Language
Country/Area
No result found
The mysterious origins of Enyagram: How did it evolve from ancient wisdom to modern psychology?
The Enneagram of Personality, or Enneagram for short, is a psychological model primarily understood as a taxonomy of nine interconnected personality types. However, the origin and development of Enniagram are controversial. Much of today's teaching comes from the teachings of the Bolivian psychological and spiritual teacher Oscar Ichazo in the 1950s, and the Chilean psychiatrist Claudio Naranjo in the 1970s.
About Enniagram, many consider it a powerful tool for self-insight, while others view it as pseudoscience.
Ichazo's theory incorporates concepts such as self-fixation, sanctity, passion, and virtue, while Naranjo was also influenced by George Gurdjieff and his Fourth Way tradition in the early 20th century. Enniagram represents the nine personality types through a geometric figure whose points represent some of the main connections between the different types.
Historical development of Eniyagram
The historical development of Enniagram is still controversial. As early as the 4th century, the Christian mystic Evagrius Ponticus proposed something similar, pointing out eight deadly thoughts and a concept of self-love. The first recorded use of the term "Enniagram" was by Gurgiev in 1949, but he did not develop a theory related to personality types.
Gurgiev emphasized various sacred dances rather than the formation of personality types.
Ichazo played a key role in the formation of modern Enniagram, beginning self-development training in the 1950s and founding the Arica Academy. Then, Naranjo learned from Ichazo in 1970 and introduced the concept to the United States, where it quickly spread. With the passage of time, more and more writers and teachers have written, popularizing Eniyagram to a wider group of people.
Enniagram’s structure and nine personality types
The image of Enniagram consists of three parts: a circle, an internal triangle connecting 3-6-9, and an irregular hexagon. Each of these three elements symbolizes different spiritual laws and meanings. The descriptions of the nine personality types are usually distinguished based on their characteristics and relationships to each other.
These personality types not only exist within a static framework, but also change depending on individual circumstances.
According to Naranjo and other theorists, the basic characteristics of each personality type and their connections to other types are equally important. These perceptions help us understand how performance changes under stress and relief, which also provides important guidance for self-development.
Awkward reality: scientific examination and criticism
Although Enniagram's teachings have gained a certain degree of popularity, many professionals have classified them as pseudoscience, criticizing their lack of scientific verification. In 2011, science skeptic Robert Carroll classified Enniagram as a vague and undetectable theory. Even though there are some empirical studies on Eniyagram, the results are quite mixed and show doubts about its reliability and validity.
For those who expect to achieve spiritual growth through Eniyagram, the essence of the teachings still needs to be explored in depth.
In addition, the intersection with Christianity has also caused some controversy, especially in the 2000 report issued by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops on the use of enniagram, which stated that it was far from the evaluation standards of modern science, and required Its advocates provide concrete scientific evidence.
Over the decades, will enniagram become part of mainstream psychology, or will it still be viewed as a fringe tool for self-exploration? Where will the future of spiritual exploration go?
