“The Enneagram is a system of becoming enlightened to one’s deepest strength and weaknesses.”
______Joseph Howell in Becoming Conscious: The Enneagram’s Forgotten Passageway ( Balboa Press 2012)
More Enneagram
We spent a great deal of time on the enneagram as I was preparing to become a spiritual director. More and more I see why. This is a tool to help us know who we really are, the mask we have developed that has become our persona—what everyone else thinks we are, so that we can make our way in the world. Rebecca Spooner reminded us of Richard Rohr’s famous definition of the enneagram: “the coat and hat we put on to weather the storm.”
Assuming this persona has helped us to survive; but now we are searching for our true self, the person God created us to be. Learning about our enneagram number can lead us in the direction of finding our relationship with God that has been blocked for too long by this mask.
Rebecca reminded us that the enneagram is only one tool in our spiritual toolbox: If it is helpful, stick with it. If it is not, there are so many other tools to help us connect to God. But if we do relate to it, there is more gold there than we can ever imagine.
This is an ancient tool that has been proven to be true over many centuries. Advent, Epiphany, and Lent are great seasons to spend time expecting more epiphanies about ourselves through the enneagram, especially if we study it with other spiritual friends. Hope to see you at the enneagram retreat at St. Mark’s on February 29.
Rebecca Spooner is leading a morning retreat about the Enneagram at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church on Saturday February 29th from 9 to 1. The Cost is $15. Sign up on St. Mark’s website lovesaintmarks.org. Go to What’s on, then Events.
Joanna . joannaseibert.com