… & then letting it all go.
The Enneagram is a tool for self-inquiry.
A complex and powerful tool to reveal one’s complex and intriguing personality type. A bit like yoga really.
The result of that inquiry allows us to become deeply aware of our own and other’s patterns of thinking, feeling, behaving and generally of how we are doing life.
What the framework of the Enneagram is based on is our basic core fears, our basic core desires and our basic key motivations! Let that sink in! And no, these basics are rarely plain obvious, not at all, these key factors are often hidden in our unconscious, buried deep within, perhaps out of shame, oblivion or any other factors. And to bring them to the surface can feel anything from highly exciting to very painful.
The tool of the Enneagram (notice similar language to yoga, yoga being the tool into your body and your innate wisdom), further looks at our patterns of communication, our environments in which we thrive or wither, our coping strategies, our actions and reactions, our capabilities, our general beliefs and values, our spiritual purpose and of course how we see ourselves and what we believe is our identity.
That’s a lot, isn’t it? Let’s pause here for a moment and check in with yourself. Does what you have read so far excite you or bore you or anything in between? And then simply notice that response, that feeling, observe it, own it, no need to give it meaning, change it. Simply notice.
The whole idea of the Enneagram is awareness.
At its core it offers a way of understanding oneself and others better, of becoming more compassionate with us and others. A gentle tool of being witnessed. Witnessed in our glory and witnessed in our dark and shadowy self. And eventually extend that curious act of witnessing to others, if we so desire.
Wait, I’m writing this in the energy of the Full Moon, an energy that supports us in shining light onto what is hiding in the shadow or what we would more freely put under the carpet, or the mat. xo
And if you are not into self-development, that is totally fine! Inner work is not for everyone. And what we individually do with that awareness is anyone’s free choice.
Like yoga, the Enneagram is an invitation. And a powerful tool for growth and transformation, individually and globally.
Let’s look at Origins, Meaning, and the Logical Side of it.
The Enneagram as we know it today is a mix of ancient traditional wisdom, modern psychology and neuroscience, developed mostly in the second half of the 20th century.
The Enneagram Symbol, a nine-pointed geometric shape, can be traced back to Greek philosophy.
Oscar Ichazzo, a Bolivian psycho spiritual teacher, and a Chilean Psychiatrist, Claudio Naranjo, mapped out 9 different personality types based on psychoanalysis, Gestalt Therapy, and academic psychology and put them into the 9-pointed symbol.
This is how the framework of those 9 different personality types originally came to life.
Let’s be mindful that there are also subtypes and variations within that fundamental framework.
And we are much more than our personality types to begin with.
Caution.
The aim of determining our type (from 1-9) is not to put us in a box. Although that can be exciting. But the aim is liberation, again, much like yoga, to allow ourselves to become free from attachments to a particular way of being. To free us from our limitations in perspective and in actuality. To fulfill and grow into our fullest potential. As individuals. As humans. As a Species.
I love the fact that the Enneagram speaks of letting go of our fixations (first, we must become aware of them), much like yoga philosophy suggests letting go of our attachments to the outcome of a situation, of certain things, beliefs, expectations, opinions, intentions etc – otherwise, suffering is the result. The Sanskrit word is Aparigraha.
Of course, we could ask google and do a 3 minute online quiz, to determine our type. What will we gain from that though? Remember knowing our type will gift us understanding and compassion, and the ability to let it go, and even embody other types. For fun. Or necessity.
My type and why I invested in this 4-day course.
I am happy to report that the Enneagram Type 7 is represented by yours truly.
Its name is “the Enthusiast” it’s Life Motto is “I love Life and want to experience it all”.
I can identify with its ego strategies, its basic fears, its basic desires and everything else. I recognise that I am exactly where I need to be, and that it is no co-incidence that I am doing the work that I am doing and living the life I am living. It was a hell yes for this type from the start. (which I had to wait for, as the Type 7 was the last one we discussed).
It gifts me great understanding of my life path, and elicits an internal fist pump, as during my many decades of life, I listened numerous times to my inner wisdom, my intuition and my unconscious, against all odds, other’s opinions and the worlds tendencies. I knew what I knew from logic and felt from the heart, weather it was starting and quitting nursing, or moving twice to Australia, to suffering plenty of internal conflicts alone, or keeping a Metta position to life and a big vision for it.
I am immensely grateful for my community, my yoga students, my holistic coaching and counselling clients, my body work clients, my family and my teachers who step up and teach when I go on training courses. xo
Thank you all.
I am grateful for Amy Bell, the course facilitator, my NLP trainer https://www.amybell.com.au/ who shares her wisdom with grace and generosity and inspires me greatly with her drive, her mad magnificent skills, her vulnerability and her belief in humanity as we know it.
You, as you read this, will gain from my newly acquired skills and understanding, as I bring it into my work and personal life. As it is me. This is what a 4 day immersion gifts you, an embodied wisdom.
I trust this was helpful and I greatly appreciate your curiosity.
Know that this is only a basic and brief introduction into the world of the Enneagram and Self Identification.
If you have any questions, or would like to delve deeper into the subject, let me know. We can have a brief conversation or a 1-1 consultation.
Much love and gratitude,
Bettina Pfannkuch
Written during Full Moon energy, 3 & 4 December 2025.