The Enneagram
&
3 Centers of Intelligence
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The Enneagram is a system for understanding and developing our relationship with God, ourselves and others. It revolves around 9 different personality types organized into 3 centers of intelligence: gut (instinctive), heart (feeling), and head (thinking).
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While the Enneagram does help us to understand personality types, it is not intended to put complicated and unique human beings into tidy boxes or categories. The real power of it lies in the deeper work as we balance the three centers and live into who God created us to be.
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In the boxes below are the 9 types divided by intelligence centers, including the key markers and motivations attributed to each type.
Heart/Feelings/Emotional Center
Type 2—THE HELPFUL & LOVING PERSON
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Vice: Pride
Virtue: Humility
Focus of Attention: The needs of others
Basic Fear: Of being unloved; useless
Basic Desire: To feel loved
Type 3—THE EFFECTIVE PERSON
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Vice: Deceit, vanity
Virtue: Truthfulness, authenticity
Focus of Attention: Achieving goals, their image
Basic Fear: Of being worthless
Basic Desire: To appear successful
Type 4—THE AUTHENTIC PERSON
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Vice: Envy
Virtue: Emotional balance
Focus of Attention: On what is missing
Basic Fear: Having no identity
Basic Desire: To be themselves
Gut/Body/Instinctual Center
Type 8—POWERFUL PERSON*
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Vice: Lust
Virtue: Innocence
Focus of Attention: To be in control
Basic Fear: Being harmed
Basic Desire: To protect themselves
Type 9—THE PEACEFUL PERSON
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Vice: Sloth; inner laziness
Virtue: Action
Focus of Attention: Agenda of the other
Basic Fear: Of being disconnected
Basic Desire: To have inner peace
Type 1—THE GOOD PERSON
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Vice: Anger
Virtue: Serenity; grace
Focus of Attention: What needs to be corrected
Basic Fear: Of being bad; unworthy
Basic Desire: To be good; have integrity
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Head/Thinking/Intellectual Center
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Type 5—THE WISE PERSON
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Vice: Avarice
Virtue: Detachment
Focus of Attention: Managing inner resources
Basic Fear: Being depleted
Basic Desire: To perceive and know
Type 6—THE LOYAL PERSON
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Vice: Fear
Virtue: Courage
Focus of Attention: What could go wrong
Basic Fear: Being without support and guidance
Basic Desire: To be safe and certain
Type 7—THE JOYFUL PERSON
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Vice: Gluttony
Virtue: Sobriety
Focus of Attention: Being trapped and deprived
Basic Fear: Being in pain and deprivation
Basic Desire: To be satisfied
*There are numerous accurate ways to label each of the 9 types. These labels are simply identifiers; no single descriptor can capture the full essence and/or energy of a type. The particular descriptors I have chosen come from the work of Dr. Jerome Wagner.