Enneagram Planet

Determining Type

Can one determine Enneagram type through astrological birth chart analysis alone? While the natal chart can provide potent clues as to type, I do not think it can be used to "diagnose" type at this time--nor is that necessarily desireable. After all, the introspection required in discerning type is more important as a process for personal growth, than is coming up with an "answer" per se. Determining Type is not the goal of the work, but simply a potent tool for the real work: Liberating the individual from compulsive reactions, so that one may live out of the True Self, or "Essence". The work is profoundly spiritual.

Traditionally, discerning Enneagram type has been a process guided by someone well versed in the system as a whole. It is only recently that respected Enneagram teachers have offered self-assesssment tools and questionnaires (some available through the links on this site) for the seeker.

I am still very cautious, even reluctant, to recommend such tools without the additional insight of a teacher trained in type discernment. This is more true for the Enneagram than for any other personality system, for the Enneagram is designed to identify material that gets beyond the idealized self-image, and to expose the unconscious (and unflattering) core motivations of the personality. Self assessment tools are ultimately only as effective as the ability of the user to correctly identify their own unconscious drives and motivations. It requires self awareness and humility.

Both Enneagram and astrology teach type through lists of traits or characteristics belonging to a given type or sign. In my own theory of Enneastrology, I note specific chart factors that are correlated with a given type. For example, a Moon in hard aspect to Saturn is likely to show the personality traits of Ennea Type Two. A Mars that is completely unaspected or otherwise isolated in the birth chart signifies traits of Type One. But what if a birth chart holds both those chart factors? Is the individual a type Two or a One? Indeed it is common for a chart to hold factors delineating more than one type. Clearly more detective work is needed to determine how these chart factors are actually experienced and lived out, in order to discern which one is the core type. Always, dilaogue is the preferred mode of operation.

It would be nice if type could be determined simply through astrological chart analysis. Maybe some day it will be possible. Nevertheless it is my hope that Enneastrology will contribute toward a deepened appreciation of both traditional Enneagram and Astrology teachings, and what these two great traditions have to offer one another.

Why Enneagram Planets?

Most people think of the zodiac first when they think of astrology. The zodiac refers to the twelve astrological constellations such as Aries, Taurus, Gemini and the rest. Most people know their "Sun Sign", which is the sign the Sun was in on the day of their birth.

Enneastrology does NOT start with the zodiac. Instead, the focus is on the symbols of the Planets, and the ACTION which they represent, for it is this action which generates the characteristic behaviors and compulsions of the nine Enneagram personality types. The best way to make this distinction is to remember the following:

A planet is a verb; an astrological sign is an adjective.

Thus: The planets are symbols of a specific kind of ACTION within the psyche or personality. The astrological sign of that planet will describe the style, or way that the action is carried out.

A very brief key to the actions of the planets is as follows:

Sun: creating an Identity or Soul connection
Moon: nurturing and security
Mercury: thinking and communicating
Mars: asserting and defending the ego
Venus: pleasure and expressing values
Jupiter: learning and adding to the self through experience
Saturn: self management and discipline
Uranus: creativity and autonomy
Neptune: merging with the collective ideal
Pluto: transformation, and personal power

It is my observation that the planetary energy which is "least integrated" in the birth chart, or most difficult to express, that becomes the "Enneagram Planet", and which creates the habit patterns and compulsions known as the Enneagram personality type.

Determining which planet is the Enneagram Planet for an individual is a complex art in itself, and integrating that planetary energy productively is the spiritual work of Enneastrology.

Biographical statement

I have had a lifelong fascination with spiritual formation and the illusive mask that our soul wears, which we call the "personality."

In 1981 I received my Masters in Divinity degree from Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, CA.

I was ordained elder in the United Methodist Church in 1983, and served the church as associate pastor at Walnut Creek United Methodist Church, and then First UMC in Sacramento CA, for a total of ten years in pastoral ministry.

While a pastor, I became a certified administrator of the Meyers-Brigggs Temperament Indicator, and used the MBTI as a tool for leadership development and in pastoral counseling.

In the mid 1980s I continued to study spiritual formation, and my spiritual director, Gerry Hair S.J., introduced me to the Enneagram.

In 1991 I left pastoral ministry in order to spend more time with my young family and to continue to specialize in spiritual formation beyond the local church setting. During this time I led retreats, taught classes, counseled individuals and studied with others, including a class from noted Enneagram teacher Helen Palmer.

Also during the early 1990s, along with Gerry Hair, S.J., and Jim Neafsey, S.J., I co-founded the Anamchara Spirituality Center in Sacramento, CA, where we led a nine month training program in spiritual companionship for several years. We used the Enneagram extensively in our training.

Privately I renewed an old interest in astrology, and began to see how the symbols of astrology related to the personality types of the Enneagram. Gradually I formed my own comprehensive theory, which I call Enneastrology.

In 2001 the respected international astrology journal, The Mountain Astrologer, published a three part series of articles in which I shared my findings publicly for the first time.

My goal as the founder of Enneastrology is to share my ideas and stimulate further research into the ways that Enneagram personality type is reflected in the astrological birth chart, so that individuals may waken from the dream of personality into the truth of Spirit.

Andrea Meek Winchester