Are the Positions of the Numbers on the Enneagram Wheel Arbitrary?

[Mal12345]

No.

[Mesmeric_Moon]

No.

Go on.

[Mal12345]

Go on.

No, they are not arbitrary.

[deathwarmedup]

Go on.

Laws of 3 and of 7.

1/3, 1/6, 1/9 are recurring decimals.

1/7 = 0.1428571.

[Mal12345]

Laws of 3 and of 7.

1/3, 1/6, 1/9 are recurring decimals.

1/7 = 0.1428571.

Why is 9 at the top and 5 and 4 at the bottom?

[/DG/]

Oh. Ok.

[Virtual ghost]

Why is 9 at the top and 5 and 4 at the bottom?

Because current order of numbers places 5 and 4 into the bottom of the sign that is fundamentally asymmetric if you look a the top and bottom half. Visually the biggest gap is between 5 and 4 and that represents the difference between head and heart that is hardest to bridge.

Although you can place numbers on counter clockwise direction and still get basically the same thing. But it would look kinda stupid.

[deathwarmedup]

the difference between head and heart that is hardest to bridge.

I like that point. It's a deep dichotomy that runs through modern civilisation.

Both are Centres of Intelligence.

[Mal12345]

I like that point. It's a deep dichotomy that runs through modern civilisation.

Both are Centres of Intelligence.

There is a deeper wisdom that orients the numbers in their positions. Nine is at the top because it encompasses the whole. G.I. Gurdjieff placed emphasis in his teachings on being awake versus being asleep. Awake vs. asleep is not intended in the literal sense. Nine is the point of being awake or being asleep. This is true of any type, but type 9 symbolizes it the best.
Type Nine — The Enneagram Institute
"We have called personality type Nine The Peacemaker because no type is more devoted to the quest for internal and external peace for themselves and others. They are typically “spiritual seekers” who have a great yearning for connection with the cosmos, as well as with other people. They work to maintain their peace of mind just as they work to establish peace and harmony in their world. The issues encountered in the Nine are fundamental to all psychological and spiritual work—being awake versus falling asleep to our true nature; presence versus entrancement, openness versus blockage, tension versus relaxation, peace versus pain, union versus separation.

Ironically, for a type so oriented to the spiritual world, Nine is the center of the Instinctive Center, and is the type that is potentially most grounded in the physical world and in their own bodies. The contradiction is resolved when we realize that Nines are either in touch with their instinctive qualities and have tremendous elemental power and personal magnetism, or they are cut off from their instinctual strengths and can be disengaged and remote, even lightweight."

[Mal12345]

Because current order of numbers places 5 and 4 into the bottom of the sign that is fundamentally asymmetric if you look a the top and bottom half. Visually the biggest gap is between 5 and 4 and that represents the difference between head and heart that is hardest to bridge.

Although you can place numbers on counter clockwise direction and still get basically the same thing. But it would look kinda stupid.

The gap between head and heart is one viable interpretation. Are there others?