enneagrams

One of things that occupied our group's time at hotel, before the sauna, the swimming, the cooking, the eating, the DVDs and whatnot, was figuring out our Enneagrams.

The Enneagram is one of the newest personality systems in use, and emphasizes psychological motivations. Its earliest origins are not completely clear - the circular symbol may have originated in ancient Sufi traditions, and was used by the esoteric teacher George Gurdjieff (1866-1949). The Enneagram personality types as they are most commonly known today originated more recently, with Oscar Ichazo and Claudio Naranjo. In the last few decades, the system has undergone further change, incorporating modern psychological ideas in the writings of Naranjo, Helen Palmer, Kathy Hurley/Theodorre Donsson, and Don Riso/Russ Hudson.

Apparently, there are a lot of different terms, but we enjoyed the descriptions of the book we had. It was scored multiple direct hits and managed to box us all in one of the nine types. Nikki is the Observer, analytical and detached. Carl is the Questioner, cautious of himself and his circumstances. Vin, naturally, is the Peacemaker, mediating and meandering. Jason is the Achiever, for whom logic and work are important. Cams is the Helper, giving of herself to others. Flim, like Marco, is the Adventurer, amused by the world and things in it. And I, sigh, am the Asserter, the loudmouth leader type.

Systems like this never fail to amuse (like horoscopes and Chinese birthsigns) because we all like to hear other people tell us who or what we are. The flaw is the rather simplistic way of dividing the entire living and dead population of the earth into 9 types, but the trick is just to enjoy the silliness.