Origins and history of the model

Some take the view that the Enneagram goes back to Pythagoras, but its origins are uncertain. Present in Sufism (a mystical movement in Islam), it was taught by Gurdjieff in the early twentieth century, then by Oscar Ichazo in Chile in the 1950s. In the 1970s Professor Claudio Naranjo (still active today) successfully compared it with concepts in classic psychiatry, leading to its rise to fame in American university circles.

The Enneagram, encouraged by certain Jesuits, spread into religious circles in the 1980s, while psychologist Helen Palmer approached the subject in greater depth and set up a professional training scheme for trainers, together with David Daniels. Her first book is still a major Enneagram milestone.

Since the 1990s, various schools have proliferated and the Enneagram has undergone major developments with numerous publications. Since 1994, the International Enneagram Association has organised an annual World Congress for its members.