"What Gurdjieff calls `Objective science' uses the musical analogy to depict a universe composed of a chain of energies that stretches from the lowest octave to the highest: each energy is transformed as it rises and falls, taking on a coarser or finer nature according to its place in the scale. At each specific level, an energy corresponds to [...]

"The first duty of love is to listen." -- Paul Tillich Intrapersonal listening is about listening to ourselves. When we learn to listen to ourselves from a non-judgmental, compassionate, empathic stance, we begin to see more clearly the habits of thinking and feeling that influence our behavior. As we listen carefully to our thoughts, feelings and our body sensations, [...]

"Love the child in front of you, not the one in your mind." I don't remember where or when I first saw this quote, but I have never forgotten it. Who among us, even as adults, doesn't want to be seen and loved as we are? The humanistic psychologists believed this to be the case, insisting that it is [...]

Abstract: The title "When a Five wants to grow" documents the author's path of inner work, resulting in an awareness of his inner motivations and his effect on others. Changes of mental and emotional perception, cerebral processing, thirst for information, and self-withdrawal are analyzed to see whether and how they are in agreement with Enneagram theory. How these are [...]

"Levels of Consciousness In speaking of evolution it is necessary to understand from the outset that no mechanical evolution is possible. The evolution of man is the evolution of his consciousness And consciousness cannot evolve unconsciously." G.I. Gurdjieff (quoted by P.D. Ouspensky (1950), In Search of the Miraculous) "When [the map of levels you use] is accurate, there is [...]

Abstract: Using the diagram as its integrating device, this article embeds the framework in its ancient lineage and offers a broad synthesis of its rich and multidisciplinary heritage. This article's basic premise is that the Enneagram diagram concentrates and communicates meaning above and beyond its psychological application. The article focuses on understanding and interpreting the mathematical elements of the [...]

"The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their right names." Chinese proverb "Say not, `I have found the truth,' but rather, `I have found a truth.'" Kahil Gibran "Wisdom never has made a bigot, but learning has." Josh Billings "A quarter of a picture is worth 250 words." George Carlin When people first learn the Enneagram, they [...]

The title of Susan Rhodes's book clearly announces both the focus and the scope of her project. The author is taking aim at what she perceives to be a pervasively negative approach to the Enneagram, and she promises to offer a new approach that will reclaim the Enneagram's positive potential. She takes issue, in particular, with approaches that she [...]

"The first mistake is to believe that there is a self; the second mistake is to believe that there is not." Sunryu Suzuki Roshi Wth The Career Within You, Elizabeth Wagele and Ingrid Stabb have made a useful contribution to the Enneagram literature that expands the practical application of the system in a respectful and respectable way. I'll admit [...]

Abstract: This article reports on a research study that investigated the Enneagram through the lens of depth psychology. A review of the literature on archetypes, which are universal, autonomous patterns in the psyche, suggests that the nine Enneagram types can be viewed archetypally. Imagery and symbol are essential aspects of archetypes. This study sought to discover the images, symbols [...]

Abstract: This study examined the validity of an integrated typology that combines the nine Enneagram types with the four attachment styles. Attachment styles are derived from research on attachment theory, a theory of human development that focuses on how infants and adults establish, monitor and repair close emotional relationships. Support was found for a conceptualization of the Enneagram types [...]

Abstract: This article presents a snapshot of a family in crisis and the author's spontaneous intervention. It deconstructs the intervention and the father's perceived personality type through the lens of the Enneagram Personality Typing System. It introduces a hypothesis about why the intervention was effective from the vantage of this system with comments about common transference and counter/transference relationships. [...]