Why Lynn’s Enneagram Mandala?
Old Ivagrius Enneagram Diagram
The lines within the old Enneagram diagram connecting the “types” as seen in most Enneagram books, were created by Ivagrius in the 5th century AD, changing the original Ancient Culture Triangles. I had questioned the viability of the Ivagrius diagram as it gave me two connections to my emotional brain and one to my strength/gut brain, with nothing connecting me to my thinking brain. This does not fit with my PhD in social work. I was delighted that my suspicions about the Ivagrius lines were accurate. Most current books, however, do not use the Triangles. I believe they are an essential tool in psychotherapy (see below).
A historian hired in 2010 by Helen Palmer, a noted Enneagram author, discovered that ancient cultures used an Enneagram diagram with three Triangles within the three Triads around the circle, not the hexagonal lines in many Enneagram books. When Helen Palmer revealed the Triangles in 2011, I created an Enneagram Mandala with the three Triads, and three Triangles, with colors to differentiate.
Ancient cultures discerned that our Triad showed one of our three brains as dominant. Then we are connected to two other Triads across the circle forming a Triangle. We are completed with our Triangle like a three-legged stool that needs all its legs to stand balanced and strong. In my work with clients, I’ve found that our gifts and our vulnerabilities lie in our Triad, with our growth potential found in our Triangle. This is valuable to psychotherapists because the Enneagram Mandala forms a template for emotional, mental, and behavioral health. I have given the Triangles names illustrating their commonalities (See the Article on Triangles).