they matched very well. I traced these angel descriptions back to a book called De Coelesti Hierarchia or The Celestial Hierarchy
- Perfecting choir (guardians of God's throne)
- Seraphim (sing God's glory)
- Cherubim (pour out divine wisdom)
- Thrones (uphold God)
- Illuminating choir (heavenly governors)
- Dominions (instruct earthly authorities)
- Virtues (help struggle against temptation)
- Powers (maintain order)
- Purifying choir (heavenly messengers)
- Principalities (direct the universe)
- Archangels (reveal mysteries and will of God)
- Angels (healing, loving, protecting)
And this is how I believe they match up with the Enneagram:
- Perfecting choir (head centre)
- Seraphim (Type 7 - Enthusiast)
- Cherubim (Type 5 - Observer)
- Thrones (Type 6 - Loyal Sceptic)
- Illuminating choir (gut centre)
- Dominions (Type 8 - Protector)
- Virtues (Type 1 - Reformer)
- Powers (Type 9 - Mediator)
- Purifying choir (heart centre)
- Principalities (Type 3 - Performer)
- Archangels (Type 4 - Romantic)
- Angels (Type 2 - Giver)
The higher side of each Enneagram personality type corresponds nicely with the functions of the nine types of angel. Not only that, but the centres correspond with the three choirs in that all the head types are in one choir, all the gut types in another and all the heart types in the third. There are a couple of important differences between Enneagram typing and the angelic hierarchy though. The main difference is that the angels are ranked from closest to God to closest to us, whereas the Enneagram types are ordered around a circle and no Enneagram type is better or worse than any other type. Also people have vices as well as virtues while angels don't.
Why are the angels ranked? One reason may be that the society Pseudo-Dionysius lived in was hierarchical so this was the way he (assuming it was a man) saw the universe: as above, so below. In fact, The Celestial Hierarchy
But why this particular order? Well, considering the Neoplatonist link between the Enneagram and The Celestial Hierarchy
But why is the heart centre relegated to the bottom? Intuitively you would expect the gut centre there as it is the lowest of the centres in the body and "base instincts" generally get a bad rap. It is also the centre most strongly linked with the body in Enneagram teachings. The function of the heart centre may give us a clue. This is the centre for relationships and reaching out to other people, and the corresponding purifying choir of heavenly messengers are the only ones who condescend to contact with humanity. They are the closest to people so in a hierarchical system must therefore be furthest from God.
We can see this head/gut/heart hierarchy reflected within the choirs as well. We all have access to all three centres and we not only have a primary centre that we use the most but we all have a least preferred centre. For the 4, 5 and 9, the gut centre is the least preferred centre; for the 3, 7 and 8 it is the heart centre; and for the 1, 2 and 6 it is the head centre. You will notice that for the 3, 6 and 9 on the internal triangle their least preferred centre is their own, which does make them harder to place on the hierarchy. As you can see on the Enneagram diagram, each of the points on the hexad are closer to their secondary centre than their least preferred centre.
Looking at the angelic ranks again, right at the top we have type 7 whose centres are head/gut/heart in that order. Next comes type 5 whose centres are head/heart/gut. And finally in the perfecting choir we have type 6 who although a head type and having a focus of attention in that centre also have issues in the same centre.
This pattern is repeated in the other choirs. Type 8 comes next with centres in the order of gut/head/heart, then comes type 1 with gut/heart/head. Type 9 is the hardest to place in a hierarchy as they are in the gut centre and balanced between the head and heart. In the purifying choir type 3 comes at the top, presumably because they are the heart type least influenced by the heart, followed by type 4 with heart/head/gut and finally type 2 with heart/gut/head and centres in reverse order to type 7 at the top.
Systems and hierarchies
As a 9 myself I am not fond of hierarchies and I believe that we need all three centres for balance - neglecting the heart centre or the gut centre is just as harmful as neglecting the head centre. I prefer to look at the angel categories this way:
And in this way we can see them as inspiration to find our higher selves, each Enneagram type having its own angel and being linked to one of the aspects of divinity that are the sephirot. I have put together some information cards with descriptions of each angel and its corresponding Enneagram type, sephirah and qlippah, which you can find on the Shop page. So find and embrace your inner angel!
Glossary of Enneagram terms
There is a certain amount of jargon used when talking about the Enneagram. I have provided a guide to the most frequently used terms below.
Body: See Centres.
Centres: There are three centres of intelligence: the intellectual, emotional and instinctual centres; also known as the head, heart and gut (or body) centres.
Ego: This is simply Latin for "I", but has come to mean different, sometimes contradictory things in different circumstances. In the context of the Enneagram it is generally used to mean the part of your mind that is fixated and acting on autopilot, responding to expectation rather than reality. See Fixation.
Emotional centre: See Centres.
Enneagram: Refers to the nine-pointed diagram and comes from the Greek “ennea” meaning 9 and “gram” meaning something written or drawn. Also used to mean the dynamic personality typing system based on the diagram.
Essence: The true self underneath the defence mechanisms of the ego. When you are acting from essence you are reacting to how things actually are rather than to your expectations of them. Each type has particular mental and emotional essential qualities connected with them, which are related to the mental and emotional Fixations connected with that type. The emotional essential quality for each type is also known as its virtue.
Fixation: When you are in your fixation you are stuck in the defence mechanisms of the ego, acting on autopilot. Each type has particular mental and emotional fixations connected with them. The emotional fixation for each type is also known as the vice or passion.
Gut: See Centres.
Head: See Centres.
Heart: See Centres.
Intellectual centre: See Centres.
Instinctual centre: See Centres.
Instinctual variants: Another name for the subtypes.
Lines of stress and security: The lines inside the circle on the diagram, which show where each type goes under stress and in security. See Stress point; Security point.
One-to-one: Another name for the sexual subtype. See Subtypes.
Passion: See Fixation.
Security point: Each type has a security point, shown by the lines on the diagram. When feeling secure (and sometimes also when exhausted) they take on aspects of the type at their security point.
Self-preservation: See Subtypes.
Sexual: See Subtypes.
Social: See Subtypes.
Stress point: Each type has a stress point, shown by the lines on the diagram. Under stress, they take on aspects of the type at their stress point.
Subtypes: There are three subtypes for each type: self-preservation or survival, sexual or one-to-one, and social. The self-preservation subtype is primarily concerned with survival. The sexual or one-to-one subtype relates to others in an intense, one-to-one way. The social subtype is focused on the social group. You may find yourself acting out all three subtypes of your type in different circumstances and at different times of your life, but there will be one subtype which describes the way you behave normally.
Survival: Another name for the self-preservation subtype. See Subtypes.
Type: There are nine different types of people with nine different ways of thinking, feeling and acting. They are known by their numbers: 1, 2, 3, etc. though they have been given names as well.
Vice: See Fixation.
Virtue: See Essence.
Wings: You are also influenced by the types on either side of you. These are called your wings and you may have one wing stronger than the other.