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from The Meaning of Life: Ascending Jacob’s Ladder by Hazy Notion
The human eye responds to the continuum of variable wavelength found in the spectrum of visible light by dividing it into recognisable segments. These are the seven colours of the rainbow. Human identity responds in a similar way to the continuum of variable wavelength found in the Spectrum of psychic energy. It does this by dividing each Theme into seven distinct ‘tones’, or Sub-Themes, of consciousness.
Contained within the span of the Status of Self, for instance, are seven graduated Sub-Themes of Status. This means that there are seven broad areas in which people compete for status. These seven Sub-Themes are most apparent, and most easily demonstrated, within the Status of Self Theme. However, they repeat right along the Spectrum, within each of the Themes, in the same way that the three Themes themselves repeat within each Over-Theme.
Figure 11 Over-Themes and Sub-Themes
Some readers might find the concept of seven repeating Sub-Themes unfamiliar. But people who have been blind from birth might have a similar unfamiliarity with the idea of colour. If there has been no personal experience of Mind consciousness it is unlikely the Sub-Themes will be self apparent. Nevertheless, readers who find themselves in this situation are asked to suspend their scepticism until they have read the description of cultural evolution a little further on.
Some aspects of the Spectrum are somewhat metaphorical. The identity of Warriorship, for instance, doesn't necessarily have a person loaded with weapons and waging war. It is simply an attitude that sees status arrangements as being the outcome of conflict, and conflict as sport.
Contemporary market society is collectively located on the Over-Theme of Self, Theme of Status, and Sub-Theme of Number (see figure 11). The technical description of this positioning is the Status of Self through Number. One Sub-Theme back describes the collective identity of the type of society that historically preceded the modern age. For people of European background this was the aristocratic culture of the Middle Ages. It can be described in terms of the Spectrum as the Status of Self through Style. Back one more level — and one more epoch of European history — is the Status of Self through Piety. This wavelength inspired the theocratic culture of the European Dark Ages.
The following brief descriptions of the Sub-Themes are given to help recognise them. However, it should be borne in mind that a person is unlikely to be able to clearly distinguish Sub-Themes of identity without personal experience of Mind identity. Describing the distinctive aspects of the Sub-Themes in words is a bit like trying to describe colours without being able to use commonly understood examples (e.g. as blue as the sky). There is also the added difficulty that instead of relating to the physical world they only relate to linguistically vague concepts of identity.
- SUPERSTITION is an intuitive, pre-rational form of identity. It arises as the first awe-inspired introduction to a new Theme of consciousness. It's perceptions are often clouded and overlapping with those of Psychic Powers from the previous Theme. The collective expression of the Status of Self through Superstition has, in the past, sometimes incorporated religious practices involving human sacrifice.
- WARRIORSHIP is an early, brash, assertive expression of a new Theme. It is combative and deals with challenges to ascendancy by direct confrontation. It is up-front confrontation with a minimum of thought and guile. It tends to be individualistic and might lack discipline and organisation. It is often disdainful of rules and laws but always obeys a code of honour based on confronting the negative emotions from lower Themes. On the level of Status of Self the expression of Warriorship tends to favour physical strength. This puts women at a disadvantage and women who express themselves on this level often deliberately position themselves in a submissive role through the device of femininity. In contemporary Number dominated society the arithmetic scoring of competitive sport is the most common, culturally approved expression of the Status of Self through Warriorship.
- PIETY is the observance and interpretation of rules, codes, laws and Scriptures. An identity drawing energy from the Sub-Theme of Piety tends to see rules and laws as ends in themselves. This is particularly so when the rules are specified in writing. When there is a collective imperative to obey rules Status is given to people who are authorised to interpret the rules. Control over interpretation can be maintained by either restricting access to the rules, or by restricting the number of interpreters of the rules. Religion and the law are particularly attractive to practitioners of Piety identity in contemporary societies. However, most organisations have members who are more concerned about the rules governing the running of the organisation than they are with the organisation’s objectives.
- STYLE is what aristocrats cultivate. It is class, beauty, a title, elegance. It is the quality that inspires loyalty and followers. It is the type of identity that fashion leaders, artists, dictators, dandies and entertainers must have. Mostly it is variations on the concept of beauty, which make its notions somewhat ephemeral, since taste in beauty is always changing. To compensate for this intrinsic changeability titles are often adopted within style dominated groups to give Style more permanency. A title is an indicator of rank and the degree of Style a person has attained.
- NUMBER. The Status of Self through Number is the level of the Spectrum at which contemporary market societies collectively reside. The common denominator for measuring relative Status through Number is money. The general rule is that whoever has the greater Number is positioned higher on the Status hierarchy. This gives rise to a plutocratic elite which dominates the society through possession of measurable wealth. The day to day power of plutocrats is often exercised through their role as employers. By having possession of Number (capital) they own the means of producing more Number. Democracy is a political variation whereby political power is awarded to those who can get the highest Number of votes. Science is the highest mode of thinking in this age of Number. It is largely an obsession with the application of Number to the measurement of nature. Sciences without a natural mathematical base, like sociology and psychology, are required to statistically quantify their findings to have credibility as sciences.
- WISDOM is a refinement of knowledge — knowledge, in turn, being a refinement of information. Wisdom should not be confused with intelligence. Intelligence is the ability to solve problems and is a tool available for identity expression at any point on the Spectrum. Wisdom, on the other hand, distils whatever knowledge is available so that priorities can be appropriately ordered. When relative values are correctly understood the powers of discernment and judgement are acquired. In the cultural era set to follow the current age collective identity will express the Status of Self through Wisdom. This future age will elevate people who can direct intelligence to solve problems according to a culturally-appropriate set of priorities. Our current Number motivated age, without the inclination to utilise Wisdom in weighing priorities, routinely applies intelligence in ways that are destructive. Many of the applications of intelligence by the age of Number will be seen, retrospectively, as foolishness in the age of Wisdom.
- PSYCHIC POWER is the ability to directly affect other minds using psychic energy as a medium. It is essentially limited to the communication of feelings and the rudiments of ideas. Most people receive and respond to Psychic Powers without being consciously aware of it. This is because most people haven’t attained any degree of Mind consciousness. The hidden nature of Psychic Powers works to the advantage of its practitioners. In contemporary societies it is common for matriarchs to wield a subtle influence over family life by expressing the Fertility of Self through Psychic Powers.
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