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TheEnneagram(alsosometimescalledEnneagon)isanine-pointedgeometricfigure.ThetermderivesfromtwoGreekwords-ennea(nine)andgrammos(somethingwrittenordrawn).TheintroductionoftheEnneagramfigureiscreditedtoG.I.Gurdjieff,whointroduceditinhisteachingsasauniversalsymbolwhichdisplaysthefundamentalcosmiclaws.Gurdjieffdidnotdisclosewherethefigureoriginallycamefrombesidesclaimingthatitwastheemblemofsecretsocieties.TheEnneagramfigureisnowusedforvariouspurposesinanumberofdifferentteachingsystems.InmorerecentyearsthefigurehasmostlycomeintoprominencebecauseofitsusewithwhatisoftencalledtheEnneagramofPersonality.ThefundamentalconceptsoftheEnneagramofPersonalityareattributedtoOscarIchazo.EnneagramsshownassequentialstellationsIngeometryanenneagramisaregularnine-sidedstarpolygon,usingthesamepointsastheregularenneagonbutconnectedinfixedsteps.Ithastwoforms:{9/2}and{9/4}connectingevery2ndandevery4thpointsrespectively.Thereisalsoastarfigure,{9/3},madefromtheregularenneagonpointsbutconnectedasacompoundofthreeequilateraltrianglesThemodernuseoftheEnneagramfigureisgenerallycreditedtoG.I.GurdjieffandhisFourthWayteachingtradition.HisteachingsconcerningthefigureandwhatitrepresentsdoesnothaveanydirectconnectiontothelaterteachingsbyOscarIchazoandothersconcerningego-fixationsorpersonalitytypes.Theenneagramfigureisacirclewithninepoints.Inscribedwithinthecircleisatriangletakinginpoints9,3and6.Theinscribedfigureresemblingaweblinkstheothersixpointsinacyclicfigure1-4-2-8-5-7.Therulesofthemagicnumber142857canbeappliedtotheenneagram'sexplanationsofprocesses.AccordingtoGurdjieff,theenneagramisthesymbolofthelawofsevenandthelawofthreecombined(thetwofundamentallawswhichgoverntheuniverse),andthereforetheenneagramcanbeusedtodescribeanynaturalwholephenomenon,cosmos,processinlife,oranyotherpieceofknowledge.AbasicexampleofthepossibleusageoftheenneagramisthatitcanbeusedtoillustrateGurdjieff'sconceptoftheevolutionofthethreetypesof‘food’necessaryforaman:ordinaryfood,airandimpressions.Eachpointontheenneagraminthiscasewouldrepresentthestageandthepossibilityoffurtherevolutionoffoodatacertainstageinthehumanbody.Mostprocessesontheenneagramarerepresentedthroughoctaveswherethepointsserveasthenotes;aconceptwhichisderivedfromGurdjieff’sideaofthelawofseven.Inanoctavethedevelopingprocesscomestoacriticalpoint(oneofthetrianglepoints)atwhichhelpfromoutsideisneededforittorightlycontinue.Thisconceptisbestillustratedonthekeysofthepianowhereeverywhitekeywouldrepresentanenneagramwebpoint.Theadjacentwhitekeyswhicharemissingablackkey(halfnote)inbetweenrepresenttheenneagramwebpointswhichhaveatrianglepointinbetween.Inorderthatthispointwouldpassontothenext,anexternalpushisrequired.Intheenneagramaprocessisdepictedasgoingrightaroundthecirclebeginningat9(theendingpointofapreviousprocess).Theprocesscancontinueuntilitreachespoint3.Atpointthreeanexternalaidisneededinorderthattheprocesscontinues.Ifitdoesn'treceivethe‘help’,theprocesswillstopevolvingandwilldevolvebackintotheformfromwhichitevolved.Theprocesscontinuesuntilpoint6,andlater9,whereasimilarpushisneeded.Iftheprocesspassespoint9,theinitialprocesswillend,whilegivingbirthtoanewone.ThelineofdevelopmentassociatedwiththeFourthWaydevelopedfromthewritingsofGurdjieff'sstudents-principallyP.D.Ouspensky,MauriceNicoll,J.G.BennettandRodneyCollin.TheydevelopedGurdjieff'sideasandlefttheirownaccounts.ThereisanextensivebibliographydevotedtotheGurdjieff-Ouspenskytradition.AGurdjiefffoundationexistswhichclaimsanauthoritybasedonalineofsuccessiondirectlythroughMrGurdjieff.ThefoundationpreservesGurdjieff'smusicandmovementsandcontinuesitsownworkwiththeEnneagramfigure.TheenneagramasastructuredprocesswasstudiedbyJohnG.Bennettandhisassociates.BennettshowedhowitappliedtosomethingasmundaneasarestaurantaswellastosomethingasspiritualastheBeatitudes.Itiscurrentlybeingusedtoexplicatetheideaofself-organizationinmanagement.TheEnneagramofPersonalityisderivedfrom(establishedinU.S.Court970F.2d1067,1075.2ndCircuit,1992)partialunderstandingsoftheinsightsofOscarIchazo.,theBolivian-bornfounderoftheAricaSchool(establishedin1968).NoevidencehasappearedbeforeIchazo'sofferingsforusingtheEnneagramfigurewithconceptssuchasegofixationsorpersonalitytypesorindeedinanywaywhereeachpointisdescribedinawaythatcanbeviewedasatypology.AllhistoricaldocumentationofthiskindofterminologyappearsonlyafterIchazo'soriginalteachings.Ichazoclaimsthatsometimeinthe1950shereceivedinsightintohowcertainmechanisticandrepetitivethoughtandbehaviorpatternscanbeunderstoodinconnectionwiththeEnneagramfigureandwithwhathecalledTrialecticlogicaspartofacompleteandintegratedmodelofthehumanpsyche.ThepurposeofIchazo'steachingswastohelppeopletranscendtheiridentificationwith-andthesufferingcausedby-theirownmechanisticthoughtandbehaviorpatterns.Thetheorywasfoundeduponthebasicpremisethatalllifeseekstocontinueandperpetuateitselfandthehumanpsychemustfollowthesamecommonlawsofrealityassuch.Fromthis,Ichazodefinedthreebasichumaninstinctsforsurvival(Conservation,RelationsandAdaptation)andtwopolesofattractiontoself-perpetuation(Sexual