Bring your magnifying glasses and decoding devices to thisintriguing inquiry into the once rich but now lost philosophy of the Enneagram.

In the pre-scientific age, numbers were used not simply to measure, weigh and calculate, but were woven seamlessly into philosophy, art, religion, myth, science, technology, astronomy, music, harmony and everyday life in general.

Mathematicians and philosophers sought and studied the recurring patterns that numbers and shapes made in every part of nature and used them to understand the universe — both macrocosm and microcosm — and to inform their metaphysical inquiries.

Understanding the esoteric nature of the numbers and shapes of the Enneagram is crucial to uncovering what lies beyond simply describing and observing each of the types. Such an understanding requires that we liberate the Enneagram from its psychological constraints.

The modern Enneagram — made up, found, discovered, stolen or otherwise acquired by Gurdjieff — is but a fragment of a once brilliant and comprehensive ancient philosophy that has informed the spiritual development of human beings for more than two millennia. Our current application of the framework ignores its rich and multidisciplinary heritage and trivializes its profound mystical purpose.

Katrina Stevens is an experienced educator, presenter and facilitator of learning with 20 years experience across a broad range of settings. She has been studying the Enneagram with Australia’s pre-eminent Enneagram Teacher, David Burke, for a decade and works with the Australian Institute for Enneagram Studies (AIES) in the development and delivery of its Internship program.