English Contents
Where did the Enneagram come from? part1
The Enneagram is not "psychology." It transcends the psychological level.
The Enneagram is an ancient yet modern human study, combining deep insights from ancient sages about the inner nature of human beings and the findings of modern psychology and psychiatry. Ancient people contemplated the divine, the universe, and the relationship between the mystical and the human soul. They pondered the existence of human beings in this universe, how to live before God, what is required of them, and whether salvation of the soul exists.
At the core of the Enneagram lies such questions rooted in human religiosity. Today, many people might express a dislike or aversion to religion, but religion, in its original sense, is “the journey of self-exploration undertaken by humans to understand what chances and duties they have in this mysterious universe” (Gerd Theissen). In this sense, the human study of the Enneagram is still connected with religious themes.
The Enneagram and Spirituality
A unique characteristic of the Enneagram is that it integrates insights about human spirituality, which resonates with the mystical thoughts of ancient Greek philosophy, Judaism, early Christianity, and Islam, with the findings of modern psychology and psychiatry.
This integration was realized by Claudio Naranjo, a psychologist and psychiatrist, and a disciple of Oscar Ichazo. Initially, Ichazo referred to his method as “Protoanalysis” and called it the Enneagon, not the Enneagram.
It is believed that without Naranjo, Ichazo's genius insights might not have spread in the form we see today. After Naranjo, various schools emerged, and the Enneagram eventually became widely known.
the Historical Background of the Enneagram’s Rise
During the 1960s and 70s, the New Age movement arose, primarily on the West Coast of the United States, as a counterculture to the mainstream culture and systems. Interests in Buddhism, Zen, Taoism, Native American practices, astrology, spiritualism, yoga, meditation, and other spiritual phenomena grew, giving rise to the concept of the “spiritual world.”
Although the Enneagram has now become firmly established as a system of personality types, it also emerged from the tides of the New Age movement.
The Enneagram is not just about personality or psychology; it also relates to human "spirituality." Spirituality is defined as “the relationship formed with something transcendent.”
The term “spirituality” originally came from Christianity, particularly the Catholic Church, but as the New Age movement that began in the U.S. in the 1960s spread, interest in the spiritual world grew, and the word “spiritual” became more commonly used.
The first Enneagram book published in Japan was written by Catholic authors, who understood the nine types from a Christian spiritual perspective, showing the way toward God.
I first encountered the Enneagram in the mid-1990s when I picked up Don Richard Riso’s book Personality Types. Around that time, bookstores started creating new “spiritual world” sections, placed between philosophy and psychology.