What is the Enneagram, Why is it so Popular, and What do We do with it?
by Bridget Nash
Quick history
The Enneagram is nine-pointed figure that illustrates the nine major personality leanings, “energies,” or “archetypes” (Rohr, Relevant). The origins of Enneagram are a little fuzzy, but it’s loaded with timeless wisdom. Some have traced the Enneagram back to the ancient Desert Fathers (Rohr)—early religious hermits who lived in the deserts of Egypt around the third or fourth century A.D. (Relevant). For centuries, the Enneagram was kept secret, only passed down as an oral tradition, for fear that its staggering insight would be misused. It began to surface in South America in the 1960’s, making its way to the United States in the 1970’s and onto the shelves of bookstores in the 1980’s (Religious News).
A few of the icons of the modern Enneagram include Oscar Ichazo, a Bolivian teacher who—it’s said—received the wisdom of the Enneagram (among other things) from an angel while in a dream-like state (Relevant). Ichazo was named by many as the “principle father of the modern Enneagram of Personality” and later founded the Arica Institute in the 1960’s (Relevant). One of Ichazo’s students, Claudio Naranjo, adapted Ichazo’s teachings to a psychological model more in line with Western ideology.
In the 1990’s, more names emerged onto the Enneagram scene, including Richard Rohr—a Franciscan friar, author, and speaker (Relevant)—as well as Don Richard Riso and Russ Hudson who together founded The Enneagram Institute (Enneagram Institute). In the 2000’s, authors including Beatrice Chestnut, Suzanne Stabile, Ian Morgan Cron, and Beth McCord gained popularity—writing books, hosting seminars, publishing podcasts, and developing curriculum.
Why do I think the Enneagram has become so popular?
Although self-help books have been around for thousands of years—some of the first being ancient Egyptian ‘codes of conduct,’ Italian dining etiquette (such as ‘you shouldn’t sniff your neighbor’s food’), and tips on romance (Wikipedia)—they have grown in popularity, particularly in the last hundred years or so (Time). Is anyone else envisioning Fox Books from You’ve Got Mail, or is it just me?
Personality tests like the Myers-Briggs, DISC, or even BuzzFeed quizzes have also sparked curiosity—either to help people find suitable careers or to anecdotally discuss in everyday conversation. However, unlike the Enneagram, most of those assessments are based more on behavior rather than internal motivation, making them far less accurate in a variety of settings or life stages (another reason I think the Enneagram is so popular). The internet and social media have made content like this so accessible and trends in popular psychology spread like wildfire.
But those factors together don’t satisfy me—I think there’s much more behind our (and when I say “our,” I mainly mean millennials) obsession with the Enneagram and ‘finding ourselves,’ because—let’s be honest—most of us have no idea who we are. Our identities are often wrapped up in our friends, family, school, social media, job, etc. “Hi, I’m What’s-Her-Face’s daughter,” “I’m an employee of Such-And-Such Inc.,” “I’m a Whatever-State student.”
It makes sense. That’s how we’ve been taught—to identify things like triangles, barn animals, and coins by what’s around it. But it doesn’t ease our craving for self-knowledge, authenticity, and connection. Living up to someone else’s idea of perfection—or even ‘normalcy’—is exhausting. So many of us are tired of having our flaws pointed out or constantly trying to camouflage them. In some strange dichotomy, we want to be special and unique while finding people similar enough to us to align with. We want our own sense of “truth.”
What do we do with the Enneagram?
I was first introduced to the Enneagram by one of my substitute professors who thought he was ‘all that and a bag of chips.’ I was in my senior year of my undergrad program, taking a “fun” class for the first time in my college career—Intro to Painting. Let me just say, I AM NOT A PAINTER! We were working on a project and he came to my easel and asked me if I had ever heard of the Enneagram, because I seemed “like a total three.” I was already struggling with the assignment, and his comment only felt like more of an attack (even though I had no idea what he was talking about).
My next encounter was in a conversation with someone who has hurt me by how self-absorbed and deluded he is. He began by labeling a handful of mutual friends and pointing out all the things they do that annoy him and ignoring all of his glaringly obvious faults. He was using the Enneagram to mark and shame people.
Because of these first two interactions, I was completely turned off from the Enneagram. It wasn’t until a dear friend of mine explained it in a way that focused more on finding freedom in who you are and putting language to your needs and desires, rather than harping on all the things that are wrong with you that I came around to the idea (Thanks, Lauren!). I started digging into the Enneagram, beginning with Ian Morgan Cron’s book The Road Back to You.And believe you me, IT CHANGED MY LIFE. It wrecked me. Cron described some of my most difficult struggles, my deepest fears, my greatest passions. Pages and pages that stripped away the façade I had built up to conceal the parts of me I’m ashamed of. It was horrible and beautiful all at the same time.
But simply having knowledge about your “type” isn’t enough. I was recently talking to one of my high schoolers who had discovered her Enneagram energy. Here’s where our conversation changed from trendy Instagram bio content to actual change:
‘That’s awesome that you found the type that resonates with you! Now the question is, what are you going to dowith this information? How is it enlightening your beliefs and behavior? How does it impact your relationships with yourself and others? Where do you need to grow?—That’s what I love about the enneagram! It has so much potential for growth and depth and connection. It’s useless to simply have knowledge of your type. Or worse, to use your type as an excuse to continue behaving in a destructive and unhealthy way. Once you learn more about the way you were designed, there’s a responsibility to invest in who you were made to be.”
As Richard Rohr would say, the enneagram isn’t just for selfish gain, but to reflect how beautiful humanity can be with all of our many facets and make it easier for others to love you once you are no longer living with your ‘primary blinders’ on. Bottom line—IF YOU WALK AWAY WITH NOTHING ELSE, TAKE THIS—the Enneagram calls us to take personal responsibility for how we live our lives!
Feel free to check out the pages I referenced
enneagraminstitute.com/misidentifications-of-enneagram-personality-types
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-help_book
relevantmagazine.com/culture/the-rise-of-the-enneagram/
religionnews.com/2018/07/11/why-has-the-enneagram-become-so-popular-among-christians/
