4 Spirituality Studies 10-2 Fall 2024 We shall show them Our signs upon the horizons and within themselves, until it be manifest unto them that it is the truth. – Qurʼān 41:53 Each of the Nine Points is represented by one of nine saints who are at the highest level in the Divine Presence. They are the keys to unfold powers within the human being, but there is no permission to use these keys. – Shaykh ‘Abd Allāh al-Fā’iz ad-Dāghestanī (quoted in Kabbani 2004, 404) If an idea is true, it belongs equally to all who are capable of understanding it; if it is false, there is no credit in having invented it. A true idea cannot be ‘new’, for truth is not a product of the human mind; it exists independently of us, and all we have to do is to take cognizance of it; outside this knowledge there can be nothing but error. – René Guénon (2004a, 56–57) 1 Introduction The enigmatic origins of the nine-pointed symbol known as the Enneagram (ennea in Greek means “nine,” and gram means something “written” or “drawn”) – consisting of a circle, an inner triangle (connecting 3-6-9), and an irregular hexagon (connecting 1-4-2-8-5-7) – has captivated and perplexed people ever since its first appearance in the West around 1916 (Moore 1986/1987). At the same time, there are few more prominent examples of a blatant appropriation of esoteric knowledge by popular culture as we find with the Enneagram. That the nine-pointed figure of the Enneagram has entered into the mainstream illustrates its strange fate and perhaps the fate of all things of a spiritual nature. One of its key popularizers, Helen Palmer, writes: “[T]he enneagram was arguably the worst-kept secret in spiritual history” (quoted in Special Forum 1997, 14). There has been a great deal of speculation about the origin and application of the Enneagram, but its true nature remains elusive. What part of it is fact and what part fiction or allegory? The Enneagram may go back as far as the Babylonian civilization, but even contemporary efforts to unveil this ancient symbol remain inconclusive. British scientist and mathematician John Bennett (1897–1974) recounts: “I concluded… that this symbol and the ideas for which it stands, originated with the Sarmān society about 2500 years ago and was revised when the power of the Arabic numerical system was developed in Samarkand in the fifteenth century” (1973, 293). The Enneagram has migrated from the fringes of pop psychology or New Age fads to the mainstream. Its new status has been described as follows: “[T]he Enneagram is being popularized in America and used as a new psychological parlor game – ‘Want to find your Self? Take a number!’ – which is very unfortunate” (Wilber 1996, 210). Given its wide-ranging utility, we can see how the Enneagram is “a sleeping giant, awakened in our times” (Metz and Burchill 1987, 11). This study has been undertaken to rectify some widespread misconceptions. Although the Enneagram remains largely enigmatic, this does not prevent us from making useful observations regarding its meaning and use. First, interpreting the Enneagram through a secular lens that ignores sacred tradition, cannot fully fathom its significance, because this approach fails to see how it can be used as an adjunct to spiritual growth. Furthermore, reductionist attempts to comprehend the nine-pointed symbol through modern psychology also fall short for the same reason. Laleh
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