The Arrows within the circle of the Enneagram symbol are a later addition to Enneagram theory. Claudio Naranjo said they were a momentary insight/doodle used to answer a student’s question. Many authors, including this presenter, use them to explain progress and regression in self-understanding and actualization. Spiritual direction, in the model of St. Ignatius Loyola, has its origin in the method for discernment of spirits outlined in the Spiritual Exercises. This lengthy (up to 30 days) period of guided meditation and contemplation provides an individual with a tailored path toward true self-awareness. The Exercises are open to any serious spiritual pilgrim, regardless of religious orientation or lack thereof. Participants will learn how the instinctual energy of each type is converted in the process of becoming self-aware. Consolation and desolation, the`movements’of the spirit, are the indicators of authentic integration or disintegration for each type. Discerning these movements is crucial for spiritual progress. O’Leary outlined this process in his 1984 book. Movement along the Enneagram arrows is usually interpreted as a disintegration of the type. Contrary motion is explained as integration. Participants will have opportunities to experience these contrary movements. They will also test the validity of the opposite interpretation; i.e., movement along the arrow is integration, etc. With direction, the participants will also learn how voluntary cooperation with the movements leads to a balance of type and conversion, similar to the Traps vs. Holy Ideas in the intellectual energy and the Passions vs. Virtues in the emotional energy. Participants will be asked to share some of their reflective experiences with both small and large groups.

Patrick H. O’Leary, M.S., M.Div., co-authored the first Enneagram text, The Enneagram: A Journey of Self-Discovery, in 1984 (ISBN 0-87193-214-8). He is an international management consultant specializing in organizational development since 1972. O’Leary began teaching a continuing series of Enneagram courses at Cleveland State University in 1994. He is one of the Founders of IEA and served as its Executive Director in 1996. O’Leary’s study of the Enneagram began in Chicago with 1971-72 graduate seminars taught by Bob Ochs, a Loyola University professor who had just returned from a year of personal study with Claudio Naranjo, M.D., in California. O’Leary integrated his studies in environmental biology, physiology, psychology, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), individual counseling, spiritual direction and organizational development with his understanding of the Enneagram. He began offering various seminars on the Enneagram in 1972. The 1984 text was written to summarize further understanding of the Enneagram obtained from thousands of participants who attended those early seminars. During his thirty years as a member of the Jesuit Order (Society of Jesus) and as a Roman Catholic priest, O’Leary practiced Ignatian discernment. (St. Ignatius Loyola was the founder of the Jesuits in 1540). He also organized and led a training program for spiritual directors.