Last summer I posted about my quest to learn about the Enneagram. You can read about it here. I am still on that quest, and since then I have worked through several other resources. Here are some quick reviews.
The Complete Enneagram – I have started this one but I haven’t gotten too far yet. I picked this up because I want to learn about the subtypes. There are three subtypes for every Enneagram type. And in a teaching I heard recently, the instructor pointed out that it can be hard to zero into your type because of the variations within the subtypes – one might be the stereotypical description, but the other two might be nuanced and different enough that you can’t find yourself within the type if you fit one of those. So I am going to dig into this more this summer/fall. I recently heard a teaching from the author, and I enjoyed it.
The Enneagram of Eating – I have started this one, too, this year, but haven’t finished yet. I like the idea of these books that take each of the types and show how the type – in health and in some of the lower places – can interact with this topic. This author will have a book about the Enneagram and sex later this year.
Millenneagram – I recently discovered Hannah Paasch on Twitter, and I had to pick up her book! She has a sassy, irreverent style, and I wanted to see how that impacted her take on the Enneagram. I’m going to do a full review of this soon, but for now I will say this is both a fresh and a foul take on the Enneagram. There is a LOT of swearing in this book, so if that will bother you, skip this one. But if you can get past that, don’t miss out on this fresh look at the 9 types. I loved this! Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥
Spiritual Rhythms for the Enneagram – The three resources I have finished this year have all been spectacular, but this one rises to the top of the list for me. Each type is covered in probably 20 pages of material. Each chapter is laid out in the same order so if you want to check something for every type, it is easy to find. This focuses not only on understanding the type but also spiritual practices to be the healthiest you can be. I especially enjoyed the emphasis on triads – each type is a mix of 3 types that make up a triangle on the map. And we can learn to use the other two parts of our triad to be more balanced. The whole thing was brilliant, and it is a resource I will go back to over and over and over again! Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥
The Art of Typing – This is a gorgeous resource! I love the layout of this. But it is a niche resource. This is what I would recommend to someone who either can’t distinguish their type because they are vacillating between a few or for professionals who work with people on the Enneagram a lot. This gives a set of three questions (different questions for each pairing) to each of two numbers and shows how the numbers would answer those questions differently. It’s brilliant for learning differentiation and the nuances between types. Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥
As with last year, I have some non-book resources I am using as well.
Annie F. Downs has a podcast called That Sounds Fun. This summer she took 10 episodes/5 weeks to go through the Enneagram in her EnneaSummer 2019 series. In the first episode she talked with my favorite Enneagram instructor, Suzanne Stabile, about the Enneagram in general. Then for the other episodes she talks with Beth McCord (Your Enneagram Coach) about some general information about the type for that episode. And then she talks to two of her friends, a male and a female, who identify with that type. I haven’t gotten through the whole series yet, but each episode has been fascinating, and I have learned so much. I highly recommend this resource!
Beth McCord at Your Enneagram Coach is another teacher I have followed closely in the last year. I especially enjoy her Instagram account which has gorgeous graphics and shows the different types in various situations. She has a book coming out in October called Becoming Us and a series of Enneagram books/workbooks coming out for each type in December. I have already pre-ordered a couple of those. Be sure to check them out!