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We have some important decisions to make. Decisions on how to encounter and love one another well. Decisions on how to reenter social spaces. Decisions on how to engage and weigh in on the critical issues of our time. So. Many. Decisions. I don’t believe [...]
Critical voices are associated with what Freud called the Superego, known to the rest of us as conscience. Sometimes in cartoons conscience is portrayed as a little man or woman sitting on someone's shoulder. For many Ones this isn't very far from the truth. Like [...]
Today, the Enneagram is a global phenomenon. But 20 years ago when I discovered it, the Enneagram was, to put it mildly, obscure. Despite my reservations, I was captivated. Never had I found a system that described me and how I experienced other humans more [...]
Why Study the Enneagram? At first glance, the Enneagram seems to be just another system for pigeon-holing people. But look twice and you see it’s describing something central: your core strategy for making sense of reality, your basic life stance, the axis of your flat [...]
There was once an organization called The Flat Earth Society that apparently still exists, with members all around the globe. Through its literature and online presence, it advocates a medieval view of the world, promoting an elaborate thesis that “proves” the world is flat. The [...]
The Coming of Wisdom with Time Teaching the Enneagram to Lifelong Learners at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute Though leaves are many, the root is one; Through all the lying days of my youth I swayed my leaves and flowers in the sun; Now may [...]
Never in our lifetimes has there been a period when the entire world is united in facing the same threat. Nothing in the universe happens by chance. At least that’s my belief. So, when we have a virus that has the power to put over [...]
No matter how much you feel that your life has hurt you, do not confine your sensibility, just learn to take care of your inner child and love yourself. Transform your pain into the fullness of Being. The issue that most worries humans is suffering, [...]
In the 1945 French film Children of Paradise there is a pivotal moment when all seems lost. The story concerns a love triangle set in a theater company involving a shy mime, a glamorous actress, and a flamboyant actor who is a Seven. Late in [...]
The IEA recently hosted an online workshop focused on the instinctual biases and subtypes. It was a wide-ranging conversation with Russ Hudson, Peter O’Hanrahan, Beatrice Chestnut and me, and while we covered a lot of ground there was a flood of questions from the audience [...]
Facilitated by Leslie Hershberger & Curt Micka Featuring Panelists: Beatrice Chestnut, Russ Hudson, Peter O’Hanrahan and Mario Sikora What are the Instincts & Subtypes in the world of the Enneagram? Are Instincts and Subtypes the same thing or different? Why am I so confused about [...]
I’m intrigued by the parallels among the Bible story of the Israelites turning away from the true God and fashioning a false idol in the form of a golden calf; George Gurdjieff’s statements about the personality compensating for our essence; Karen Horney’s description of an [...]
If you’re on Instagram today, perhaps you’ve seen it—not the ads for the next big DTC brand or photos of that influencer vacationing in Bali—but the proliferation of Enneagram-centered content. It’s popular right now to distill our personalities into superficial snippets that fit neatly in [...]
This article is excerpted from our new book, "Instinctual Leadership: Working with the 27 Subtypes of the Awareness to Action Enneagram," which is available via amazon.com. Rather than using the traditional "self-preservation," "social," and "sexual" terminology, we prefer the terms "Preserving," "Navigating," and "Transmitting." We [...]
AN ENNEAGRAM OVERVIEW Here are some thoughts on questions that people have asked about the Enneagram. It’s an overview of the system along with reflection questions to get you to ask more questions about the Enneagram TYPES The Enneagram is a personality typology that [...]
I met Brodie at the IEA Conference 2018 in Cincinnati, Ohio and after hearing how he uses the Enneagram with his university students, I asked him if he'd write a guest column for IEA Nine Points and he generously agreed. Give me your tired, your [...]
“If the flesh came into being because of spirit, that is a marvel, but if spirit came into being because of the body, that is a marvel of marvels. Yet I marvel and how this great wealth has come to dwell in this poverty.” Secret [...]
Here are some methods where you fully accept your Enneagram style, embody your experience of the low side, cast around for the unconscious motives that drive your unwanted reactions and explore the deeper and more important needs a problem fulfills. These can include: Coming up [...]
Enneatype Four is known for heightened sensitivity, dramatic feelings, and a profound sense of loss and disappointment. Ever longing for fulfilling connection, always finding something mysteriously lacking, it’s no wonder that this type has been called the “Tragic Romantic”. But such perverse yearning is hardly [...]
Our Enneagram type also affects our career path, growth and trajectory. What do Enneagram 3s need to pay particular attention to and why? Here's a quick question to use as you explore for yourself, a friend or client. What do you want to be best [...]
There is an organization called The Flat Earth Society whose purpose I used to assume was tongue-in-cheek. Through its literature and websites, it advocates a medieval view of the world and promotes an elaborate thesis that “proves” the world is flat. The Society claims, for [...]
Communication is...The way we express ourselves verbally and nonverbally. These expressions contains conscious, unconscious, intentional, and unintentional messages. In addition, communication involves how we take in, listen, perceive, and analyze/process what we've heard, seen, or felt. *Verbal: The words, intonation, inflection, and manner in which an [...]
For a long time now, I have been obsessed with trying to understand the relationship between Evagrius’s ancient demons (catalogued by him as eight logisimoi: Anger, Pride, Vainglory, Sadness, Avarice, Gluttony, Lust, and Acedia) and the passions of the modern Enneagram (arranged on the Enneagram [...]
Eights, Nines and Ones usually have no inherent trouble with action. Instead, they tend to unconsciously overlook themselves and habitually react from an emotional ground of anger. These three styles generally have the most confusion in the realm of thinking and often struggle with remembering [...]
Eights control through lust which includes sexual lust, but encompasses a lust for power, a drive to dominate and prevail. This is similar to Freud’s concept of the libido, which includes sexuality, but also has a more expansive meaning. After unconsciously deleting themselves. Eights compensate [...]
Conference session cancelled due to illness This session will cover the ins and outs of Enneagram Typing and 12 key points to consider in the process of discovery. It will bring to light important images, patterns, words and phrases that are hallmarks of type. It [...]
Discovering Your Soul Child. Pablo Picasso said, "it took me four years to learn to paint like Raphael and a lifetime to paint like a child." Picasso's statement underscores the difficulty and ultimate importance of re-inhabiting our soul child. A.H. Almaas and Sandra Maitri have [...]
Transformation begins with knowing ourselves as consciousness occupying an animal body. Historically, spiritual traditions have often portrayed our spiritual nature and our material nature as at odds with one another, with the body objectified as a distraction from spiritual pursuits. This disconnection between the [...]
When Millenials express outrage about "microaggressions," one might wonder whether our culture is becoming stiflingly politically correct. However, we learn how our lack of awareness may be like back when no one questioned cigarette smoking inside offices, restaurants and airplanes. Microaggressions take their toll over [...]
It seems only natural to recognize the patterns of our mind and to hear the self-reports of people who see the world differently. Yet that simple turn of attention that self-reflection requires marks a giant step in our evolving consciousness. The first turn reveals [...]
This presentation will explore the impact of instinctual energy, separate from type, on relationships. Each of us has three instincts (self-preservation, one-to-one and social), but one of these tends to be more central in our daily lives and relationships. The three major instincts have a [...]
We must be able to authentically and convincingly convey the value of this amazing system if we hope to share it with others. Each style has something to contribute to the way we offer the Enneagram to individuals, teams, corporations, and non-profits. We'll talk [...]
With a clear vision for how the Enneagram could be taught in every jail and prison in the United States and in the world, Susan Olesek founded Enneagram Prison Project (EPP) in California in 2012. Since then, EPP has established programming in four Californian correctional [...]
The Enneagram is like an adventurer's treasure map. We can become the mindful hero of our own story, by being aware of the journey that lies ahead of us. The facilitator will present an analogy between Joseph Campbell's Hero's journey and the Enneagram invitation, that [...]
You are invited to learn about and engage with the EnneaCross(TM), an evolving framework, now in development for over six years, which supports the spiritual journey. The EnneaCross(TM) is an integration of two powerful, ancient symbols, the Enneagram and the cross-cultural cross. Individually these symbols [...]
We are all Recovering from something ; a broken relationship, overspending, or even dysfunctional family dynamics; we are all hooked on our patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving. Most of us think of Recovery within the context of alcohol or drug abuse, and while this [...]
One of the reasons we concoct our defensive strategies is to protect us from the hurts, embarrassments, diminishments, sensitivities, et.al. that we experienced sometime in our life. The irony of this approach is that it brings about the very thing we are trying to avoid. [...]
The Enneagram is a powerful tool that unlocks, for each of us, who we are as well as how we get in our own way. For people in deep poverty this unlocking can be literally life giving. This tool of self-awareness provides the critical [...]
What does it take to build a cohesive and effective team that is agile, innovative and equipped to grow quickly in today's ever changing business climate? In this session you will learn about how one of Inc. Magazine's, "Inc. 5000" list of America's fastestgrowing private [...]
The presentation provides a portrayal of the Sufi 99 divine attributes, or names of Allah, and the how they correlate to the 9 Enneagram types at the different stages of the development of the self as presented by the Sufis. Through reflections, interviews, and [...]
In workshops all over the world we are commonly asked by parents/grandparents, what about my daughter, my son? This happens in our corporate training sessions and in small personal coaching sessions. When, exactly, does type begin to form? And why or how does it [...]
More than ever before, information about the Enneagram is widely available. Newcomers, while initially excited by what the system can reveal, often become discouraged by the plethora of conflicting theories to be found on social media platforms. Experience shows that many of these theories can [...]
Through lecture, inner practice, type groups and conversation we'll explore how we express our love through each of our three centers and how our type structure can get in the way. Love is easy to say but hard to define. It means different things to [...]
Organizational culture is a collection of attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors that serve as an implicitly agreed-upon way of solving problems within the organization. It is rooted in systems of values; biases toward achieving a sense of stability or satisfaction that are often so deeply [...]
In contrast to the belief that racism is a personal choice, we will explore racism as a collective, often subconscious, reality that affects literally every person who grew up in Western cultures. Like our Enneagram types, racism tells a story of who we are [...]
As you use the Enneagram now and in the future - whether you are a beginner or an experienced user of the system - there is a limiting mentality that you may fall into without realizing it, leading you to "go wrong with confidence." Symptoms [...]
In various letters to the early churches, the Apostle Paul wrote about the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit. These extraordinary spiritual gifts, often termed "charismatic gifts," map onto the Enneagram. Specifically, the nine gifts of the Spirit are the word of wisdom, the word [...]
How much and how little you have the gifts, and challenges of ALL the types can be as enlightening as discovering your core type. Your "Enneagram Blueprint" is like an MRI of your personality that impacts you to either empower you and lift you up, [...]
The 3 triangles of the Enneagram -- 9-3-6, 1-4-7 and 2-5-8 -- are potent and profound. The 9-3-6 triangle is visible on the Enneagram symbol, while the other two triangles are not. However, an invisible line connects point 4 and 7 and another invisible line [...]
The Enneagram, as we know it today, is all about personhood. We use it to dissect personality, explain our psychodynamics and try to celebrate diversity. One of the IEA Founders will tell his Enneagram "story". As one of the early individuals to learn the "psychological [...]
