The Enneagram is a tool for describing personality, capable of understanding a person with precision, in their moments of stress as much as in their moments of flourishing. Built from two Greek words, “ennea” (nine) and “grammos” (facets), it designates the nine facets of the soul — a true science of self-knowledge.
What is the Enneagram for?
The Enneagram helps you better understand how you function in different areas of life: family, personal, professional. It reveals the main, unconscious motivations that lie behind all behaviour, helping you anticipate your own reactions and other people's. The Enneagram also unveils paths of growth, to feel more in harmony with yourself and with the outside world.
According to this approach, our type would stem from a childhood wound — conscious or unconscious — that would have structured our personality: rejection, abandonment, humiliation, betrayal or injustice. What is your basic fear? The fear of not being loved, the fear of being ignored, the fear of not being useful, the fear of being wrong, the fear of being betrayed, the fear of being abandoned, the fear of suffering, the fear of separation, or else the fear of being in a position of weakness. The nine months spent in the mother's womb, birth, weaning, the differences in affection between mother and father develop in the baby mental crystallisations at the level of the subconscious, which would define the way we react today — proof that we are not born with fixed qualities or flaws, and that we can still change for the better, a path close to the one explored in the wounds of the child become an adult.
An instrument of growth and transformation
The Enneagram map is represented by a circle of nine numbers set at equal distances: none is better or more important than another. Every individual carries these nine personalities within, but generally only one dominates (sometimes several). Faced with the recurring question “can you change personality?”, the Enneagram's answer is no: each personality has its own mission in this life; you learn instead to live differently, avoiding automatic reactions and the traps of the ego.
What are the 9 enneatypes?
| Enneatype | Portrait |
|---|---|
| 1 — The Perfectionist | Focused on the world's flaws, holds itself to a high moral code, deeply wishes to improve and fears imperfection. |
| 2 — The Altruist | Puts helping others before their own needs, sociable and warm, needs to be loved and appreciated. |
| 3 — The Achiever | Concentrated on their successes and the image they project to others, does not accept failure, throws themselves into work. |
| 4 — The Artist | Drawn to their deep emotions, tragic and romantic, refuses the banal and seeks the sublime. |
| 5 — The Observer | Focused on information and analysis, sparing with their energy, tends to withdraw in order to recharge. |
| 6 — The Loyalist | Perceives the world as dangerous, very loyal as a partner, finds it hard to trust. |
| 7 — The Epicurean | A bon vivant, optimistic, an excellent planner, flees their own suffering as well as that of others. |
| 8 — The Leader | Focused on strength and power, protective of the weak, direct and self-assured. |
| 9 — The Mediator | Calm and easy to live with, avoids conflict at all costs, an excellent negotiator. |
This deep knowledge of personality extends to the people around you too: with this fresh perspective, you can enrich how you communicate with loved ones, friends, family and colleagues — a tool that complements any approach to developing self-confidence.
