SEVEN: The Domain of Hierarchy

Where do I fit in? Where is my place? On the Enneagram, Seven is the Domain of Hierarchy, which has to do with finding your place in an ever-shifting relationship with the world.

We don’t like to believe in hierarchy in our society – or at least we say we don’t. Everyone is equal, nobody is better or worse than anyone else. Sure, that’s true in that we all deserve to love and be loved, to have our basic needs met, to have equal protection under the law, and equal access to opportunity. It’s also very apparent that this is not what actually happens. Hierarchy exists. Someone is always above, someone else below.

The problem we really have with hierarchy is the misperception that it is fixed, that the same people are always at the top. Those in power might even call this the natural order of things. Coming out of Six, where the authority is the one who knows and who leads out, we arrive at Seven, where the leadership keeps shifting, as in a dance. A fixed hierarchy is dead; one that is alive is always moving. One person leads, then cedes that place to another, as befits the abilities most needed in a given situation.

The Taoist symbol of Yin and Yang (dark and light) symbolizes this ongoing flow of energy between two sides. The symbol is not meant as a static representation. The two dots of opposite colour show that there is always some Yang within Yin and vice-versa. Energy is always exchanging between the two sides. Yin becomes Yang; Yang becomes Yin. This symbol is always in motion, one side leading, then the other.

Polarities

Word pairs that describe the Seven space are:

Superior	Inferior
Leader	Follower
Ahead	Behind
Above	Below
Height	Depth
Self-confidence	Self-deprecation

Hierarchy is not Static

The polarities at Seven are superior and inferior. What we so often forget about these polarities is that a living system requires movement. Someone may be ahead of, above, or superior to another person for now and in this situation, but that placement is not permanent.

This domain is the place of honest differences – in the present moment, where is my place? The words superior and inferior have an emotional and judgmental weight to them, especially in the context of hierarchy. In this case all they mean is higher or lower. What is my position right here, right now? Who is ahead and who is behind?

In a family, a parent is in a superior position to a young child, in that the parent has more power to make decisions and to protect and nurture the child. As the child becomes an adult, ideally the dynamic changes and the two relate on a more-equal basis. As the parent ages, they may lose physical or mental capacity and the adult child might take the lead as a caregiver. If the parent retains their mental faculties and if they have lived in such a way as to learn from their experience, they may still be able to lead with wisdom as an elder of the community, despite other limitations.

A Living Hierarchy Implies Multiple Roles

We must also recognize that each person in a relationship will have multiple roles. Each person leads and follows simultaneously, but in different parts of the relationship. A parent carries responsibilities and makes decisions that a young child is not able to and so leads in that aspect of the relationship. The same child might ask questions that would not be permissible from an adult and can disrupt the peace by doing so. In this way, the child breaks things open and allows for creation of a new understanding. The child leads into territory where an adult would never go.

In the Hebrew scriptures, the prophet Isaiah, foretells a time of the Peaceable Kingdom, where the usual fixed hierarchy is upended:

 The wolf shall live with the lamb,
 the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
 the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
 and a little child shall lead them. 

Spirit of Presence

When the poles of the Domain of Hierarchy are held in equal value, the Spirit of Presence can arise and rule over the domain. Presence is an odd thing. We are always somewhere, but most of the time we don’t take much notice.

Real presence is an active awareness of our place and time. As Russ Hudson has said, “Those who are awake live in a state of constant amazement”. The distraction and scatteredness we experience at Seven is a symptom of the loss of this awareness. We keep trying to find something – anything – that will return us to the magic of the present moment. When we arrive at our place, we come to our senses. We say, “This is what I am here for right now. It is enough.” This is the virtue of sobriety that manifests at Seven.

The Spirit of Presence guides our spiritual journey, which proceeds at its proper pace if we allow it to and do not judge. We are where we are. Any light given as guidance shows us the next step of the path, but we don’t know what we will find around the next bend until we reach it and give it the focus of our attention.

The Spirit of Presence also allows us to cultivate patience for those who are not yet where we want them to be on their own journey. If we have an idea of where someone else “should be” on their journey and are impatient for them to catch up, that is a type of arrogance on our part. We are denying them the place that is theirs right now. This impatience is about our need for them to be a certain way, rather than about their own true path. And who knows? Maybe they have something to teach from where they are at this moment.

Inhabitants: The Arrogances

When we cling to the polarity of superior or inferior, the inhabitants that invade this domain are called The Arrogances. The familiar form of The Arrogances is when someone clings to the pole of superiority and forces a lower hierarchical position on someone else. This is the dynamic of king and peasant, master and slave. It can exist in a friendship, marriage, or family, when one person is nagging or bullying another, getting them to fall in line by guilt or coercion.

There is also an arrogance of inferiority. It is just as arrogant to say, “I have no ability” if it’s not true, as to say, “I am the greatest”. If you have written a poem, but don’t want to read it publicly because it’s “not good enough”, you are denying your place if it is good. We must assess our true place and not try to get out of the work by claiming to be less than we are.

Totems

Health is a totem of the Seven space. The body has many members. Health is when every organ knows what it needs to do and doesn’t interfere with the others.

Other totems of Seven are the symbols and proxies that show us someone’s place. Titles, credentials, academic degrees, and societal, institutional, and corporate roles all perform this function.