Personality tests.
Who doesn’t want to get to know themselves more?
The Enneagram has been the way forward to know your identity.
It has been universally used to get to know your true inner self, from your strengths and weaknesses to helping you develop into a better version of you.
Who wouldn’t want to take a test like that?
I would, and I did.
However, there are some questions that we need to ask ourselves about the validity, accuracy and truth behind the Enneagram.
That is…
Can it really tell you who you are based on 9 personality types?
Is the Enneagram scientifically accurate to assess your personality?
Is the Enneagram just a personality test or is there more to it?
We will find out as we debunk the truth behind the Enneagram.
Let’s get to it!
What is the Enneagram?
The word Enneagram is derived from Greek words “ennea” which means “nine” and “gramma” which means “writing” or “drawing”.
The Enneagram is a typology system of a nine-sided diagram with nine points, each point representing a personality type, and with lines connecting these points with other points.
It is used today as a personality test for individuals to know more about themselves.
Oh, so we think.
I say this because if you haven’t already caught up with the other debunking new age practices blog posts there’s a running theme here, it is that these new age practices are not all what they seem.
Therefore, to really understand what it is all truly about, you have to ALWAYS get down to the origin.
Look closely to the image of the Enneagram, does it remind you of anything?
This is the Black Book of Satan, there is no coincidence here that the design of the Enneagram is a splitting image of the satanic book.
On that note, I will be using 3 topics to help debunk and break down the truth behind the Enneagram and expose the lies that have been informed to us about it.
Starting it off with “False History”.
1. False History
When you call something “ancient” or that it has “history” you are referring to the connotation that there has been a series of distant past events belonging to this thing.
But, you see there’s a problem, because you cannot term the Enneagram as an ancient piece of tool.
This is because there is no evidence at all to back up the claim which Claudio Naranjo the originator of the personality types added onto the Enneagram made that the Enneagram is an ancient personality test.
Don’t believe me?
He even admitted it himself that the Enneagram was called “ancient”, with the knowledge that it was not ancient, due to marketing purposes (3).
In fact, what really happened is… let me break it down for you…
First and foremost the Enneagram was not originally created as a personality test.
It never was to begin with!
It had nothing to do with personality traits and it had no numbers in it at all.
It was actually devised by George Gurdjieff who was a mystic and spiritual philosopher.
He grew up as an Eastern Orthodox but went on to explore his own spiritual journey and claimed to have had encounters with spiritual teachers, which to inform you none were ever verified.
Through his spiritual journey and supposed encounters he created the nine point figure called an Enneagram and claimed it to be of cosmic reality and describes the mysterious law of 3 and 7 which are the foundation of all reality (4).
The Enneagram was designed to be a diagram of cosmic reality and he believed that you could see the universe with it.
It was originally used as a mystical metaphysical tool.
And we’re not even done.
Second, going back to Claudio Naranjo, he was the one who later on developed the nine personality types (i.e., Enneatypes) within the Enneagram and marketed it as an ancient tool, which was untrue.
He admitted that the history to the personality types addition was through his “observations” but mostly automatic writing (3).
I know, crazy!
We will get into more of that shortly.
See, the problem with the supposed history of the Enneagram is the definitive claims that are vague, which do not have any trace of evidence to back up their claims, and on top of that have openly given untruthful accounts.
Who would want to follow and believe in a “test” with this type of history?
You might as well at this point, go and create your own test and say it has been backed up by researchers and scientists to create hype and buzz about it so that it becomes trendy for the masses to use.
That’s literally the Enneagram, but worse.
Now, we know Enneagram today as a New Age practice.
This is because of Helen Palmer, who was a psychic and self proclaimed expert of the Enneagram, with workshops, classes and a book called ‘The Enneagram’.
The Enneageam caught on quickly in the New Age avenue and by the time you knew it New Age therapists were using it.
It is now the tool used to discover your “true self” or “divine self” in a gnostic way.
You may not see anything wrong with that.
“C’mon it’s helped me to get to know myself better”.
But is your real self rooted in lies due to the Enneagram’s false history?
Or is it rooted in demonic spirits due to the automatic writing through creating the Enneatypes?
I’ll leave you to answer that.
Moving onto the next topic “It Is Not A Personality Test”
2. It Is Not A Personality Test
I need you to read the sentence over and over again…
‘The Enneagram is not a personality test’.
How is it not you may be wondering?
Well, as previously established Claudio Naranjo devised the Enneagram with its Enneatypes via automatic writing.
What is automatic writing, you may be asking?
It was used as an old form of divination which messages would come supposedly “out of nowhere”
Yeah right, “out of nowhere”?
Automatic writing is a witchcraft practice where a demon takes control of your body and writes through you.
But, in modern day, it is disguised and described as psychographic; psychic ability allowing a person to connect to a deep source of wisdom within them without using their conscious mind.
It is also known as “spirit writing”.
Well I wonder what kind of spirit influenced Naranjo’s writing of the Enneagram?
For some, this may sound so cool because they have the idea that they are connecting to their spirit guides.
I want to make you aware that it is not cool.
It is very dangerous.
When Naranjo created the Enneatypes, he was not connecting to his spirit guides or tapping into his inner divine self for wisdom.
He was in fact connecting to demons.
Spirit guides are not angels.
Matter of fact, more like fallen angels.
Yes, spirit guides are demons (7).
And are also called in the bible “familiar spirits”.
How do I know?
Let me give you the Bible, because the Bible never lies, only speaks truth.
Isaiah 14:12-14 (NLT):
“12 “How you are fallen from heaven, O shining star, son of the morning! You have been thrown down to the earth, you who destroyed the nations of the world. 13 For you said to yourself, ‘I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God’s stars. I will preside on the mountain of the gods far away in the north. 14 I will climb to the highest heavens and be like the Most High.’”
“Fallen from heaven” is a reference to the devil.
He was an angel in heaven who then rebelled against God because he believed he could be like God the “Most High”. So, God threw him “down to earth”.
This is what you call a fallen angel.
The devil is a fallen angel.
Jude 1:6 (NLT):
“And I remind you of the angels who did not stay within the limits of authority God gave them but left the place where they belonged. God has kept them securely chained in prisons of darkness, waiting for the great day of judgment.”
It was not just the devil who fell from heaven, but other angels too.
Again because of not obeying God and thus these angels are captive in “prisons of darkness” waiting for their judgment which is eternal damnation/death.
Clearly, fallen angels are not good but evil.
Revelation 12:4:
“His tail swept away one-third of the stars in the sky, and he threw them to the earth. He stood in front of the woman as she was about to give birth, ready to devour her baby as soon as it was born.”
Also, Satan took ⅓ of the angels with him and they too were punished for their disobedience and were thrown to earth along with him.
But, how does the devil and the demons (fallen angels) connect to being “familiar spirits”?
Leviticus 19:31:
“ ‘Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.”
Familiar spirits are those who consult the spirits of the dead as other translations will translate the term.
Some may think that they are consulting their dead loved ones.
But, in fact you are consulting with demons who are the spirits of the dead.
Remember, just like I have shown you, the fallen angels are the devil and his demons.
Some are roaming on earth and others are in the prisons of darkness.
So, when you are using the Enneagram to define who you are, you are in fact allowing the devil and his demons to define your identity.
You are associating yourself to the dark and evil world of Satan.
I don’t mean to come across so seriously.
But I want you to know the dangers and ham when using the Enneagram.
It is not something that is fun and light hearted.
That’s the tactic of Satan to make you think that it is.
2 Corinthians 11:14-15:
“14 But I am not surprised! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.15 So it is no wonder that his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. In the end they will get the punishment their wicked deeds deserve.”
You see here, it is explained to us that Satan masquerades himself as someone who is good, but he is not.
The same way he will use people to do his work and act in the same accord.
The people behind any New Age practice are being used by Satan.
This is why the New Age practices come across good, positive and fun but actually it is the complete opposite.
God forbids us to consult the dead, because He knows that we are actually communicating with the devil and his demons.
Pretty much anything New Age related God is forbidding us to do because they all are connected to demonic activity.
God is looking out for you!
But are you ignoring His help?
This is why, I’m breaking this all down to show you that, to show you that the Enneagram is not all what it seems.
To show to you the source behind the Enneagram.
And that is, it is the work of the devil and his demons.
The Enneagram is point blank, EVIL.
So, connecting yourself to it, you are putting yourself along a destructive path.
Do you really want to go down that path?
It is not a personality test, it is associated with demonic activity.
Let me go even further, for those who don’t care enough about the spiritual world but want hard hitting scientific facts.
The Enneagram has been assumed to be a valid personality test without any psychological studies or research.
(Be careful of the Myers-Briggs personality test too. It was not founded on psychological research but actually derived from automatic writing also).
Its entirety is based on subjective views from esoteric teachers.
If you know anything about personality tests, know this.
One, they have to be scientifically supported with studies and research (6).
And two,
“It just means that personality tests can only tell you what you tell it. You won’t learn anything that you didn’t already know about yourself, and its accuracy comes entirely from how honest and self-reflective you were with your answers.” – Simine Vazire Ph.D, Personality Researcher at University of California, Davis (8).
But even then how honest can you really be with your answers?
Do you think that you can assess yourself accurately through a personality test when you don’t know yourself?
It actually sounds counterproductive to me, don’t you think?
Yet, we (including myself) take the test anyway.
Furthermore, the Enneatypes were created to pave a path to God, designed to connect to your inner true divine self; a path to enlightenment (5).
Yet, again how can we seek within ourselves to find our “true self”, when the whole point of using the personality test in the first place was because we didn’t know who we were?
I personally don’t see how looking from within is going to get me to know who I am, to connect to my “true self”.
Do you?
Like Vazire mentioned, you only identify with what you tell yourself.
Does that make it your true self?
Is that accurate or valid?
The only way we could truly get to know ourselves is if someone outside of us, who personally knew us because they created us, would be able to tell us who we truly are.
Can you think of who that someone could be?
Let’s find out.
Moving onto the final topic “It Is Not Christianity”.
3. It Is Not Christianity
How did the Enneagram enter the church?
Some believe that the Enneagram originated from Evagrius Ponticus, and/or with Ramon Llull, a medieval Roman Catholic, who were known as the Desert Fathers in the 4th century.
But there has been no evidence of this, plus a decimal system is needed to set up the Enneagram which would not have existed prior to modern times.
However, the culprit of introducing the Enneagram to the church is Richard Rohr, a catholic priest who cultivated an influence on progressive Christianity movement by incorporating his famous book ‘The Enneagram: A Christian Perspective’ into the evangelical church.
Richard Rohr’s book is set on his belief that the Enneagram is an ancient Christian tool used for our ‘False Self’ which he refers to our “capital sin” to find our ‘True Self’ in God which can help Christians develop a deeper relationship with God, despite that the Enneagram was not discovered by Christians.
This is some twisted thinking and is wrong on all levels.
Here’s why.
2 Peter 2:1-4 (NLT):
“1 But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them. In this way, they will bring sudden destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of these teachers, the way of truth will be slandered. 3 In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago, and their destruction will not be delayed. 4 For God did not spare even the angels who sinned. He threw them into hell, in gloomy pits of darkness, where they are being held until the day of judgment.”
It is made clear to us in this scripture that we will face false teachers who will make us believe their false evil teachings.
They will even deny God.
Pay attention to verse 4.
These false teachers’ destiny were compared to the destiny of the fallen angels who were now know as the devil and his demons.
Why were they compared to them?
I think Peter (who’s the writer here) is making us aware of the connection between the false teachers, the devil and his demons.
The false teachers are used vessels of the devil to carry out his evil work on earth, to deceive us into believing teachings that seem all good on the surface but are really evil when you look deeper, as already mentioned in 2 Corinthians 11:14-15.
It’s all making sense.
See, unlike what Rohr believes you cannot reclaim anything that isn’t from God to begin with.
God will only restore what the devil has stolen.
So, let me be clear, the devil didn’t steal the Enneagram from God, this is what he did on his own.
The Enneagram is not of God, it is of Satan.
Can you find your “true self” and develop a relationship with God through the Enneagram?
This table shows the contrast between Richard Rohr beliefs compared to the Bible.
| Richard Rohr’s belief: | The Bible: |
| Finding your true self through the Enneagram will deepen your relationship with God. | Romans 8:29 – “For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” Our relationship with God and identity comes from Him choosing us to be made in His image and become more like His Son, Jesus who is our Elder Brother. |
| Your ‘True Self’ is a “pure diamond”. Your ‘False Self’ is sin. | Isaiah 64:6 – “We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind.” No one is exempt from sinning. We cannot do righteous things outside of God as it means nothing to Him as we are sinners and He is righteous. Romans 3:23 – “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” We all sin, and we cannot keep up with God’s perfect standard. It is only by God helping us to live up to His standard, because without Him we will always fall short. Romans 3:25-26 (NLT) – “25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, 26 for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.” Jesus is the righteous One, not us. It is through His sacrifice for our sins, that we are made right in the eyes of the Father. The only reason why when the Father looks at us He doesn’t see us as sinners but righteous is because of what Jesus did for us, He is seeing Jesus’ righteousness on us. |
| The Enneagram is a tool for discernment and a gift of the Spirit which can help transform lives, lead people to God and release the great giftedness in us. | 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 – “4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them.5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. 7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.” To release the gifts inside of us do not come from ourselves but come from the Holy Spirit who lives inside of us when we receive Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. The gift of discernment comes from the Holy Spirit not the Enneagram. 2 Corinthians 3:18 – “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” Those who believe in Jesus are being transformed to look more and more like God. Transformation comes from God to look like Him not from the Enneagram. James 1:16-18 – “Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.” Good and perfect gifts come from heaven which is from God, not from us or the Enneagram. |
The Bible itself should be and is sufficient enough to tell us who we are!
We don’t need to look outside of it!
Does the Enneagram know you like God knows you?
The Enneagram limits us to 9 personality types.
What are the chances you meet someone with the same personality type as yourself?
A high one!
Yet, when you meet them, is everything about the two of you going to be the same?
Nope!
But, the Enneagram will make you think that you both should, if we’re the exact same Enneatype.
It would mean we have the same traits, strengths and limitations to get on a certain path to be the better versions of ourselves.
But is that accurate?
See, that’s the thing, it’s not specific enough.
It can’t outline everything that makes you, you, because it doesn’t know you.
It doesn’t know what you’ve been through.
This is a man-made personality test developed through demonic influences.
It’s limited.
But you know who isn’t?
God!
God intricately made us.
God knows the number of hairs on our head (Luke 12:7).
He knows the “inner parts” of you (Psalm 139:13-14 NLT).
He made us with unique and intricate details that sets us apart from one another but ultimately glorifies how creative and omniscient He is.
So, the only Person who knows you, the real authentic you, is God.
Man can’t tell you who you are when we are limited in what we know about ourselves, anyway.
God, however, is the One who is outside of us (and time, space and matter) knows everything there is to know about each and every one of us because He created us.
You can’t find yourself outside of scripture, outside the One who made you.
He is who we should go to seek our identity in because after all He did say He created us in His image and likeness (Genesis 1:27) and that our identity is in Christ Jesus.
Here are some scriptures to show that our identity is in God, this is the real you:
We are children of God – John 1:12 – “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—”
We are accepted by Jesus – Romans 15:7 – “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.”
We are complete and whole in Jesus – Colossians 2:9-10 (NLT) – 9 For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. 10 So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.
We are new and transformed people in Jesus – 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NLT)- “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”
We are fearfully and wonderfully made by God – Psalm 139:13-14 – “13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”
We are created in the image and likeness of God – Genesis 1:27 – “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”
We are chosen by God – 1 Peter 2:9 – “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”
We belong to God – 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 – “19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”
Our personality traits are found in the characteristics of the Holy Spirit – Galatians 5:22-23 – “22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
We are loved by God – 1 John 4:16 – “And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.”
I can go on but can you see that our identity is rooted in who God is and what He has done for us.
No one can tell you who you are, not even a personality test.
I am only me, and you are only you because of God.
Debunking the Enneagram Summary
The Enneagram has pertain itself to show to be an invalid and inaccurate test to assess personality traits and to claim to deepen your relationship with God as follows;
- The Enneagram is invalid because it has no support in scholarly, academic or scientific studies; therefore, there is no objective way to measure the Enneagram’s accuracy or value.
- The Enneagram is rooted in occult teachings and the New Age and New Agers have influenced some Christian Enneagram writers and teachers.
- New Age and Christian Enneagram founders and publications have marketed the false idea that the Enneagram is ancient and has Christian origins.
- Richard Rohr’s Enneagram book teaches doctrines that are contrary to God’s word and basic biblical principles.
- The Enneagram’s idea of a true self is not compatible with God’s view of man.
- The Enneatypes is not a valid depiction of God or Jesus.
- The Enneagram can lead people to use it as a discipling tool instead of the Bible to know God and self.
I want to end by saying that this blog post is by no means to condemn or shame anyone who follows the Enneagram teachings but to give light to the issues and concerns that lie beneath the surface of it all.
I, once too believed in the Enneagram, but God unveiled me to the truth, and it is why I am here to share His truth with you all.
If you still don’t believe how false and evil the Enneagram is or you are interested in learning more, help yourself to the resources we have listed below that were also used to write this blog post, to research further.
I hope this blog post helped to share some light behind the workings of the Enneagram.
Stay Blessed,
Divine L.
Resources
- The Holy Bible! – https://my.bible.com/en-GB/
- The Enneagram Profile – Marcia Montenegro – https://www.watchman.org/Enneagram.pdf (PDF)
- “The origin of the Enneagram – Claudio Naranjo speaks- June 2010” – The origin of the Enneagram – Claudio Naranjo speaks – June 2010 – YouTube (Video)
- “A Brief Report of the Origins of the Enneagram” – National Catholic Reporter – A BRIEF REPORT ON THE ORIGINS OF THE ENNEAGRAM (natcath.org) (Website)
- “The #1 Reason I Believe the Enneagram is Deceptive” – Melissa Dougherty – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYKlUR-3Vxo (Video)
- “Why Christians Should Avoid The Enneagram with Doreen Virtue” – Right Response Ministries and Doreen Virtue – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLxee5pR1HA (Video)
- “What are spirit guides?” – GotQuestions – https://www.gotquestions.org/spirit-guides.html (Website)
- “How Accurate Are Personality Tests?” – Scientific American – How Accurate Are Personality Tests? – Scientific American – (Website)
Hi, I am Divine L., your sister-in-F.A.I.T.H., who is passionate about discipling Christian girls to be a walking embodiment of Jesus Christ in their daily lives and to help young girls and woman become who God destined for them to become. It is a great blessing to welcome you to the F.A.I.T.H. sisterhood!