Symbol and typology

The atlas distinguishes the two strands: the nine-pointed figure of Gurdjieff, a symbol of cosmic process, and the personality system built onto it in the later twentieth century, which is what most people now mean by "the enneagram". The typology has become popular in coaching, spirituality and business, while remaining outside mainstream academic personality psychology.

The atlas gives each type its motivation, fear and desire, and its movements along the lines. The three triads the nine types fall into are treated in their own category, within Divination Systems.