Yeah, this is a weird topic and I'm not sure how many people will be able to keep up, but anyways.
When I first read enneagram stuff and saw people trying to compare it to the 7 deadly sins and stuff, my reaction was: what, that's 7, this is 9 :/ The number 9 is mostly tied into various Indo-European cosmologies and symbolism to me. It's also important in Kabbalah and some other systems but not as near-excessively emphasized in any of those I can think of. This makes me think that probably at least the ancient Indo-Europeans were likely teaching the enneagram through metaphor, since back then people didn't really tend to systematize knowledge as much as describe it through metaphor. For one example, look at this:
Nine homeworlds of Norse mythology:
These aren't actually given in any order in any surviving text, but obviously you can see parallels if you look. These are my tenuous ones:
1 - Asgard
2 - Álfheimr
3 - Vanaheimr
4 - Niflheim
5 - Jötunheimr
6 - Midgard
7 - Niðavellir
8 - Muspelheim
9 - Helheimr
I largely picked the ordering of these based on harmonically balanced groups and dynamics of motion I see between these (e.g. each of the harmonically balanced groups seems to have two centers feeding into one which is in control) so it came out slightly odd compared to stereotypical expectations, but not entirely ridiculous.
In another branch of Indo-European-descended cultures, you have this:
![]()
Obviously vata seems to correlate with head center, pitta with heart, and kapha with gut. There are two elements in each and you can also make a mix of the two in the middle for:
1 - earth
2 - water
3 - steam (boiling water)
4 - fire
5 - space
6 - wind (air rushing around due to changes in space)
7 - air
8 - water
9 - mud (water mixed with earth)
Probably the most obvious overusers of the number 3, however, are the Celts:
http://branawen.blogspot.com/2011/02...-number-3.html
Also, someone might find the etymology of the words interesting:
https://austronesiancounting.wordpre...-numbers-1-10/
For example, the word for 9 is related to the word for "new" because to them it was seen as both a beginning and an ending (cf. German: „neun“ - 9, „neu“ - new, for an obvious resemblance, but this can be widely found). Now, how is E9 usually metaphorically described? :thinking: 8 can also be thought of as 2 4s like 3 is thought of as 2 6s in terms of the dynamic, and as to 1, 2, and 3 being deictic: 1s are focused on themselves being perfect (1st person), 2s are focused on helping the other (2nd person), and 3s are focused on public image (3rd person). Isn't that not suspicious at all? :angel:
Finally, here's http://www.halexandria.org/dward091.htm a bunch of random parallels, but please, as always, don't just follow everything people say (I would just straight up say this http://yellowravenink.deviantart.com...ield-333734920 because this paragraph feels way too dry, but that sounds really silly without people knowing the symbolism :p).
When I first read enneagram stuff and saw people trying to compare it to the 7 deadly sins and stuff, my reaction was: what, that's 7, this is 9 :/ The number 9 is mostly tied into various Indo-European cosmologies and symbolism to me. It's also important in Kabbalah and some other systems but not as near-excessively emphasized in any of those I can think of. This makes me think that probably at least the ancient Indo-Europeans were likely teaching the enneagram through metaphor, since back then people didn't really tend to systematize knowledge as much as describe it through metaphor. For one example, look at this:
Nine homeworlds of Norse mythology:
- Asgard, the home of the Æsir ruled by the god Odin
- Álfheimr/Ljósálfheimr, the home of the Ljósálfar
- Niðavellir/Svartálfaheimr, the home of the Dwarves who are also synonymous with the Dökkálfar and Svartálfar
- Midgard (Earth), the home of humans
- Jötunheimr/Útgarðr, the home of the Jötnar (Giants)
- Vanaheimr, the home of the Vanir
- Niflheim, a world of ice and snow
- Muspelheim, a world of fire and lava and home of the Jötunn Surtr
- Hel(heimr), the home of the dishonorable dead sometimes synonymous with Niflheim and ruled by the goddess
These aren't actually given in any order in any surviving text, but obviously you can see parallels if you look. These are my tenuous ones:
1 - Asgard
2 - Álfheimr
3 - Vanaheimr
4 - Niflheim
5 - Jötunheimr
6 - Midgard
7 - Niðavellir
8 - Muspelheim
9 - Helheimr
I largely picked the ordering of these based on harmonically balanced groups and dynamics of motion I see between these (e.g. each of the harmonically balanced groups seems to have two centers feeding into one which is in control) so it came out slightly odd compared to stereotypical expectations, but not entirely ridiculous.
In another branch of Indo-European-descended cultures, you have this:
Obviously vata seems to correlate with head center, pitta with heart, and kapha with gut. There are two elements in each and you can also make a mix of the two in the middle for:
1 - earth
2 - water
3 - steam (boiling water)
4 - fire
5 - space
6 - wind (air rushing around due to changes in space)
7 - air
8 - water
9 - mud (water mixed with earth)
Probably the most obvious overusers of the number 3, however, are the Celts:
http://branawen.blogspot.com/2011/02...-number-3.html
Also, someone might find the etymology of the words interesting:
https://austronesiancounting.wordpre...-numbers-1-10/
For example, the word for 9 is related to the word for "new" because to them it was seen as both a beginning and an ending (cf. German: „neun“ - 9, „neu“ - new, for an obvious resemblance, but this can be widely found). Now, how is E9 usually metaphorically described? :thinking: 8 can also be thought of as 2 4s like 3 is thought of as 2 6s in terms of the dynamic, and as to 1, 2, and 3 being deictic: 1s are focused on themselves being perfect (1st person), 2s are focused on helping the other (2nd person), and 3s are focused on public image (3rd person). Isn't that not suspicious at all? :angel:
Finally, here's http://www.halexandria.org/dward091.htm a bunch of random parallels, but please, as always, don't just follow everything people say (I would just straight up say this http://yellowravenink.deviantart.com...ield-333734920 because this paragraph feels way too dry, but that sounds really silly without people knowing the symbolism :p).