Four Temperaments

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Four Temperaments: a very useful tool for spiritual growth:

It may be difficult in many cases to decide upon the temperament of any particular person; still we should not permit ourselves to be discouraged in the attempt to understand our own temperament and that of those persons with whom we live or with whom we come often into contact, for the advantages of such insight are very great. To know the temperaments of our fellow men helps us to understand them better, treat them more correctly, bear with them more patiently. These are evidently advantages for social life which can hardly be appreciated enough.
 
I was watching EWTN one time and Mother Angelica was talking about the how she believed in the Four Temperaments. Another program shortly after, I saw her freaking out about the Enneagram, calling it a dangerous New Age device. How come the Four Temperaments are okay to go by, but the Enneagram is not?

Sure, the Four Temperaments go way back to the ancient Greeks, but aren’t they just as pagan and erroneous? After all, didn’t they believe that one having one Temperament over another was caused by the excess of a certain bodily fluid like black bile? (I was a physiology major in college, and never learned what black bile is)
 
I must say, I read what it said about the melancholic personality, and it pretty much hit the head on the nail for me. One thing that struck me was that, melancholics are despaired when their will is not done, yet it says that, not even God’s will is always done, and because of this, melancholics have a deep longing for God and take GREAT benefit in suffering.
Love the Cross!
 
reading this reprint could be valuable as an aid to understanding advice given by spiritual directors such as Francis de Sales, Ignatius and John of the Cross, who wrote in the time when this theory of temperaments was the accepted mode of personality analysis. For instance all 3 have warnings about how a person of melancholic disposition should act and react in certain circumstances, what dangers they face in the spiritual life etc.
 
Joel Ruiz-Dana:
I was watching EWTN one time and Mother Angelica was talking about the how she believed in the Four Temperaments. Another program shortly after, I saw her freaking out about the Enneagram, calling it a dangerous New Age device. How come the Four Temperaments are okay to go by, but the Enneagram is not?

Sure, the Four Temperaments go way back to the ancient Greeks, but aren’t they just as pagan and erroneous? After all, didn’t they believe that one having one Temperament over another was caused by the excess of a certain bodily fluid like black bile? (I was a physiology major in college, and never learned what black bile is)
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From my limited research on this issue, I’ve noticed that anti-enneagram Catholics point to the occultic origins of the enneagram. I can’t verify whether its origins are really as occultic as argued (e.g., involving the invoking of demons by enneagram exponent Oscar Ichazo, I believe), but that’s the accusation I’ve heard. Whereas, the temperaments apparently originated from the use of human reason and simply observing how different people behave in different ways.

I know the enneagram is popular with some Jesuits.
 
For information on the Enneagram from Catholic sources:

lhla.org/globalwatch/gwenneagram.htm

(lhla - Living His Life Abundantly

ewtn.com/library/NEWAGE/ENNEAGRM.TXT

Mitch Pacwa SJ has written quite a bit about the enneagram. He used to be an enthusiast but has since done his homework. Here’s one site with a transcript of a talk:

cfpeople.org/Apologetics/page51a076.html

Looking up Mitch Pacwa Ennegram led to two sorts of places. The first told about what was wrong with the Ennegram. The second aimed at showing Mitch Pacwa to be an idiot.
 
Spiritual Theology by Jordan Aumann has an excellent explanation of the four temperaments. Unfortunately it is out of print. Another good book is The Temperament God Gave You by Art and Laraine Bennett, which is currently available.
Understanding your temperament is very helpful in your struggles to overcome your faults. Understanding the temperaments of those around you helps you get along with them!
 
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