The Rosetta Stone provides a way of deciphering some languages that otherwise would not have been understood. The Enneagram presents a system for understanding physical, psychological, and spiritual realities whose relationships might otherwise not have been perceived. While the Rosetta Stone is straightforward in its translation, the Enneagram, having moved from a more tradition-based approach to a community- of -knowers approach, is open to interpretation regarding how realities get plotted on it. As a “map of sense and soul,” the Enneagram spans both science and spirit and enjoys a creative tension between the two.

Jerry will present his ideas about the Enneagram as a decoding device for sense and soul. He will speak to the advantages and disadvantages of shifting from a dogmatic to a democratic approach in studying the Enneagram; about different ways of knowing, from science to sance; and about his own experiences of the Enneagram as a useful fiction.

Dr. Jerome Wagner, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist, therapist, and consultant in private practice, and a faculty member in the Department of Psychology and the Institute of Pastoral Studies at Loyola University, Chicago. Jerry was among the earliest students of the Enneagram in the United States. His dissertation was one of the first written descriptions of the Enneagram and pioneered formal research studies on the field. Jerry is the author of the Enneagram Spectrum of Personality Styles: an Introductory Guide, published by Metamorphous Press; the Wagner Enneagram Personality Style Scales (WEPSS), published by Western Psychological Services; and a six-tape audiocassette, Two Windows on the Self: the Enneagram and Myers-Briggs, distributed by Credence Communications . His latest book, Nine Lenses on the World: the Enneagram Perspective will be available this Summer.

Jerry has taught a graduate level Enneagram course at Loyola University, Chicago, since 1980. He began his Enneagram Spectrum Training and Certification Program there in 1995 and now offers the training in the U.S. and abroad. Jerry served on the Board of Directors of the IEA, and has been the editor of the Association’s NinePoints Bulletin. He is currently the co-editor of The Enneagram Journal, and has published numerous articles in the Enneagram Monthly. For his early and continuing contributions to the Enneagram community, Jerry was recently honored by being named an Honorary Founder of the International Enneagram Association.