The Enneagram reads personality as nine types arranged on a circle, each with a core motivation and a direction it moves under stress and under growth. A reading derives a number from a chart and reads that type against the planet and sephirah some later schools attribute to it, a system modern in its present form despite the older figure it is drawn on.

History

The nine pointed figure itself came to the West through the esoteric teacher George Gurdjieff in the early twentieth century, who used it as a symbol of cosmic and psychological process rather than as a personality typology; Gurdjieff's own teaching does not present nine character types attached to the nine points. That typology is a later and separate development, introduced by the Bolivian-born teacher Oscar Ichazo, founder of the Arica School, in the 1960s and 1970s. The system reached wider circulation chiefly through Claudio Naranjo, a Chilean psychiatrist who studied under Ichazo and brought the nine type model into psychological and therapeutic settings in the United States from the 1970s onward; most of the Enneagram teaching in general circulation today traces to that Ichazo-Naranjo lineage rather than to Gurdjieff's original use of the symbol.

The planetary and Kabbalistic sephirah attributions some schools now layer onto the nine types belong to a still later esoteric elaboration, built after the type system itself existed, and are not part of either Gurdjieff's or Ichazo's original presentations. This report item works from that later, more recent layer, which is why its own product description states plainly that the system is modern in its present form, whatever earlier symbolic material it draws on.

The Nine Types

• The Reformer, principled and improvement driven.
• The Helper, caring and interpersonal.
• The Achiever, success oriented and adaptable.
• The Individualist, introspective and expressive.
• The Investigator, perceptive and analytical.
• The Loyalist, committed and security oriented.
• The Enthusiast, spontaneous and versatile.
• The Challenger, assertive and decisive.
• The Peacemaker, easygoing and accommodating.

The Three Triads

The nine types are grouped into three triads of three, each named for the center of intelligence the later system holds that triad to lead with: the Body (Gut) triad, oriented around instinct and anger; the Heart triad, around image and shame; and the Head triad, around thought and fear.

How A Reading Is Constructed

A reading derives a type number from a chart's own placements rather than from the self-report questionnaires most Enneagram typing ordinarily uses, then reads that type against the planet and sephirah the later esoteric schools pair with it, naming the type's core motivation and the direction, toward growth or toward stress, its placements point in.

Where To Read More

• The ReformerThe Reformer, Type One: principled, improvement driven.
• The HelperThe Helper, Type Two.
• The AchieverThe Achiever, Type Three.
• The IndividualistThe Individualist, Type Four.
• The InvestigatorThe Investigator, Type Five.
• The LoyalistThe Loyalist, Type Six.
• The EnthusiastThe Enthusiast, Type Seven.
• The ChallengerThe Challenger, Type Eight.
• The PeacemakerThe Peacemaker, Type Nine.
• Body (Gut)Body (Gut) triad: instinct and anger.
• HeartHeart triad: image and shame.
• HeadHead triad: thought and fear.