Previously we learned about the enneagram system, which describes nine different egoic perspectives of life. Each enneatype is a composite of particular traits that are not random. In this follow-up we will determine: Do enneatypes reflect soul blueprints?
Do enneatypes reflect soul blueprints?
I’ve been studying the enneagram since 1995, when my husband discovered it as a quick way to assess his business clients. He found, for instance, that some people like to chat about the weather first, while others want to go straight to the facts. It is a very practical psychospiritual tool for understanding yourself and others in your circles. But there is more to it than that.
- Since learning about “soul blueprints” or various human designs or personality types (as described by some updated I Ching systems), I’ve come to realize that certain enneatypes are associated with certain I Ching gates that reflect our life plan in this incarnation.
- This information is not “new” given that the I Ching was introduced to humanity thousands of years ago. What is new is the realization that the same information applies to many teachings, including human design, Michael teachings, astrology, card science, etc.
Studying and correlating these various systems has been one of my pet projects for years now. That’s why I’m very excited to describe some of my preliminary findings in this post.
How are different ego perspectives created?
In the previous post, we learned the basics about 9 personality types, which reflect how people function and see the world through various egoic perspectives, all of which are equally valid.
- Each enneatype is made of a complex composite of traits. Where do they come from? Nature (genetics)? Nurture (upbringing)? Or both? The answer is found at the soul level.
- Our True Energetic Self (Oversoul/Higher Self) uses the Akashic records to plan a lifetime for one of its 12 soul aspects. The soul decides the particulars (e.g. physical body, family, geography, etc.) with the help of other souls that will guide, help or work with that soul.
Our birthdate, hour and place of birth are not random. The soul knows what lessons are to be learned and what energies are needed for a particular “soul blueprint,” which is made of 26 gates in the human design system. Four of those gates make up about 80% of our personality.
- They create an “incarnation cross” that describes our life’s work (outer purpose), issues or challenges to grow from, secrets to our health, and our true spiritual purpose in this life.
- In that sense, everybody has their own cross to carry, their own challenges and lessons to learn, their own talents to activate, express and actualize. There is no need for enmity.
What do my studies suggest?
To study these incarnation crosses, I compiled a database of 1341 people (made of friends, relatives, coworkers and famous people) that included their soul blueprints (based on their birthdate) and enneatypes (with adjacent “wing” influences from various books/internet sites).
- A soul could potentially choose from any of the 64 gates available to them. But my data suggest otherwise. The basic personality types are not created by random chance.
- Certain enneatypes seem to prefer certain gates as their Personality Sun, which describes their outer purpose or what they came here to do (see Table below, click to enlarge).
For example, enneatype Ones prefer to incarnate with Gates 57, 34, 53, 18, 8, 41, 55 or 6 as their Personality Sun. Each gate describes a different spectrum of consciousness to work with. The challenge is to evolve from the Shadow to the Gift frequency or higher (see Table).
“Embrace the Shadow, Release the Gift, Embody the Siddhi.” – Richard Rudd
Note: The top 4 gates associated with each enneatype were derived by statistical analysis (using SAS JMP program). Path of growth based on Richard Rudd’s “Gene Keys” nomenclature.
What does the enneagram describe?
There are two versions of the enneagram: the traditional and Sufi versions, which have a slightly different interpretation of the threefold division of the self into three centers of intelligence called body, heart and head. They represent three modes of perception, processing and expression: doing/moving, feeling and thinking (below).
In the traditional enneagram, we have the Doing triad (centered in the body/gut instinct in types 8, 9, 1), Feeling triad (centered in the heart in types 2, 3, 4) and Thinking triad (centered in the head in types 5, 6, 7, as shown above, left).
- In each triad one type is out of touch with the function (types 3, 6 or 9), and the other two either externalize (types 2, 5, 8; “ext”) or internalize the function (types 1, 4, 7; “int”).
- For example, in the Feeling triad, type 3 is out of touch with their feelings, while type 2 effusively externalizes them, and type 4 deeply internalizes their intense feelings.
All types use all three centers of intelligence, but one center is preferred or dominant, the second center supports the first, and the third center is repressed or underdeveloped. Here are a few examples:
- Type One prefers the Doing center, which is supported by the Feeling center, but their Thinking center is repressed. They’re balancing doing (Power) and thinking (or Wisdom, shown in the Sufi diagram as + Cognition, i.e. the underdeveloped center they need to work on).
- Type Eight also prefers the Doing center, which is supported by the Thinking center, but their Feeling center is repressed. They’re balancing doing (Power) and feeling (Love).
- Type Four prefers the Feeling center, which is supported by the Thinking center, but their Doing center is repressed (Sufi + Behavior/courage).
- Type Seven prefers the Thinking center, which is supported by the Doing center, but their Feeling center is repressed (Sufi + Affect/love).
What is the bigger picture?
When we look at the preferred gates for each enneatype, we see that the gates tend to reflect the preferred or repressed centers of intelligence for each type, i.e. the functions they are trying to balance. For example:
- Type Ones use Gate 34 (Power of the great/Strength) or Gate 57 (Intuitive Insight).
- Type Eights use Gate 26 (Taming the power of the great/Egoist) or Gate 37 (Tenderness/Equality).
Our souls incarnate here to focus on a particular triad, to learn to balance the three spiritual forces called Love, Wisdom and Power. They have to be done evenly or in balance with each other, because any one of those forces individually can corrupt on their own (see What Are the Three Spiritual Forces To Master? – Big Picture Questions.com).
The lessons contained within the three triads (when they’re not in balance) could be summarized as:
- Love without wisdom is undiscerning, impetuous, conditional or directionless (type 2).
- Love without power is fantasy, wishful thinking, and cannot extend itself (type 4).
- Wisdom without power is static, stagnant, or powerless, like inertia (type 5).
- Wisdom without love is cold, calculating, machine-like intellectualism (type 7).
- Power without wisdom is rash, foolish or insane, like the path to hell (type 1).
- Power without love is ruthless, dangerous, brutish or oppressive, like a dictator (type 8).
“Souls seeking to master a particular characteristic will come back time and again to vary their situations to understand and learn from all angles.” – Toni Ann Winninger
Final Thoughts
In response to our title question, the enneatypes do reflect the soul blueprints (as shown plus other associations not shown in this post). The ultimate goal for us, as creator entities in training, is to learn the core principles for integrated mastery:
- Know thyself (Wisdom).
- Love thy neighbor (Love).
- Do good deeds (Power).
The ideal condition is where the three forces are blended and balanced within us, so that our Power is tempered with Love saturated with Wisdom. In a nutshell, that’s why we’re here.
“Who you are is an Individuation of Divinity. Why you are here is to demonstrate that.” – Neale Donald Walsch
“Do not be afraid to show your soul to the world. For every one person that turns away, there are ten willing to see, love, appreciate and respect you for who you truly are.” ~ Creator (via Jennifer Farley)
NOTE: Part 1 of the Enneatype series (companion article) is here: How To Know Thyself? – Big Picture Questions.com & further analysis of types is found here: What Is a Spiritual Hero’s Journey? – Big Picture Questions.com
For more information, please see:
Ulla Sarmiento: Spiritual Guide To Our Multiverse, 2018
Ulla Sarmiento: Spiritual Guide To Our Afterlife, 2019
Ulla Sarmiento: Spiritual Guide To Our Relationships, 2020
Ulla Sarmiento: Spiritual Guide To Our Universal Laws, 2021
Ulla Sarmiento: Spiritual Guide To Our Awakening, 2021
Ulla Sarmiento: Spiritual Guide To Our Health, 2022
Don Riso & Russ Hudson: Home – The Enneagram Institute & Learn the Enneagram – The Enneagram Institute & Free Riso-Hudson Materials – The Enneagram Institute, Personality Types, 1996 & The Wisdom of the Enneagram, 1999
Renee Baron & Elizabeth Wagele: Are You My Type, Am I Yours, 1995
Kathy Hurley & Theodorre Donson: Discover Your Soul Potential: Using the Enneagram to Awaken Spiritual Vitality, 2000
Additional enneatype data: Stackemup Enneagram & Famous People and Their Enneagram Styles & Famous Types – guesses | Enneagram Books, Blogs, Famous People, and Music by Elizabeth Waggle & www.oocities.org/lifexplore/enfame.htm
Soul blueprints: The Human Design System – celebrities charts & Genetic Matrix – People Search & Chart – Report
Toni Ann Winninger: Masters of the Spirit World » Planet Earth
Richard Rudd: Gene Keys, 2009 & Gene Keys Network | Living Library (website)
Chetan Parkyn: The Book of Lines, 2012 & Human Design, 2009
Karen Curry: Understanding Human Design, 2013
Linda Bunnell & Ra Uru Hu: Human Design: The Science of Differentiation, 2011
Laleh Bakhtiar: Moral Healer’s Handbook: The psychology of spiritual chivalry, Volume II, 1994
Jose Stevens: Awakening the Inner Shaman, 2014
Steve Pavlina: Personal Development for Smart People – Steve Paulina
How To Know Thyself? – Big Picture Questions.com
What Is a Spiritual Hero’s Journey? – Big Picture Questions.com
How Do Hexagrams Fit Into the Cycle Of Creation? – Big Picture Questions.com
Is It Spiritual To Express Anger? – Big Picture Questions.com
What Are the Stages Of Spiritual Development? – Big Picture Questions.com
Where Do Human and Other Souls Come From? – Big Picture Questions.com
How Does Reincarnation Work? – Big Picture Questions.com
What Is the Law Of Gender? – Big Picture Questions.com
How To Dissolve Your Victim Patterns? – Big Picture Questions.com
What Are Siddhis Or Divine Gifts? – Big Picture Questions.com
What Is Spiritual Bypassing? – Big Picture Questions.com
What Are the Three Spiritual Forces To Master? – Big Picture Questions.com
Is There a Manual On How To Become a Spiritual Master? – Big Picture Questions.com
What Is Universal Motherhood? – Big Picture Questions.com
How To Change Our Soul Blueprint? – Big Picture Questions.com
What Is a Soul Blueprint Or Imprint? – Big Picture Questions.com
How and Why We Incarnate On Earth (Part 1)? – Big Picture Questions.com
How and Why We Incarnate On Earth (Part 2)? – Big Picture Questions.com
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Thanks for your comment, Barbara. That was my first paper on the enneatype associations with certain life plans. It doesn’t include all the data, but here is a post that has more information:
What Is My Enneagram Theory Of Everything? – Big Picture Questions
https://wp.me/p5EGgc-o7t
You will see that Gate 22 is found in the Life Themes of Leaders (type 8 as 47-22-45-26) and Thinkers (type 5 as 47-22-12-11). In reality, we have access to all of the Gates whether they are defined in our own chart or not. We just “live” them through those around us who have that gate. I hope that helps. Blessings.
Interesting, however, I don’t see Gate 22 anywhere… I have Gate 22 and the Right Angle Cross of Rulership as my incarnation cross. Under what Type does it classify? I’m making the assumption that there were no Gate 22 in your test group. Would love to see some information on this gate if at all possible.
Thank you, Nick. I love doing research like this! Glad you enjoy it!
Such a fascinating article. Thank you!
Thanks, Blossom. Did you see my other posts that describe the enneatypes:
What Is a Spiritual Hero’s Journey? – Big Picture Questions.com
http://wp.me/p5EGgc-jB2
Is It Spiritual To Express Anger? – Big Picture Questions.com
https://wp.me/p5EGgc-kUb
Please see if they help, if not, write back to me. My database is based on public profiles and some people known to me, so it’s best to see it as a work in progress or evolving understanding, just like the 12 archetypes described in my newest post:
Where Do Archetypes Come From? – Big Picture Questions
https://wp.me/p5EGgc-mSo
Thanks for your interest.
This is fascinating! I have studied both systems and have been looking for this correlation myself. Thank you so much for this article and work! I am wondering if there is any way to get the full list of gates to enneagram types? The chart only had 34 of them and there are certain gates I have my own guesses on but would love to see what you came up with. Let me know if that’s possible.