Enneagram: Open yourself to a deeper relationship with God

 Debbi Horton graduated from the Christos Tending the Holy program in 1996.  In addition to her work as a Spiritual Director, she is a triple-certified Enneagram educator. Her teachers include David Daniels, Russ Hudson, Helen Palmer, and Anne Muree. She is also a Guide with the Enneagram Prison Project at Shakopee Women’s Prison (Minnesota) and elsewhere. Formerly, Debbi served on the Christos board and as president for Enneagram Minnesota (the MN chapter of the International Enneagram Association). Find out more at debhorton.com.

Debbi is also hosting an online Enneagram retreat at Christos on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023. Click here for details and registration.

How did you find Christos, and how did Christos spark your study of the Enneagram? Christos is such a dear spiritual home to me. I met the late Carol Strandquist (longtime Christos staff member, teacher and volunteer) in the late 1980s at University of St. Thomas where I was a career counselor. Carol inspired me to start doing silent retreats and I became interested in the whole contemplative stance to Christianity. I participated in the Tending the Holy program from 1994-96 and started to do some work in Spiritual Direction while I balanced part-time jobs and parenthood.

My spiritual direction studies introduced me to the Enneagram and I did some extra studies with a local teacher. Then Russ Hudson, who wrote the Wisdom of the Enneagram, came to St. Paul to do a weeklong intensive session, and I took a leap of faith and signed up. I didn’t really know what I was getting into but I did it!  Until that class, I hadn’t recognized the depth of the spiritual component of the Enneagram. It inspired me to do quite a bit of training, and to become certified by a couple organizations. I began using it as part of my Spiritual Direction work, too.

What appealed to you early on about the Enneagram?

When I first heard Russ Hudson speak during that intensive session, I recognized new connections. Our Enneagram type is not who we are. It’s what keeps us from being fully who we are. In terms of spirituality, the Enneagram shows me what blocks me from being in a full, open-hearted relationship to God and others. Knowing ourselves and knowing God are intertwined. Teresa of Avila said it well: “All problems in the spiritual life stem from a lack of self-knowledge.” I don’t separate my spiritual journey from my journey with the Enneagram. They go hand in hand.

 The Enneagram is a tool that has been helpful in my own spiritual growth. As a personality assessment, it gets under the behaviors and goes to motivations – our own motivations based on our Enneagram type and the motivations of other types. It tells us what we forgot about how God created us to be, and what got lost as we developed ego and a personality structure as we grew up. God’s love is always there pouring forth but how am I not in touch with it?  Knowing the Enneagram, I can unwind some of the things that have kept me from being in touch with God’s love. 

How do you use the Enneagram with spiritual directees?  

Knowing the Enneagram invites curiosity. Using the Enneagram in the best way invites me to look beyond someone’s personality type (their Enneagram number) and helps them uncover their true nature.  Using the nine different Enneagram points, we can dive into the essence qualities of each type and catch a glimpse of our True Nature and how we reflect God’s image. As we grow in our own spiritual lives, we recognize and integrate things we tried to push away. That opens a deeper relationship with God, ourselves and others.

 One of the ways the Enneagram has helped me the most is helping me to ask questions that go to deeper places and get to the heart of things in a way that’s helpful. As a Spiritual Director my filter is not someone’s Enneagram type. I celebrate and honor the uniqueness of each person and the uniqueness of their journey.

Why is Enneagram helpful for people in ministry?

If someone in ministry uses the Enneagram and finds it useful with themselves, it helps them recognize their own biases. It helps them recognize what might keep them from being open to their own ministry in a fuller way. Whether you’re using the Enneagram as a tool with directees or in ministry, it all aims toward being more fully who God has created us to be. We can be more fully alive in that ministry. As Russ Hudson says, the Enneagram is not the box we fit in, it’s what helps us see what the box is so we can get outside of it. It’s a starting point.