Table Of ContentENNEAGRAM
SPIRITUALITY
From Compulsion to Contemplation
SUZANNE ZUERCHER,
O.S.B.
ENNEAGRAM
SPIRITUALITY
ENNEAGRAM
SPIRITUALITY
From Compulsion to Contemplation
SUZANNE ZUERCHER,
O.S.B.
AVE MARIA PRESS
Notre Dame, Indiana 46556
Suzanne Zuercher brings a wealth of experience in spiritual
directionandclinicalpsychologytothis,herfirstbook. Amemberof
theBenedictine SistersofChicago,sheworksasawriteranddirector
ofworkshops and retreats. She regularly conducts enneagram work-
shops aroundtheworld.
A graduate ofLoyola University ofChicago, she also earned her
master'sdegreeinClincalPsychology andis a licensedpsychologist
inIllinois. Shehasservedasa campusministeratLoyola andasco-
director of the Institute for Spiritual Leadership. Her articles have
appearedinanumberofperiodicalsincludingPraying, HumanDevel-
opmentand LivingPrayer.
Firstprinting,January, 1992
Secondprinting,October, 1992
25,000copiesinprint
© 1992 by Ave Maria Press, Notre Dame, IN 46556
All rights reserved. No part ofthis book may be used or reproduced in any
mannerwhatsoeverwithoutwrittenpermission, exceptinthe case ofreprints
in the context ofreviews.
International Standard Book Number: 0-87793-471-1
0-87793-466-5 (pbk.)
Library ofCongress Catalog Card Number: 91-76188
Coverand text design by ElizabethJ. French
Printed and bound in the United States ofAmerica.
Table of Contents
Introduction 7
1 The First Task of Life 17
2 The Second Task ofLife 27
3 Vice and Virtue 33
4 The Story of Mary Magdalene 53
5 The Story ofThomas 59
6 The Story of Peter 65
7 The Meaning of Incarnation 73
8 The Present Moment 95
9 The Contemplative Attitude and Discernment 113
10 The Way to Contemplation 135
11 The Enneagram: A Help to Contemplation 157
Endnotes 167
Introduction
No way of articulating the human situation has proven more
helpful in my personal development or in my professional work
than has the enneagram. Having been introduced to the initial
descriptions nearly twenty years ago, I continue to find them
a seemingly endless font of awareness about myself and other
people. It is the fruit of these years ofreflection that I offer in
this book. Its purpose is not to pigeonhole selfor others. The
intent of any enneagram study ought to be the contemplative
pondering and wondering over that creation which is the hu-
man person. In this contemplative experience I invite you to
join me.
Many people have been exposed to readings or workshops
on this system of conceptualizing the human person. If you
are one ofthose, you probably are already concerned, as I am,
with considerations beyond these descriptions. It is some of
those I discuss in the following pages. If, however, you are
unfamiliar with enneagram theory, you will still be assisted to
further understandings about yourselfand others through these
reflections on varying life dynamics and issues.
Several traditions are said to be sources for enneagram the-
ory. The word enneagram itselfcomes from the Greek and refers
to a circular figure with nine points on its circumference. In
this Sufi philosophy the Divine expresses itself in nine mani-
festations, which this figure, derived from the decimal system,
makes graphic.1
A number of authors have treated in detail the history of
enneagram theory. I will not repeat their work. Let me say
only that all aspects ofcreation, not only the creation ofhuman
beings, have nine different expressions according to the Sufi
Enneagram Spirituality
8
philosophy. However, it is this enneagram ofthe human being
ratherthan aphilosophical discussion ofa theory ofcreation that
is the focus ofmost contemporary interest in the enneagram.
For myself, a helpful image ofenneagram theory applied to
those varying kinds ofhuman beings who people the world is
that ofa prism oflight. As one colorin a prism gradually shades
into the next, so the nine types ofpersonality merge from one
to another around this circular figure representing the fullness
ofhuman creation. As there is significance and interrelationship
among the numbers aroundthe enneagram, so there are nuances
ofenergy, shades, and colors ofperson, ifyou will, changing as
one space blends to anotherand that white light which contains
all colors is manifest in its varied facets.
The Enneagram and the Human Process
Knowledge about the various ways people view life is en-
lightening. Realizing the differing ways individuals perceive,
process, andrespond to their environment not onlyhelps toward
self-knowledge, but to understanding ourselves in the context
ofhuman relationship. To study the enneagram and to observe
the reality of what it describes is to become a more sensitive
instrument through whom life can flow for selfand others.
As we study the enneagram, we gradually come to see how
we frustrate what we most desire for ourselves. We become
aware of what clouds our perceptions and blocks our energy.
We learn what strikes fear into our hearts and paralyzes them as
well as what sends them into automatic, compulsive reaction.
We come to know the patterns of personal dynamics and life
themes as these recur in experience. Through these awarenesses
we can become reconciled with who we are and learn to flow
with our life energies. We discover what endowment of ours
is a gift for others as well as for us. In other words, we are in-
troduced to our reality more and more. Over time we become
betterfriends ofourselves, discoveringwhere we had made our-
selves our own enemy. As more inclusive, more honest, more
contemplative awareness ofinner and outer reality expands, we
Introduction 9
grow in consciousness, that experience which makes us human.
Denial is less, and the light ofcontemplative reality shines into
our shadow places.
We grow in wisdom as we grow in self-awareness. Life
teaches that we will always look at reality from varying vantage
points, and the enneagram can help to articulate and expand in-
sights about these. Humility will forever demand that we keep
on listening and learning. Humility will also assure and en-
large the perspective that teaches us no single individual has
everything to offer. We also find we need patience and humor
as we admit our and others' limitations. We grow in forgive-
ness of ourselves and others, too. The enneagram can move
us toward that contemplative life which is the destiny of the
human person.
Several books have been written describing each numbered
space on the enneagram with distinguishing characteristics of
people who flesh out each of the nine. My intention is to
move beyond these basic descriptions to a discussion of how
the dynamics ofeach space shape the adult developmental pro-
cess of people in that stance. Conversion or transformation or
individuation2 are all ways to talk about the task of coming to
maturity. Balance and centeredness, both physical and psychic,
come about through allowing denied parts ofthe personality to
enter consciousness.
Overview ofDiffering Dynamics
The early chapters ofthis book describe what needs to hap-
pen for anyone on the adult journey, which is filled with the
pain and fear that risk always causes. This process is the uni-
versal task, whatever the personality of an individual may be.
Even so, each enneagram number faces slightly different issues.3
There are 2/3/4s, those who respond to life instinctively by do-
ing somethingabout it. In contrast, 5/6/7s instinctively perceive
things first, and 8/9/Is have an initi—al emotional response.4 The
arena—ofinstinctive personal energy where theirlife force pulls
them is toward the outer world for 2/3/4s, and they try to
