The Enneagram lists 9 personality types:
Type One is principled, purposeful, self-controlled, and
perfectionistic.
Type Two is generous, demonstrative, people-pleasing, and
possessive.
Type Three is adaptable, excelling, driven, and
image-conscious.
Type Four is expressive, dramatic, self-absorbed, and
temperamental.
Type Five is perceptive, innovative, secretive, and
isolated.
Type Six is engaging, responsible, anxious, and suspicious.
Type Seven is spontaneous, versatile, acquisitive, and
scattered.
Type Eight is self-confident, decisive, willful, and
confrontational.
Type Nine is receptive, reassuring, complacent, and
resigned.
The above descriptions are taken from this site, which is
the best introduction to the Enneagram that I have found online:
https://www.enneagramworldwide.com/test/
They do want $10.00 to take the online test. Personally I think you can find your type
just by reading about them, or use the free test below.
This is another excellent site, and also relates these types
to the Myers Briggs’, but not always perfectly.
Many links to explore here:
Free Enneagram test:
This test is not always correct. But, will give you and idea of what type you
might be. The test typed me incorrectly,
but my correct type was listed second.
Each of these types relate to each other. When stressed you tend to another type along
the linked lines. You also have a “wing”
which is one of the nearby numbers. Additionally, many of us have several
features within the 3 or 4 types nearby to your central type.
An interesting part of the Enneagram is that there are also
levels within each type. Just as in
other levels of development that we have discussed, they have to do with how
much you identify with the ego.
I really like Helen Palmer’s books on the Enneagram. You may like the books better, if you are a
person who still reads books. I have
many, many books!
The Enneagram does take some time to study. The above links or books are great starting
places. I won’t try to repeat much here,
the sites are much better than anything I can organize in this short blog.
But, let me give a personal example, I am a 7. Sometimes labeled as the Peter Pan. I need to be excited about what I do. I tend to gluttony, for example, buying too
many guitars, bikes, and telescopes. I
like to think of myself as a Renaissance man, with a multiplicity of skills and
talents, and too many higher educational degrees!
I have a 6 wing, the Devil’s Advocate. I have trouble with authority. Sometimes when I am stressed I become more
like a 5, and isolate myself, in part because of my introverted nature. Usually, when stressed I go across the
designated line and become more like a 1, the Perfectionist.
As predominately a 7, I procrastinate until the deadline is
just about due, or even past due. The when
I feel sufficiently stressed by the deadline I become a perfectionist type 1 machine,
churning out that paper, grant, or talk I have to get done. My wife calls that my cheetah mode, running
quickly and precisely toward my goal.
My difficulty is with routine work. That is one of my basic challenges, showing
up to get the work done that needs to get done on a daily basis. Chop wood, carry water.
Here are a few nicely put together recommendations for personal
growth. Both general recommendations,
and also for each Enneagram type:
http://drdaviddaniels.com/growth-practices/
There is another more esoteric approach to the Enneagram as
outlined in A. H. Almaas’ book “Facets of Unity.” Almaas is working at a higher level. His interest is in how your understanding of your
basic type can help lead you toward an evolution to higher consciousness.
He writes so beautifully.
Indeed at this level of consideration of Enneagram types, you can see
that you really embody all types. Just
you have some stronger tendencies than other types. He labels these types your “fixations,” or
blind spots.
On page 126 Almaas writes:
“Rather than being oriented toward achieving a certain state of
consciousness, a practice that makes sense must be oriented toward freedom from
wanting certain states. True freedom is
not the realization of a certain dimension; true liberation is to be free from
all dimensions. It is the freedom of
completely accepting whatever the universe manifests through you.”
Wow! Surfing the universe. Or, perhaps, allowing the universe to surf
you.
There are a multitude of personality measures that have been
used in the psychological and social studies literature. We touched on two, the Meyers Briggs’ and the
Enneagram. Currently, these latter two
are a little less well used in the literature of science. Nontheless, I have found them both to be invaluable
in explaining why so often I feel like a stranger in a strange land.
Theories of lines and levels of development and
personalities are all maps of the varieties of humans you will encounter,
including yourself. They are maps, not
the territory. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Addendum 07/29/17 - My current favorite book on the Enneagram:
The Essential Enneagram: The Definitive Personality Test and Self-Discovery Guide -- Revised & Updated Paperback – May 26, 2009 by David Daniels, Virginia Price
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