The Enneagram

The Universe (Nuit) is alive and actuates its consciousness through the mind of humanity. As humanity evolves, so does the Universe. The Solar System is an atom in the body of Nuit and the Sun is its nucleus. We live in one of the electrons of this atom, called the Earth. The Earth is surrounded by a protective layer of magnetized radiation called the Van Allen Belt, not unlike an egg in its shell. This is even a microcosmic reflection of the larger Solar System. And it has its own relationship with the other elements of the Solar System.

As the Trinity is as old a concept as the Hindu Gunas, we can strip the cultural qualities from these and discover a ‘Law of Three;’ active, passive and equilibrating forces. As well, the seven sacred planets exist in all the most ancient cultures and were revealed as a law in Pythagorus’ octave. It is the order that exists in creation itself. The laws of seven and three can be compressed onto a circle of nine points called the Enneagram. And though this seems to originate with Ouspensky and Gurdjieff, it is actually a much older concept; its earliest known appearance found in an ancient French study of the Zohar.

We can then note that as there are seven notes in the octave and there is but one manifestation, the seven goes into one as it is said in the Golden Dawn’s ‘Invocation of Isis:’ “Your head is a diadem of twelve constellations, driven seven abreast in a dancing circus of nothingness.” The quotient yields 1.42857 as a recurring period and we can place these numbers on our circle. Note the three numbers that are a multiple of three (3,6 & 9) are missing. These correspond to the ‘Law of Three’ and we are working with the ‘Law of Seven’ at this moment.

Note that is a diagram that depicts movement as it shows manifestation, which is never still. Starting with the number one, we move directly to four, which in the octave is a new starting point or a new one. From one to two and from two to three in the octave, we have whole tones. But from three to four, we have a half tone, which requires a “shock” to rectify this functional difference. Notice that four then goes back to two and three is missing, though it would seem that it belongs there.

Four then moves to two, again passing over the three, and two moves to eight as if skipping seven. Note that from seven to eight is another half-tone and requiring again, a “shock” to rectify this functional difference. The eight of course, is the recurrence of the first tone on a higher octave. It moves to the five, which is considered the dominant tone in the octave. If we brought these out to chords in the diatonic scale, both the V and VII chords are considered dominant chords. So the five moves to the seven, skipping the six, which is missing and seemingly belongs there, as does the three on the right side of the diagram.

In fact, when we place the triangle on the circle, we find the three, six and nine in these places. We have only been considering the movement of the octave, which we will now connect with the mystical structure of the triangle.

As the triangle (trinity) represents a unity, we can divide the three into one, which gives us 333 as a recurring period. The triangle then represents the Supernal Triad; subtract this number from the nine and we have six, representing the heart of the Ruach. The nine gives us the seven notes of the Pythagorean scale with the two shocks and represents the completion of the circle.

At both points in the scale where the half tone is found, the scale is bent and the straight line is altered. Put enough scales end-to-end and eventually a circle would be produced. The point where a shock becomes necessary to make the scale linearly erect occurs between the third and fourth tone and the seventh and eighth tone in the scale. This corresponds with the third Grade and eighth[1] Grade of the A^A^ (Zelator and Adeptus Exemptus) and the veils of Qesheth and the Abyss. The sixth tone stands out as the ‘Relative Minor’ upon which in music, an entirely different but important scale is created. This corresponds with the Grade of Adeptus Minor, which is the conscious shock that informs the other two veils.

The nine planets now known may also be placed on the Enneagram, making it the most contemporary symbol in the Occult repertoire. But something is missing if one but looks at the symbol. There’s a gap at the bottom and we turn to Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet to solve this conundrum. What has gone unconsidered to this point is the asteroid belt that lies between Mars and Jupiter. This wraps the inner planets in a protective layer in the same way that the Van Allen belt does for the earth. With this in mind, we get the following diagram:

In first approaching the Veil of Qesheth, the Neophyte is given a rigorous program of learning to receive impressions, these ultimately set up the first conscious shock of awareness the will come to fruition in the Zelator Grade as the Zelator learns a process of discernment that intensifies the influx of impressions. The second shock is the descent of divine providence and the realization of one’s godhood. As one comes to separate oneself from oneself, one discovers one’s self-image being identical to the image of the divine light that pervades the universe, the connection with this greater force can prove quite potent.

Moving from the first to the second shock is one of developing ‘Essence.’ More and more the lower personality is made passive through careful processes of self-observation and a training of the processes of the mind in relation to both the intellectual and the emotional functions. Mastery of the Nephesch is of course, the foundation upon which all of this ultimately depends. And ultimately, the last shock comes as a result of the inertia of this Essence. The Vedantic process of stepping outside oneself, which has made the second shock possible, now serves to push one to a purely objective consciousness as if one was NOT.

Let us now consider the Enneagram from the perspective of the known planets. The Moon is on the first point of the triangle and is the first planet out from the Earth. On the diagram, the symbol of Earth is also displayed next to the Moon. This suggests Babalon and the Beast conjoined in its lowest expression. The Moon itself is our mechanical nature, the body itself. And so we have the Nephesch but also the blindness of the sleeping or uninitiated human who will take his or her first serious step into a greater awareness on piercing the Veil of Qesheth.

This is surrounded by Mars (4) and Venus (2) on either side and an obviously correlation again, with Babalon and the Beast. Mars is the force and thrust of creation from the lower waters through war and creating the vital energy of life on the Earth. Venus is positioned in a polar relationship with Mars and represents the divine harmony of the heavens, the higher waters, which require the vital energy of Mars to become actualized on the Earth. On the Queen Scale of Color, Mars is Red and Venus is Green, which is composed of Yellow and Blue while Red is one of the three primary colors. This shows us that Venus has a dual nature as she is as much the tide that ebbs and flows as well as the Moon that waxes and wanes. She has her own polarity being Isis who separated the heaven and the Earth.

The yellow of her two colors merges with Mars’ Red to make the Orange of Mercury (1), which is an abstraction of Gold and an intimation of the Sun that sits at the center of the circle. Mercury is of course, the closest planet to the Sun and called the ‘Messenger of the Gods’ for this reason. Through this, we learn that the mind is the channel to the higher planes of consciousness, explaining why the outer grades of the A^A^ are about perfecting the mind. The Blue part of Venus brings us to Jupiter (5), transcending the Asteroid Belt that is the rubble of Mars’ destructive force. This is also the Sky-Blue of Isis’ robe; bespangled with stars (Yellow as a Gold abstraction—Lady Luck).

Jupiter then becomes the new Sun. Note that it actually gives off more energy than it receives from the Sun if only because of its immensity in size. So physical science lends some support to this notion. And we can say therefore, that Jupiter feeds the outer planets as the Sun feeds the inner planets. And Blue of course, leads to Black[2]; the Black Earth—Matter, which is a part of the Time/Space Continuum. This clearly suggests Saturn as Chronos, the planet of Time and the cosmic order. On the Tree-of-Life of course, it is attributed to Binah and the City of the Pyramids. But as the new cosmic order, Saturn becomes the new creation that Jupiter shines upon. It’s identification with the Earth as the ‘bis’ in Liber 777 shows reveals a connection between that which is beyond the Abyss and the terrestrial depth of life.

The next planet out in our Solar System is Uranus, which is the higher arc of Mercury. Saturn and the perfection of the mind in Binah (objective consciousness) simultaneously triggers or calls for the Ordeal of the Abyss—Da’ath being ruled by Uranus. Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet says:

“Uranus is the initial power of transformation and the instrument for the universalization of the light of Truth, the higher vibration of Mind.”

This universalization overtly implies the destruction or break-up of the individual; so important to the Abyss experience. Note the mystery of the Master of the Temple is ‘Sorrow equals Joy.’ The Sorrow of the Great Mother is the loss of individualization (attained in Tiphareth) for the Universal Medicine.

We come next to Neptune, the higher arc of Venus. This is the Universal or Divine Love in contrast with the physical love of Venus. Through the chaos and breaking-up of Uranus, at the plane of Neptune, full consciousness is attained as the chaos is subdued[3] to bring about a pure inner state of Love, free from the carnal nature of animal love. This brings us finally to Pluto, the higher arc of Mars. Power is brought to its most potent expression—the All-Father (PAN) as the all-generative source of power in the Universe. On making one’s way to this level of attainment (Ipsissimus), we gain an uninterrupted and continuous contact with vital energy.

[1] Bringing us to the nine on the triangle and showing the triangle to represent the three veils on the Tree-of-Life.

[2] AL I.60: "My number is 11, as all their numbers who are of us. The Five Pointed Star, with a Circle in the Middle, & the circle is Red. My colour is black to the blind, but the blue & gold are seen of the seeing. Also I have a secret glory for them that love me."

[3] The work of the Trident