Spellbind – Are You Spell Free? Part 2
This is part 2 of an interview with Clare Cherikoff, a NLP (Neuro-linguistic programming) and Enneagram teacher, seminar presenter, documentary maker, author, animator, and cartoonist, about her new book Spellbind. If you haven’t already, please read the first half of the interview at Spellbind – Are You Spell Free? Part 1.
Interview: Part 2
3. Do you see this as a book strictly for children or can adults benefit from it too?
I actually wrote the book with the participants of Lifting the Veils in mind but I wanted both children and adults to enjoy it and benefit from it. As I wrote I tested it on a number of children and adults (some who knew the Enneagram and some who didn’t) and I was always elated with their responses and this encouraged me to keep writing. I’m certainly thrilled when I hear feedback from whole families who have benefited from Spellbind, like this one -
Clare, I’ve read Spellbind in a day and a night and love it. Then it was my 11 year old daughters turn – she couldn’t put it down either and it sparked a lot of fruitful communication re the bird spells in out family and how to look beyond the mask of pain someone’s displaying! Great stuff!!!
I heard back from Narayana with more …
“Clare, now my 13 year old son has finished relishing Spellbind. Immediately identified himself as an Eagle spirit. Mind you, he’s very discerning and doesn’t like just ANY book his mother recommends! So well done you! Now for convincing my dear husband that it’s worth reading. Will keep you posted.” – Narayana Urban-Winterfield UK
4. How has working with the Enneagram and NLP changed your life?
My first passion was enlightenment. That interest led me to the discovery of that aspect of consciousness that is free, untouched and is a natural part of all of us.
What gets in the way of us accessing that part of us are our patterns of behavior that we mistakenly identify with and call ‘me’. The Enneagram and NLP show how we mentally build this illusion of a ‘me’. They can also help us bust the trance that we call a ‘me’.
Learning the Enneagram and NLP was like seeing the jigsaw of life falling into place. It was seeing how the illusions rise and why we are like we are and it enabled me to see deeper than the illusion both within myself and in others. Enlightenment is a given, it’s our natural state and we don’t need to do anything to attain that. What we do need to know though, is how the illusions arise so we can remain as who we really are and not be continuously hypnotized by our thoughts or emotions. Once we know this we also realize both freedom and illusion are a natural part of our lives. We don’t need to run from our thoughts and emotions or to enlightenment.
The Enneagram also helped me understand my family and certainly my husband much better. It has been beneficial on a number of levels whether that be personal, in business or with friends. Certainly being able to type my parents helped. My father is a particular personality called a Type Five on the Enneagram and to this day he instantly withdraws and walks away when people turn up at his house. As a child I saw his withdrawals as meaning I wasn’t loved. Now I know it’s a part of his personality pattern and had no meaning beyond that. So the Enneagram can resolve many of the misunderstandings in our relationships.
5. Where can readers go to find out more about the Enneagram and NLP?
There is a publication called Enneagram Monthly. They have a website with links to all the teachers. Their website is www.ennea.org. Other teachers are Riso and Hudson, Ginger Lapid-Bogda, Wolinsky, Eli Jaxon-Bear, Helen Palmer and Sandra Maitri.
You’ll discover that the Enneagram is used in a number of fields. It’s used by the CIA and even taught at the Vatican as well as in business. So you will need to find the teachers and authors that best fulfill your needs. My work marries the Enneagram and NLP with enlightenment and waking up from illusions. If that is the interest of your readers then please visit my website where there are a number of cartoons, works and links that look at the Enneagram and NLP in this way. My website is www.understandingpersonality.com
6. What other resources and services do you offer?
I’m currently writing the sequel to Spellbind but on my website you can see film clips from a documentary I made on Freedom and the Enneagram. As I was travelling around the world teaching, I took the opportunity to film and interview the nine types. The aim was to show that around the world, the nine types exist, regardless of culture. I then edited the film so that answers from an Australian, a European, an American and an English person of the same type were placed side-by-side highlighting the similarities. I also used special effects, animations, cartoon and music to further highlight personality aspects and while the effect is often humorous I made sure that we also see the depth regardless of the types. I wanted the audience to laugh at the strategies we do but see the real person shining through at the same time. The most important question I asked each person was “And what is it like now, to see through the veils of the personality and just be who you are naturally?” It’s inspiring to watch the people answer. Immediately you see them shine as who they are. No need to change, no need to fix, they are just being themselves.
I also offer the teaching manual Lifting the Veils of Illusion. This is a cartoon book for the serious student of awakening, NLP and the Enneagram. The aim is to see through the spells of illusion and be free.
Thank you so much, Clare, for taking the time to do this interview. As someone who thoroughly enjoyed your book, I look forward to your future work. You can purchase Spellbind at Amazon.com by clicking the link below.
Illustrations © Clare Cherikoff
I look forward to your thoughts and comments! ( if you are reading this on the home page the link to comments is found to the far right of the post title)
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