Tarot and Enneagram?

[Pixna]

A lot of people I know seem to be into the Enneagram personality typing. While Enneagram hasn't sparked my interest (in terms of exploring it for myself), from the little I know about it, there seems to be a fair amount of overlap with the 9 personality types of the Enneagram and the first 9 majors in the Tarot.

If you're familiar with Enneagram, what are your thoughts about this? Do you think the Enneagram typing might have been based on Tarot archetypes originally, or is this just a coincidence? Or do you not even see any similarities?

I'm especially curious about Tarotists' view of it because a local organization I volunteer for is doing a free training in Enneagram, and I find it interesting that Enneagram seems to be so mainstream and acceptable, whereas Tarot wouldn't be viewed the same way.

So, if you're familiar with Enneagram (and Tarot, of course), I'd love to hear your thoughts about this.

 

[Disa]

I don't find a lot of people who have even heard of Enneagrams. I had a small course in Enneagrams a few years back and I seem to recall there were similarities related to the Archetypes in Tarot, but also regarding Jung's teachings. I think it's all related. I don't recall any specifics, unfortunately. It was quite interesting to study, though.

 

[Pixna]

I appreciate your reply, Disa. Yes, I've heard that about Jung's archetypes too. As you know, the Enneagrams don't involve intuition or divination; it's a classification system based on your answers to a "test." Maybe that's why it seems to be more "mainstream" and professionally acceptable than Tarot.

While the Enneagrams seem interesting, something about it bothers me. I suppose I don't like to be boxed into a single category that way. And while I enjoy the Tarot birth cards, there seems to be more fluidity among them and more depth than with the Enneagrams. But if I proposed doing a class on Tarot or Tarot birth cards, I'm sure this organization would think I was a kook, and yet they don't think that about the Enneagrams.

 

[exmuse]

A lot of people I know seem to be into the Enneagram personality typing. While Enneagram hasn't sparked my interest (in terms of exploring it for myself), from the little I know about it, there seems to be a fair amount of overlap with the 9 personality types of the Enneagram and the first 9 majors in the Tarot.

If you're familiar with Enneagram, what are your thoughts about this? Do you think the Enneagram typing might have been based on Tarot archetypes originally, or is this just a coincidence? Or do you not even see any similarities?

I'm very familar with the enneagram, but I've never seriously contemplated the connection. I feel the tarot has more of an affinity with Myers-Briggs which is based upon Jungian personality types. I think that would be a better way to look at the association between personality and tarot card.

Here's a stab at the possible Enneagram/tarot card correlations off the top of my head:

0 - the Fool - Type 7 - The Entertainer - spontaneous, fun loving, playful, childlike
1 - The Magician - Type 3 - the Achiever - gets things done, talented, charismatic, resourceful
2 - High Priestess - Type 4? Deep. Mysterious.
3 - Empress - Type 2 - the Giver - loving, nurturing, mother figure, mother Teresa
4 - Emperor - Type 8 - the boss, the leader, the protector and defender, masculine
5 - Hierophant - Type 1 - The Perfectionist or "Righteous" type, moralistic, upholds values
6 - Lovers - Type 6?
7 - Chariot - Type 6 - (not sure, that's the number I have left over...)
8 - Strength - Type 9 - the Peacemaker - quiet strength and resolve
9 - Hermit - Type 5 - The Investigator - introspective, self reflective, inquisitive, introverted

It can be done, I guess. Not a perfect match though.

Empress and emperor (type 2 and 8) play into male and female ideal archetypes or cultural stereotypes. Interestingly, Type 2 (The Empress) is the most common enneagram for women and type 8 (The Emperor ) is the most common type for men, I believe. Stay at home mom and working dad combination. They reflect traditional values and ideas about gender roles in our society.

Type 3 - The Magician - the epitamy of the Ameican success story. The successful businessman or politician. The man or woman with a "Can do" attitude. Self confident and potentially manipulative and underhanded. Not always entirely honest.

The Fool - Type 7 - Think Jim Carrey or Robin Williams. Comedians and entertainers. Fun loving, spontaneous, action oriented and life of the party, lively, optimistic

Anyways... some ideas. With Myers-Briggs there is probably a cleaner fit. If you do a search, you'll find some posts about it here at AE.

I appreciate your reply, Disa. Yes, I've heard that about Jung's archetypes too. As you know, the Enneagrams don't involve intuition or divination; it's a classification system based on your answers to a "test." Maybe that's why it seems to be more "mainstream" and professionally acceptable than Tarot.

The enneagram has a long history in the metaphysical realm. It's not just some system somebody invented out of whole cloth in the 20th century. It's pretty deep once you begin studying the system. You are right when you say it's not a particularly intuitive system.

According to the Enneagram Institute website, "The Enneagram symbol has roots in antiquity and can be traced back at least as far as the works of Pythagoras .... "Traditional Enneagram" only goes back to the 1960's when Ichazo was first teaching it, although the philosophy behind the Enneagram contains components from mystical Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Taoism, Buddhism, and ancient Greek philosophy (particularly Socrates, Plato, and the Neo-Platonists)—all traditions that stretch back into antiquity."

and...so to distinguish the purpose of its teachings:

"we must remember that the system was designed primarily to help elucidate the relationship between Essence and personality, or ego.

According to Ichazo who introduced the system in the 1960s in the U.S.,

"We have to distinguish between a man as he is in essence, and as he is in ego or personality. In essence, every person is perfect, fearless, and in a loving unity with the entire cosmos; there is no conflict within the person between head, heart, and stomach or between the person and others. Then something happens: the ego begins to develop, karma accumulates, there is a transition from objectivity to subjectivity; man falls from essence into personality."

This sums up the basic premises or rationale for taking up the study of the enneagram. It's a system for the purposes of self exploration, self actualization and integration of the ego. The same, of course, could be said for the study of tarot cards.

 

[rwcarter]

I did some study of the Enneagram more than a decade ago. When you add in wings and a few other things (that I can't quite remember right now) there are almost 600 different personality types, not just the basic nine.

When I trawled eBay regularly, I would see a French book on Enneagrams and Tarot called "Le tarot sur l'ennéagramme de Gurdjieff" by Claude-G Thompson. I never got around to buying it though cause my French is nowhere near good enough to try to translate a book. The ISBN is 2892390893.

Rodney

 

[exmuse]

I did some study of the Enneagram more than a decade ago. When you add in wings and a few other things (that I can't quite remember right now) there are almost 600 different personality types, not just the basic nine.

Yes. There are subtle distinctions that can be made when typing individuals according to the Enneagram personality system. For example, I'm a One (Perfectionist) with a Two Wing (Caregiver), also known as the Reformer, not the same as type of person who is a One with a Nine Wing. It's sort of like astrology where you have not only your Sun card, but also your moon and rising signs. These also influence and shape a person's basic personality and orientation to the world.

The Enneagram as a personality typology also emphasizes the inherent impetus or natural movement towards growth, evolution or integration. Individuals of a particular type can be described or understood and differentiated along a relative mental health continuum. In other words, in general terms, the enneagram recognizes that some individuals are healthier than others. Those individuals that are considered part of the lower part of the continuum can be understood in pathological terms. For an example, for my type, The Perfectionist, an unhealthy would be considered Obsessive Compulsive. An unhealthy Three could be considered narcissistic or have a propensity for narcissism.

This is relevant to the tarot insofar as those who read court cards, for example, will often refer to the negative connotations of a card as well as the positive associations. Only when considering both dark (shadow) and light can understand and appreciate the personality in its totality. A fundamental premise of the enneagram as a system is that there is a basic 'soul' structure, 'true essence' or 'authentic existence' that we all actively strive to embody. Your personality type, whether 1,2,5,9 or whatever, has an essence which is of a higher realm than our everyday being in the world which is specific to your type's virtue. As an analogy, if you relate to the King of Swords as true type, what would you believe that type to embody as pure essence? What qualities would you express? Objectivity? Pure reason? Pure thought? Fairness? Justice? Of course, there are negative connotations we can make associated with the King of Swords. Those are the very qualities, while we may not want to relate to, or may choose to deny or disown, that require identification and recognition.

Another way to look at it in relation to court cards would be to consider the relative maturity or experience level indicated by pages, knights, queens and kings that suggests a evolution in the development of feelings, thought, ethics, attitudes and understandings of reality, perhaps. A page is immature and has a lot to learn (on the lower end of the developmental scale) than the king. I believe a movement towards the development of a healthy ego or integration is implied as we gradually begin a greater ability to identify with the positive traits associated with the King of any suit. It implies a greater awareness of consciousness and less investment in the ego subsequently.

Studying the enneagram is a way to connect with our higher level of consciousness insofar as we are able to identify the ways are our everyday attitudes and actions not in alignment with our true spirit. New forms of insight emerge as we study our own behavior in light of the understanding of type according to the enneagram. It provides an opportunity to overcome the limitations and blind spots that are inherent in our type's basic personality structure. Virtues are implied in each of the enneagram types. Doing the work with your enneagram type implies coming to terms with your own virtue, accepting your limitations, overcoming ego, connecting with your higher self that you have been disconnected with (perhaps as a result of childhood trauma) or a natural aspect of the socialization process that causes us to lose our connection to our inner selves. This is a little different than what people do with tarot cards, I think.

 

[Pixna]

Exmuse and Rodney, thanks so very much for your replies. They certainly have given me a lot more insight into Enneagrams and helped me see how complex and layered this system actually is.

Exmuse, thank you especially for all the detail, especially the number correlations with Tarot. Yes, the Meyers-Briggs is another one that has compared even more closely with Tarot archetypes. And regarding the Enneagrams, the cultural and gender stereotypes you mentioned are particularly interesting. Perhaps these systems couldn't escape being products of the times in which they were created.

Many thanks, again!