The enneagram merges an ancient 9-sided symbol called an “enneagon” (ennea is Greek for nine) with the psychological properties of nine personality types. Since the symbol functions as a diagram or map of the types, the combined symbol and personality system is called the Enneagram.
The metaphorical meanings of "circle" and "line" were pondered by the pre-Socratic Greek philosophers Parmenides and Heraclitus. Parmenides held that the universe was "one" and like a circle. Heraclitus, on the other hand, regarded change and development as the essence of the cosmos, and therefore saw the movement of the world along lines.
Jewish Kabbalists, unsatisfied with either perspective, described a relationship where the experience of the One (represented by a circle) can be better understood and developed by following linear paths.
(see ”The Kabbalistic Theory of "Circles" and "Lines" by Sanford L. Drob)
A basis for many psychological/ spiritual paths is recognition of the eternal or infinite that lies within. Many teachers of the enneagram describe how our realization of the infinite is inhibited by our strivings, our prides, our distractions. These inhibiting factors have been called the “passions" or the “vices". The enneagram also recognizes that for each of the nine personality types there are personality “virtues".
The idea of distinct and definable passions dates back at least to Plato's time. Some early lists of the passions are found in the Christian New Testament, such as in Paul's letter to the Galatians. There he provides an extensive list of what he identified as problematic “works of the flesh” including: moral impurity, promiscuity, idolatry, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, “carousing and anything similar” (!).
In the 3rd Century AD, contemplative monastics continued formulating and revising their ideas of the passions, attempting to better describe human behaviors.
The founder of an Egyptian monastic brotherhood, St. Anthony, is credited with initiating a more detailed understanding of the passions grounded in actual thought patterns observed arising in monastic contemplative life. This pursuit in many ways resembles experimental procedures employed in the modern science of clinical psychology.
Evagrius and the Desert Fathers
In Egypt approximately a century after St. Anthony, Evagrius Ponticus (also known as Evagrius the Solitary) continued this work by interviewing his fellow Desert Fathers about the obstacles they encountered while meditating. From these observations he identified patterns of temptations arising for his fellow monks. He categorized the vices and refined his findings into a system of self-knowledge describing eight passions and their corresponding virtues.
In the 5th Century, Cassian, a follower of Evagrius, included the eight original thought patterns in his book Institutions which the church censored. Not long after, Constantine made Christianity the major state religion but banned Evagrius’ ideas as heresy. Pope Gregory reinstated them as the 7 deadly sins but removed “vainglory” (which corresponds to type Three) and didn’t address Fear/Doubt (type Six).
Desert Father collage by Catherine Williams
Ramon Llull - "Dr. Illuminatus"
The earliest representation of a 9-pointed diagram of human characteristics was created in Spain by Ramon Llull. In the late 1200's Llull lived a semi-monastic life as a "tertiary Franciscan" in Mallorca. He spoke and wrote fluently in Arabic and indicated in his writings that he was familiar with and drawn to Sufism. It is possible that knowledge he gained from the Sufis helped him to develop a"wheel" in 1307 which placed 9 vices and virtues around a circle. This wheel closely resembles the modern enneagram.
Llull's nine vices (or passions) are associate with types 1-9, respectively: Anger, Pride of Vainglory, Pride of Arrogance, Envy, Avarice, Faithlessness, Gluttony, Lust, and Acedia (sloth). His philosophical system, named the Ars (Latin for Art), was an attempt to systematically map theology, the natural sciences, and human behavior.
The Historical Enneagram
George Ivanovich Gurdjieff – Armenian
In the early 1900’s Gurdjieff introduced the 9-pointed enneagram symbol to a group of his students. There are some reports that he had learned of a symbol carried down from the Sarmoun Brotherhood, an ancient sect of the Sufis. There are also records that Gurdjieff traveled to an ancient monastery on Mount Athos in Egypt and uncovered an enneagram-like symbol there along with further details of early monastic understandings of the passions and virtues.
In his work, Gurdjieff outlined 3 centers of intelligence which are active in all people and which correspond to what he called "three types of human beings". These he described as "Thinking", "Emotional" and "Moving/Instinctive". The current enneagram model mirrors these categories with Head, Heart and Body (or Gut) centers.
Each center branches into 3 personality types forming the 9 enneagram types. He called the 9 types “chief features” which he considered a broad map for understanding the functioning of the universe. He concluded that these features can “cover up” what he called our true essence. This idea that personality can separate us from our true nature is still fundamental in understanding the enneagram
Gurdjieff has been identified as an ennea-type Eight
Oscar Ichazo – Bolivian
Oscar Ichazo developed what he called Integral Philosophy and taught philosophy in the Chilean seaport of Arica. He reportedly was initiated into the Sufi Sarmoun lineage and learned of the enneagram there, although some historians report that he may have learned of the system from the same monastery, and studied with the same monk, as Gurdjieff.
Ichazo incorporated his “vices” and corresponding “virtues” into Gurdjieff’s 9-pointed process diagram.
In his groundbreaking work, Ichazo defined and developed 9 detailed personality descriptors based on Gurdjieff’s chief features. Another major contribution in his enneagram model was the identification of 27 Instinctual Variants correlated to the 9 types.
In the early 1970’s, Ichazo introduced the system to a small group of followers in Arica. The Arica Institute was formed around these teachings. Although the current enneagram differs in some ways from Ichazo’s model, the system used today owes its inception to him.
Ichazo may have been an ennea-type Nine or a Five
The Modern Enneagram
Claudio Naranjo, M.D. – Chilean
American-trained psychiatrist Claudio Naranjo came to the enneagram by way of Esalen, a community formed in the 1960’s focused on alternative spiritual and psychological paths. Michael Harner, an anthropologist, was studying rituals of an indigenous Amazon basin tribe at the time he met Claudio Naranjo. He introduced Naranjo to Carlos Castenada and they became friends. They attended Esalen gatherings with Fritz Perls, founder of Gestalt therapy. Perls impressed Naranjo with his psychological understandings and therapies, so much so that he became a Gestalt therapist along with others from Esalen.
Naranjo and other Esalen members heard of the work being done by Ichazo and in 1970 he traveled to Arica, Chile. Impressed by the teachings he helped Ichazo start a community in Santiago bringing with him students and followers. The Arica Training workshops quickly became popular with the Esalen regulars.
Not long after, Naranjo left Esalen to found his own psychospiritual school in Berkeley called the SAT Institute. He became the first person to teach the enneagram in the U.S. linking the system with then-current personality theory. He also made another significant contribution by correlating the enneagram with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (the DSM). This is the framework used in the mental health profession to diagnose personality dynamics and potential disorders.
Naranjo trained Helen Palmer, Sandra Maitri, A. H. Almaas (of The Diamond Approach), Dr. Kathleen Speeth, Robert Ochs (a Loyola University Jesuit priest), and Beatrice Chestnut. He initiated a public panel method of teaching which became known as the “narrative tradition”. In the late 1970’s Peter O'Hanrahan attended Speeth’s and Palmer’s public enneagram teachings. Fr. Ochs brought the teachings to Chicago’s Catholic Jesuit community and trained Sr. Lois Dideon, my first enneagram teacher, and Jerry Wagner, who later wrote his doctoral thesis on the system. Naranjo passed away in 2019.
Claudio Naranjo identified as an ennea-type Five
Helen Palmer – California
In the early 1970’s, while she was exploring barriers to intuition, Helen Palmer heard about Naranjo and attended his public meetings. Not long after that she initiated her own training workshops and facilitated type-panels in the Bay Area.
In 1988, after compiling her enneagram teachings and comprehensive descriptions of the 9 types, Helen published her groundbreaking book, The Enneagram, followed by The Enneagram in Love & Work. She then teamed up with Dr. David Daniels and formed the “Enneagram in the Narrative Tradition” training & certification program which became The Narrative Enneagram in 2019. David Daniels passed away in 2017.
Helen Palmer identifies as ennea-type Six
Peter O’Hanrahan, Renée Rosario, and Terry Saracino continue with Helen Palmer as core trainers in The Narrative Enneagram's certification programs. There is also cross-fertilization happening between many enneagram programs. Helen has held workshops with Russ Hudson. Peter often works with Ginger Lapid-Bogda on business and leadership focused trainings.
Beatrice Chestnut, licensed psychotherapist, trained with Claudio Naranjo and expanded on his teachings of Instinctual Variants and 27 Subtypes. She documented her in-depth understandings of subtypes in her book, The Complete Enneagram, published in 2013. Bea continues to hold enneagram workshops and co-facilitates trainings with Brazilian enneagram teacher Uranio Paes.
Beatrice Chestnut identifies as an enneatype Two
British author Julian Barnes said that a historical narrative is “a collection of holes tied together with string.” My goal is to present a brief but comprehensive history highlighting noteworthy events and recognized teachers in the evolution of the emerging enneagram. I compiled this history from workshops, personal consultations, books, and Google searches. I've also included material from a paper presented in 2008 by enneagram teacher David Burke that provides in-depth historical information on Evagrius and the early contemplative roots of the enneagram.
Richard Hoiland
Russ Hudson and Don Riso – New York
Don Riso learned the enneagram from Jesuit teachings in the ‘70’s. In 1987 he published Personality Types: Using the Enneagram for Self-Discovery and later, Understanding the Enneagram. Russ Hudson joined up with Riso in 1991 to create a questionnaire for identifying Enneagram types. It became known as the Riso-Hudson Enneagram Type Indicator (RHETI). In 1995 Riso and Hudson founded the Enneagram Institute in New York and set up a certification program. Don Riso passed away in 2012. Russ Hudson continues to manage the certification program and offers trainings and workshops.
Riso identified as an ennea-type Four with a Three wing. Hudson identifies as a type Five.
