So you’re an absolute beginner to the Enneagram… You’ve heard how amazing and useful it can be, but you’re not really sure what the problem is… Well, if you want to get the absolute basics of the Enneagram, then take nod and read on.
Before I continue, I’d like to mention that there are several different ways to interpret what we know about the enneagram. There are a few different “schools of thought” on the subject that you will no doubt discover more of as you dig deeper into the subject. That said, what you’re about to read is jaded, opinionated, only partially informed, but hopefully just enough to give you an insight into the Enneagram. And, more importantly, it gives you the push to dig deeper.
The Enneagram literally is a symbol. It is a nine-pointed symbol that has appeared in many religions over the past millennia. No one knows for sure how the ancients came up with the study or how they used it until very recently. Enneagram Spectrum summarizes speculation about the origins of the enneagram this way:
“The roots of the Enneagram are in dispute. Some authors believe that they have found variations of the Enneagram symbol in the sacred geometry of the Pythagoreans who 4000 years ago were interested in the deeper meaning of numbers. This line of mystical mathematics is transmitted through Plato, his disciple Plotinus, and the later Neoplatonists.
Some believe that this tradition came to esoteric Judaism through Philo, a Jewish Neoplatonist philosopher, where it later appears as the Tree of Life in the kabbalistic symbolism of the nine parts.
Variations of this symbol also appear in Islamic Sufi traditions, perhaps getting there through the Arab philosopher al-Ghazzali. Around the 14th century, the Naqshbandi Order of Sufism, known as the “Brotherhood of Bees” (because they collected and stored knowledge) and the “Symbolists” (because they taught through symbols) are said to have preserved and transmitted the Enneagram. symbol.
It is speculated that the Enneagram found its way into esoteric Christianity through Pseudo-Dionysius (who was influenced by the Neoplatonists) and through the mystic Ramon Llull (who was influenced by his Islamic studies).
On the frontispiece of a textbook written in the 17th century by the Jesuit mathematician and arithmology student Athanasius Kircher, a figure resembling the Enneagram appears.
In recent years, the Enneagram was “rediscovered” by Oscar Ichazo, a Chilean philosopher who taught at the Arica Institute in Chile. Ichazo, I believe, was the first person to actually apply the laws of the enneagram to the nine laws that operate within the human psyche.
The way the enneagram is understood today is that it is a tool to help understand and articulate nine “filters” that someone can use to view the world. These filters are fluid, intangibles that may or may not exist in reality, however, using them as tools can bring drastic gains in relationships or personal growth.
I think comparing these filters to the “operating systems” of computers is a great way to understand it. Some people run Windows, some people run Linux, and some people use an Apple computer. They’re just different ways of taking in sensory information, organizing it, and reacting.
The beauty of this study is that when you can articulate the deepest feelings and ideas of your friends, loved ones, and specifically yourself, you gain a perspective that wasn’t there before. You see yourself clearly. Like never before…
Different schools take the Enneagram in many different directions. Some offer advice on how to achieve professional success, some offer it to Life Coaches to help their clients with information. Some push you to your limits by finding the spots in your personality that they can use to mold you. And many schools do many other things that are outside the scope of this Absolute Beginner’s Guide. They are there for you to discover, enjoy and report.
Now, I would like to mention that this is only the briefest of summaries. There is much more to understand and experience before you start reaping the rewards of the Enneagram. But I can assure you that given enough time, energy, and self-awareness, the Enneagram is a stronger path to peace and contentment than anything else I have discovered.