Feudal lords protect underlings in exchange for obedience and labor. Archetypal gods and goddesses, powerful beings, forces to be reckoned with, both good and bad.

Magical-mythic spirits, dragons, beasts, and powerful people. First emergence of a self distinct from the tribe powerful, impulsive, egocentric, heroic.

Where seen: Belief in voodoo-like curses, blood oaths, ancient grudges, good luck charms, family rituals, magical ethnic beliefs and superstitions strong in Third-World settings, gangs, athletic teams, and corporate “tribes.” 10% of the population, 1% of the power.ģ. Sounds “holistic” but is actually atomistic: “there is a name for each bend in the river but no name for the river.” Kinship and lineage establish political links. The spirits exist in ancestors and bond the tribe. Thinking is animistic magical spirits, good and bad, swarm the earth leaving blessings, curses, and spells which determine events. Approximately 0.1% of the adult population, 0% power.Ģ. Where seen: First human societies, newborn infants, senile elderly, late-stage Alzheimer’s victims, mentally ill street people, starving masses, shell shock. Forms into survival bands to perpetuate life. Distinct self is barely awakened or sustained. Uses habits and instincts just to survive. The level of basic survival food, water, warmth, sex, and safety have priority. Here is a brief description of all eight waves, the percentage of the world population at each wave, and the percentage of social power held by each.ġ. The first six levels are “subsistence levels” marked by “first-tier thinking.” Then there occurs a revolutionary shift in consciousness: the emergence of “being levels” and “second-tier thinking,” of which there are two major waves.

SPIRAL DYNAMICS AND THE WAVES OF EXISTENCE For convenience, I will reprint my brief summary of these from A Theory of Everything. Based on extensive research begun by Clare Graves, Spiral Dynamics (developed by Don Beck and Christopher Cowan) sees human beings evolving or developing through eight major waves of consciousness. Spiral Dynamics is only one of the 100, but I have recently been using it quite a bit because it is simple and fairly easy to learn, even for beginners. Ken Wilbur: In Integral Psychology I present charts that summarize over 100 developmental psychologists, East and West, ancient and modern and postmodern. Shambhala Pulbishing has a number of pieces available for public consumption that Ken has written on their website at This piece is from one of those publicly available documents, and includes an extended quote from Ken’s book: “A Theory of Everything.” His use of Spiral dynamics to simplify and communicate the essence of a developmental model in a way that not only explains but also illuminates is one of his most important contributions to the popular understanding of both the existence and importance of STAGES in Human Development. Ken Wilber is perhaps the most fundamental influence on the Rational Spirituality perspective,īoth because of his overarching developmental model, and his focus on the relationship between non-dual consciousness (experiential spirituality) and physical//social/material reality.

Ken wilber icolors green