Many thanks to Laurence England who drew my attention to this 2003 document from the Vatican. Jesus Christ, The Bearer of The Water of Life A Christian reflection on the “New Age” states...

John Paul II warns with regard to the “return of ancient gnostic ideas under the guise of the so-called New Age: We cannot delude ourselves that this will lead toward a renewal of religion. It is only a new way of practising gnosticism – that attitude of the spirit that, in the name of a profound knowledge of God, results in distorting His Word and replacing it with purely human words. Gnosticism never completely abandoned the realm of Christianity. Instead, it has always existed side by side with Christianity, sometimes taking the shape of a philosophical movement, but more often assuming the characteristics of a religion or a para-religion in distinct, if not declared, conflict with all that is essentially Christian”. An example of this can be seen in the enneagram, the nine-type tool for character analysis, which when used as a means of spiritual growth introduces an ambiguity in the doctrine and the life of the Christian faith.

[...]

Enneagram: (from the Greek ennéa = nine + gramma = sign) the name refers to a diagram composed of a circle with nine points on its circumference, connected within the circle by a triangle and a hexangle. It was originally used for divination, but has become known as the symbol for a system of personality typology consisting of nine standard character types. It became popular after the publication of Helen Palmer's book The Enneagram, but she recognises her indebtedness to the Russian esoteric thinker and practitioner G.I. Gurdjieff, the Chilean psychologist Claudio Naranjo and author Oscar Ichazo, founder of Arica. The origin of the enneagram remains shrouded in mystery, but some maintain that it comes from Sufi mysticism.

[link]

So... The Enneagram, it "introduces an ambiguity in the doctrine and the life of the Christian faith", it "is only a new way of practising gnosticism" and "We cannot delude ourselves that this will lead toward a renewal of religion."

Fortunately, here in the Diocese of Middlesbrough there are no Enneagrams, none at all, nill, nada, zilch.

Oops...

Enneagram Studies in the Narrative Tradition with Karen Webb

An Introduction to the Enneagram, led by Karen Webb on June 1st and 2nd, 2009 at St Bede’s Pastoral Centre, York

The Enneagram is a dynamic, ancient, spiritual and psychological model of humanity. It describes nine basic personality types, how they vary and interact, and the direct link between the psycho-logical and spiritual aspects of each. Giving extraordinarily accurate insight into our day-to-day behaviour, preoccupations, strengths and weaknesses and those of our friends, colleagues and lovers, it also indicates each person’s most fruitful approach to personal growth.

The outer study of the system concerns how the nine types think and feel, how they relate to each other, what will help them flourish and grow. This offers essential understanding of ourselves and our relationships; but the real power of the system lies in the inner study.

The inner study joins insight into personality with the technology of sacred tradition. The Enneagram shows ways in which emotional red flags such as jealousy or fear can become the raw material, the energy source, for liberation. The task is to transform the thoughts and emotions that define our personality into capacities such as empathy, non-attachment and love

On this introductory workshop you will:

• Discover the hidden emotional and mental concerns of each type
• Learn some of the patterns of behaviour and interaction created by these unconscious habits of perception
• Recognise your own type and those of people you know
• Understand how security as well as stress ‘changes’ your personality
• Learn to improve relationships of all kinds, by
  • seeing yourself through others’ eyes
  • understanding the different points of view of each type
  • realising your own biases and reactions towards different types
• Learn the higher attributes of each type
• Start to discover how to use your ‘negative’ patterns to fuel growth

Whether you already know something about the Enneagram, or nothing, the Narrative Tradition approach will give you a living experience of each type.

Karen Webb is an internationally known teacher and author who has taught the Enneagram since 1992

[Link]

The Enneagram has always had "dodgy" written all over it and now I see the Vatican warns against it as well. So how come there's a study day on it at the St Bede's Pastoral Centre and how come Middlesbrough Diocese website is being used to publicise it?