How Vahl was introduced to the Enneagram

I recently read a post where a friend of mine explained how he took an Enneagram test and would figure out the results later. That post inspired me to share how I was introduced to the E-gram, in the hopes of simplifying and demystifying it.

Damian started telling me about the Enneagram about nine years ago. The more he described it, the more I wanted to learn more. One day, we finally sat down together and he showed me the book Personality Types, by Riso and Hudson.



First, we turned to Part I, which listed the 9 basic types, and four word description for each. He told me to read through the list and see which description or descriptions I related to the most. Here's the list:

The One, also called The Reformer, is principled, orderly, perfectionistic, and
self-righteous.
The Two, also called The Helper, is caring, generous,
possessive, and manipulative.
The Three, also called The Achiever, is
adaptable, ambitious, image-conscious, and hostile.
The Four, also called The
Individualist, is intuitive, expressive, self-absorbed, and depressive.
The
Five, also called The Investigator, is perceptive, original, detached, and
eccentric.
The Six, also called The Loyalist, is engaging, committed,
defensive, and paranoid.
The Seven, also called The Enthusiast, is
motivating, accomplished, uninhibited, and manic.
The Eight, also called The
Challenger, is self-confident, decisive, dominating, and combative.
The
Nine, also called The Peacemaker, is gentle, reassuring, complacent, and
neglectful.

Once I had chosen a couple of types, we turned to the Appendix and looked up more detailed descriptions of those types. Basically, there are more one-word descriptions broken down into three levels: healthy, average, and unhealthy.

Damian told me once I found my type, it would feel like a K.O. punch. He was right -- there was no doubt about it. I felt like I was reading a kind of biography for my personality, or my own internal programming code. It felt like someone knew me and described me to a tee. My strengths, weaknesses, fears, and desires that I had experienced throughout my life were there.

Slap me with a number six. I went on to read the full description in Part II, and gained even more perspective. As I read more about the other types, I began to see the ones and zeroes of the Matrix, so to speak.

If you're interested in figuring out your Enneagram type, I highly recommend the book Personality Types and trying out Damian's method. It's simpler, more intuitive than an exam, and does not require voluminous reading. You'll get more out of it than confusing test results!