The Wisdom of the Enneagram: The Complete Guide to Psychological and Spiritual Growth for the Nine Personality Types

Yep, this is the one. My first read in the enneagram world intrigued me, but the tone and focus weren't quite what I was looking for. This book, on the other hand, is both comprehensive and readable and pitches its ideas (for the most part), right where I want to hear them. While there is still a little bit of a woo woo vibe here, for the most part this is practical, logical information about how and why humans act the way they do, what that means, and how we can understand our own personalities enough to get a little control over them and how we react to and experience the world and the people in it. Riso and Hudson do a good job of exploring the spiritual aspect of this system without tying it down (or divorcing it) from any show more particular religion or practice. Their examples and advice don't feel dated (except for the celebrity examples of different enneagram types -- I wish books would just leave those out), and the well considered quizzes throughout the book are a nice tool for exploring your relationship to the different types. I still feel very drawn to two with a one wing, but six and nine had more aspects that resonated with me when I read about them here than in my previous reading. It's been helpful so far to catch myself in common patterns and work to give myself a little space around my immediate reactions or judgments. I think this is a journey I'm going to continue. If anyone is interested in learning more about the enneagram, I think this is a great place to start. show less

Riso and Hudson go into a lot of detail. I think this is an excellent second read after studying more introductory work or taking part in an Enneagram group. I appreciated their detail regarding the levels of growth within each number as well as the instinctual variants and wings. Towards the end when they discussed the strata that are passed through in the process of self-development, they lost me, but I guess we all have our work to do.

I took the official Enneagram test online in 2019. Since then, I've taken other online assessments and typed similarly.

I'd never paid much attention to the Enneagram before then. With my test results, I got an explanation of my type, but it's very dense and presumes a baseline level of Enneagram misunderstanding that I didn't have. Since then, I've done some reading on my own.

Months later, I picked up this book. I thought it might not only help me better understand my own type, but give me insight and understanding of the other types since a) each of these types are present in all of us, to greater or lesser extent and b) it might improve my interactions with others who have a different dominant type than I do.

Anyway--there is a lot show more here that I found helpful:
- the distortions for each type, how each is most likely to go off its rails
- the harmonic groupings
- the wake up calls of becoming unhealthy by type
- how each type manipulates others and tries to get what it wants

etc.

There is a two-question assessment towards the beginning of the book that helps you narrow down your type. I didn't find that to be particularly aligned with my other Enneagram quiz/test results, so use with caution. However, used in conjunction with the quizzes associated with each type, you can better rule in or out what your type is most likely to be.

Recommended reading if you're Enneagram-interested. show less

This is now my go-to reference around the enneagram. The authors took a lot of time to go both broad and deep covering the basics but also shadings and variations of each type. This book also introduced me to the Hornevian Groups to explain social styles which I hadn't seen in any other reference.

LOVE THIS BOOK... you will want to analyse everyone you know and try to find out their personality type. it is also really helpful with self awareness and understanding what you may need to change about yourself or why it's there.

This is somehow a book I have missed buying, or I had and it never stayed in my library long. This is a good text on the Enneagram, which is a system that divides the human person into nine different types. These types relate to each other in various ways, which are well explicatd in the book. The types group into variou triads, the idea of threeness is very important. Arrows and wings are well covered, as well as instinctual subtypes. Also explained are the various levels of health in each type. Riso and Hudso are regarded as having a more east coast orientation to their work.

I recommend copies of this book to all my friends. It is a materpiece at helping you to understand yourself better, why you do the things you do, and what steps you need to take next on your own personal journey into wholeness.