It’s said that the first English-language Enneagram book was published in the mid-1980’s. Since then hundreds (if not thousands) more titles have flooded the market.

Most of the books still in print are mere regurgitations of the ideas Ócsar Ichazo passed along to Claudio Naranjo, the ovarial type descriptions written by Helen Palmer, or the Enneagram system’s framework designed and developed by Don Richard Riso and Russ Hudson.

Additionally, much of the contemporary Enneagram literature still in print has been produced by American teachers. As I mentioned in my book, The Sacred Enneagram (page 61):

“An often under-interrogated but urgent invitation for the Western Enneagram community lies in the obvious and lamentable lack of ethnic diversity among its leading experts. Though the modern use of the Enneagram was codified and propagated by Óscar Ichazo and Claudio Naranjo (both South Americans), the Enneagram has since been disseminated largely through white, North American teachers. This observation has led to fierce critique of white, Western privilege and racial bias assumed to be fused into the way the Enneagram is currently taught and utilized. On the rise, however, are remarkable Enneagram authorities such as Nina Barnes, Rev. Nhien Dougherty, Henna Minhas Garg, Talía Guerrero Gonzalez, Avon Manney, and Priabpran Punyabukkana, who are decolonizing some of the cultural bias overlaid on much of the contemporary Western Enneagram material.”

In an attempt to offer a reading list that honors the originators of the modern Enneagram’s current use and application, while simultaneously illustrating the diversity of thought-leaders shaping the overall conversation, I offer this starter-library for the Enneagram curious.

A. H. Almaas Facets of Unity: The Enneagram of Holy Ideas

Laleh Bakhtiar The Sufi Enneagram: Sign of the Presence of God (Wajhullah) The Secrets of the Symbol Unveiled  

Beatrice Chestnut The Complete Enneagram: 27 Paths to Greater Self-Knowledge

Fatima Fernandez Christleib Where (on Earth) Did the Enneagram Come From?

Óscar Ichazo Between Metaphysics and Protoanalysis

Sandra Maitri The Enneagram of Passions and Virtues: Finding the Way Home

Sandra Maitri The Spiritual Dimension of the Enneagram: The Nine Faces of the Soul

Claudio Naranjo Character and Neurosis: An Integrative View

Helen Palmer The Enneagram Love and Work: Understanding Your Business and Intimate Relationships

Helen Palmer The Enneagram: Understanding Yourself and the Others in Your Life

Don Richard Riso and Russ Hudson The Wisdom of the Enneagram: The Complete Guide to Psychological and Spiritual Growth for the Nine Personality Types

Father Richard Rohr and Andreas Ebert The Enneagram: A Christian Perspective