From the Editor’s Desk:
The IEA receive an email from Patrick O’Leary to let us know of the death of Bob Ochs, who was one of the primary influences in bringing the Enneagram to the Jesuit stream of Enneagram studies. Pat wrote:
“Bob Ochs was a Jesuit priest who taught in Chicago 1970-72. He had returned from a sabbatical in California, where he studied at Esalen and under Claudio Naranjo, MD. Claudio designated him as one of two to teach his views of the Enneagram. Helen Palmer attended some of the panels that Naranjo offered during that year.
When he came to Jesuit School of Theology in Chicago, he taught two semesters offering a course entitled “Religious Experience” in 1971-72. Jerry Wagner and Pat O’Leary were among the 15 students, mostly Jesuit seminarians, who studied with Ochs for both terms. Both began teaching the Enneagram. O’Leary authored the very first text in 1984 and Wagner authored several, beginning in 1996.
When he came to Jesuit School of Theology in Chicago, he taught two semesters offering a course entitled “Religious Experience” in 1971-72. Jerry Wagner and Pat O’Leary were among the 15 students, mostly Jesuit seminarians, who studied with Ochs for both terms. Both began teaching the Enneagram. O’Leary authored the very first text in 1984 and Wagner authored several, beginning in 1996.
He also offered a cram course during spring break for a single week, with all-day sessions. Colin Maloney and Tad Dunne, faculty from the Jesuit Theologate in Toronto, Ontario, were part of that spring class. Those two began teaching the Enneagram in Toronto, where Don Riso learned it.
Because Bob Ochs spent a year with Claudio Naranjo and thoroughly internalized what he learned, he was a faithful conduit for the psychological understanding of the Enneagram that has dominated most of its history in the latter 20th and early 21st centuries. Because he taught the theory so well to a group of eager Jesuit students, charged with spreading good news as widely and competently as possible, the Enneagram spread very fast with careful attention to essentials.
Pat O’Leary began teaching the Enneagram in 1972. By 1973 he was offering seminars internationally. Jerry Wagner did a Ph.D. thesis on his Enneagram insights. Tom Zinkle, one of the Ochs students, wrote a Ph.D. thesis on the Enneagram.
In his passing, Bob Ochs closes a chapter in Enneagram history. His students continue his legacy.”
