The Sacred Dance of the Enneagram
The History and Meanings Behind G. I. Gurdjieff’s Enneagram Movements
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/firn.31359Keywords:
G. I. Gurdjieff, enneagram, Movements, esotericism, P. D. Ouspensky, symbolismAbstract
This article explores George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff’s (c.1866-1949) Enneagram Movements. Gurdjieff used the symbol of the enneagram in his teaching to demonstrate the ‘perpetual motion’ of his cosmic Laws of Three and Seven, which govern his cosmological system. The symbol is composed of a circle encompassing a triangle representing the numbers 3, 6, and 9 (the Law of Three), and a six-sided figure representing the numbers 1, 4, 2, 8, 5, 7 (the Law of Seven). This article sets out to investigate the meaning of the enneagram and the significance of the Enneagram Movements, which enact the motion of the symbol. As well as examining primary and secondary sources on Gurdjieff, the author draws from first-hand experience of the Movements, particularly her work studying the Movement ‘Enneagram 5’ in a Movements class in Sydney, Australia.
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References
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----- 2009 It’s Up to Ourselves: A Mother, A Daughter, and Gurdjieff. Gurdjieff Heritage Society, New York.
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Nott, C. S. 1978 [1961] Teachings of Gurdjieff: A Pupil’s Journal. An Account of Some Years with G. I. Gurdjieff and A. R. Orage in New York and at Fontainebleau-Avon. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London.
Ouspensky, Piotr Demianovich 1977 [1947] In Search of the Miraculous: The Teachings of G. I. Gurdjieff. Harcourt Inc., San Diego, New York and London.
Petsche, Johanna J. M. 2013 Gurdjieff and de Hartmann’s Music for Movements. Alternative Spirituality and Religion Review 4(1): 92–121. http://dx.doi.org/10.5840/asrr20134120
----- 2015a Gurdjieff and Music: The Gurdjieff/de Hartmann Piano Music and its Esoteric Significance. Brill, Leiden and Boston. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/9789004284449
----- 2015b Gurdjieffian Overtones in Leon MacLaren’s School of Economic Science. International Journal for the Study of New Religions 6(2): 197–219. http://dx.doi.org/10.1558/ ijsnr.v6i2.28443
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----- 2016 Personal communication, January 13.
Webb, James 1980 The Harmonious Circle: The Lives and Work of G. I. Gurdjieff, P. D. Ouspensky, and Their Followers. Thames & Hudson, London.
Bennett, John Godolphin 1973 Gurdjieff: Making a New World. Harper & Row, New York and London.
Blom, Gert Jan 2006 Oriental Suite: The Complete Orchestral Music 1923–1924. Basta Audio Visuals, The Netherlands.
Brook, Peter 2008 A Film and a Legend. In The Inner Journey: Views from the Gurdjieff Work, edited by Jacob Needleman, 325–31. Morning Light Press, Sandpoint, ID.
Cusack, Carole M. 2017 The Enneagram: An Esoteric Model of Psychological Health. In Western Esotericism and Health, edited by Henrik Bogdan. Oxford University Press, forthcoming.
Daly, Thomas C., and Thomas A. G. Daly 1992 Chronology. In Our Life with Mr. Gurdjieff, edited by Daly and Daly, 260–70. Arkana Penguin Books, London.
de Dampierre, Pauline 2002 [1985] Sacred Dance: The Search for Conscious Harmony: An Interview with Pauline de Dampierre Conducted by Jacques Le Vallois. Gurdjieff International Review 5(1): 41–48.
Dullemen, Wim van 2001a Introduction. Music for Gurdjieff’s 39 Series. Channel Classics Records, Holland. [Liner notes to sound recording].
----- 2001b A Taste of the Sacred: The Gurdjieff Movements. Stopinder 4: 15–44. 2014 Gurdjieff’s Movements: The Pattern of All and Everything. By the Way Books, Waukee, Iowa.
Godwin, Joscelyn 1987 Harmonies of Heaven and Earth: The Spiritual Dimension of Music from Antiquity to the Avant-Garde. Thames & Hudson, London.
Gurdjieff, G. I. 1976 [1973] Views from the Real World. Routledge and Kegan Paul, London.
----- 2002a [1963] Meetings with Remarkable Men. Penguin Compass, New York.
----- 2002b [1963] The Material Question. In Meetings with Remarkable Men, 247–303. Penguin Compass, New York.
de Hartmann, Thomas, and Olga de Hartmann 1992 [1964] Our Life with Mr. Gurdjieff. Arkana Penguin Books, London.
Howarth, Dushka, and Jessmin Howarth 2006 Jessmin Howarth Movements Archive. Revised by Dushka Howarth in June 2006.
----- 2009 It’s Up to Ourselves: A Mother, A Daughter, and Gurdjieff. Gurdjieff Heritage Society, New York.
Moore, James 1991 Gurdjieff: The Anatomy of a Myth. A Biography. Element, Shaftesbury.
----- 2004 [1987] The Enneagram: A Developmental Study. http://www.Gurdjieff-Bibliography. com, 1–12 (accessed February 1, 2016).
Nicoll, Maurice 1952 Psychological Commentaries on the Teachings of G. I. Gurdjieff and P. D. Ouspensky, Vol. 2. Vincent Stuart, London.
Nott, C. S. 1978 [1961] Teachings of Gurdjieff: A Pupil’s Journal. An Account of Some Years with G. I. Gurdjieff and A. R. Orage in New York and at Fontainebleau-Avon. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London.
Ouspensky, Piotr Demianovich 1977 [1947] In Search of the Miraculous: The Teachings of G. I. Gurdjieff. Harcourt Inc., San Diego, New York and London.
Petsche, Johanna J. M. 2013 Gurdjieff and de Hartmann’s Music for Movements. Alternative Spirituality and Religion Review 4(1): 92–121. http://dx.doi.org/10.5840/asrr20134120
----- 2015a Gurdjieff and Music: The Gurdjieff/de Hartmann Piano Music and its Esoteric Significance. Brill, Leiden and Boston. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/9789004284449
----- 2015b Gurdjieffian Overtones in Leon MacLaren’s School of Economic Science. International Journal for the Study of New Religions 6(2): 197–219. http://dx.doi.org/10.1558/ ijsnr.v6i2.28443
Tolley, Dorine 2008 The Power Within: Leon MacLaren. A Memoir of His Life and Work. Dorine Tolley, Sydney.
----- 2016 Personal communication, January 13.
Webb, James 1980 The Harmonious Circle: The Lives and Work of G. I. Gurdjieff, P. D. Ouspensky, and Their Followers. Thames & Hudson, London.
Published
2016-11-07
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Petsche, J. (2016). The Sacred Dance of the Enneagram: The History and Meanings Behind G. I. Gurdjieff’s Enneagram Movements. Fieldwork in Religion, 11(1), 53-75. https://doi.org/10.1558/firn.31359
