WHAT IS THE ENNEAGRAM?
In the sections below, we describe the Enneagram's main ideas and how the system works. Click the buttons to navigate.
The Enneagram is a symbolic map of movement and transformation, rooted in esoteric mathematics, music theory through the law of octaves, the law of three, and the law of seven as taught by G.I. Gurdjieff. *(Read more)*
There are 9 points, each representing a general stage or quality which requires a specific change of quality to transform.
It is evident to us that different humans have variable personalities and characteristics that serve different socio-evolutionary purposes. The enneagram provides a generalized map of these qualities and their polarizing source.
Using the same perspective, we can apply the 9 stages of the enneagram to the art of cooking, writing a song, winning a war, etc. as these qualities unearth a universal sequence that is necessary for the construction of any system.
*Read more on The Enneagram of Enneagrams/Enneagram of Process*
Individuals generally utilize one of three centers of intelligence to process their identity and frame their needs and place in the world.
Each of the 9 points of the enneagram of personality represents a relationship to the core need/question of one of the three Centers of Intelligence (Body, Heart, Head)
Each of the 9 points is situated between two adjacent types (its wings). Just as a musical scale naturally moves from one tone to the next, each type falls into one of the two adjacent expressions to stabilize or express its core motivation.
There are many intricacies to the system, which will be uncovered to you if you are interested, however, for now, you can consider it as a radar scanner of identity that provides profound information as to the core tensions and struggles you experience.
What is the Enneagram?
Centers
As our identities form in early life, each person will attach/identify themselves with one of three awareness centers -- heart/image, body/gut, and head/mind.
Hence the early survival strategies we develop frame themselves around that specific center's core need.
Heart types attach to/identify with the heart center's need for a sense of worth or self-identity
Gut types attach to/identify with the gut center's need for a specific establishment of existential boundaries
Head types attach to/identify with the head center's need for clear perception and direction.
These centers are the foundational systems through which the identity processes reality in an attempt to restore inner stability after the original wound that occured when the child felt a break-off from their unity with the bonded parent.
As a result, each individual has one of these centers working overtime.
Each core Enneagram type emerges from a unique sensitivity — a predisposition that comes into the world with a particular motivational imprint.
When that core motivation is disrupted, the child experiences it as a threat to their essential orientation and seeks to achieve a sense of wholeness through the type structure.
IF you want to know more, check the Centers of Energy page.