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THE ENNEAGRAM Questions that need answered
Was the "ancient" enneagram invented 30 years ago? This Jesuit scholar thinks it might have been, and that's only one of his questions about this vaunted tool for self-knowledge.
By Fr. Mitch Pacwa, SJ |
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Occultic
Roots Father
Ochs did not teach us about the occultic aspect of the enneagram
personality system. He, like many of today’s Catholic teachers of the
enneagram, tried to use the ideas in the theory that are consistent with
our Catholic faith. But
I believe that the enneagrm’s occultic origins cannot be ignored.
Knowing about them can keep us on guard so we can prevent them from
infecting our faith in Christ Jesus and leading us into sin. |
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participatory, orientation in groups, to possess an “I am content” self-image, to have a temptation towards self-deprecation, and a propensity towards addiction. Enthusiasts claim that the enneagram is a complete system of personality that can be the framework for spiritual direction and psychotherapy. Sceptics maintain that the scientific basis for these claims is skimpy or nonexistent, and that the practical results of using the enneagram are inconclusive. The lines within the circle connecting the points are an important part
of the enneagram, indicating the inner dynamics of whatever process it
describes. To
gain control of his consciousness, Ichazo studied Oriental martial arts,
Zen, Andes Indian psychedelic drugs and shamanism, yoga,
hypnotism, and psychology. He joined esoteric groups in Bolivia and
Argentina, and traveled to Hong Kong, India, and Tibet to study
mysticism. Ichazo
has received instructions from a higher entity called “Metatron, the
prince of the archangels,” and members of his group contact lower
spirits through meditation and mantras. He is now a “master” in
contact with all the previous masters of the esoteric school, including
those who have died. The members of his are helped and guided by an
interior master, the Green Qu’Tub, who makes himself known when a
student reaches a sufficiently high stage of development. Knowing these
spiritistic and occultic involvements of the man who developed the
enneagram personality system should signal serious concern for
Christians, since such involvement are gravely sinful. Somewhere
in his spiritual search Oscar Ichazo learned about the enneagram, and in
the 1960s he developed a system of none personality types to correspond
to the nine points of the symbol. Though enneagram teachers like to
stress the antiquity of the enneagram personality theory, it is at most
30 years old. The symbol itself may date back to 2500 BC, but I have
never found any evidence supporting this claim. Significantly, Ichazo's enneagram employs the numerological background of the Sufi decimal point
symbolism in understanding personality dynamics. For example,
according to the system, the number one gets worse by following the
arrows to type four, four gets worse by becoming like a two, and so on.
A person improves by moving in the opposite direction, that is, a one
gets better by becoming like a seven, a seven should become like a five,
and so on. Remember that this inner dynamic of the six-point figure and
of the triangle is rooted in occultism. Scientific Questions Distinct from the spiritual questions about the
enneagram are the scientific questions it raises. I am concerned about
the lack of objective scientific research into the enneagram. I know
of eight dissertations on the enneagram (one of them is from a
non-accredited school). Four of them seek to develop testing tools to
determine which of the nine personality types fits a person or to relate
it to existing tests like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator or the Millon-Illinois
Self-Report Indicator. Two dissertations study the effects of Ichazo's
Arica training (his program for teaching the enneagram) and another
studies the enneagram's relation to depth psychology. Yet none of them
answers questions about certain key points, and I believe that more
empirical testing and verification are needed to answer them: How do we
know that there are only nine key personality , types? How do we know
that the types are'' centered on nine distinct prides or ideals? Can we
prove empirically that the nine types found in Ichazo's enneagram are
the correct nine types? Are the nine types in Ichazo's enneagram
authentic character structures? How do we know'that the ways of getting
worse or getting better are correctly defined by Ichazo's enneagram?
Bear in mind that I am not saying
that the information about the types, their descriptions, their regress,
or their progress is wrong. I am saying that we just do not know how correct or
incorrect the system
is, or if it is right or not. Psychologists subject their hypotheses
to tests that allow the results to be repeated in scientifically
controlled situations and criticized by their colleagues and peers.
Ichazo's enneagram of personality types should be considered one more
hypothesis requiring such scientifically rigorous tests and peer
examination to be applied to it. Social Problems When I first learned the enneagram of personality it
was the rage of our seminary community, and it eventually affected the
whole province, though to a lesser degree' One recurrent problem with
its popularity was its use as a personality "shorthand."
Knowing the personality types of friends and acquaintances or
speculating about the type of strangers became quite common: "I'm a
three." "You're a two." "Ones drive me crazy." This problem has a
number of facets. There is the danger of believing that once we
"know" someone's personality, we can understand his or her
inner drives and compulsive behaviors. This was supposed to enable us to
better appreciate the real differences between people, but it actually short-circuits
authentic interpersonal relationships. One person thinks he or she knows
about another person before that person .has chosen to reveal private
and intimate information. This dynamic can make some devotees of
the enneagram believe that they are privy to secrets about others which,
in fact, they can only guess at. A
related problem is that many enneagram books and teachers use
historical characters as examples for understanding the various types.
Hitler is an eight, the ego-venge type seeking power, while the
philosopher and Nazi Martin Heidegger is a five, ego-stinge, seeking
wisdom. Yet, another supposed strength of the enneagram is that each
person learns about the types from those who already know their
enneagram number and then chooses his or her own place among the
ego-trips. But Hitler, Heidegger, and other dead people did not have the
opportunity to identify their own types. When the enneagram
practitioners-identify the personality types of famous people they never
knew, their example encourages their students to do the same with people
they do not know very well. In our workshop in 1972 certain members of my province were typed
without their knowledge. Their types were written into one student's
notes, which were photocopied in Canada, passed out to re-treatants,
and years later reappeared in the Chicago area in the hands of a priest
from another order. When one priest described in the notes did learn
about the enneagram, he identified himself with a completely different
number!
I was guilty of similar
misidentifications, which at times I tried to foist on my friends. In
three summers of contact with enneagram workshop participants, one of my
students was typed all the way around the circle of nine by one person
after another. He resented the invasion of his privacy and the attempt
at control by means of supposed knowledge, as well he should. When enneagram workshops are opened
up to whole parish groups, the same problem will inevitably appear. Enneagram Myths Much of the enneagram personality theory's authority in
our lives depended on its antiquity and the presumed wealth of
experience behind it. As noted earlier, however, the enneagram
literature provides no evidence that it antedates Oscar Ichazo. This
myth of antiquity must be dispelled. The enneagram's personality theory
must be verified scientifically, otherwise it has no authority except
the personal experience of those who give and take the workshops. Another myth comes from the
attempt to relate the enneagram to religious language. Some teachers
state that the nine types are the nine faces of God, or, upside down
they are the nine faces of the devil. Apparently this is based on
Ichazo's idea that when we were born, we lived in
our essence, or real nature. Around age three or four, he says, we
developed defenses to cope with our society, and that process gave us
our ego, whose existence is the main problem the enneagram workshops try
to solve. Remove the ego, Ichazo believes, and one can
return to the essence, which he seems to think is divine. No reputable
school of psychology supports his theories about the ego.
Ichazo further believes that the ego
is the Satan in our lives, and living according to the ego is hell.
Therefore it follows that the reversal of the ego, turning it upside
down, is divine. This is a myth. We humans are not God. God is an
infinite being, three persons in one being. God is our
Father, revealed by his Son, Jesus Christ, and confirmed by the gift of
the Holy Spirit. Jesus our Lord made no mention of nine faces of
either God or the devil. I see no need to add an enncagram myth to our
faith. A
related myth is that Jesus our Lord must have had all nine personality
types perfected within him. We will believe this myth only if we first
believe that perfection requires the possession of all nine types. Is
there a basis for accepting that myth? I think not. We also need to
remember that the Gospels do not give us information about our Lord's
personality type. As a Scripture scholar, I maintain that the
evangelists did not intend to give us biographies of Jesus but
proclamations of their faith in him. They announced his
divinity, humanity, his death and
Resurrection,, and the teachings we need for salvation. It is a
mistake to look to the Gospels for information about Jesus' inner
personal dynamics. Any attempt to do so ends up creating a myth about
him. One of my former
teachers, and a fellow student in the 1972 enneagram workshop, came
to my house for dinner a few years ago. In the middle of our
conversation he suddenly pronounced: "Original sin begins at age
three or four." The comment came from out of left field. He
apparently has been so influenced by Ichazo's idea that we stop living
in our "essence" at age three or four that my friend now
identifies original sin with the process. This, too, is a myth.
Original sin is not an offense committed by each individual. It is each
human's lack of sanctifying grace (not
essence), which we all inherit from our first parents.
Whenever
enneagram devotees make mythic statements, one
should question the myth. Examine their assumptions; see if their
theology is orthodox Christian belief or orthodox Ichazo and Gurdjieff
belief. In the face of any conflict between the two, I opt for faith in
Christ Jesus and his church. Remember the warning in Second Timothy:
"There will be a time when they will not endure sound teaching but
will gather for themselves teachers who tickle their ears. They will
turn away their ears from the truth and will turn to myths" (2 Tim.
4:3-4). Theological
Problems" Most
of my theological problems with enneagram workshops are based on my critique
of the occultic and mythic aspects of the teachings of GurdjiefT, Ichazo,
and other teachers. I do not accept GurdjiefFs claim to teach esoteric
Christianity; Christianity is not secret or esoteric. Our faith is
open to anyone who wishes to examine Scripture and church teaching.
Esoteric religion is usually a cover for a doctrine at odds with
authentic Christianity. Nor do I accept Ichazo's denial that there is "any
creed or dogma" in his Arica training. He includes many religious
and occultic items within his system, including the belief that his
students can only receive the "grace" of getting better when
they remain members of the group. In fact, if a student does not meet
Ichazo's and the group's expectations, he or she can be rejected. Ichazo
says this could lead to becoming "crystallized in ego for all
future generations" with no chance of entering pure essence. In
other words, non-membership can lead to eternal damnation. This sounds
very dogmatic to me.We must reject all contacts with spirits like the
Metatron, the Green Qu'Tub, the past masters of Sufism, and so on. Nor
should we accept Ichazo's use of the Cabala of medieval Jewish
esotericism, the I Ching, a Chinese divination tool, his astrological
connections with the enneagram, or any other occult item. Scripture and
the church repeatedly condemn mediumship, divination, familiar spirits,
and the like (see Lev. 19:31; 20:6, 27; Dcut. 18:10-11).
Likewise should we reject Ichazo's
belief in reincarnation, out-of-body experiences, and his belief in
the importance of drugs as a way to begin experiencing higher altered
states of consciousness (an idea Gurdjieff also held). None of these
practices is consistent with Christianity. There are
serious theological problems with the notion of salvation in the enneagram
system. In general, these ideas are inconsistent with Christianity and should not be
taught in retreats or parish workshops.
First, the human dilemma according to Ichazo and Gurdjieff is
vastly different from the human dilemma according to Christian teaching.
The Catholic Church and Ichazo and Gurdjieff agree that humans do much
wrong and are trapped in negative patterns. However, many enneagram
teachers like Ichazo and Gurdjieff say that we are born in our essence
but fall into our ego trips as a response to
society's expectations. The Catholic faith states
that we are born with original sin. St. Paul says in Romans 5:12,
Therefore, since sin entered the world through one man and through sin
came death, so also does death pass to all men, since all have
sinned." The offense is not merely the acquisition of compulsions
but the lack of sanctifying grace, which predisposes us to continue to
disobey God. Sin is not an ego trip but a turning away from Ged,
rebellion by humans with free wills against God's freely given
commandments. Second, Gurdjieff and Ichazo hold contradictory ideas
about our free will that influence the enneagram personality system. On one hand, they deny that we have free will
until we attain certain stages of enlightenment, which we gain through
the "work" of learning from the enneagram. On the other hand,
they teach that we should take control of our own lives to save
ourselves.
Catholic doctrine is different. We admit that the
human free will is impaired by original sin, but it is not destroyed. We
have to make choices, and God will hold us responsible for them.
Otherwise, Jesus Christ's teaching that he will judge us to reward or
condemn us is utter nonsense. We also admit that we do not rid ourselves
of our sins merely by an act of our wills. Jesus Christ died on a cross
and redeemed humanity by this free act of God made flesh. We do not even
take the initiative to be redeemed; God does. The Father chose to send
his Son and the Holy Spirit before we were born. God chooses to give us
the gifts of saving faith, hope for eternal life, and love of God and
neighbor, and we have the free will to accept these graces and cooperate
with them. The Scriptures teach both the existence of our free will and
the absolute need of humans to be saved by God. Enneagram workshops or
retreats must teach these truths to remain authentically Catholic. Finally, the goal of the enneagram is different from the goal of
Christianity. Gurdjieff and Ichazo believe that the goal of meditation and self work is enlightenment,
or an altered state of consciousness. One attains these goals through
breathing exercises, yoga, meditation, Sufi dancing, the martial arts,
and so on. One must do the enneagram work to destroy the ego trip
associated with one's number and return to one's essence. This is
freedom from subjectivity and perhaps the kind of
dissolution of the self into nirvana or brahma
that is taught in Buddhism and Hinduism. If need be, they say, one will
return to many reincarnations until one gets to essence. Even though the enneagram system can help
people identify their sins, the solution provided by many enneagram teachers is not to repent and seek God's grace to
turn from sin, but to meditate these sins away. Jesus Christ describes the goal of our salvation
in a number of ways. We are to be reborn as the adopted children of God
(we are not born in the divine nature, however). Our sins are forgiven
in baptism, and we become members of the mystical body of Christ, his
church. He desires that we remain in interpersonal union with the
tri-personal God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for all eternity. Our
goal is not non-existence or dissolution in the infinite divine ocean of
nothingness. Our goal is to live forever in heaven with the God who
loves us. God promises to raise us from the dead—to glory if we are
righteous or to damnation if we turn from him. This is the future God
reveals to us in Christ, and we should choose the life Christ died to
offer us. Test
Everything I know enough
about scientific method to know that you can't
say a theory is false until it has been thoroughly tested. But as a
priest and pastor, I can draw these conclusions:
The
enneagram personality theory is steeped in the occult. It has no
scientific evidence to support its claims of validity. People who get
heavily involved with it risk being diverted from the central aspects
of their Christian faith.
St. Paul instructs us to "test everything;
hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil"
(1 Thess. 5:20-21). When we test the enneagram, we should use the gospel of
Jesus Christ as our norm; we do not use the enneagram to test the truth
of the gospel. The enneagram does not bestow
eternal life. Jesus Christ our Lord does.
Fr. Mitch Pacwa, SJ, is a professor of Scripture and Hebrew at Loyola University of Chicago. He holds a doctorate in Scripture from Vanderbilt University. He recently taught a series on the New Age movement for Mother Angelica's Eternal Word Television Network. February 1991
If you wish to find out more about the Enneagram or New Age when click Flame Ministries
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