Enneagram Explorations
One of the big questions I’ve had as I’ve been exploring the enneagram is— does this system apply to everyone? Is it really true that every single human can find a fit within this model?
Coming from Human Design where there are millions of configurations and each chart I see is endlessly unique, I’ve faced resistance to the fact that enneagram contains so few options— 9 types or 27 subtypes with perhaps a few more subtle further distinctions depending on who you ask— but yet each personality type description is so detailed and deeply penetrating, and the theory is that this system is applicable to all of humanity. What??? How!!
We as humans contain endless depth, complexity and uniqueness.
Human Design offers A LOT of insight into a person. When I give readings, people constantly ask if I’m psychic. When I facilitate group work, people are amazed by the level of specificity and also just how different each chart is. And still, HD only touches on a tiny portion of the vastness of what makes up a human.
Enneagram reaches spots HD doesn’t, and these two systems together can create a description so intimate, valuable and spot on, I am wildly overjoyed and honestly overwhelmed by the brilliance of it all, but still…
You are so much more than any of these typology systems. You are more than every model in the world synthesized and combined.
A common resistance I hear is “I don’t want to be put in a box”.
I regret to inform you that actually you are probably already in a box, even if you don’t yet see it. This is the human condition. Systems like enneagram and HD can support your process of breaking free from said box.
What does this mean?
From an enneagram perspective, we all have habitual ways in which we focus our attention, defense mechanisms and predictable patterns of behavior that limit us to a very narrow experience of who we actually are and all that we could be.
Identifying our type simply helps us to see what these mechanisms are, bringing awareness to our blind spots. Through working with the enneagram to soften our ego defenses and develop the aspects of our being that are underdeveloped, we actually become LESS defined by stereotypical descriptions of our type and more of a balanced, multidimensional human. We expand our range.
From a HD perspective: If you are simply identifying with your mind’s interpretation of what your chart means about you and then making excuses to avoid doing the work necessary to outgrow your conditioned personality, thus stuck living out a rigid description of who you think you are— then yes, HD has you in a box.
It’s not HD’s fault though, that’s a user error. When you are truly experimenting with a path of surrender, you begin to recognize more and more the limitations of your mind/personality. By allowing HD to serve as a map to inform and inspire your embodiment work, you gain access to a deeper intelligence and creativity that informs your movement through life. You increase your energetic capacity and vitality. You shed conditioned limitations and awaken aspects of your being that you didn’t know existed.
So to summarize— if your objection to these systems is “I don’t want you to know so much about me Bri, that’s creepy and I’m fine, please don’t force this upon me” …valid, and I respect that!
But if you reject these sorts of things because you don’t want to be in a box, perhaps the perspective I’ve shared could serve as a pathway into building a relationship with one/both of these systems that feels nourishing, authentic and helpful.