The Sacred Enneagram Workbook

Mapping Your Unique Path to Spiritual Growth

Christopher L. Heuertz, Estee Zandee

• Publisher: Zondervan
• Year: 2019
• eBook ISBN:
  9780310358473
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Research & Methodology in Psychology

Whether you are looking to discover your type for the first time or take a deeper dive into your identity, The Sacred Enneagram Workbook is designed to help you grow in your spiritual life through the understanding of your Enneagram type.

Most of us spend a lifetime trying to figure out who we are and how we relate to others and God. This task is far from easy, yet the Enneagram offers a bright path to cutting through the internal clutter and finding our way back to who we are created to be. And The Sacred Enneagram Workbook creates the reflective space necessary to map your way home. 

Join international Enneagram teacher Chris Heuertz in this interactive companion to the bestselling The Sacred Enneagram to discover:

• Where you find yourself in the Enneagram's nine type profiles, and how to make sense of testing results
• How to move beyond counterproductive caricatures of your type toward true growth
• Tools and practices for breaking out of your greatest emotional, interpersonal, and spiritual challenges
• And ultimately, your type's unique invitation and path toward a deeper journey with God

PART

I

FINDING YOURSELF in the ENNEAGRAM’S MIRROR

1

The Sacred Enneagram: Chapters 1 and 2

Exploring Who We Are

Each and every one of us is beautiful and beloved by God. But when it comes to recognizing the truth of our own identities, we all experience a version of blindness that keeps us from seeing ourselves for who we really are. We live unawakened lives marked by lies we tell ourselves about who we think we are—or how we wish to be seen by others. Sadly, most of us do not know that we don’t know who we are. We are unaware that we’ve lost our true self. It often takes an unlikely “other” to remind us what’s true: you are beautiful, you have profound worth, your life is a gift.

Coming home to our true self sounds great, but it’s often hard, monotonous, and sometimes messy work. It is easier to stay hidden, to avoid the hard work of excavating our essence. After all, if you’re going to unearth treasure, your hands will get dirty. So as you begin this journey of discovering your true self, it is important to walk this path with compassion.

HOW WE GOT LOST

The contemporary Enneagram of Personality shows us much more than a list of personality traits. It illustrates the nine ways we get lost, but also the nine ways we can come home to our True Self (page 25). It exposes nine ways we lie to ourselves about who we think we are, nine ways we can come clean about those illusions, and nine ways we can find our way back to God.

Tragically, most of us believe that if we build out the mythology of who we think we are, the more attractive our identity will be and the more valuable we become. But when we equate our value with the proofs we collect about our worth—the good (or bad) things we’ve done, what we have, what others think of us—we create a no-win scenario that always leads to disillusionment and pain because they are just parts, not the whole, of who we are. When we overidentify with our success or failure, we allow these fragments to form the basis of our essence. The inevitable result is that we will fall into an unceasing chase after an unrealistic and unattainable idea of who we think we need to be (page 18). This is how we get ourselves lost. The challenge is to find our way home.

• The fundamental question to the human experience is “Who am I?” (page 16). Our first interaction with a new acquaintance often exposes our fears or insecurities by how we describe ourselves. How do you normally introduce yourself? What do your words and subtext say about what you hold to be most important about your life?

[Your Notes]

• Exploring the difference between substance and value, it is suggested that identity answers the question “Who am I?” while dignity answers the question “What am I worth?” (page 17). What does this tell you about your value?

[Your Notes]

• How have you grown estranged from your true self over the years? What thoughts, longings, and emotions come to mind for you when you think about finding the way home to your true self?

[Your Notes]

• Father Richard Rohr gives this warning: Every unrealistic expectation is a resentment waiting to happen (page 18). How have you seen this play out in your life?

[Your Notes]

• The three lies that we believe about our identity, as Henri Nouwen famously articulated, are I am what I have, I am what I do, and I am what other people say or think about me (page 20). How have these lies informed your identity? Which one do you rely on most?

[Your Notes]

“All humanity bears the imprint of the Divine, that we are made in the image of God. This is the starting point for drawing forward our sense of dignity, the intrinsic value that is ascribed not earned, based on our essence in reflecting a good and loving God.”

• Of the three programs for happiness (page 21), which do you gravitate toward: power and control, affection and esteem, or security and survival? How have you experienced the sense of being stuck by overidentifying with these programs?

[Your Notes]

• The history of the Enneagram (pages 42–51) includes a sad line of broken ties, yet it also includes examples of personal growth and relational reconciliation in the lives of individuals all around the world. How might understanding your identity and the identity of others bring growth and intimacy to your world?

[Your Notes]

FINDING YOUR TRUE SELF IN THE ENNEAGRAM’S MIRROR

“This sacred map of the Enneagram is a dynamic and compassionate sketch of possibilities and opportunities which guide us back to our True Self and the anchoring God whose name is Love.”

The Enneagram offers nine mirrors for self-reflection. If we choose to gaze into them directly, they can help us shake loose of our illusions that lead us away from home in the first place.

• Type One strives for principled excellence as moral duty.

• Type Two strives for lavish love through self-sacrifice.

• Type Three strives for appreciative...

Table of contents

• Contents
• Introduction
• Part 1: Finding Yourself in the Enneagram’s Mirror
• Part 2: Going Deeper into Your Enneagram Journey
• Part 3: Your Unique Path to Spiritual Growth
• Appendix: Growing in Your Contemplative Intention
• Resources
• Recommended Reading