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The Enneagram of Personality Types - An Introduction
by Peter O'Hanrahan

The Enneagram is a system of 9 personality types combining traditional wisdom with modern psychology - a powerful tool for understanding ourselves & the people in our lives - with three major applications:
· Personal & spiritual growth.
· Successful relationships at home & at work.
· Leadership development, teambuilding, & communication skills for business.

This nine pointed diagram has been used for centuries in esoteric Christian and Sufi traditions as a map of human consciousness and archetypes. It was first brought to the public in 1915, in Moscow, by George Gurdjieff, a philosopher and teacher who used it in his program of human development. Then in the late 1960's, Oscar Ichazo, the founder of the Arica School, placed nine types of personality on the Enneagram. Shortly thereafter, Claudio Naranjo MD. and other psychologists in Berkeley combined the Enneagram with the latest developments of modern psychology. It continues to be developed today by psychologists, business consultants, educators, and spiritual directors.
From its local roots in the Bay Area, the Enneagram has spread around the world with over a million books sold in many different languages and Enneagram programs or institutes in most countries in Europe and East Asia, as well as parts of Africa and South America. While the Enneagram itself doesn't dictate a particular ideology, theology, or set of techniques, it serves as a very effective conceptual framework for both secular practitioners and Christian clergy in their work with clients or congregants.
Unlike most psychological systems and diagnostic tools which focus on the neurotic or problem side of people, the Enneagram not only talks about the problems that people face, it also describes the strengths and potentials of each personality type. No personality type is any better or worse, and the highs and lows of human development can be found in every type.
While most people know the Enneagram as a profound system of personal or spiritual growth, in recent years it has also been adapted for use in the classroom and the business environment. Not only does the Enneagram provide crucial "people skills," it supports self awareness, good decision making, and continual learning which is vital for success in today's workplace.

Personality and Essence
One of the basic ideas underlying the Enneagram is that people have two important aspects - essence and personality. Each person has a unique and special "essential self" which cannot be put into any category. No one can be reduced to a number. What the Enneagram describes is the nine basic (and observable) patterns or themes by which people form a personality, or social persona, to meet the challenges of love and work. Ideally, personality is an effective vehicle through which we can express who we are in the world. Problems arise when personality is ineffective, or our point of view becomes "fixated." We become locked in to our version of how things are. Another problem is that often personality simply takes over and covers up our inner essence.
Working with the Enneagram can help us become more successful in our relationships at home and at work. By understanding our own patterns, automatic reactions, and blind spots we are able to become more flexible and skillful with the people in our lives. When we understand what others are thinking and feeling, we become more tolerant and compassionate. (It also helps us to not take it so personally when we encounter other people's negative reactons or hostility). By identifying our psychological and emotional defenses, which are different for each type, the Enneagram creates opportunities for profound personal growth and healing. At yet another level, it offers a path for developing an inner life and opening to the presence of Spirit within us.

Three Centers of Intelligence
The Enneagram describes three centers of intelligence and perception: Head, Heart, & Body. While every individual has all three of these centers, each of the nine personality types has a particular strength in one of them. Our internal character structure as well as our way of being in the world is based in this leading, or main center. Understanding our primary center is an important key to developing our personal and professional potential and overcoming our blind spots.

1) The Intellectual Center: using the mind for language and rational thinking, ideas and images, plans and strategies. Located in the head.
2) The Emotional Center: using the "heart" for positive and negative feelings, empathy and concern for others, romance and devotion. Located in the area of the chest and diaphragm.
3) The Instinctual Center: using the body for movement, sensate awareness, gut level feelings, personal security, and social belonging.