Enneagram Type 5

Fixation: Stinginess
Desires anonymity and to view life from the sidelines

Trap: Observer

For him life is fascinating to watch from a safe hidden place, but is much too terrifying to take part in.

Holy Idea: Holy Omniscience

The observer, storing up knowledge of life by viewing it from the sidelines, steps into life when he experiences his essence. Then and only then can he truly have full knowledge of life.

Passion: Avarice

Anonymity and security are important to the Ego-Stinge in order that he can safely watch the world from the peephole of his hiding place. Not only is he avid for the means to maintain his corner, he also is greedy for knowledge of what is going on in life, so that he can feel alive.

Virtue: Detachment

Detachment from his secure hiding place and from the need to know everything will relieve him of his avarice, the struggle to protect his anonymity.

Theory

Ichazo ascribes the fixation of persons fixated at point 5 as Stinginess, which Lilly & Hart present as "Desires anonymity and to view life from the sidelines," and they go on to say that their trap is, "Observer: For him life is fascinating to watch from a safe hidden  place, but is much too terrifying to take part in." All these indicate that persons found at point 5 have an ego-structure built around a true desire to be invisible to life. 

In order to characterize the 5s, phrases like "clutching on to oneself" have been used extensively, and usually, when they are used, the reader's mind interprets it as a conscious act of "holding on to the self." But that is not the case with the 5. Their position on the symbol, which shows a strong polarity against the type 9, indicates a lack of wholeness of being. 

For a person to consciously hold on to themselves indicates a wholesomeness of experience that enables them to realize the need to preserve the self in that manner, which the 5 consciously lacks. Therefore, many 5s don't perceive themselves as being "retentive" and "stingy" of themselves. In fact, many 5s think of themselves as being sufficiently giving, anything else required of them is considered an infringement on them—a sense of over demandingness by the environment. Most 5s also don’t understand why a person would deliberately reject help from the environment, or hold on to themselves, or be secretive.