The Spiral Dynamics model - Purple phase

The Book of Life & Death - part 23 The transformational dilemma of moving from the beige phase to the purple phase, is whether to give up immediate security of survival in favor of an alliance with others, where everyone can contribute their part to the well-being and security of a larger group. Once the human reproductive rate is scaled into cells of greater numbers, psychology adapts to a tribal consciousness. People carry with them a mentality of romanticization to everything related to tribal values, but they forget that fantasies about tribes viewed through western eyes and thought, do not stand in line with the actual tribal consciousness. We attribute to these populations false western characteristics, which do not actually happen, and this is one of the biggest human mistakes even today, and maybe even the root of all human conflicts. Every human society tries to project its insights and psychology on all other societies and on all reality in general. But one approach cannot describe everything that lies outside of it. If we do not understand how human consciousness develops, we will never be able to understand human phenomena objectively, but will always compare traits through the filters of the culture in which we live. As we continue to progress through the stages of the spirals, we will see that such cultural filters are absurd and their use is useless if we want to understand or experience reality objectively.

It is true that today there are many tribes that operate as an attraction for tourists. But these are modernized tribes. If you approached an authentic tribe that had no contact with current civilization, the tribal romanticization and all those prejudices about the people of the purple phase would fade after a few moments, after an arrow would come to meet you. We need to remember that collective human consciousness evolves slowly and so do ethics.  At each stage of the spiral, human compassion gradually increases. Such progressive compassion existed only in the few who formed as first sparks of more advanced stages. The purple phase brings with it many new virtues. Humanity begins to develop concepts about reality, tradition, hunting, navigation through earth and stars, medical shamanism, herbs, traditions, alliances and collaborations, communication with spirits, etc. The purple phase tribes act as one organism. There is still no concept of personal property or acting for the sake of self interests. The tribal commune operates without material glorification. This is the stage where each member of the tribe finds his value role, whether it is a hunter, warrior, herb gatherer, medicine man, and other various professions of a craft, designed for the survival of the group. A group of a tribe numbers between 50 and 150 people. At this point humanity learns about alliances through marriage or fighting with rival tribes. The head of the tribe is a title given by the other members of the tribe and it does not indicate a divine status, but rather high enough qualities with which the head of the tribe can provide service in a sufficiently responsible manner. Tribal life was not designed to spread over large areas, but to create local autonomy as a unified organism which feeds itself. It is an organism without egoic needs, whose essence is the survival and prosperity of the group. Today there are certain populations that live in the structure of tribes, in the regions of Africa, South America and Asia, and there are hardly any populations that remain isolated and without external contact. Most of the tribes that survived serve as a tourist attraction, and many members of the tribe leave and develop into new stages of values, in order to find a future in the modern world. Thanks to this, it can be concluded positively that the purple stage is in extinction and it will not be long before the purple values ​​disappear completely from the world, leaving behind them an important and significant history in our development.

It is easy to comprehend why purple values are so intriguing to westerners. Everybody in the tribe collective has a value, whereas people in the western world have trouble finding value within themselves. An interesting fact is that In 2001 right after the collapse of the twin towers in New York, there was a significant reduction in suicide attempts. People felt more responsible toward others, and the fact that they were willing to help anyway they could, raised their self value to the point of transcending their own suffering. We can actually learn a lot from that. Certainly a collective mind is not the brightest as we have witnessed in any ideology, however being there for the other is very much contributing to our levels of suffering and happiness. The purple phase is a collective one, whereas the beige stage is an individual one, and thus dealing only with self preservation. Helping others is a fundamental aspect of human happiness. As individuals, the purple phase symbolizes reaching the age of six months. At the age of six months, the baby knows how to recognize his parents and react to them accordingly. Although in this age it is not yet possible to get by in the world independently, at least we learn to connect with permanent aspects such as parents or the home environment. Unlike the modern methods of teaching and raising children which very much means sending our children to external educational institutions practically right away , tribal education is much closer and self-sustained. The members of the tribe are destined to remain within its boundaries until the end of their lives, and therefore the interpersonal relationships are much closer than the modern approach. The tribe's elders and teachers are the ones with the mandate to teach the youngsters about life. The purple stage is not yet a stage where the ego takes hold of consciousness. It is not yet a stage of violence for violence's sake. Chaos and wars over these or that territories are not yet problems in the repertoire of behaviors. In order to advance to the next stage of the spirals, the transformation dilemma will be one where we are forced to make a decision, whether to stay within the walls of the tribal nest, or whether we go out to discover reality and life in a more independent way. As we will see in next chapters, the consequences of this dilemma change the whole human perception, both collective and individual. If you find our content helpful, please share so that others can enjoy it as well.

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