The Enneagram Unveiled: A Christian & Metaphysical Perspective

—The Enneagram Unveiled sets forth a discipline of the soul that can be used to discover one’s deepest and truest self.
 It has been said that to know oneself is to know God. But how does one know oneself? The enigmatic symbol of the enneagram, applied to personality type, provides an answer to this question that is accurate, penetrating, and illuminating. In The Enneagram Unveiled, Thomas Garrett Isham explores the enneagram within the context of traditional metaphysics, drawing on religious, psychological, and literary sources to illustrate the remarkable properties of this mysterious symbol. Combining wisdom both ancient and modern, and many examples drawn from Old and New Testament figures, he sets forth a discipline of the soul that can be used to discover one’s deepest and truest self, as well as practical methods to put this liberating knowledge to work in one’s everyday life.
 “Thomas Isham here offers us a penetrating analysis of the innate virtues and vices of each type along a spectrum of what is more healthy and what is less healthy, but then challenges us to meditate on pertinent scripture and works of classic Christian writers. This is a work of wisdom, of showing us the path to more life and spiritual health.”—ROBERT J. NOGOSEK (Congregation of the Holy Cross), author of The Enneagram: A Journey of Self-Discovery
 “In The Enneagram Unveiled, Tom Isham displays a crisp and clean writing style and an obvious passion for, and command of, the subject.”—KEVIN R. HACKETT (Society of Saint John the Evangelist), Cambridge, MA
 “Thomas Garrett Isham’s book on the enneagram shows erudition, scholarship, compassion, tolerance, and insight in equal measure. His analyses of biblical characters such as Abraham, Joseph, Jacob, Samson, Peter, Mary, Jesus, Mary and Martha, Thomas and Paul, in terms of the nine personality types are particularly memorable.”—LINDA JO SCOTT, Professor Emerita of English, Olivet College
 “The important thing for Christians about Thomas Isham’s book on the enneagram is that it integrates Christian belief and this ancient, yet modern, map of the soul.”—REV. WARNER C. WHITE, D. Min.

Religion & Spirituality

Isham, Thomas Garrett

Christian Books & Bibles

Philosophia Perennis

In his Confessions, St. Augustine recounts the effect on him of hearing Bishop Ambrose explain various Old Testament passages figuratively: “These passages had been death to me when I took them literally, but once I had heard them explained in their spiritual meaning I began to blame myself for my despair, at least insofar as it had led me to suppose that it was quite impossible to counter people who hated and derided the law and the prophets.” What was true of thoughtful people in St. Augustine’s day is even more true today. For many in these “enlightened” times, Bible stories present a stumbling-block to considering any of the great Western faiths as providing a way of spiritual growth: some narratives seem to condone immoral actions while others seem worthy of mockery or strain good sense. But there is an “inside” to these narratives far more digestible than their outside, and this inside is explored in Samuel Fohr’s Adam & Eve. From the episodes in the Garden of Eden to the Exodus from Egypt and the battle for entry into the Promised Land, one story after another receives a penetrating treatment revealing a current of esoteric meaning. The interpretations given are traditional in the truest sense of the word, and the author’s hope is that this book will have the kind of effect on the contemporary reader that Bishop Ambrose’s explanations had on St. Augustine so many years ago. “A veritable metaphysical tour de force which anyone interested in understanding the Genesis story would do well to study, and a cardinal text for anyone who takes up the study of comparative religion. A text that should change the hearts and minds of all who read it.”—Rama Coomaraswamy

Adam & Eve: The Spiritual Symbolism of Genesis & Exodus

Literature & Fiction

Fohr, Samuel D.

History & Criticism

Cinderella's Gold Slipper: The Spiritual Symbolism of Folk & Fairy Tales

Samuel D. Fohr holds that the tales collected by the Grimm brothers, and others, are not just childish “fairy tales,” but are filled with spiritual symbolism, and as such have value for adults as well as children. Snow White, for example, is a story of creation and spiritual growth, and its message parallels Hindu and Judaic creation myths. Hansel and Gretel and Cinderella both portray the journey back to God. Fohr also looks at recurring themes in the stories, and answers such questions as: Why are giants always evil and dwarves always good? What is the symbolic significance of the hungry wolf who appears in many stories? Exactly what are genies, and why are they always trapped in bottles? A delightful but serious examination of cherished stories, this book reveals new meaning in long familiar tales. Also included is an extensive bibliography and an Appendix on the authenticity of the Grimms’ tales. 
“To say that Fohr retrieves fairy tales from the nursery on the one hand, and retrieves them from mere entertainment for adults on the other, is only the start of the matter. Like Freud, Jung, and Lévi-Strauss, he recognizes the wisdom folktales embody, but he goes beyond those students of myth in arguing that the authors knew what they were doing: they crafted their tales consciously. This is a courageous and cogent book that goes a long way toward revalidating a literary genre that modernity has irresponsibly trivialized.”—HUSTON SMITH, author of The World’s Religions, etc.

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books by the Philosophia Perennis publisher. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Philosophia Perennis