General Discussion: Enneagram & Spiritual Discernment

Share your questions or comments with our Enneagram & Spiritual Discernment Webinar community.

Spirit of the Enneagram: Type Nine Forum

A place for questions and reflections around the type nine enneastyle.

These are the best practices offered during the webinar:

What a Nine Can Do:

  • Mike a list of the things that matter most to you. What gives you life?
  • Every morning make a “to-do” list for the day and prioritize everything on the list as a “a,” “b,” or “c.” At the end of the day revisit the list and see what you did. Who was in charge?
  • When you are tempted to “check out” of life in some small way, ask yourself why. Find a way to stay involved with others without giving away your own soul.

Spirit of the Enneagram: Type Eight Forum

A place for questions and reflections around the type eight enneastyle.

These are the best practices offered during the webinar:

What an Eight Can Do:

  • What can you do today to be gentle with yourself? Eights carry a moral imperative that burdens them with a corresponding anger that gives them the energy to bear it.
  • Eights profit from some kind of confession of their own faults. It eases their desire to punish others.
  • Nourish yourself by carefully studying nature this week. While the natural world is “red in tooth in claw,” also notice how many forms of life depend on or take care of each other.

Spirit of the Enneagram: Type Seven Forum

A place for questions and reflections around the type seven enneastyle.

What a Seven Can Do:

  • Take something that is a reminder of a difficult event or decision in your life and keep it out in view for a week. Allow yourself to recognize that life goes on and is enriched in spite of/because of the pain!
  • Make a list of all the projects you are currently involved with (or are planning for the future). Spend time prioritizing them.
  • Become more aware of the times you are tempted to put an unrealistic, Pollyanna-like spin on difficult situations.

Hello, I’m Gwen Yuill – SALC staff and social seven Enneatype. I’m proud to be your type seven moderator. I’ve studied the Enneagram for the last four years and found it to be enormously helpful with personal growth and interacting with family, friends, and co-workers. My favorite Enneagram author is Helen Palmer, even though her insights have been devastatingly revealing at times. Feel free to ask any questions or share insights on this forum. I will try to get back to you within a 24 hour period. Thanks for taking this journey with me!

Spirit of the Enneagram: Type Six Forum

A place for questions and reflections around the type six enneastyle.

These are the best practices offered during the webinar:

What a Six Can Do:

  • Keep an image of an angel around. In the great wisdom traditions, the opening words of angels are always the same: “Be not afraid.”
  • Keep a picture of yourself as a small child in a visible place. In times of stress, be willing to revisit the part of you that has survived these many years. Take consolation in your inner strength.
  • To weaken the fear of authority, spend time reflecting on your own deepest, personal convictions. Which ones would you be willing to live/die for?

“Hi I am John McGreevey and I’ll be your Type Six mentor in this forum. I am a sometimes retired hospice doc from the midwest and occasional musician. I am also a graduate apprentice from the Anamcara Project. Please post any thoughts or questions on your Enneatype journey and I will be happy to respond and reflect.”

Spirit of the Enneagram: Type Five Forum

A place for questions and reflections around the type five enneastyle.

These are the best practices offered during the webinar:

What a Five Can Do:

  • Lift weights (whether you are a man or a woman). Notice that you are organic. That means the more effort you spend, the more strength you have. Learn this truth in your body and apply it to your mind and spirit.
  • Put this sign on your desk (all fives have desks): “You have to sing like you don’t need the money.”
  • Spend time in nature reflecting on its abundance. Notice how there is always enough – and that it comes effortlessly!

Spirit of the Enneagram: Type Four Forum

A place for questions and reflections around the type four enneastyle.

These are the best practices offered during the webinar:

What a Four Can Do:

  • A prayer of gratitude is helpful. You cannot be simultaneously critical and grateful.
  • Take one day and make a point to record each time you are conscious of a feeling of longing, dissatisfaction, or depression. Examine this list at the end of the day. What can it teach you?
  • Take something you have created and meditate on its beauty and originality. Reflect on how it is the product of beauty within you.

Hi! I’m Dana Gregg, and I’ll be your Type Four mentor on this forum page. Here’s a little about me. I’ve lived and worked near Bend, Oregon, for my adult life. I have three children who are married and have amazing children, which means life is complicated! My engagement with the Enneagram for the past 15 years has served me well as a means of spiritual transformation and in navigating relationships. As an Enneagram 4, I find it to be a trusted teacher. Please post any questions about your enneatype journey and I’ll respond with my feedback and perspective. 

Spirit of the Enneagram: Type Three Forum

A place for questions and reflections around the type three enneastyle.

These are the best practices offered during the webinar:

What a Three Can Do:

  • Pamper yourself with time off because you’re already good enough. For example, “schedule” a weekly Sabbath day of rest.
  • Make a point of arranging quality time with a person whom you normally would not be inclined to visit. “Waste time” with someone or something that doesn’t feed your ego.
  • Walk through a store or mall and notice how many people are old, ugly, out of fashion or otherwise unattractive – to you. Did God make that many mistakes? Or is there another order of affection operating here?

Hi! I’m Dan Martin, and I’ll be your Type Three mentor on this forum page. The Enneagram has been an integral part of my life for almost 20 years.  I have been a student both at the Enneagram Institute and numerous e-courses and have taught the system.  Primarily, though, I’ve used the Enneagram as a tool for my own personal growth on this amazing journey.  Please post any questions about your enneatype journey and I’ll respond with my feedback and perspective.

Spirit of the Enneagram: Type Two Forum

A place for questions and reflections around the type two enneastyle.

These are the best practices offered during the webinar:

What a Two Can Do:

  • Do several symbolic things for people that nobody will find out you are responsible for. You may fantasize about the person finding out and thanking you profusely – let go of even that!
  • Spend as much time as you can alone using tools like meditation. Twos feel pressure from others, so to discover your inner truth you’ll need solitude away from that pressure.
  • Make two lists of people: those who drain your energy and those who give you energy. Make a concrete decision about how you spend your time and energy with others.