Spiral Dynamics - Stage Purple

• Understanding Spiral Dynamics - Stage Purple: This developmental model by Claire Graves, Don Beck, and Christopher Cowan looks at the evolution of culture and human psychology over time. Stage Purple refers to a tribe or clan-based society focusing on survival as a group, where individual needs and wants are subordinate to the needs of the tribe. It is a stage characterized by deep mysticism and an enchanted perception of life.
• Nature of Tribal Societies: Stage Purple societies thrived without the concept of individuality, which is a relatively modern construct. Half of the world’s population today still resides in conditions where survival as independent is not feasible. The identity of an individual in such societies is largely defined by their association with their tribe.
• Mysticism as a Core Component of Purple Stage: At the Purple Stage of development, life beyond the materialistic and the mechanistic is embraced. Individuals at this stage seek harmony with nature, connect deeply with it, and hold a reverential attitude towards its power for survival. The spirituality in this stage is characterized by animism, attributing souls to all elements of nature.
• Evolution of Purple Stage: As humans evolved, they moved away from the collectivist, tribal society represented by Stage Purple. Stage Purple is perceived as uncivilized due to its lack of advanced rationality, science or technology. However, mankind only moved away from this stage due to those uncivilized aspects and not because of its wisdom or its deep connection with nature.
• Significance of the Purple Stage: The importance of understanding and internalizing the lessons from lower stages like red and purple lies in recognizing the need for communal living, prioritizing bonding, self-sacrifice for the community, and fairness in resource distribution over personal profit making. These lessons can contribute to social cohesion and the sustainable use of resources in today's society.
• Transcending the Purple Stage: To move beyond the Purple Stage, individuals must harness personal ambition, question traditional practices, and expose themselves to a wider set of worldly experiences. Although adopting rational and scientific thinking is essential, it's also important to incorporate the positive learnings from Stage Purple, such as close connection to nature and balanced social bonds.
• Communal living in human evolution: Humans have never existed as isolated individuals, but have always been part of a communal group or tribe. This is present even among our ancestors like chimpanzees and bonobos. Survival as a lone family or individual is almost impossible, making the communal, tribe-like structure essential for survival. This is the basis of Stage Purple in Spiral Dynamics.
• Social development in individuals: The concept of tribal living begins in childhood, where we are taught to function socially in large groups. We learn how to interact with others, share, fit in, and avoid ostracization. This social adaptation continues through adulthood, reinforcing Stage Purple dynamics.
• Tribal values and lifestyle: In Stage Purple, the tribe or clan is valued above all else. Individuals contribute to the tribe and participate in group activities, and their life derives meaning from being part of the tribe. The tribe also values honor, humility, self-sacrifice, respect for elders, and adherence to tradition. Cultural activities like art, dance, and music add an extra layer of meaning to life.
• Respecting traditions and customs: Stage Purple highly respects tribal customs, traditions, taboos, and rituals. It emphasizes respecting elders and ancestors, and each individual willingly sacrifices for the tribe, viewing it as their responsibility. Stage Purple is characterized by harmonious co-existence and cooperation within the tribe.
• Traditional way of Living in Stage Purple: Stage Purple values tradition and every aspect of life, be it food, medicine, or social customs, has a traditional way. There is not much room for innovation or creativity as everything is already established. The meaning of life for individuals in this stage comes from adhering to these traditions and customs.
• Stage Purple Values: Stage Purple values harmony with nature, magical powers, spirit deities, mystery, rites of passage, myths, stories, and traditional music, dance, and dress. It puts great emphasis on ancestral and tribal memory and wisdom, as survival depends on it. Other values include reciprocity, sharing, cooperative interdependence, and warding off evil spirits.
• Shared History and Collective Memory in Stage Purple: In Stage Purple, cultural history and collective memory play a significant role for survival. This history is passed down through stories and myths verbally and has to be kept intact without much creativity or embellishment. This shared history provides a sense of identity and grounding in existence.
• Pre-literate Culture Characteristics in Stage Purple: Stage Purple represents cultures that existed before writing systems. The tribe's history is memorized through spoken language and shared from generation to generation. There is a strong emphasis on preserving these stories to ensure survival. Life at this stage is deeply mysterious due to the lack of knowledge about nature, science, evolution, etc.
• Tight Kinship Bonding in Stage Purple: In Stage Purple, tribes are treated as extended families with deep emotional bonding. The tribe's history is preserved, and there are many implicit unwritten rules and heuristics for survival. Fixed social roles exist and children are raised by the entire tribe in a communal manner.
• Communal Property and Lack of Individual Rights in Stage Purple: In Stage Purple, there's a sense of communal property where houses and resources are shared to maximize efficiency. There are no strong individual rights or property rights. Individual profit motive does not exist as the focus is on maximizing efficiency and survival of the tribe as a whole.
• Tribe Dynamics in Stage Purple: Stage purple tribal cultures prioritize social relationships and natural survival strategies. There's a strong sense of communal sharing, which serves as a natural insurance policy for periods of scarcity. The concept of gender-based labor division is also prevalent - women often cook and gather plants while men engage in hunting and tribe defenses. Fertile women, key to the continuity of the tribe, are especially protected and encouraged to have many children as a strategy for dealing with high infant mortality.
• Social Interactions in Stage Purple Cultures: In stage purple cultures, social bonding is valued over business schedules or productivity. Even in today's societies, remnants of the purple stage can be witnessed in many places outside of isolated tribes - including regions like the Middle East, India, and Hawaii among others. These societies experience challenges when interacting with Western cultures due to differing work ethics and priorities.
• In-group Out-group Dynamics and Conflicts: Stage purple societies tend to have an intense in-group out-group dynamic characterized by tribal warfare, blood feuds, potential ethnic cleansing, and racial violence. The strong adherence to traditions in each tribe often leads to conflicts with other tribes, propelling the need for higher stages in the spiral to address these conflicts.
• Attitude towards Sexuality and Family: Stage Purple cultures have a natural attitude towards sex, which isn't seen as bad or dirty. The cultures accept manual labor, arranged marriages, and selling off parents' daughters to the highest bidder who can pay a high dowry. Favoritism toward boys over girls is common, owing to their higher survival potential and physical strength. Additionally, these cultures show a strong inclination toward nepotism, preferring family bonds over competence in matters of authority and governance.
• Leadership in Stage Purple Cultures: The chieftains or leaders in stage purple cultures emerge based on seniority and experience. Seen as repositories of wisdom, these leaders selflessly serve the tribe and provide wisdom. Unlike later-stage authoritative figures, chieftains do not dictate, but facilitate and guide their tribal society. Chieftains hold a close, emotionally bonded relationship with everyone in their tribe, reinforcing the strong sense of community unique to this stage.
• Limitations and Triggers of Stage Purple: Purple stage cultures demonstrate resistance towards change that threatens traditional practices and beliefs. This inflexibility can be triggered by displays of individualism, arrogance, ambition, greed, lack of respect for ancestral and spiritual beliefs, and resistance to innovation and change. On the flip side, some triggers can lead to progression beyond stage purple, such as developing personal ambition, questioning tradition, and seeing more of the world or its diverse cultures.
• Understanding Stage Purple Spirituality: Stage Purple spirituality is animistic and sees the natural world as imbued with life, intentionality, and spirits. There's a magical cause-and-effect relationship, not explainable by science, that connects natural phenomena and human behavior. For example, dishonoring ancestors could result in a bad crop season or disease.
• Operation of Intuition and Mysticism in Stage Purple: In the absence of formal science and written systems, individuals at Stage Purple rely heavily on intuition, gut instincts, and keen perception to navigate life. This helps them understand natural phenomena and distinguish subtle patterns in their environment. Reality in Stage Purple is experienced through a mystical lens, often leading to superstitious beliefs and practices.
• Blurring Lines Between Reality and Imagination: Stage Purple blurs the lines between reality and imagination, leading to a polytheistic view wherein nature and objects possess their life-force. Ordinary events are perceived as mystical signs, and elements like stars, rivers, and mountains acquire animated symbols of spirits to be appeased and revered.
• Place of Art and Tradition in Stage Purple: Stage Purple compensates for its lack of writing systems with a rich culture of folk stories, songs, dances, crafts, drawings, and elaborate customs. Myths, legends, and parables form substantial components of this culture, often depicting a range of mystical creatures, magical phenomena, and other supernatural elements.
• Concept of Time in Stage Purple: Stage Purple has a cyclical sense of time tied to natural rhythms like sun and moon phases, seasons, and other celestial patterns. Evolution is not understood, and events are perceived within this recurring timeframe.
• Connection to Major Religions: The initial origins of major religions, including Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Judaism, can be traced back to the animistic and polytheistic traditions of Stage Purple. Over time, these traditions were systematized, made orthodox, and stripped off their mysticism to form contemporary religions.
• Role of Superstition and Magic in Stage Purple: Superstition, witchcraft, shamanism, sorcery, white and black magic, omen interpretation, and use of sacred herbs and plant medicines are other characteristics of Stage Purple. Totems, fertility symbols, spells, and charms play crucial roles, with a special focus on appeasing, battling, or dealing with various spirits and mystical creatures.
• Monolithic monotheistic religions and pagan influences: Most customs and traditions now considered part of orthodox Christianity, Islam, and Judaism were inherited from earlier pagan tribes. The birth date of Jesus Christ, food prohibitions such as not eating pork and shellfish, and other customs in these religions originated from stage purple traditions.
• Peaceful and easygoing nature of purple cultures: Ancient tribes embraced a peaceful and easygoing lifestyle due to their small scale and lack of competition. However, their lifestyle, though environmentally friendly due to their minimal impact, cannot be sustained by today's larger populations with advanced technology.
• Lack of cultural consciousness at stage purple: At the purple stage, culture is seen as reality, not as a social construct that can change. Cultural practices are unconscious survival activities from ancestors, and there is no critical reflection on these practices. The inability to see culture as adaptable can become problematic when environmental conditions change.
• Primitive environmental consciousness at stage purple: Though ancient tribes appeared to be environmentally conscious because of their proximity to nature and reliance on it for survival, this consciousness was limited. True environmental consciousness, including understanding the impact of technology on the environment, only arises at higher levels of development, such as stage green.
• Difficulty in handling diversity and alternative viewpoints: Stage purple tribes struggle with the concept of other cultures and their rituals, which can lead to conflict and an inability to adapt. Their worldview tends to be rigid, limiting their scope for alternative modes of living and resistance to change.
• Downfall of stage purple in a modern world: The shifting environments brought on by climate change, advanced technology, and modern diseases pose real threats to purple cultures, revealing the limitations of maintaining isolation. This inability to adapt to changing conditions can be detrimental to the survival of purple societies.
• Examples of stage purple: Carlos Castaneda's "Don Juan" books represent an embodiment of stage purple wisdom, highlighting primitive yet deeply profound insights and an animistic worldview.
• Discussion on Stage Purple's naivety and wisdom: Leo Gura explains that while the Stage Purple mindset can appear primitive and naive, there may also be deep mystical wisdom found within this developmental stage.
• Influence of Stage Purple on Stage Green: The Stage Green mindset draws insights from the communal and tribalistic aspects of Stage Purple as a reaction against the materialistic approach of Stage Orange. This can be seen in the reevaluation of practices such as organic farming, sustainable agriculture, shamanism, and the use of plant-based medicines.
• Ubiquity of Stage Purple elements across the world: Stage Purple values and practices can be observed in cultures across the world, from tribes in the Amazon, Africa, and Indonesia to traditional Hawaiian and Japanese cultures. Indian society, despite being fragmented by numerous languages and subcultures, also manifests many elements of Stage Purple.
• Stage Purple in popular culture: Examples of Stage Purple values and mindsets can be found in pop culture representations like the Na'vi in James Cameron's Avatar, the game Legend of Zelda, which draws inspirations from Japan's Shinto tradition, and the movie Medicine Man, which explores a Westerner's interaction with Amazon tribes.
• Consequences of resisting change: Stage Purple cultures may face difficulties progressing and modernizing due to their deeply ingrained traditions and languages. This resistance can slow down development and unity, as seen in India's language barrier issues.
• The concept of the "noble savage": The notion of the noble savage, which is often associated with Stage Purple, suggests a simplistic yet mystical connection to the natural world free from the constraints of modern civilization.
• Stage Purple practices and symbols: Practices such as voodoo, witchcraft, animal sacrifice, and sun and animal worship represent elements of Stage Purple. Structures like Stonehenge and Paleolithic cave paintings also reflect Stage Purple's mystical approach to the natural world.
• Concept of Ubuntu and suicide bombing: The African principle of Ubuntu, meaning "I am because we are", embodies Stage Purple's communal mindset. Meanwhile, the phenomenon of suicide bombing is associated with Stage Purple due to individuals' willingness to sacrifice themselves for the sake of the tribe.
• Transition to a more modern mindset: Stage Purple societies may struggle to adapt to changing life conditions and may face conflicts due to their inability to accept diverse worldviews. The evolution to more rational and scientific thinking, as seen in societies transitioning past Stage Purple, can help reduce such conflicts.
• Sacrificial Concept in Stage Purple: Stage Purple values are deeply ingrained with self-sacrifice for the tribe's survival. Kamikaze pilots during WWII and suicide bombers exemplify extreme forms of this sacrificial mindset, coupling the tribalistic communal loyalty of Stage Purple with the aggressive tendencies of Stage Red.
• Cultural Practices in Stage Purple: The stage is characterized by various archaic practices such as human sacrifice, eating enemies, chanting, drum music, and spiritual ceremonies. Physical traditions such as tribal tattoos and unique mating ceremonies (like that cited in the Philippines) also rooted in Stage Purple thinking.
• Purple Traditions and Beliefs: Communal idioms like 'All for one and one for all' and 'Blood is thicker than water' typically derive from Stage Purple. The stage sets high importance on respect for tradition, ancestors, and spirits. Disrupting any traditional practices can lead to serious conflict within the community.
• Potential Conflicts and Triggers in Stage Purple: Lack of respect for tradition, elders, and spirits can trigger conflicts. Other potential triggers include individualistic behavior, selfishness, greed, innovation, and confronting other cultures with different customs.
• Interactions with Other Stages: Arrogance from higher stages like the materialistic Stage Orange can clash with the communal perspective of Stage Purple. When these stages interact, misunderstanding and conflicts often arise.
• Resistance to Change in Stage Purple: This stage resists innovation and progress, favoring to keep doing things the way their ancestors have done for generations. However, this resistance can be detrimental as culture, society, and technology continuously evolve around them.
• Multifaceted aspects of Stage Purple: People in a stage purple mindset may struggle to understand and accept differing world views that threaten their existing ways of life, possibly viewing them as corruption. They may resist new and possibly superior methods, especially when it pertains to traditions such as spiritual or healing ceremonies e.g., using synthetic psychedelic in ayahuasca ceremonies.
• Negative effects and triggers of Stage Purple: Other things triggering stage purple could include domination, exploitation, profit-motive, strict schedules, and materialistic productivity. In terms of downsides, the major one could be tribalism, which may lead to tribal warfare and inability to adapt to new technologies or ideologies for fear of losing traditions, leading to a downfall, as seen with Native Americans.
• Perception of material needs, work ethics, and productivity in Stage Purple: The focus on materialism and productivity typically of the Western society can appear dehumanizing and threatening to a stage purple person, breaking human bonds for the sake of profit, something that does not hold significant value to them.
• Resistance to change and modernization in Stage Purple: Stage purple persons may resist modernization and retain their traditional customs despite the constant evolution of life and societies. The effects of this resistance are visible in many Native American communities, with high crime rates, rampant alcoholism, and a lack of purpose being prevalent issues.
• Stage Purple and spirituality: Stage Purple can be overly superstitious, overly mystical, with a preference for tradition over rationality. There can also be a resistance to technological advances, even if they present a faster route to spiritual growth, as seen in the case of synthetic psychedelics.
• Advantage of the unorthodox methods and approaches in Stage Purple: Stage purple, despite its resistance to change, offers unique perspectives and ways of life that could enhance one's spiritual journey if they are open to incorporating them into their lives. Changemakers in the spiritual realm might be judged harshly by traditional spiritual practitioners for going against convention, but their methods open the door to faster spiritual growth and healing.
• Understanding Stage Purple and the Lessons Derived from It: Though stage purple in Spiral Dynamics might seem a distant point in human development for many modern individuals, there are still valuable lessons that can be gained from it. Individuals who didn't find opportunities to fully explore their interpersonal social skills may face challenges in life, leading to feelings of isolation and alienation. Going back and understanding the communal, social nature of humans as characterized by the purple stage can be beneficial. Humans are inherently communal creatures, and understanding our place in a larger global community can result in a healthier perspective on the world and our interactions within it.
• Importance of Communal Living and Sacrifice: Stage purple emphasizes the importance of communal living where fair resource distribution and sacrifice for the betterment of the community are valued. It also draws attention to life beyond individual profit, advocating for the significance of social bonds and communal wellbeing over material possessions.
• Appreciation for Nature and Emotion-Driven Approach: Stage purple encourages more organic, harmonious living with nature and emphasizes the importance of being emotionally intuitive rather than logic-based in our interactions. The benefits of spending time in nature, connecting with our emotions, and building intimate social bonds cited in the section show how learning from stage purple can enhance personal wellbeing.
• Herbs, Psychedelics and Spirituality: In stage purple, the use of herbs, psychedelics like ayahuasca and mushrooms can aid in personal development and healing. Understanding the profound impact of spirituality, mysticism, and exploration of psychic powers, rather than dismissing them, can lead to personal growth.
• Incorporating Simplicity and Wisdom from Elders: The stage emphasizes the idea of living a simple life, focusing less on materialistic aims and more on developing deep spiritual connections with nature and people. It also encourages learning from the wisdom of elders and ancient traditions.
• Importance of Wholesome Organic Diet: Stage purple promotes a diet that emphasizes natural, wholesome, and organic food, as was commonly consumed by ancestors. Adopting such a way of eating can contribute to better health and wellbeing.
• How to Transcend Stage Purple: Individuals who are stuck at the purple stage are encouraged to develop personal ambition and question and move beyond tradition. They should expose themselves to more of the world beyond their immediate communities, effectively opening the path to advancing to subsequent stages.
• Understanding and appreciating Stage Purple: Consider exploring different cultures and tribes to break down the confines of old traditions and perspectives and adopt more rational, strategic, and scientific thinking. Although primitive by today's standards, Stage Purple is neither good nor bad and holds a lot of valuable wisdom, which can be discovered through books, videos, and documentaries. It has both healthy and unhealthy manifestations which need to be understood, respected, and integrated accordingly.
• Moving beyond Stage Purple: Transition through the red, blue, and orange stages before going onto higher stages. Skipping stages will not contribute to solid personal growth.
• Stage Purple re-evaluated: Stage Purple is not merely an adherence to mysticism and ancient tribal customs. Its focus on effortlessly socializing, forming meaningful bonds, and contributing to the community should not be undervalued. Stage Purple discourages isolation and instead urges the acceptance of others as part of a global tribe, urging the fair distribution of resources beyond personal profit margins.
• Importance of having foundation in lower stages: It's essential to build a solid foundation in stages like red (assertiveness and courage), blue (self-discipline, work ethic), and purple (nature connection, communal mindset). Jumping ahead to advanced metaphysical concepts without a well-defined grounding in these initial stages can inhibit personal and spiritual growth.
• Lifelong journey of personal development: Personal development should be a lifelong journey and not rushed. Seeking out other sources for practical advice on fitness, nutrition, financial management, etc. complements the more advanced, overarching guidance provided by Leo Gura’s teachings.
• The potential of personal development work: Life should be seen as an ongoing project—your potential as a human being is vast, astounding, and satisfying, but requires dedication, discipline, and seriousness.