The Enneagram: Secret Knowledge
“YOU WILL KNOW THE TRUTH AND THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE.” - John 8:32
The Enneagram is all the rage right now - even in the Church and especially its leaders. Here’s what we all need to know before proceeding with this personality test:
What the Enneagram is said to be: a 9-personality type model of the human soul and their inter-connectedness.
What the Enneagram is: Rooted in Occultism.
“There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.” - Proverbs 14:12
All of us need to be enlightened about the schemes and devices of the Devil. It is very dangerous to be ignorant of his strategies and methods used to lead us astray. Paul gives that very warning to the Corinthians to not be ignorant of Satan’s schemes in order that he might not outwit us. (2 Cor. 2:11)
Unlike the Meyers-Briggs 16 personality types used in business, and the temperament analysis of Tim LaHaye (Sanguine, choleric, melancholic, phlegmatic), the Enneagram is rooted in the New Age, occult divination, and Islamic and Kabbala (Judean) mysticism/witchcraft.
Just a few minutes of research reveals:
The roots of the Enneagram go deep into witchcraft:
One root is Oscar Ichazo, a Bolivian mystic who founded the Arica School, an early basis for New Age teaching. To grasp the significance of these diagrams and the relationship between them, we must remember that the system was designed primarily to help elucidate the relationship between Essence and personality, or ego. Ichazo saw the Enneagram as a way of examining specifics about the structure of the human soul and particularly about the ways in which actual soul qualities of “Essence” become distorted. By “Essence”, Ichazo is referring to the Universal Oneness taught in New Age and Occultism. It is what Christian’s would know as the Antichrist bringing the world together in the Transcendent One (antichrist).
Another key influence Ichazo employed in developing the Enneagram comes from Kabbala, mystical Judaism (witchcraft) teaching that all human souls are “sparks” that are emanations or facets of the “Divine”. In other words, the lie that goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden – we are all God.
Another root is Claudio Naranjo, a Chilean psychiatrist and founder of the Seekers of Truth Institute. Naranjo was involved in Gestalt therapy, the advocacy of psychotropic drugs in therapy, and borrowed from eastern mysticism to promote the occult idea of a divine inner family of the soul. (Once again, we are God.)
A third root of the Enneagram is the teaching of Islamic, Sufi mystic Gurdjieff who taught a state of “unified consciousness” and promoted transcending to this state of full human potential. He arrived at this core idea through his meetings with ‘wisdom teachers and spirit beings’ from Tibet to Egypt. (Once again, unification with the “Transcendent One” or “Essence” – without any use for Jesus Christ and the atoning work through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord.)
The Enneagram seeks to bypass the wisdom and discernment and work of the Holy Spirit that comes through surrender to Christ, obedience to the Word and prayer. It’s a short-circuit for inner healing and spiritual warfare. Furthermore, deliverance through Christ does this more effectively and without demonic associations. The Enneagram system is divinatory in nature, seeking “higher knowledge” or “higher consciousness” through occultic devices.
The following is the definition of DIVINATION from the actual encyclopedia of New Age Beliefs and Practices:
DIVINATION: An attempt to predict and control one’s future or to gain access to hidden information psychically by the assessment of various indicators such as the occult meaning of numbers or use of particular elements*. Examples: interpreting the position of the heavenly bodies (astrology), symbols on cards (tarot cards), analyzing dreams (dreamwork), or the flight of birds or liver markings, casting stones, coins or other objects, interpreting hand marking (palm reading), and seeking information from dousing rods, idols or oracles.
The Enneagram is divinatory sorcery at its roots. This form of divination is quickly gaining traction among the entire Christian world. Richard Rohr has written, “The Enneagram: A Christian Perspective”. It should be noted, that Rohr is a catholic priest who teaches that God is neither male or female, advocates homosexuality, and declares that the crucifixion of Christ wasn’t necessary. In Rohr’s own words, “I first heard of the Enneagram through my Jesuit Spiritual Director. We were told we had to keep it quiet, an absolute secret. It was only to be taught by Spiritual Directors.” [Note: The Jesuits, like its founder, Ignatius, hated Christians, seeking them out to torture and murder Christians].
Sorcery – Seeking hidden/secret knowledge from other realms. [listed among the works of the flesh in Galatians 6). The Enneagram is designed to glean hidden knowledge about Self.
All tools, devices, idols, practices associated with paganism, mysticism, occultism were called an “abomination” and forbidden by God throughout Scripture. There is no such thing as taking something forbidden by God and making it ok, or “redeeming” it, because it’s used by a Christian.
1 Corinthians 10:21 tells us clearly “You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons.”
Opening ourselves up to such practices no matter how harmless they may seem, opens us up to the demonic realm. This in turn, opens up our children and our churches to the demonic as well. There is nothing harmless about ANY practice that is rooted in the occult – even if it is used to proclaim theological truths (See Acts 16:16-19).
Scripture never teaches or encourages us to seek self-awareness but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds in Christ Jesus.
“There is a way that seems right to man, but its end is the way of death.” Proverbs 14:12
Colossians 2:3 tells us, “IN CHRIST are hidden ALL the treasures of [true] wisdom and knowledge.”
Psalm 119: 105 “Your Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.”
Hebrews 4:12 “For the Word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and the attitudes of the heart.”
A few more Scriptures concerning these practices:
Deuteronomy 18, 2 Kings 21:6, Psalm 1:1-3, Isaiah 47:12-15, Hosea 4, 2 Peter 2:1, Matthew 7,
John 8:31-32, John 15, Acts 16, 1 John 4:1, Hebrews 5:14
1 Cor. 10:21, 2 Cor. 11:12-15, Acts 17:28, Psalm 119:105,
Just like so many other carefully veiled New Age/occultic/pagan practices, the Enneagram is permeating the Church. Many of these are disguising themselves as a progressive spirituality. They range from being spiritually harmful to potentially deadly to damnable. Here is a short list of other practices to be on guard against:
Centering Prayer, Contemplative Prayer, Communal Discernment, Intuitive practices, NAR (New Apostolic Reformation), Christalignment, KST (Koren Specific Technique), Destiny Cards, Angel Cards, Soaking, Dousing, Angel Boards, “Christian” Yoga, Guided Meditation, Labyrinth path meditation prayer. Visualization & Word of Faith (name it/ claim it – Romans 4:17), Transcendental Meditation.
SOURCES:
Enneagraminstitute.com (under “Learn” and “Traditional Enneagram History”)
Bancarz, Steve, “The Second Coming of the New Age”
Boblarson.org; search: Enneagram
Sheologians podcast: “Girl, What’s Your Number”
Apologiaradio on YouTube: “Modern Tools of the Occult” by Pastor Jeff Durbin
Warren, John “False Christ Coming”
For more information, feel free to contact me.
Blessings,
Salli Melilli, CPLC
salli@divinemiracle.org