PERSONALITY TYPING THROUGH THE YEARS (4,000 of them)
GURDJIEFF | GALEN | KANT | KEIRSEY | BRIGGS
THE
ENNEAGRAM and GURDJIEFF
The Enneagram is one of the oldest know personality typing systems,
based on Pythagorean sacred geometry and moving forward through time
in the esoteric traditions of the Cabala and Islamic Sufi.
For the Western World, the Enneagram was popularized by the esoteric teacher and mystic, George Gurdjieff, who rediscovered the Enneagram in Afghanistan. Gurdjieff was a contemporary of Freud. He developed the Enneagram as a symbolic system or glyph to describe the creation of the universe.
All metaphysicians throughout the ages have sought to explain the creation of the world in a fourfold system derived from the basic elements or building blocks of matter: fire, earth, air and water. For an example of the prevalence of this way of thinking, this principle was explored by chemists/alchemists, astronomers/astrologers throughout the ages including Mozart in his opera, Die Zauberfloete, The Magic Flute, which is alchemical and esoteric in content.
I. M. Oderberg of the Theosophical Society wrote in a Sunrise magazine article (December 1991/January 1992) about The Magic Flute:
The opera's main characters are associated with the Sun and Moon and the four Elements of antiquity: Fire, Air, Water, and Earth. These are the subtle essences of the elements out of which our physical world and cosmos were formed -- not to be confused with the common elements with which we are familiar.... For more information, CLICK HERE.
There is also an excellent book on understanding the esoteric symbolism in the opera called Esoteric Symbolism in Mozart's Masonic Opera.
Near the end of the opera, the alchemical properties of fire and water are used powerfully in modern set designs, as works of art, to depict the primal yin/yang forces of the unverse.
The four temperaments were also used by the ancient Greek writer, Hipppocrates (460-377 BC) who described them as "humors". The great popularization came when the Roman physician Claudius Galen (129-216 BC) used them to diagnos and treat illness. Galen's influence on medicine in the western world prevailed through the Middle Ages.
I would like to quote from the University of Virginia Health System for a typical description of the scope of Galen's influence. This paragraph is quoted from GALEN, author not indicated.
[begin
quote] GALENISM
Galen, for all his mistakes, remained the unchallenged authority for
over a thousand years. After he died in 203 CE, serious anatomical and
physiological research ground to a halt, because everything there was
to be said on the subject had been said by Galen, who, it is reported,
kept at least 20 scribes on staff to write down his every dictum. Although
he was not a Christian, Galen’s writings reflect a belief in only
one god, and he declared that the body was an instrument of the soul.
This made him most acceptable to the fathers of the church and to Arab
and Hebrew scholars. Galen’s mistakes perpetuated fundamental errors
for nearly fifteen hundred years [emphasis mind] until Vesalius,
the sixteenth century anatomist, although he regarded his predecessor
with esteem, began to dispel Galen’s authority. [end quote]
Medieval
doctors pulling on a man's limbs
IMMANUEL
KANT
The German philosopher Immanuel Kant, considered by most to be one of
the greatest philosophers since Socrates, also described the four elements
or humors in his 1798 book Anthropologie.
Let's look at a comparison of the use of the four elements in describing human nature, as it evolved through the ages.
CHART 1 - based on the original system of Galen's Humors
|
Humor
|
Physiology
|
Today's
Dictionary Usage
|
MBTI™
Keirsey |
Element
|
|
sanguine
|
blood
|
cheerfully
confident and optimistic
|
"sp"
|
fire
|
|
choleric
|
yellow
bile
|
easily
angered, bad tempered
|
"nf"
|
water
|
|
melancholic
|
black
bile
|
depressed,
melancholic, unhappy
|
"sj"
|
earth
|
|
phlegmatic
|
phlegm
|
calm,
sluggish, unemotional
|
"nt"
|
air
|
As in so many other cases, the use of the word as it is found today has diverged from the original meaning, but one would expect a kernel of truth in the current usage.
CHART 2 - comparison as terminology changes through the ages
|
PLATO
(340)
|
HIPPOCRATES
(460) |
||
|
artisan
|
sanguine
|
perceptive
|
Dionysian
- artisan
|
|
philosopher
|
choleric
|
feelingful
|
Apollonian
- idealist
|
|
guardian
|
melancholic
|
judicious
|
Epimethean
- guardian
|
|
scientist
|
phlegmatic
|
thoughtful
|
Promethean
- rational
|
DAVID
M. KEIRSEY
The most recent temperament typing method was developed by psychologist
named David M. Keirsey, who developed the Keirsey Temperament Sorter
in 1987.
I refer constantly throughout my site to the work of David Keirsey and the website prepared by his son. I find the information and the site user friendly and non-proprietary. You can obtain the information you need for less than $14.95 in a self test at www.keirsey.com.
MYERS-BRIGGS
TYPE INDICATOR™
Perhaps the most popular method is an assessment tool called the Myers-Briggs
Type Indicator™ or MBTI™, which is taken by over four million
people annually, in over 16 different languages.
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What Nancy's readers have said:
11.1.2004 Very enjoyable article. Right on.
