1) Don’t take a test.
No test, no matter how fancy and expensive, will give you an accurate account of your true motivation unless you are the Buddha. Type is defined by why, not what.
2) I can’t tell you your type
Even if you are my BFF, I can’t see into your brain, heart, or stomach. You are the only one who truly knows how you feel and why you do the things you do.
3) Don’t type yourself for at least a year.
Until you learn to become a good self observer, it’s very possible to mistype yourself and become attached to that false personality. It’s like taking medication that isn’t prescribed for you.
4) Become a good self observer.
Watching your own actions and thought processes will help you be more self aware whether you continue with the Enneagram or not, and lead you towards your type.
5) Nobody can tell you your type.
Your BFF Rose, your therapist, your mom, your boyfriend, your teacher, that guy down the street- All of these might be wonderful people who know and understand you, but none of them can see your true intent and reasoning.
6) You cannot tell anyone else their type
Your BFF Jill, your doctor, your dad, your girlfriend, your yoga instructor, that crazy cat lady down the street- All of these might be wonderful people who you know and understand, but you can’t see their true intent and reasoning.
7) Be well educated on every type, not just your own.
This is helpful in avoiding mistyping, and in truly understanding relationships with other types and people.
The Enneagram is a tool. It can be misused as easily as it can be used, and should be considered with some care before whipping around numbers. Even if Uncle Tommy is “OMG DEFINITELY A SEVEN,” keep in mind that you are allowed to specualte, but you really don’t know why he went snowboarding down Everest last winter. Typing other people can be a) misleading to the other person b) offensive and c) false practice for you as a student.
REGARDING THE STATS….
The Enneagram is based on the idea that as humans, we already have everything we need to be psychologically happy and healthy. Separation is a rather Freudian idea implying that throughout our childhoods we come to believe that we lack one of the necessary ingredients of life.
(God, I hope this doesn’t make it look like I’m encouraging housewifery…)
From a theist perspective, we might say that God is all things good: Love, Forgiveness, Safety…
You get the picture.
A Christian studying the Enneagram is likely to tell you that God forgot one of these virtues when creating the earth, and their type is only in response to that lack of attentiveness.
Keep in mind that in Freud’s world, our mind likes to keep secrets from us. That means none of this may be conscious; you’ll just have to take my word for it.
Imagine that as a child you get blamed for everything your baby sister does. There’s no justice in the world! Indignity evolves into….Type 1! (Separation from Righteousness)
Essentially, each type feels “separate” from God in one way or another and builds their type in response to this separation.
I am >>
Every type can be loosely defined by their own definition of themselves. This is explains what each type strives to be.
Okay, I know I’m playing with a lot of Christian terminology here, so I want to take this time to reiterate that the Enneagram is not a specifically Christian element. Most of my teachings came from an originally Christian perspective, so this is the wordage that you get. Personally, Abrahamic or not, I think this pairing is really cool, just because the sins have been so well publicized.
But there are sins seven, not nine!
Guys, the Enneagram is not new information.
It’s simply lots of old information organized into a more concise and friendly system. Ichazo, Naranjo, Palmer, and the rest of our lovely teachers have taken wisdom from the Sufi mystics, ancient Chinese learnings, the Christian desert fathers, and about a million more sources. Even the Enneagram has been in process for hundreds of years. As we learn more about ourselves, the teaching evolves with us.
…So the short answer is yes.
Two types have either been edited out of the sins or added to the Enneagram, depending on which you believe is older. Regardless of their chronological connection, I think the sins are an interesting supplement to our view of the types. Just as each type loses sight of a virtue, they nurse a sin into existence. The five forgets abundance and becomes greedy.
Hrm, this suddenly makes sense!
Wings >>
Each point on the Enneagram has two wings: the types directly to the right and left of it on the diagram.
People typically lean on one of their type’s wings permanently, giving their type what I like to think of as a ‘shade’ of the wing type. For example, if type 8 is the color red,
an 8 with a 7 wing might be a little more red-orange: Wanderlust with an adventurous side;
whereas an 8 with a 9 wing might be a little more purple: Assertive with a tinge of passive aggression.
(There is no ‘Enneagram color wheel’ as of yet, but it’s on my list of to-dos)
Wings can also be situational, simply depending on the person. A Four may exhibit 3-like qualities when he feels the need to perform, but 5-like qualities when alone and reading.
Occasionally, people land directly in the middle of a type, so if you don’t feel like you really resonate with your wings very much, don’t stress about it.
Along with being a good visual, the Enneagram shape is meant to show the fluidity of this system. Just because you have one specific type, that doesn’t mean you will ONLY show those qualities EVER. How boring would that be?
We’ve already talked about wing movement, but each point also has stress and relief points, also known as movement points. A type can move to either point under stress OR relief- Basically, with an emotional trigger.
Movement points are designated by the types that connect in the diagram. When you see an Enneagram with arrows, that’s what I’m talkin’ about.
Another reference to Freud! The defense mechanism describes more specifically how each type unconsciously deals with stress. You can google them to your heart’s content.
Pathological Dysfunction >>
Just an illustration of an extremely unhealthy version of each type as an attempt to make them more recognizable in common culture. Please do not assume that all 8s have anger management problems, or that every 5 is a sociopath.
Other names >>
Because the Enneagram has been taught by SO many people, the types have been given a few different titles. I include this to make it clear that the title doesn’t define the type, it’s just meant to give you a good starting picture.
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