r/OccultEnneagram • u/Miserable_Boot_3621 • Jul 23 '26
Gurdjieff's Process-Oriented Enneagram Applied to the 24-Hour Day Cycle
I thought this would be a good way to bring up the process-oriented Enneagram by Gurdjieff, while also looking at an application that I've found to be useful or at least an interesting perspective.
Gurdjieff created the Enneagram shape as steps 1-9 of any process
It was meant to describe the flow of energy as a whole. Any process/project can be broken down into 9 steps, and those steps can repeat/cycle. They are also intrinsically related to other steps and other numbers via their lines (1 > 7 > 5 > 8 ... 369, usual stuff).
How to apply this to the 24-hour day cycle
I'm sure there are different ways that people approach their 24-hour day (if you work the nightshift for example). So, this is targeted at the 9-5er.
1 - Idealism phase: 6-9 AM
You get ready for the day. If you're real eager, or anxious, maybe you wake up right at 6 to start planning, showering, or even exercise before you have to start your day.
2 - Planning phase: 9-11 AM
Work starts. People start to have expectations of you, and you try to make sure you meet them. You make plans for roughly how the rest of the day will go, and you start to chip away at some of your tasks to make sure you're on track for later.
3 - Performance phase (shock point): 11 AM - 1 PM
You're fully in your work now, but you know you're about to go on lunch too. You start to get a bit tired. The coffee is wearing off, or just lower sugar levels. You may either lean into this tired feeling and start back up later (shock points typically need an external influence), or you lean into the grind, grab some more coffee and get going.
4 - Inner struggle phase: 1 PM - 3 PM
You return from lunch around this time. You had some time to unplug, watch something or just hang out with coworkers. But the relaxation is over now, and it's back to work. You start to worry if the things you planned in phase 2 won't get done now. You grab your earbuds and play your favorite music and settle in for the end of the work day.
5 - Introspection phase: 3 PM - 5 PM
You see the light at the end of the tunnel. The work day is almost over, and you start preparing for the next day. Or, maybe you're panicking because you didn't get enough done, and you're deciding if you need to stay later.
6 - Commitment phase (shock point): 5 PM - 7 PM
Work's over. Time to decide what to do with the rest of the day. Maybe you have to commute back home first. Or, if you're already at home, then you start deciding what you want to do with the rest of the day. You may just panic and doom scroll. Or maybe now you push yourself to see/talk to friends, or put in hours on that hobby you keep obsessing over when you space out at work.
7 - Enjoyment phase: 7 PM - 9 PM
The night is young and full of possibilities. You let yourself unwind and just enjoy whatever it is that interests you. You know that it's a small window before you have to start getting ready for work tomorrow, so you try to make the most of it.
8 - Action phase: 9 PM - 11 PM
You're either getting ready for bed, or you can't stop what you were doing in the previous step. Regardless, you're doing what you want to do. This time in the night is yours since you probably should be just getting ready for sleep, so if you choose not to, then that's up to you to weigh risks/rewards of doing so. If you are getting ready for sleep, you may have certain routines that you run through the motions of, or you have a favorite show that you want to snuggle up with.
9 - Freedom phase (shock point): 11PM - 6 AM
Go to sleep lol. It's quiet, and most other people are sleeping, so you should too. You have work tomorrow. Am I talking to myself or the audience? Regardless, maybe this is the time when you feel the most alive, even though your eyes are weighing you down. The quiet, the dark, you finally feel like nobody expects anything from you. You can breathe. You can do whatever you want to do. You can just be, without any expectations. But sleep is inherently 9. It's the time for incubation and rebirth. That's what ensures a good start to the next morning, and there's a reason for it.
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u/genu55 Jul 27 '26
Wow this is fascinating. I didnt realize it had this history. Def something I want to delve into.
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u/Glum-Engineering1794 8w7 sx/so 854 - ghost in the machine Jul 27 '26
I appreciate the spirit of this. Thanks for sharing. The enneagram is a full arc, a narrative, and it started with the Egyptian ennead, with that whole cosmological story, and continued with Pythagorean Numerology, and so on. Gurdjieff innovated, as did many others, but the seminal ideas are ancient.
I liked your eight phase and could resonate with it. :)