The enneagram was created by G.I. Gurdjieff after his travels to the countries of the Middle East, which he undertook to gain a full understanding of man's development through the ages. He visited many monasteries where he found esoteric schools which are centers of learning that, to this day, form an unbroken chain of schools dating back to the fourth century B.C., the century when Socrates lived*. With the enneagram, Gurdjieff created a tool with which he could condense the various meanings of esoteric knowledge**. There are many layers of information in the enneagram. The enneagram uses the 12 points of the Zodiac the way they were interpreted in ancient, esoteric times. In esotericism, points 9, 3 & 6 of the Zodiac, represent the principle of overall balance between the active force, the passive force, and the neutralizing force. Those three points form an equilateral triangle which is static, without circulation, whereas the other 6 points are circulating, the movement flowing in one direction, i.e. from position 2, to position 4, then to 1, 7, 5, and 8. Those 6 points represent the planets as follows. 2 = mercury; 4 = venus; 1 = moon; 7 = jupiter; 5 = mars; 8 = saturn. The classification of people into six classic types is based on the same planetary system, and in that classification the six classic types have ''planetary'' names, namely the mercurial, venusian, lunar, martial, jovial, and saturnine types. Those six types of people are known to have the characteristics of their respective planets. As can be seen, there exists a fundamental and historic basis for the system of six classic types of people. Carl Jung, the Swiss psychologist, alluded to ancient knowledge when he referred to types of people, but he did not spell out any details. Nor did he present a system of typology. This is unfortunate, because most contemporary psychologists ignore altogether the esoteric background of typology and create their own system, which has no historical foundation, and which most often disagrees with other similar systems created by other contemporary psychologists.
*Socrates was the first sage to direct an esoteric school. His teaching
was continued by other sages. By the time of Jesus, many such schools
had existed. Jesus, who had been searching for esoteric knowledge in his early years, found one such school and attended it.
**The results of the same research led Gurdjieff later to create the concept of the ''Fourth Way'', the name for to-day's esoteric schools which he designed to be appropriate for to-day's way of living.
Copyright © 2009 by Fritz Glaus
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