The Enneagram is a fascinating model of the human psyche. Everyone should take the test at least once in their lifetime!
Used in therapy, business, and self-development circles, the Enneagram is a powerful tool that can increase your self-awareness, empower you with self-understanding, and increase your self-love.
The Enneagram is also a highly psycho-spiritual model (meaning that it caters to human psychology and spirituality) that can support you on your spiritual journey.
Get ready to learn about your deepest strengths, weaknesses, and gifts in our free enneagram test!
What Stage Are You In?
Spiritual awakening isn't like hiking up an ascending mountain. Instead, it's like a series of rippling valleys. Find out where you are on the path...
How Does the Enneagram Work?
The word ‘enneagram’ is composed of the two Greek words ennéa (meaning nine) and grámma (meaning something written). And that is the crux of the enneagram: it reveals the nature of the human personality by dividing it into nine different archetypes.
The interesting thing about the Enneagram is that it possesses a number of different facets that help us to identify:
(1) what we desire more than anything else,(2) what we value the most, (3) what tempts us the most, (4) what causes us the most fear, (5) what our biggest fault is, (6) what our greatest virtue is.
Our enneagram test (bottom of page) will help you to identify these different facets and what you need to pay attention to.
The 9 Enneagram Types
The nine Enneagram types include:
- Type 1 – The Reformer
- Type 2 – The Giver
- Type 3 – The Performer
- Type 4 – The Individualist
- Type 5 – The Observer
- Type 6 – The Loyalist
- Type 7 – The Idealist
- Type 8 – The Challenger
- Type 9 – The Peacemaker
It is common to find a little bit of yourself in all nine Enneagram types. However, one or two of them should stand out for you as revealed by this enneagram test. These are your dominant personality types.
How Understanding the Enneagram Could Transform Your Life
The Enneagram Typology was first conceptualized by the mystic Gurdjieff and developed further by Oscar Ichazo and psychiatrist Claudio Naranjo.
There are several reasons why understanding your Enneagram type is so helpful:
- It helps you to become more objectively aware of your personality “blind spots”
- It assists you in developing more self-love by helping you to understand yourself more
- It encourages you to consciously work on parts of your personality that inhibit your ability to live a harmonious life
- It allows you to develop more awareness of your “higher self” (Soul) by deconstructing your personality
Keep in mind that the Enneagram is more of a system of transformation than a means of labeling and identification. Perhaps the most amazing thing about the Enneagram is that it encourages the development and liberation of the Soul underneath.
Enneagram and Spiritual Awakening
The power of the enneagram lies in its ability to lead us to higher awareness. By helping us to understand the root of our fixations and various neurosis, we learn about our ego structure and where it broke off from Divine consciousness (called the ‘Holy Idea’). We also learn what quality we need to develop in order to deepen our spiritual awakening journey.
In his Enneagram book Facets of Unity, A. H. Almaas writes,
The … view of the Enneagram is that each ennea-type fixation is the expression of a limited mental perspective on reality, and that each of the nine egoic perspectives is the direct result of the loss or absence of the enlightened perception of one of the Holy Ideas … Working with the Enneagram as part of a larger spiritual work, however, leads to a much deeper realization of truth and thus, a freedom from personality patterns.
Take Our Free Enneagram Test!
Now that you have the important background information, it’s time to get started!
Find out what your Enneagram type is in our free enneagram test below. (Don’t forget to share what you got in the comments!) This is one of the best, free, and fast Enneagram tests out there with a description of your type at the end:
What did you get?
Share your results!
I just took the enneagram test and my, did it tell me what I’ve been needing to hear. I got the Mediator, and that is exactly who I am underneath it all. I love the living situation I have right now, my best friends and I live together and we create together and my biggest fear is losing this life, even though I know none of us want to live in this same town forever. I also ranked high on the Perfectionist and the Performer and those were pretty spot on as well. I need to stop being vane and caring about my appearance so much. I have also been doing a lot of thinking and reading about what it means to be ‘good’ and ‘bad,’ since I recently behaved in a way that society deems despicable. I am ashamed of myself for what I did as well, partaking in a relationship with someone who is married, because I have always held my morals with such high esteem. I knew the whole time that what I was doing was not right, but at the same time I guess I didn’t care. I took a journey to the darker side of my being, my Shadow Self was in play I guess you could say, and while I did’t mean anyone harm, I’m glad I went there. This test has helped me identify the things I most struggle with, and for that, I thank you.
There were always some walls in my personality I couldn’t see over, no matter how hard I tried to rise above it all. There were things I just could not make myself do, as if someone else had control of my clutch and I could stomp on the gas and steer any way I wanted to go… but nothing would happen until Mr. Clutch let himself out… and he didn’t care what I wanted AT ALL. When I was about 40, a friend lent me a book about the Enneagram by Helen Palmer. Nailed me as a Nine (Mediator) on the first try! Now I understand… and it’s all too obvious how and why I made that decision where to place my attention. I’m 20 years older, and I haven’t been able to penetrate the more spiritual aspects of the Enneagram yet (probably because I’m just a lazy Nine :) ). I will continue to follow your writings.
Thank you Carl for sharing how helpful the Enneagram has been to your self-growth and acceptance. It’s a very basic tool, but it helps us start on our way to the right path.
Peacemaker, although I tend to be so empathic (real word? or too much sci-fi? im not sure anymore) that I will either take on the traits of others to make them feel comfortable, or take on the opposite traits to try and balance any given situation or dynamic (I’ve learned that often this is not the best thing to do, conflict avoidance has the peculiar tendency to solve one problem and create another if you know what I mean, its just sets up a cycle of avoidance and denial of root issues, however it can be useful in workplace or semi personal life).
Not that these become my traits, I guess this is just a aspect of trying to avoid confrontation or asserting my true self in the presence of others who I find even mildly uncomfortable, uncomfortable maybe the wrong word, I just sense something about them and decide to act in a way I think will be the most “harmonious” which isnt necessarily how I would be with someone I knew intimately, but I suppose to some degree most people do this.
I have found a better method is to be creative, understanding and clever about dealing with certain situations and people, not over-bearing or insistent, not a clown or scapegoat, not apologizing or pitying, the method depends on the situation and/or person so I cant give any one answer.
Hola Zu,
The purpose of Enneagrams isn’t so much to find an absolute all encompassing personality archetype in which you can fit into, so much as it provides you with the ability to ‘loosely’ label yourself so as to give you a starting point to explore further.
I feel you’ve illustrated magnificently how useful it can be as a tool of self-discovery in your comment.
Thank you don Mateo Sol, your encouragement and compliment are very much appreciated.
I am predominantly an Observer with a touch of Boss as I hate to be controlled.
i must say that after exploring socionics and mbti i found enneagram the most useful and practical
i have found my enneagram type:-
apparently i scored 95% on the Observer
and learning more about enneagram has helped me realize that I am 5w4 sx type
I have found a lot of generalized description of the 9 types
but i am unable to gather detailed information on a type due to influences from other subtypes and the instincts
from where can I learn more about this and use the information to help me?
The Boss, Observer and Loyalist.
Not exactly a person I would like to be friends with but this has been an eye opener. I hope to resolve my inner conflicts better.
Love the website btw. I found out about this place too late. Brilliant work!
Gracias Rayeesa, it’s our pleasure to share our paths of self-realizations with other fellow travelers such as yourself.
It’s never to late, this website is still young!
To be honest, I’ve tried this Enneagram thing and I found it confusing. I was trying to identify with certain characteristics of one type which I thought closely resembled my “personality”, so some aspects of it kinda tripped me up. Looking back, I may have gone about it the wrong way – instead of trying to identify myself with the descriptions, I could have used it as a tool to explore the different facets of myself and see how say, one type corresponds with another to make up someone’s individual self as a whole. Am I right?
On a side note, I like this website very much and all the articles are interesting and insightful.
Hola,
You are right, you were doing it backwards. The whole point of Enneagram’s is to find stuff about yourself you didn’t know before. By trying to identify yourself with the description, you are trying to identify with something you aren’t aware of inside of you yet.
Using the description, try to explore your past, your memories, your actions that you might have been unable to explain why you proceeded the way you did and it is through the ‘Holy Ideas’ that you might find an answer.
Thank you for your kind compliment, we love writing for our lovely audience.
Warmly,
Sol
I’m agreed with you about the “labeling”. You are right, Mr. Sol. I somehow feel excited when i knew somebody who are the same “label” with me. Include this site and the people in it. if I may say, i found my second home here. haha
Another way to know me better. I took the test and there are 2 enneagram personalities that above 70%. The mediator and the individualist. Well i think they will go along within me :)
Btw, it’s been a while i’m not checking this site. been busy these past couple months. and a lot of your articles that i must-be-read and to catch up. hehe
Best regards from me, for you and Luna! ❤
Hola Iqbal,
It’s the labeling of ourselves that brings many people to LonerWolf, it’s like a collective cocoon that allows us to form our wings and become butterflies :).
That’s okay, we’ll always be around waiting for you to catch up on all our articles. It’s nice to see your comments every now and again.
Best of luck in your journey of self-discovery and we hope to see you soon!
I have strong elements of the Individualist, the Idealist, the Mediator, and the Performer. I can strongly identify with the Individualist because my biggest fear is to live an ordinary life and I challenge the American Dream. I’ve been reading about the statistics and I learned that America deludes itself into thinking that it’s the greatest country in the world which is highly unrealistic. At it’s worst, America enforces conformity through the military, the workplace, and many other social settings. Like the Idealist, I feel very optimistic about my future and I challenge the conventional lifestyle of marriage, kids, and a typical office job. I am highly skeptical towards marriage because in the past, marriages didn’t happen out of love and marriages happened for economic reasons or political reasons. I refuse to have a typical office job because I think that the office job would suck out my creativity and I don’t want to be sycophantic towards my boss. I also feel strongly disengaged in small talk about safe topics. I have a strong element of the Mediator because my biggest fear is heated and angry conflicts because I become emotionally reactive during heated conflicts. I have a strong desire to live a vagabond lifestyle and a creative lifestyle and a minimalist lifestyle
Hola Zane,
It’s the ideal of the “American Dream” that keeps America working 40 hour weeks with a couple weeks holiday a year and no health care system while still thinking they are the best. When it comes to quality of life, I think there are many more countries out there that fulfill that promise a lot better.
‘The Individualist’ type is often a necessary phase a seeker of truth must go through in order to evolve in their journey. We need to be selfish at times, to be rebellious and free thinking in order to liberate ourselves from our mental shackles that come in the form of beliefs and habitual actions.
At the end of our journey, I think we all have little bits and pieces from each one of these enneagram types. It is the journey of our personality to dedicate a lifetime (if not more), to go through all these different stages in order to find an inner balance and absorb what each personality type is trying to teach them.
Continue that great journey of yours!
I absolutely loved this article, thank you so much, keep up the good work :)
Thank you Zainab, It’s my pleasure to keep writing for our wonderful readers.