Its simple definition is:
“The Enneagram is a system of personality typing that describes patterns in how people interpret the world and manage their emotions. The Enneagram describes nine personality types and maps each of these types on a nine-pointed diagram which helps to illustrate how the types relate to one another.”
Truity
Sounds innocent, enough, right? Wrong.
Enneagram Origins | The Major Players
George Gurdjieff
The Enneagram is a geometric symbol containing nine points and nine (or more) intersecting lines (the Greek word for “nine” was ennea). The symbol dates to Pythagoras and was introduced to the West by George Gurdjieff in the 1900s.
Gurdjieff holds the original claim to the Enneagram. He believed man is not aware of his true self & his reality until he awakens his conscience. This was the thought behind the Enneagrams creation.
Oscar Ichazo
In the 1960s, occult teacher Oscar Ichazo linked the symbol with nine different personality types. He used psychedelic drugs and shamanism and claimed he received instruction regarding the enneagram through a “higher entity called Metatron”.
Ichazo taught a system of 108 Enneagrams, but the ones that caught on in the United States were those of the Passions, the Virtues, the Fixations, and the Holy Ideas. Ichazo’s aim was to explain the difference between Essence and personality (or ego). He believed every person is, in his Essence, perfect and in unity within himself as well as with the cosmos. However, the Essence is distorted into the ego. Ichazo saw the Enneagram as a way to examine how that distortion occurs.
The idea of nine personality types is based on the concept of the nine divine forms (Plato and, later, Plotinus), the seven deadly sins, and Kabbalah traditions. Ichazo was influenced by many religious, occultic, and philosophical traditions including Mystical Judaism (Kabbalah), Roman Catholicism, Buddhism, Islam, Taoism, and Greek philosophy. Thus, the Enneagram of Personality is a synthesis of many different ideas.
Ichazo is considered by many to be the father of the Enneagram.
Claudio Naranjo
Psychiatrist and occultist, Claudio Naranjo, was a student of Oscar Ichazo and attended his 6 month spiritual retreat in Chile. Naranjo retained tape recordings he had made of Ichazo’s lectures, and despite having not received permission from Ichazo to teach his material, he began teaching it anyways and even published three books on the Enneagram of Personality. Both Naranjo & Ichazo claimed the enneagram was rooted in ancient history.
Naranjo later admitted he lied – stating it was actually created through a practice called automatic writing. He was influenced by a quote of Oscar Wilde who said, “if you want an idea of yours to become famous, attribute it to someone famous“. So, Naranjo followed his advice & lied about the origins of the Enneagram.
Naranjo’s students spread the Enneagram throughout various Catholic communities in the 1970s.
Don Riso and Russ Hudson furthered its audience and popularity.
Richard Rohr
Richard Rohr brought it into Evangelical circles with his book, “The Enneagram: A Christian Perspective” in 1997.
Rohr has written many books promoting unbiblical views relating to who Jesus is, the atonement, salvation. His biography states that he “is a globally recognized ecumenical teacher bearing witness to the universal awakening within Christian mysticism and the Perennial Tradition.”
Basing his teaching primarily on eastern mysticism rather than biblical Christianity, Rohr counsels us to find our “true self” instead of knowing a Savior distinct from the self, and his teaching on contemplative prayer emphasizes letting go of thoughts instead of focusing them on Christ.
Melinda Gates writes, “Anyone who strives to put their faith into action will find encouragement and inspiration in the pages of this book.”
As Isaiah said, “Consult God’s instruction and the testimony of warning. If anyone does not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn” (Isaiah 8:20; see also John 10:35; 2 Timothy 3:15–17).
Not all who speak of “Christ” mean the Jesus Christ of Scripture, the true Lord and Savior of the universe. Jesus Himself warned us of imposters who would rise after His departure. “At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it” (Matthew 24:23; see also 1 John 4:1–6; 2 Corinthians 11:14–15).
Not everyone who uses Christian terminology uses the Bible as their dictionary for meaning. Jesus further warned of those who nullified Scripture by their preference for merely human opinions (Matthew 15:1–7; see also Colossians 2:8). Rohr has a perverse skill of twisting Scripture to fit his unbiblical worldview (2 Peter 3:16), as we will see.
Enneagram Creation | Automatic Writing
Claudio Naranjo is documented explaining that he received the 9 types by way of AUTOMATIC WRITING – allowing a demon(s) to take over your body and communicate through you with your own hand – writing out messages.
Automatic Writing: Also referred to as “psychography”. It is a practice in which the subject is brought to a hypnotic, trance-like state, opening themselves up to demonic possession, allowing the demon to speak through writing, using the subject’s hand. It’s a practice that is performed during séances. They are, of course, tapping into the demonic spirit realm, unaware, and are being manipulated by evil spirits who are trying to establish a relationship.
You sit quietly in meditation with a pen and paper, actively open yourself up to a supernatural entity and allow them to write spiritually themed messages through you. This is demonic possession.
Like yoga, people have taken automatic writing and turned what’s “spiritual” into “mental.” Some scholars believe that automatic writing can be used as a tool to unlock a person’s unconscious, and that through automatic writing, they can reach into themselves for enlightenment.
You cannot take what’s demonic and redeem it, and automatic writing is just that: demonic. When a person practices this, they are opening themselves up to direct communion with demonic spirits.
When a person practices this, they are opening themselves up to direct communion with demonic spirits. In a sense, you are your own ouija board.
You see, it’s not the act of wanting to take the test that makes it bad, it’s the origins of how the tests were made, and the effects of identifying yourself with these things, instead of identifying yourself as a child of God. When you do these things your intentions may be pure, but the devil doesn’t care about your intentions. The origins always matter.
Shape of the Enneagram
It is not a pentagram, but it is similar.
It comes from “sacred geometry“. The Occult belief is that shapes and patterns have certain meanings. This is where we get the eastern mystic idea of “Feng Shui” and also interpretation of things through the use of tea leaves. These are types of divination that the Bible condemns.
Deuteronomy 18:10-12: “There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch. Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee.”
How did the Enneagram get into the Church?
Why is the Enneagram dangerous?
- Christians using the enneagram risk using their “number” to justify their sin. (Ex. “It makes sense why I am inclined to be this way because I am a 6.“)
- The enneagram is a focus on SELF. It’s all about self. The last thing Christians need in our current self-love culture is another teaching that focuses on “self”. We should be about Christ – who told us clearly to “Deny Ourselves”.
- We cannot grow in our knowledge of God using a tool that was created by means that God himself condemned as an abomination.
- Identifying yourself by a number is equivalent to identifying yourself by your zodiac sign.
Deception VS.Truth?
The Enneagram…
“has a form of godliness but den[ies] its power” (2 Timothy 3:5).
Deception: “The Enneagram helps me know how to love others better”
Truth: The Bible has already done this. Love is patient, kind, selfless. It keeps no records of wrong. We already have the answers on how to treat others and love them as God has commanded.
The creation of the Enneagram included the following things:
- Spirit Guides
- Psychedelic Drugs
- Metatron
- Shamanism
- Automatic Writing
- Lying
- Sacred Geometry
- Mysticism
Do you believe these terms align with the Christian faith?
When viewed as a means by which to achieve some sort of spiritual liberation or spiritual growth, the Enneagram obviously contradicts the Bible. We cannot get to know God better through a system that bypasses Scripture. We do not need a form of mysticism with roots in Roman Catholicism, psychological theory, and the occult to inform our understanding of God.
The Bible has already told us our purpose as a Christian. Luke 9:23, 2 Thessalonians 4.
… To pick up the cross and follow Him.
As Christians, we must be careful not to call what is evil, good.
We must search scripture, Test the Spirits & pray for discernment.
The Enneagram Institute is correct that we are spiritual beings and that we are not living as we were meant to. But the solution is not to get in touch with our “true nature”; it is to cry out to God for salvation. Our lives are meant to be lived for His glory.
There is nothing in the Enneagram that is derived from the Bible.
You don’t need the Enneagram, Christians.
You need Jesus. You don’t need to know your number. You need to know your God. You don’t need to use an occult tool to learn how to love your neighbor. You just need the Sermon on the Mount.
An Enneagram Testimony
A powerful testimonial from Former Enneagram Teacher and pastor’s wife, Jillian Lancour, interviewed by Doreen Virtue: