What is the Enneagram?
The Enneagram is a circle with nine points that are interconnected with lines. Each number represents a trait of personality (as seen in the image) or a trait of the “self” as a whole.
The goal of the Enneagram is as Richard Rohr writes, “If you could look out at reality from nine pairs of eyes and honor all of them, you would be looking at reality through the eyes of God.” (1)
The popular proponents of the Enneagram in Christian circles would detail the nine numbers as all sections of the image of God given in humanity. Yet they would state that we do not harness all aspects of this image, therefore we all have a “false self” but through the Enneagram, you have the ability to have a path back to the “true self,” that you can be reunited with this “Divine Love” and transform your consciousness." (2)
Do not be fooled, analyzing the Enneagram through the lens of the Christian worldview is a good tool to provide a critique to this practice, but it should not be used in a way to legitimize it. The very definitions of God, Self, Sin, and even Jesus are different than orthodox Christianity (we will dive into this in a different blog post).
The word “Enneagram” in itself is intriguingly named. Think about it, in order for knowledge to sound mystical, perhaps even given from the gods, shouldn’t it sound complex and bewildering?
Like much of New Age/Occultic dogma, abstract gnostic principles try to obtain credibility from “divinely” contrived names; meaning that the more complicated the name of the principle, the higher level of knowledge it imparts. Therefore the person who is seeking this knowledge is enchanted by the word itself. In other words, they are subverted in a psychological sense to think that the complicated word in itself gives the principle authority. Furthermore, when the word for the principle is derived from an ancient language it can masquerade as a lost divine ancient principle, a level of knowledge that can simply be put into practice, as it was once used in the past.
Thus is the root of the word Enneagram. It is derived from the two greek words, ἐννέα (ennea) which translates to nine, and γράμμα (gramma) which translates to written or drawn (3). It appears that by constructing a name rooted in the ancient greek language that the Enneagram assumes to have some sort of connection with the mystical, the abstract, and immaterial realm of knowledge once held by the ancients.
That is the assumption today, many proponents of the Enneagram, such as Richard Rohr, Christopher Heuertz, Helen Palmer, Beatrice Chesnut, and others all lay claim to the ancient roots of the Enneagram. It is these supposed ancient roots that are the authority from where this “true self” revealing tool points to, not the revealed word of God, but to pseudo-historical claims that have been proven to be false. This blog series will assure that there is no stone left unturned within the Occultic origins of the Enneagram, separating the fact from the fiction with help from the book “Richard Rohr and the Enneagram Secret” by Don & Joy Veinot and Marcia Montenegro.
Fictional Claims of the Enneagram Origins
The Odyssey (8th century B.C.)
“Christian” Author Christopher Heuertz in his book “The Sacred Enneagram; Finding Your Unique Path to Spiritual Growth” hints at that it may be possible that the Enneagram’s origins are found in non-Jewish, non-Christian cultures and even in mystical religions. Chris’ source for this claim comes Beatrice Chesnut (New Age author who was a student of Helen Palmer and Dr. David Daniel) who states that there is proof of Enneagram’s origin from Homer’s the Odyssey (4).
The claim is as follows:
Homer, the author of The Odyssey, tells the story through the eyes of Odysseus that through his journey home after the war he traveled to nine lands populated with mythical creatures who characters match the nine Enneagram types exactly- in the same order as the modern teaching (5).
Furthermore, Heuertz citing Beatrice claims that the true purpose behind the Odyssey was the discovering of the “True Self” through this journey home. That there was an intentional crafting of esoteric knowledge into the book for people to discover.
However, this claim has never been substantiated. It appears that both Christopher and Beatrice thrive off of people not doing research. The claim is made to hint at esoteric truth behind ancient works of art, that there was a level of secret knowledge built into pages of the Odyssey. Yet there is nothing in the novel that points to the esoteric meaning of the Enneagram’s nine types or the “True Self.”
Odysseus didn’t even travel to nine lands, he traveled to twelve! The claim has no historic basis and it can’t even be hinted at for the facts are off! The twelve lands that Odysseus traveled to are as follows: The Island of Cicones, The Island of theLotus Eaters, The Island of the Cyclops, The Island of Aeolus, The Island of the Laestrygonians, Circe’s Island, The Underworld, The Island of the Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis, The Island of Helios, Calypso’s Island, The Island of the Phaecians, and finally Ithaca his homeland.
Greek Philosopher Pythagoras (570-495 BC)
Christopher Heuertz also tries to support an ancient history of the Enneagram by appealing to Greek philosopher Pythagoras.
The claim is that Pythagoras used the Enneagram symbol as a spiritual signature after learning it in Heliopolis, which was the center of worship of the Ennead or the nine deities of ancient Egyptian Mythology (6).
However, there are no writing of Pythagoras that have survived, therefore to lay stake to a claim where there is no possible way to find evidence is an argument from silence. One can also see the draw of appealing to someone like Pythagorus to support the idea of hidden esoteric knowledge. He was someone who appealed to immaterial abstract laws of logic and mathematics. In a sense the Enneagram is immaterial - only the reflection of the law of self is portrayed as a circle with nine points and lines. Therefore to claim legitimacy to the Enneagram it makes sense that people would point to ancient philosophers like Pythagorus.
Jewish Philosopher Philo (20 BC - 50 AD)
Another Claim is that the roots of the Enneagram can be seen from Jewish philosopher Philo, Heuertz writes:
“Others point to Jewish philosopher Philo (who also happened to live in Egypt), hinting that perhaps his esoteric Judaism and the Tree of Life, which is considered the key symbol of tradition of the Kabbalah, root the earliest forms of the Enneagram in Jewish mysticism (7).”
However, a “hinting at” a historical bases does not equate to factual evidence (8).
Instead Christopher is showing an inherit need to prove validity to a practice by somehow giving it ancient roots. He is constantly showing that if it the Enneagram didn’t have ancient roots it would then not be as legitimate. Furthermore, why would someone appeal to the occultic practices of from the Kaballah as a source of objective historical legitimacy for the Enneagram? (9)
The Desert Fathers (345-399AD)
This next claim is now post Nicene Creed, and the question is, can the Enneagram be verified as a spiritual tool by early “Christian” mystics?
According to Britannica encyclopedia the Desert Fathers were Christian Mystics:
“Early Christian hermits whose practice of asceticism in the Egyptian desert, beginning in the 3rd century, formed the basis of Christian monasticism. Following the example of Jesus’ life of poverty, service, and self-denial, these early monks devoted themselves to vows of austerity, prayer, and work.” (10)
Christopher Heuertz in his book makes the claims that the Enneagram was used as a tool and it dates all the way back to the Desert Fathers, specifically Evagrius Ponticus and he writes:
“Much has been written to suggest that the early Egyptian Christian monastic ascetics, the desert mothers and fathers, were the chief architects of the Enneagram, lef by fourth century mystic Evagrius Ponticus. Ponticus’s writings are often cited to support theories on the Christian origins of the Enneagram, specifically as it relates to his work on his list of eight vices and virtues (in one place he names nine), which closely resemble the nine Virtues and Passions of the Enneagram as we have it today.” (11)
This claim did not derive from Christopher, he cited Richard Rohr and his co-Author Andreas Elbert’s of the book “The Enneagram: The Christian Perspective” pointing to idea that the post Nicene “Christian-Mystic” Evagrius Ponticus was a proponent of the Enneagram.
Ponticus was a mystic, that much is true, however there is nothing in his writings that as much even speak about the Enneagram. Rohr and Elbert, did not read Ponticus in context and did not apply the proper form of interpretation on the writings, instead they engaged in eisegesis imposing their own conclusions and interpretations onto the writings of Ponticus.
Furthermore simply searching about Evagrius on internet you can find that he was a gnostic, he believed in that one must be engaged in asceticism (severe self-discipline and avoidance of all forms of indulgence, typically for religious reasons) in order to obtain the true meaning of spiritual knowledge outside of this material realm. Paul in the book of Colossians warns of people just like Evagrius:
“Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God. If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations-- "Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch" (referring to things that all perish as they are used)--according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.”
Ronald V Huggins ThD describes what Heuertz, Rohr, and Elbert were doing in these words:
“Promiscuously fishing about in the patristic texts for some support, any support, they might find for their Enneagram symbol along with its attendant personality test. The predictable result was that they anachronistically read both their symbol and the test back into this single passage from Evagrius. And. The whole Enneagram community uncritically took over their idea. In reality, the Enneagram symbol cannot be shown to predate 1916, and the link between the symbol and the text can be fairly confidently dated as occurring for the first time in 1969” (12)
Sufism (661`-749 AD )
Sufism is mystical Islamic belief and practice in which Muslims seek to find the truth of divine love and knowledge through direct personal experience of God. It consists of a variety of mystical paths that are designed to ascertain the nature of humanity and of God and to facilitate the experience of the presence of divine love and wisdom in the world. (13)
Christopher Heuertz claims that the experts of today credit the Sufi communities of Iraq and Afghanistan for the development and spread of the Enneagram throughout Central Asai (14).
However at the same time in the same book Christopher then states the following:
Regardless of whether the Enneagram has its roots in Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity or Islam, we do know that it wasn’t until the early 1900s that an Eastern Orthodox man, G.I. Gurdjieff, introduced the modern form of the Enneagram to the Western World. (15)
The following is a critique of Heuertz statement from the book Richard Rohr and the Enneagram Secret written by Don & Joy Veinot and Marcia Montenegro:
After spending a considerable amount of time laying out a supposed ancient history, Heuertz essentially admits it is all a myth. He doesn’t actually know if it has roots in Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity or Islam. So why the story? It’s about supposed credibility. Heuertz points out “we do know” the only certain history of the Enneagram began with a man named G.I. Gurdjieff. (16)
Ramon Llull (1232-1316AD)
Ramon Llull was a “Catalan mystic and poet whose writings helped to develop the Romance Catalan language and widely influenced Neoplatonic mysticism throughout medieval and 17th-century Europe. He is best known in the history of ideas as the inventor of an “art of finding truth” that was primarily intended to support the Roman Catholic faith in missionary work but was also designed to unify all branches of knowledge (17).”
The claim is that Ramon Llull successfully used the Enneagram as a common language tool that bridged the gap between warring Christians and Muslims. Supposedly the Enneagram was a tool used to create a conversion of morals between the two warring parties. Richard Rohr on Helen Palmer’s website even went as far as to endorsing Helen Palmer and substantiating the supposed “ancient origins” of the Enneagram by claiming the tool used by Ramon is a proven tool for the discernment of spirits, which St. Paul call one of the major gifts of the Holy Spirit. (18)
What is used to substantiate this claim? There is no obvious factual connection to Ramon Llull and the Enneagram. It is true that he would create diagrams using the numbers of 3, 6, 9, 15, and 16 points but there is no symbol that he created that represents the Enneagram. It is one thing to be a mystic and create symbols in which one is searching for meaning in numbers. But it is wholly another thing to have a certain set of gnostic principles derived from the already proven true Enneagram that has been used throughout early ancient history 8th century BC up to the time of Ramon Llull the 13th Century AD. This is nearly 2100 years of supposed history that has ZERO factual evidence for 2100 years.
If we were to apply the same standards to any ancient work of literature or religion, the Enneagram fails to stand up to the supposed historical claims. This is yet again another grasping at straws, a way to validate the Enneagram not through its actual practice but through smoke and mirrors. This is a way to obfuscate, misdirect, and avoid the true occultic origins of the Enneagram.
ESOTERIC Origins of the Enneagram
G.I. Gurdjieff (1866 -1949 AD)
George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff was a Greek-Armenian mystic, and a spiritual guru.
He is mainly credited for his work in self-realization and the one-ness with the self. He claims throughout his extensive travels and due to his knowledge of the ancient societies was able to re-kindle a truth that was lost in the modern era.
His most famous systemized work is titled “The Work,” according to Gurdjieff if you follow his principles outlined in the “Fourth Way” you can then understand your “self.”
Gurdjieff argued that one’s “self” is asleep but it can be awakened through meditation techniques in which you would then be able to analyze your various “egos” and then find out which part of them is the real “I”. Does this sound familiar?
According to Larson’s Book of World Religions and Alternative Spirituality:
“This Fourth Way, as it is called is the path of self transformation. Seekers are encouraged to begin each morning concentrating and putting on the “self” into each part of their bodies, beginning with toes and so on. Eventually “self-consciousness” enables one constantly to observe his own body and become aware of unconscious mannerisms.” (19)
Being an esoteric teacher and spiritual guru Gurdjieff was interested in symbols and mathematical diagrams (like many mystics) and the first recorded nine-sided diagram inscribed inside a circle was first created by Gurdjieff. This Enneagram diagram, to Gurdjieff, contained all knowledge that was held within the cosmos.
Notice that the original Enneagram created by Gurdjieff shown in the picture does not contain any personality types. According to P.D. Ouspensky, Gurdjieff taught the following:
All knowledge can be included in the Enneagram and with the help of the Enneagram it can be interpreted. And in this connection only what a man is able to put into the Enneagram does he actually know, that is, understand. What he cannot put into the Enneagram makes books and libraries entirely unnecessary. Everything can be included and read in the Enneagram. (20)
What was Gurdjieff’s Enneagram used for?
According to Richard Rohr and the Enneagram Secret:
“Gurdjieff believed all the secret laws of the universe could be seen in his diagram, and he used it to play around with mathematical formulas- what he called the “Law of Seven” and the “Law of Three.” He also used the Enneagram to illustrate a special musical scale for which he developed “sacred dace” movements to act out the Enneagram, which Gurdjieff dance troops still use today. However, it was never used as a personality assessment by its inventor George I. Gurdjieff.”(21)
The video provided shows the sacred dance techniques derived from George.
Isn’t it interesting that the Enneagram has historical documentation showing that it was first created by an Esoteric Mysticism/Spiritual Guru. However this still does not detail the Occultic origins of the modern use of the Enneagram. Keep scrolling to see the Enneagram’s development from Esoteric Mysticism to New Age Occultism. The first step was from G.I. Gurdjieff to his protégé P.D. Ouspensky.
P.D. Ouspensky (1878-1947 AD)
Our goal here is not to focus too much on the beliefs of Ouspensky, so we are not going to detail all of his teachings. We do know that he was a pupil of Gurdjieff, and it is through the writings of Ouspensky which were published postmortem that we can get a better understanding of Gurdjieff’s Enneagram.
Through Ouspensky’s book, In Search of the Miraculous, we find a source for one of the modern uses of the Enneagram today called “the Triads” (the three areas of the Enneagram) which are based on Gurdjieff’s “Law of Three.”(22)
However, there were still no personality types or temperaments detailed in the writings of Ouspensky and it was not until his pupil Rodney Collin that we see the first personality types appear in the Enneagram.
Rodney Collin (1909-1956 AD)
Rodney was a pupil of Ouspensky who is credited with creating the diagram called “Types of Humanity” detailed in his book titled, “The Christian Mystery.”
In the book, Richard Rohr and the Enneagram Secret, Dr. Ronald Huggins describes Rodney Collin and his work in the following:
“In 1954, Rodney Collin, a student of P.D. Ouspensky, became perhaps the first to make a stab at linking personality types to an enneagram. Starting with the ancient idea that personalities originate due to planetary influences, the mercurial personality, the jovial personality from Jupiter, the martial personality with Mars, and so on, Collin adopted the traditional view that personality is fixed by the position of the planets at birth. But he went on to claim that when we arrange these personality types around an enneagram it allows us to view as a single whole through which a kind of movement flows like the circulation of blood throughout the body. Collin claimed that once you’ve become firmly cognizant of your own planetary personality type you can improve yourself by trying to incorporate elements from the first two planetary types, as it were, downstream in the enneagram flow sequence.”(23)
Reading the above quote you can almost smell the similarities between the modern personality types of the Enneagram and the flow in which one can obtain a better knowledge of the “true self”. It is now from Rodney to Oscar Ichazo from which we can see the Occultic origins of the modern Enneagram that plagues many progressive Christian circles.
Occultic Origins of the Enneagram
Oscar Ichazo and Claudio Naranjo
If you have made it this far in the blog, congratulations. It is now time to deliver the final blow to anyone who believes that the Enneagram is a tool from God that can be used to help them grow a deeper connection with Christ. However, this unsheathing of information should never be used to be-head a fellow believer who is in error. Instead, this should be used to lovingly rebuke someone, for we as Christians care about our Brothers and Sisters in Christ. This is information that should never be used to condemn, only to rebuke and reprove those in error. We are called to shine the light of truth into the darkness and expose the evil at work within the world.
Despite the Esoteric origins of the Enneagram (which should make any Christian squeal) we find that the modern Enneagram has its roots not built in Christ, not established in faith but in the channeling and automatic writings of two men. The first man in question is Oscar Ichazo.
Ichazo was a man who ran an occultic school in Arica, Chile called the Arica Institute. Ichazo adopted George’s teachings and he added different concepts to the Enneagram.
However, the influence of Oscar’s concept was conjured from two spirits – Metatron and Green Q’tub (24). Not to mention that according to Richard Rohr and the Enneagram Secret that Oscar was involved in psychedelic drugs and shamanism. It was during his trips guided by a spiritual master where he came in contact with Metatron.
Don’t believe me? Hear it yourself from Oscar’s student Claudio Naranjo in the video provided.
Go to 1:45 and start there. These details on the origins of the Enneagram are shocking.
Claudio admits that Ichazo’s origins of ego fixations are from a higher source and not a historical source, from inspiration, from revelation and that he trusts it.
The other key point of information described in this video (timestamp 3:40-3:51) is that Claudio then begins to describe that although Ichazo did originate the ego fixations from contact with spirits the modern ennea-types were a product of his own personal revelation which came through automatic writing and then verified through observation.
What are Ego-Fixations and Ennea-types?
In the book Richard Rohr and the Enneagram Secret it is detailed that the Arica Institute founded by Oscar Ichazo believes that one’s true self is divine and perfect; but through confusion caused by wrong beliefs, one has allegedly identified with the ego which is termed the false self. Subesequently, there is the true self vs the false self.
Another way to think about Ego-Fixations is to think about Scientology, sounds weird I know but hear me out. L. Ron Hubbard (the founder of Scientology) divided the mind into three categories.
Analytical Mind: Works like a perfect computer and never makes a mistake
Reactive Mind: Holds mental picture images of past experiences called “Engrams” which are the single source of aberrations and psychosomatic illness. (You could compare the reactive mind to the Freudian subconscious)
Somatic Mind: This mind keeps the body regulated and functioning by the analytical and reactive minds placing solutions to effect on the physical level.
Scientology states that the problem with humanity is that the reactive mind, frequently interrupts the analytical mind. The analytical mind essentially “is the person”, which could perfectly run a person’s life, except for the interference from the reactive mind.
Everything stored in the Reactive Mind is Engrams, picture images that stimulate the person to react to a physical stimulus. These Engrams are not memories, but more like a motion picture. Everything that is seen, touched, or sensed is recorded by the reactive mind as the engram.
The solution to the reactive mind interrupting the analytical mind is to rid the reactive mind of all engrams. This is done through a process called auditing. Auditing is done with two individuals, the person being audited, and the auditor.
The goal of auditing is to “Go Clear” which means ridding the reactive mind of all engrams or “false memories.”
Can you see the similarities? The Enneagram is the E-Meter the device used by Auditor or person trained in the Enneagram, to help the person rid themselves of Ego-Fixations. Like proponents of the Enneagram who believe that once you rid your false self of all your ego-fixations through the Ennea-Types you then can tap into your true self which is ontologically divine in nature. Similarly, the Scientologist also believes that once they become clear they can then learn how to manipulate: matter, energy, space, and time as “Operating Thetans”, whose ontology like the Enneagram’s proponents is divine in nature.
The Christian Response?
The Christian response is simple, Deuteronomy 18:9-13 states:
9 When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. 10 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, 11 or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. 12 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord; because of these same detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you. 13 You must be blameless before the Lord your God.
The historic origins of the Enneagram are esoteric Gnosticism and Occultism from channeled material gained from automatic writing and psychedelic trips. There is absolutely nothing useful that can be derived from this material, let alone material useful for your walk with God.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 states:
16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
There is no need for the Enneagram, the word of God is all we need to be complete for every good work prepared for us by God. Furthermore, the Bible never states that humanity should become more in touch with our “true-selves” this cannot be found in Scripture. Instead, we are told to die to ourselves (Col 3:2-5; Gal 2:20), to be selfless (Phil 2:4), to show humility (Phil 2:3), and that we are being renewed in the Image of our Creator (Col 3:10), in-dwelt by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19). We are then commanded to put to death the old self and put on the new self which is in Christ (Col 3:5-11).
It is clear and has been thoroughly documented that the Enneagram is not ancient in origin, nor is it a practice that should be used by Christians to deepen their relationship with God. Instead, it is a practice that should be put to death one in which the old self dwelled in the flesh. We are commanded to love the things of the Lord and obey all that He has commanded and knowledge obtained from demonic sources is exactly the type of knowledge we are commanded to avoid.
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Sources
(1) Veinot, D. & J, & Montenegro, M. (2020), Richard Rohr and the Enneagram Secret (pg40). Wonder Lake, IL: MCOI Publishing LLC.
(2) Ibid.
(3) Ibid pg. 39
(4) Ibid pg. 48
(5) Ibid pg. 48
(6) Ibid pg. 49
(7) Christopher L Heuertz. The Sacred Enneagram (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing, 2017) pp. 43-44. Kindle Edition
(8) Veinot, D. & J, & Montenegro, M. (2020), Richard Rohr and the Enneagram Secret (pg49). Wonder Lake, IL: MCOI Publishing LLC.
(9) Ibid pg. 49
(10) https://www.britannica.com/topic/Desert-Fathers
(11) Christopher L Heuertz. The Sacred Enneagram (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing, 2017) pp. 44. Kindle Edition
(12) Veinot, D. & J, & Montenegro, M. (2020), Richard Rohr and the Enneagram Secret (pg52). Wonder Lake, IL: MCOI Publishing LLC. Personal Correspondence on File Noted in sources
(13) https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sufism
(14) Veinot, D. & J, & Montenegro, M. (2020), Richard Rohr and the Enneagram Secret (pg54). Wonder Lake, IL: MCOI Publishing LLC.
(15) Christopher L Heuertz. The Sacred Enneagram (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing, 2017) pp. 44. Kindle Edition
(16) Veinot, D. & J, & Montenegro, M. (2020), Richard Rohr and the Enneagram Secret (pg55). Wonder Lake, IL: MCOI Publishing LLC.
(17) https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ramon-Llull
(18) Veinot, D. & J, & Montenegro, M. (2020), Richard Rohr and the Enneagram Secret (pg55). Wonder Lake, IL: MCOI Publishing LLC.
(19) Bob Larson. Larson’s Book of World Religions and Alternative Spirituality (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1982, 1989, 2004)pg. 221-222
(20) Veinot, D. & J, & Montenegro, M. (2020), Richard Rohr and the Enneagram Secret (pg54). Wonder Lake, IL: MCOI Publishing LLC. pg. 60
(21) Ibid
(22) Ibid 62
(23) Ibid 63
(24) Ibid 65