The Enneagram: Basic Principles

The Enneagram  Basic Principles

This is the first part of a series on the Enneagram

The Enneagram is a complex system dating back some 10,000 years. It has most recently been explored through the work of Helen Palmer who brought it into the mainstream, making these teachings available to many. The types are essentially our chief feature reactions to external events, our response under stress but the system also denotes how we can move away from our fears toward more joy. For example a "one" would tend to respond to the world through maintaining perfectionism and control, would "dissentegrate" to "four" when under stress, becoming withdrawn and melocholy, but when feeling safe and secure would move to "seven", becoming more outgoing and social. 

The first step is identifying your own primary point.

* There are nine points on the Enneagram. We usually choose one of these points

prior to incarnating, although they may not solidify until the third monad when

the chief features fixate. (and stress points are chosen)

* The Enneagram is a system of personal discovery that allows us to see beyond

our fear based responses and to understand our truest essence.

The types are divided into categories:

Major Triads

1. Body/Instinctive Triad Anger (8-9-1) concerned with maintaining resistance to reality

            “I must maintain a felt sense of self”

Eights tend to act out rage, nines tend to deny rage, ones tend to repress rage.

2. Heart/Feeling Triad : Shame (2-3-4) concerned with self image

            “I must maintain a personal identity”

Twos are rescuers, fours are rescuees, and threes don’t need rescuing.

3. Head/Thinking Triad  Fear (5-6-7)  concerned with anxiety, want more safety/security

            “I must find a sense of inner guidance and support”.

Fives fear the outside world, sevens fear their inner world, sixes fear both (and pingpong)