There’s a similar application of the Enneagram, but to body types. Rodney Collin is a source for these ideas. Joel Friedlander and Susan Zannos have written books on this version of the Enneagram.

Another application of the Enneagram is as part of a pantheon of systems – from monads, dyads and triads through to larger systems. John Godolphin (J. G.) Bennett was key in developing these ideas and their application to life situations. He used the term Systematics (also used in Biology, but with a different meaning). Two of his books that are relevant are Elementary Systematics / A Tool for Understanding Wholes and Enneagram Studies. Bennett had ties to Gurdjieff, who introduced the Enneagram to his students.

Bennett’s ideas on Systematics have been applied in business situations. See Saul Kuchinsky’s Systematics / Search for Miraculous Mangement and Richard Knowles’ The Leadership Dance / Pathways To Extraordinary Organizational Effectiveness. Saul died some years ago; go to www.centerforselforganizingleadership.com/ to contact Richard and his wife. Tell them I sent you.

Here’s a picture of the Enneagram, with a red circle at the top that I added to fit it into the N-Gram diagrams I developed. They are based on the way the patterns of repeating digits in base ten for n/7 (.00, .142857, .99) and n/3 (.oo, .33, .66, .99)  are represented in the Enneagram, but with other divisors in addition to 3 and 7, and applied in other bases in addition to ten.

Enneagram with top point emphasis

He uses the term “micro-chakras” in the context of human development. Each of the seven (major) chakras has within it a sort of miniature version of each of the seven chakras. These 49 stages are further divided by the three major nadi-s (or channels – left, right and center – named ida, pingala, and sushumna respectively) through which they manifest, forming 147 micro-chakras. The micro-chakras take center stage in turn as the human organism develops. In the first year of life, energy goes down the right channel, then takes the next 42 or 49 years to go up the right channel (6 years per chakra for females, 7 years per chakra for males). Trauma in one’s life can form blocks in the then-developing micro-chakra.

I see correlations with this model of human development and Abraham Maslow’s “hierarchy of needs” (no reference at hand). We start with a need for grounding, security (first chakra), then for relationship to family and friends (second), then ego and power (third), unconditional love (fourth), and so on.

I recommend the book Chakras / Energy Centers of Transformation by Harish Johari (Destiny Books, 1987) for extensive detail on the chakras and their meanings. It refers to the topic of this post to some degree in the descriptions of the “behavioral characteristics” of each of the chakras.

I (and many others) know Harish as Dada (“older brother”). He wrote many other books – on yantras, breath, ayurveda, Hindu myths – some child-oriented, massage, cooking, gems, numerology, and more. He was a master artist. Among other media, he used layered watercolors with washes between layers. He drew from classical sources to express the gods and goddesses that were often the subject of his paintings. His voice is available on CDs and other media.

Dada and Shyamji have sung sounds that can carry the listener to rarely-visited realms in the seas of the chakra energies.

Some of those who were close to Dada formed Sanatan Society, which has .org and .com web sites.

Publisher Inner Traditions has produced many of Dada’s books, and in 2009 a book by Shyamji with co-author David Isaacs, called Microchakras / InnerTuning for Psychological Well-being [Includes CD of InnerTuning Sacred Sounds].

I have Shyamji’s book. I find myself unable to listen to the CD, nor delve into the text, for personal reasons. However, I do believe its description of [ the components of the being known as "human" and their development through a life ] has great value.