The System of Enneagram

Well, let’s start with a short introduction to the System of the Enneagram. There are a lot of books about the Enneagram. My favourite is The Wisdom of the Enneagram by Riso+Hudson but I also like the Sacred Enneagram by Christopher L Heuertz. Further down you can find some video examples of ordinary people talking about their own type as well as videos of famous people of different Enneagram Types.

These one-word descriptors can be expanded into four-word sets of traits. Keep in mind that these are merely highlights and do not represent the full spectrum of each type.

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.

Basic description of the nine Enneagram types CLICK ON THE LINK

The Three Centers of Intelligencetriangle 3-6-9
The Gut center (or “triad”) is at the top of the symbol, represented by Point 9. The central type in the Heart triad is the 3, and the 6 represents the center type of the Head triad. Each of these triads is characterized by an expression of energy focused in the area of the body shown.

The Gut (or Anger) Triad
The gut triad is very instinctual energy, with an emphasis on Vitality and Life Force. Instinctual energy has more readily available access to anger, and its core issues are around managing aggression and repression. Enneagram types 8, 9, and 1 are part of this triad, and their key focus needs to be on bringing awareness to this anger, and how they personally manage it when in reaction mode. Each type will experience and express anger in a unique way.

The Heart (or Shame) Triad
The types within the Heart Triad, types 2, 3, and 4, have a focus that is on their own Value and Identity. Their concern is their own image, or how other people see them, which creates problems associated with their identities. Shame is an emotion common to most of the 9 Enneagram types, based on our most basic human experience, but the types in the Heart triad can experience a more chronic sense of it, which expresses in their behavior and inner experience of their own right to “be” without having to “do” anything else to prove it. Until they become aware of how they are affected by this concern for their own image, hostility can become an issue for them. Each type will channel it differently, as part of the expression of their type. Becoming aware of how they direct the hostility can be transformative in their lives.

The Head (or Thinking) Triad
Types 5, 6, and 7 make up the Head Triad, and each of these types focuses on the theme of Inner Guidance and Support. This translates to issues around Anxiety and Insecurity for them, and like the other triads, each of these three types will have a slightly different strategy to handle those issues. The Thinking types are also known as the Fear triad. They have more difficulty (relative to the types in the other two triads) with making decisions and making plans for their future. The Head types tend to focus on some, unique aspect of “worst case scenario” thinking, which, in turn, can develop their creativity.

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Enneagram Types at a party


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HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT YOU ARE AN ENNEAGRAM 1?

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HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT YOU ARE AN ENNEAGRAM 2?

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HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT YOU ARE AN ENNEAGRAM 3?


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Enneagram Type 3 – Anthony Robbins


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Enneagram Type 3 – Madonna

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HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT YOU ARE AN ENNEAGRAM 4?

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HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT YOU ARE AN ENNEAGRAM 5?

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HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT YOU ARE AN ENNEAGRAM 6?

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HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT YOU ARE AN ENNEAGRAM 7?

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HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT YOU ARE AN ENNEAGRAM 8?

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HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT YOU ARE AN ENNEAGRAM 9?

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