The Enneagram in an Oracle Deck
Before I got into tarot and its archetypes, before Buzzfeed and the Internet, I loved answering personality quizzes in magazines.
I made it a point to get a copy of Seventeen every month when I was in high school and college… and when I had enough of my allowance saved up, I would also get a copy of Sassy and YM . These teen glossies always featured quizzes (YM even had a full-on quiz special!) that promised to reveal snippets of your psyche and what made you—and your crush, lol—tick.
Many years later, still invested in personality types and quizzes, I picked up “The Enneagram Made Easy” by Renee Baron and Elizabeth Wagele.
The Enneagram is a system that takes nine distinct personality types and delves into how one relates (and doesn’t relate) to another.
It’s been 20 years since I bought this book and every now and then, I take some time to answer the quizzes. Lo and behold, I still get the same result—I’m a number 7 (The Adventurer) through and through.
Over the last couple of years, along with the resurgence of tarot in pop culture, systems like the Enneagram, the MBTI, astrology, and others have become super popular (and earned a little bit notoriety too). I remember meeting up for coffee with my friend Angel a few years back, and she told me that she attended a couple of lectures on the Enneagram in relation to her regular prayer group. This just goes to show that anyone can take these systems and use them as a framework for virtually anything! Astrology can be used to bolster HR in the workplace (true story), tarot can be used in tandem with counseling, etc.
Last summer, I did an interview about the PM Astro Book on Summit Books’ Facebook Page and I was asked why stuff like astrology and tarot (and I guess, transitively, the Enneagram) are getting so much buzz these days. I’ve read a couple of articles on this online and have thought about it a lot since I do inhabit this space. I think that people find comfort in these organized systems—especially now that the world seems particularly chaotic, impossible to understand, and difficult to grasp.
It’s natural to want to lean on systems like the enneagram, astrology, and the tarot, when you’re looking for a way to figure stuff or people out.
Obvs, none of this is hard and fast science, and you’re going to have to be willing to go the woowoo / spiritual route when deep diving into tarot and the like. People’s personalities and minds are complex and I don’t think any of this stuff is 100%. With billions of people around the world, there are going to have to be more than just 12 or 9 or x number of personality types, you know?
But! If you’re willing to skip the science, go with your intuition, and not take all of this too seriously, I do believe that all the information provided by systems like the tarot and the Enneagram can actually be very helpful.
All these frameworks teach us about looking at life more fluidly. Studying the tarot, astrology, and even the Enneagram helps us understand that the black / white, good / bad, yes / no lens we’ve become so accustomed to can be limiting. It’s usually more helpful for us to view things through a spectrum. As much as I joke about Geminis (✌️), I understand that the personality type they represent offers both productive and unproductive traits, light, shadow, and so many layers in between.
This way of viewing the world and understanding people helps us break barriers and boundaries and makes even the most judgmental person (I’m raising my hand as I type this…) just a little more compassionate. And isn’t that what the world needs right now?
A few weeks ago, one of the people I’ve gotten to know through Practical Magic, Tetz Agustin, sent me an email about an Enneagram-based oracle deck she just produced. She very kindly sent me a copy of the deck for review, and I thought I’d use this post to give my initial thoughts about it—for anyone who’s interested in oracle, in affirmations, and in the Enneagram.
The Perspective Glass Oracle takes inspiration from the Enneagram’s personality types and uses them as ways to deliver affirmations.
Tetz is a certified Enneagram coach so she has a good handle on the system (certainly more than my Enneagram for Dummies knowledge could ever offer). She uses her knowhow to make the Enneagram fun, whimsical, and entertaining by way of these cards. The 40-card deck is produced in the Philippines and is illustrated by Sab Palmares.
Disclaimer: I haven’t really been the poster girl for shuffling cards lately… I didn’t acquire a lot of decks this year, and out of the few three that I’ve purchased, I’m only actively using one of them. So while I can’t say I’ve tested this deck thoroughly, I’m giving you my first impressions + a Q&A with Tetz so you can see if it’s something you’re interested in yourself.
Packaging. The deck comes in a two-piece box, which can feel more special than your standard tuck box, but isn’t as compact. The box is lightweight and easy to handle, but not as solid as boxes you’d get from decks like The Starchild Tarot or the Wild Unknown. You’ll be able to stack this with your other decks since it’s neatly packaged, but you’ll find that the lid will have bowing due to card stock.
Guidebook. The LWB is saddle-stitch bound and sits nicely on top of the cards. I find this to be a must-read, especially if you don’t know your way around the Enneagram. I’m notoriously lazy when it comes to reading guidebooks so I actually flipped through the cards before I went through the LWB and I did not know what I was doing or what I needed to be looking for 😅
This is a hefty read!
I imagine that you’d want to really carve out time from your schedule to sit down, rifle through the pages, and really study the system. It’ll be a nice self-reflective Hermit activity—not something you’ll want to do with Netflix playing in the background. I say, make your Perspective Glass experience more special by really dedicating some quiet time to it.
The book offers spread combinations and interpretations that will be fun to do with some thorough journaling.
The Cards. When I first started flipping through the cards, I wasn’t sure which way I was supposed to be looking at them—and then I quickly realized that that was probably the whole point of the design. The illustrations are done so you can look at them either way. If you’re into decks like the Paulina Tarot or any artwork by Paulina Cassidy, you’ll enjoy Sab’s drawings. They have a very “Alice in Wonderland,” storybook quality to them that really need some time to look into—there’s a lot of detail that you’ll want to check out.
I wasn’t sure which message to look at—the one written in black or the one written in white, and then I saw the card numbers and realized they were related to the Enneagram personality types (of course I quickly jumped to card #7 since that’s the most relevant to me).
If you like cracking mysteries, doing a lot of digging, and if you’re trying to wrap your head around the Enneagram concepts, then this deck is for you. It’s like looking through a kaleidoscope and trying to decipher patterns and details—which is why I really think this deck deserves a lot of quiet time for study, observation, and reflection.
The Card Stock. I know a lot of you are finicky about this so I thought it would be worth mentioning. The cards are smooth and matte, and will be best for an overhand shuffle rather than a riffle shuffle. They feel delicate in the hands and got me thinking that the laminate might get nicked if I handle them aggressively.
I do feel that people who use this deck will want to approach it very thoughtfully and carefully, so it does follow that people handle these cards gingerly as well.
Of course I took a photo of the 7 card because it me!
Here are some insights on the Perspective Glass oracle, straight from its creator, Tetz Agustin.
PM: Where did the inspiration for this deck come from?
TA: I always found myself resonating more with tarot than oracle . I thought, “Why not create my own [deck] one day?” It seemed like a fun project to do. I used to dabble in tarot and angel cards when I was younger, but having a Catholic mom and going to a Catholic all-girls school obviously killed that [interest] immediately, lol.
As a mom feeling who felt lost [after giving birth], intuition led me to try again.
I have a really good eye when it comes to art, but I knew my skills weren't up to par with what I needed. I’d been eyeing Sab Palmares' Instagram page for a while and always had her in mind for this project. When I messaged Sab on Instagram (she was taking commissions around August), I still had no idea what the deck was going to look like or what it would be about. But I knew that something was meant to happen at that time, and everything fell into place.
PM: What made you choose this specific theme?
TA: I knew that I had to pick a theme that I had command of, especially since I only had a short amount of time to put everything together. I wanted the deck to have good roots. Around this time, I was finishing up my Enneagram coaching certification. I did some research and couldn’t find an Enneagram-inspired oracle deck yet, so it seemed perfect. I figured it could create more awareness around the Enneagram, which is such a wonderful framework for self-discovery and personal growth. The Enneagram is also so rich that I thought the theme could actually lead to several more decks after this [initial] one.
The next theme I wanted to take from the Enneagram was how each type has polarities they struggle with. I wanted this to be reflected in the cards. I figured if tarot cards could have reversals, why not have them in these oracle cards? You'll find that majority of the cards has two images and two “AF.firmations” (a term coined by Tetz that describes emotional support, encouragement, a nudge, and a push). There's also a play on light and shadow using some gentler AF.firmations and those which give more of a punch.
PM: Why “Perspective Glass" as a title?
TA: The name came in later—this had a different working title that eventually didn't align with the spirit of the cards. I wanted to name it something that would reflect how important it is to look at things closely and from different points of view. This is one of the things that the Enneagram teaches us to do. I asked the Universe for help and [while googling], landed on an image of the perspective glass—an earlier version of the telescope.
PM: How has your background helped inform your creative process?
TA: I was a former local film producer for a couple of years before retiring early to be a stay at home mom. My high school and college years were spent in theater, and I have a graduate degree in American and British Literature with an undergraduate minor in Philosophy. I had a lot to pull from! [This came in handy because we] had such a tight timeline. I’m used to giving quick feedback and making fast decisions—as a film producer, you can't afford to dilly-dally because you budget [constraints].
I also decided when I started the process of creation that I would let my intuition guide me every step of the way. Any time I wasn't sure of anything, I'd pull some cards and do a spread. I'd edit using tarot cards for feedback, and relied on some witchy friends' support too.
PM: How do you use your deck?
TA: I use it for daily card pulls for myself and for clients. [The deck] helps me set my day and gives me the kick in the butt I need. The journal prompts also give me something to reflect on when I have too much [going on]in my head. I use it to round up my tarot readings for clients and myself too. It's also a good tool to use with my Enneagram coaching clients to provide growth tips for their type. When I just them their type's cards, it makes the experience more magical.
PM: What do you wish people knew about your deck?
TA: I wish people knew that you don’t go to hell for using these cards. They won’t get you shunned by your religion. I mean, I currently home school and still teach my kid Bible studies despite it not being part of their Montessori curriculum.
I wish people would allow these cards to open them up to different ways of looking at things, at life and the human condition. They can use it as first or a hundredth deck. And just in case they need the extra help [with the cards], I also created an online course that they can purchase bundled with the deck.
PM: What are you into when you’re not dabbling with the Enneagram and with cards?
TA: I've been working on myself by exploring different spiritual modalities. I’m also a hands-on Yaya-less helper-less mom and wife, so life can get crazy most days. I binge watch Netflix and different TV series, read fiction, listen to personal development and business podcasts, make toxin-free DIYs for our home, and try to get as much sleep as I can.
I hope this little feature starts opening you up to new perspectives and do give Tetz a follow if you’re interested in the Perspective Glass Oracle or the Enneagram (or both!).
Follow her on: instagram.com/tetzagustin and visit her website at: shop.tetzagustin.com