1. "Evolution, Process & Conversation: A Foundation for Evolutionary Agentry," by Peggy Holman

2. "The Song of Science," by Sally Owen

3. "Cultural DNA: Introducing a Revolutionary Model of the Development of Consciousness & Human Value Systems," by Rosemary Wilkie

1. Evolution, Process & Conversation: A Foundation for Conscious Evolutionary Agentry

Why have an article on process in a newsletter largely devoted to evolution? What could process possibly have to do with evolution?

In a word, everything.

We now know that our universe is not the static, clockwork mechanism scientists once believed it to be. Rather, we know that it is constantly changing. In fact, change through time is central to the definition of evolution.

A process is a naturally occurring or designed sequence of changes. Sound similar? You could say that evolution is the mother of all natural processes. And, as our mothers often do, evolution has much to teach us about the design of processes. Why do processes matter? The better we are at designing processes that are consonant with the patterns underlying the dynamics of evolution, the greater our likelihood of creating changes that serve us well.

This article is devoted to processes used in human systems--processes that empower change to serve the needs of individuals, collectives and the larger whole of which we are all a part. We offer such thoughts because we believe that we are all agents of evolution and that the more conscious of this we are, the greater the difference each of us can make.

Evolution & Conversation

Since conversation is a primary means for human interaction, it is central to how process happens in human systems. As such, conversation is as an evolutionary force of extraordinary potential.

Over the last 14 billion years, as Western science currently understands it, the growing edge of evolution--the appearance of radically new forms of complexity--has moved from cosmic to geologic to biologic to cultural. The universe itself learns and transforms, having made a variety of leaps through its billions of years. At every stage, single entities come together to organize themselves into more complex entities--from hydrogen gas to stars and planets; from molten material to a habitable planet filled with mountains and oceans; from single celled entities to the wondrous array of plants and animals on the Earth today; and through humanity itself, from family groups to worldwide socio-economic systems.

At each stage of evolution, the interaction that enables these leaps occurs differently. In stellar and galactic evolution, gravitational and subatomic interactions dominate. In geologic evolution, basic chemistry and Newtonian physics are central. In biology, interactions are biochemical, physiological and ecological--and DNA becomes fundamental in mediating them. And for humans, perhaps the most significant and ubiquitous form of interaction happens through conversation, which mediates most other forms of human interaction (such as conflicts and economic interactions). It is an intriguing concept, that conversations are for the evolution of social systems what DNA is for the evolution of life and gravity is for the evolution of galaxies and stars!

There is something vital and hopeful about the central role of conversation for the survival of our species. With its primary role in interaction among humans, conversation has the potential to do the work that interaction always does in evolution: to empower distinct organisms (like singe cells) to self-organize, cohering into novel, more complex organisms (like us). What are the implications for humans? What do self-organizing differentiated humans become when they converse with each other?

We already know humans create tribes, nation-states, and other collective bodies. I believe there is something of vastly more creative potential available to us. It involves another gift on the emerging edge of evolution: consciousness.

What's consciousness got to do with it?

Cosmologist Brian Swimme has compared consciousness "to the emergence of oxygen within Earth's early communities of life, a development that carried both the destructive and the creative significance of that earlier event." When life first began generating oxygen with photosynthesis, Earth had no way to use it creatively, and it accumulated as a toxic waste product, oxidizing rocks and bacteria everywhere. This sparked the first environmental crisis, almost eliminating all life. Instead, life mutated, inventing respiration--a new means to interact, perfect for the times--thus finding new stability through increased complexity.

Could it be that consciousness is the latest evolutionary innovation that, when applied to conversation, catalyzes a new form of social system, the conscious co-creative collective, the radiant network of deep community? I believe that conscious conversation is the path to what Thich Nhat Hanh imagined when he said, "It is possible that the next Buddha will not take the form of an individual. The next Buddha may take the form of a community, a community practicing understanding and loving kindness, a community practicing mindful living. And the practice can be carried out as a group, as a city, as a nation."

The practice of conscious conversation has the potential to help us creatively engage with the overwhelming natural and human-generated crises we face today. In fact, it may be the only thing that can.

What is conscious conversation & how might it be our salvation?

A conscious conversation continually increases our awareness of ourselves, others and the whole in relation to each other and our environment. There is a growing body of experience, research, philosophies, principles and practices that teach us about the power of conversation to create breakthroughs. Where conscious conversation happens, violence disappears.

Individual practices such as nonviolent communication and projects such as the Compassionate Listening Project are examples of what is possible. Processes that engage hundreds, even thousands in creating the communities and organizations they want, are just beginning to demonstrate their potential for creating forms of being together that benefit and serve the needs of both individual and the collective. These processes that consciously engage people in conversation are at their best when dealing with diversity, conflict, and complexity. Processes such as Open Space, Appreciative Inquiry and The World Cafe are making a difference around the globe with thousands of people.

What does conscious conversation mean for you?

Become conscious of the power of conversation to change the world. Learn how the dynamics of conversation matter and use them. By learning to converse well and helping others converse well, you become a conscious agent of evolution.

What are the conversations that matter to you? Who are the people who care as you do? How can you engage them?

Explore the process websites above as well as other more general conversation-supporting websites such as the National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation and the Co-Intelligence Institute--and try out some simple conversational hints and processes in your own life and community. Conversations that have heart and meaning can change the world--and you can convene them!

[Peggy Holman consults with organizations and communities, increasing their ability to achieve what is most important to them through growing their capacity for inviting the emergence of new ideas and relationships. She is acknowledged as a leader in generative processes for whole system change. Her work encourages people to take responsibility for what they love, resulting in stronger organizations, communities, and individuals. Her first book, The Change Handbook: Group Methods for Shaping the Future, co-edited with Tom Devane, has been warmly received as an aid to people wishing to increase the impact of their organizations and communities. For more information visit http://www.opencirclecompany.com.]

Age of Consciousness: phrase employed by the developers of the Regenetics Method to indicate the dawning Aquarian "Age of Light" that many believe will soon precipitate the dissolution of old hierarchical structures of control, fear and manipulation, followed by the birth of social models based on principles of partnership, servant leadership, unity consciousness, and unconditional love.

Do sound and science sing together in perfect harmony? They do for me, and most importantly, they sing for the gifts of healing. The science of sound healing resonates within the research of some of the top medical investigators worldwide. Their work is not limited to how sound affects our bodies or even our planet ... Astronomers at Cambridge University have now determined that the Perseus galaxy cluster sings its song in the tone of B-flat. Sound exists everywhere, including within you.

I devour the science of sound because I am a soundworker who primarily uses tuning forks to create a sonic permission field for the vibrational healing experiences of my clients. I use over forty-seven different tuning forks that vibrate from 32 cps (cycles per second) to 4,225 cps. The forks sing to exact musical tones, and many of them are calibrated to the precise rotational frequencies of our known planets, sun, and moon. My personal belief is that all sound vibrates to a frequency of light, that sound is light, and that it has been slowed down enough so that we can actually hear and feel it. My job as a sound healer is to translate that light into your unique sound so that your body and spirit can sing your own song.

Why is the science of sound important? How important to you is your DNA? Musician and researcher Susan Alexjander and cellular biologist David Deamer worked as a team and exposed sections of human DNA to infrared light to determine the distinctive frequencies of the four base molecules: adenine, cytosine, guanine, and thymine. They then converted those DNA ratios of light frequencies into ratios of sound. What they heard sang to them, and that DNA "music" has been recorded so that it can sing to you as well.

Physician and alternative-medicine advocate Larry Dossey observes that "the result was haunting, beautiful music with microtonal pitch changes, much like music we associate with India and the Middle East." I played Alexjander's DNA music Sequencia and Deamer's recordings at my October 9, 2003 Tuning Fork Sound Healing presentation at The Golden Braid. The audience was mesmerized. Consider what is like for your DNA to be serenaded by the light of its own song.

Many of you know the profound spiritual and scientific work of Gregg Braden, who states that the "natural elements of our DNA translate directly to a readable message in our own cells, including God's ancient name." Braden believes that "the message in our cells was described in sacred texts at least 1,000 years before modern science verified its existence." He further suggests that a "literal message may be hidden within the DNA of life itself." Is the "literal message" within our DNA singing in the music of Susan Alexjander and David Deamer? Is this the song of science?

Imagine how the estimated 100 trillion cells per human body sound when singing their song. Sound healer Jonathan Goldman provided me with DNA ratio-calibrated tuning forks that I use to create balance on a subatomic level, which can actually "activate new aspects of the DNA helix." Goldman says, "To our knowledge this ratio does not appear in any scales on the planet." Maybe it sings somewhere within the music of the Perseus galaxy cluster. Goldman, like myself, is careful not to make guarantees that this form of sound healing "may indeed alter the DNA and allow new encodements of light." Perhaps the job of science is to make that guarantee for us.

If you follow how important sound might be to the DNA in our cells, imagine what sound and vibrational medicine may offer to the more than 5 million people who have been diagnosed with cancer since 1990. Fabien Maman, a bio-energeticist, conducted a year-and-a-half study with Helene Grimall, a biologist and musician, on the effect of sound on human cancer cells at the French National Center for Scientific Research in Paris. After mounting a camera on a microscope where slides of uterine cancer cells had been placed, the researchers played acoustical instruments and sang musical scales into the cells.

Maman and Grimall found that the most dramatic influence on cancer cells came from the human voice. This is one reason why chanting, toning and singing (forms of sound healing that require nothing more than the intention of your own voice), and the tone-of-voice and choice of words we use when speaking to one another, are so amazingly important for our health and wellbeing. For cells that had been sung to, it was found that "the structure quickly disorganized. The human voice carries something in its vibration that makes it more powerful than any musical instrument: consciousness. It appeared that the cancer cells "were not able to support a progressive accumulation" after being exposed to vibrational frequencies.

The fact that cancer cells were unable to support themselves after they had been vibrated by sound provides strong evidence that sound therapy should be considered as a potential treatment option for this disease and many others. Maman also conducted research on two breast cancer patients. Each woman toned for three hours a day for one month. For one woman "the tumor vanished completely." The second woman underwent surgery to remove her tumor. Her surgeon "reported that the tumor had reduced in size considerably and had literally dried up." Photographs taken during these case studies substantiated Maman's results that "the cancer cells show evidence of cell nuclei incapable of maintaining their structure as sound wave frequencies attack the cytoplasmic nuclear membranes."

The work of Maman and many other medical researchers must be music to the ears of millions of people worldwide. There is some fabulous work done by Masaru Emoto, a Japanese researcher and author of The Hidden Messages in Water, on the effects of silent sound (the written word), as well as different varieties of music, upon the structure of water crystals. I would love to include some of his work in this short article, but it is something so amazing that you have to see it in his photographs in order to truly believe it.

In the 6th Century B.C., Pythagoras claimed that he heard the "music of the spheres." Nearly all research on sound and vibration is based in some way on his ancient mathematical claims regarding sound, health, and structure. What was once a legend many centuries ago has endured and now become scientific truth. Hearing ancient celestial music has lead us today to hear the light in the sound of our own DNA and to scientifically witness the power of sound healing. The evidence is not only clear on paper, but is experientially overwhelming with respect to all kinds of emotional and physical problems, including but not limited to cancer. I am fortunate enough to observe this amazing healing power almost every day.

Considering the celestial music of centuries ago that has led us to listening to our own DNA is truly amazing. The fact that its presence has the power to heal the cellular structure that makes up the human body is music to my ears.

Copyright (c) 2007 by Sally Owen. All Rights Reserved.

[Sally Owen is a professional intuitive and sound healer with a solid foundation of a long-term career in traditional and holistic medicine and a Masters Degree in Transpersonal Psychology. Visit her website at http://www.lightofsound.com. The foregoing article orginally appeared in the December 2003 issue of The Golden Braid newsletter.]

Did You Know ... that, in the words of author Sai Grafio in a forthcoming book entitled The Zerostate Universe, arguably the biggest "error we make in Western science is to think of mind in physical form"? Explains Grafio, "Mind is what the brain does; the brain does not do mind. How do genetic stem cells know in their undifferentiated state to produce a liver or another organ? During sleep our parasympathetic nervous system [receives its information] by bhavanga or the stream of consciousness in the subconscious state. This is the ground luminosity for the individual in his state of becoming … The ultimate ground luminosity is the dharmadatu or zerostate. The function of mind comes from the internal and external nondual state. Unfortunately, Crick and Watson [believed] that DNA [is] just molecules without ... vital force governed by spirit."

Life is extremely complex, yet we unconsciously bring to any situation our own mental background, the accumulation of our life experience in the society we grew up in: everything we have been taught--or picked up from the media--becomes our opinion, defended vigorously. We cannot understand how anyone could possibly think differently and we label those who do stupid, reactionary, or trouble-makers.

We need to fully understand why people think as they do. Fifty years ago Clare W. Graves, professor of psychology at Union College New York, was so frustrated by all the conflicting theories on offer that he resolved to get to the root of what differentiates people, why they perceive the world so differently, and why their reactions to physical, emotional and social challenges are so dissimilar.

Decades of research followed, in many countries and at all levels of society. The result was Spiral Dynamics, a revolutionary model of the development of consciousness and human value systems. Understanding the progressive stages through which individuals, organizations and cultures evolve provides the key to resolving major conflicts and global problems, many of which stem from clashes between different ways of thinking.

Spiral Dynamics is well named. Spirals are a dominant universal fractal. Human DNA is perceived as spirally wound ribbons. Spirals are powerful and multidimensional, all the whorls alive at once yet with an inner intelligence that draws them into a spiral structure of life. The forces inside human spirals push individuals and societies to evolve through higher levels of complexity. Each upward turn marks the awakening of a more elaborate version of what already exists, creating a coiled string of value systems, worldviews and mindsets, each the product of its times and conditions.

According to Spiral Dynamics, human nature is not fixed and changes as our life conditions change. Indeed, it is human nature to love solving problems and creating new ones. When our circumstances change, we have the innate capacity to develop more complex thinking to handle new problems, and we change our psychology and rules for living to adapt to new conditions. But the old ways of thinking do not disappear; we carry them within us and call on them when necessary.

Each level of coping with human situations is based on certain values, called a vMEME (value MEME). A vMEME is like cultural DNA, a container within which our values and beliefs form and fit, and which attracts and repels others. Each meme contains behavioral instructions that are passed from one generation to the next, a bio-psycho-social-spiritual code that underlies every aspect of our lifestyle and culture and holds it together. Every form of cultural expression is a manifestation of it--our forms of government, architecture, language, religious expression, moral views, creative arts, amusements, sports, and sense of identity.

Each meme builds on the one below, and everyone has to progress through each in turn. Not everyone within a society exists at the same level. There are "misfits" with ideas "before their time" and others who are not equipped physically, mentally or emotionally to "fit in." We cannot leapfrog a stage because it doesn't appeal to us, or lift ourselves to a higher one without experiencing and learning the lessons of the ones below. Nor, significantly, can one country impose its way of life on other countries that have not lived through the stages of similar development.

These memes become progressively more complex and expansive. Spiral Dynamics recognizes a central core of eight levels. Six of these are in the first tier, or old paradigm, and two are the beginning of the next tier, the new paradigm.

First Tier

1. Beige

This is the unemotional survival level of primitive humans, intelligent animals with finely developed instincts that have atrophied in us. These are the life circumstances of a newborn child, and of people with Alzheimer's disease. Anyone can regress to this level when caught up in disaster.

Spiral Dynamics sees human evolution from this level in seven color-coded categories: Purple, Red, Blue, Orange, Green, Yellow, and Turquoise.

2. Purple

As survival needs are met, new brain connections form allowing us to become aware of ourselves as distinct individuals. We recognize danger and begin to band together for safety. We notice cause and effect. The shift is made into emotional Purple, where fear becomes our primary emotional response. We know our place in the tribe, obey the chieftain, and share our food. To allay our fears, we attribute divinity to the natural phenomena over which we have no control--sun, moon, fire, and water--and placate them with offerings. Storytellers keep inherited wisdom alive. Our world is fearful and superstitious, and the lines between reality and fantasy are blurred. This is the world of the settled tribe and the toddler. The magic word "Mama" brings what you need. Scream if she disappears. The purple stage of parental bonding is crucial to the healthy development and self-esteem of children, and the lack of it is at the root of many of the problems of ill-adjusted and uncontrollable youth.

3. Red

When safety and security are assured, we begin to question our leaders and reach for personal autonomy. The strongest individuals battle for limited places at the top. Losers are expelled from the herd. Audacious spirits challenge the gods. New brain connections form and we have moved into Red. And the terrible twos! Instant gratification, no sense of guilt, no worries about consequences. We do or grab what makes us feel good without regard for others. Anything that goes wrong is somebody else's fault. If we are thwarted our rage is excessive, our reactions violent. Our greatest fear is losing face, being shamed. This is the world of sports teams, sales teams, and street gangs. Of warlords, Vikings, James Bond villains, and our deprived inner cities. The majority of the world's population lives at this level--not because they choose to do so but because that is what their life conditions demand.

All the memes have their positive and negative aspects. For example, Red is also extremely creative. It gives us the strength to fight to defend ourselves. It gets things done, inspires heroic acts, breaks with limiting traditions, and opens up new pathways.

4. Blue

The move to Blue occurs when we become desperate for two things: order to replace anarchy and a good reason for all our suffering. The movement that arises may be political, cultural, nationalistic, or religious. It provides absolute rules and laws, severe punishment for transgression, and an allotted place for everyone in the hierarchy. And it inculcates guilt. Good versus evil. Faithful versus unbelievers. Crusades and causes. We obey. We sacrifice for the common good. There is only one right way to think or do things and the virtuous are rewarded (in this life or the next). This is the world of the Salvation Army, Billy Graham, guides, and scouts. The child learns about fair and unfair, right and wrong, and the consequences of disobedience. Also that other people have rights, that actions have consequences, and that it sometimes pays to defer gratification.

5. Orange

Those who fit this orderly Newtonian world tend to be happy, healthy and stable, and there are plenty of them in our society. Others begin to question the unquestionable, seek new and better ways of doing things, or simply rebel against the constraints. "What about me?" they cry, echoing Red rebelling against Purple. We are moving into Orange, the predominant meme in Britain and the United States. Orange is all about achievement, competitiveness, technology, new ways of doing things, and the good life. Success is highly rewarded. We have developed the ability to keep track of multiple interests and shift attention between them. We are dressed for success, mobile, pragmatic, opportunistic, independent, and in control of our own lives--but not as ruthless as Red because it doesn't pay in the long run. We stand or fall by our own efforts and talents. If we are no longer useful, we are scrapped like out-of-date technology. Hence perhaps the appeal of media that "spill the dirt" on the successful.

6. Green

Eventually we observe the downside of Orange: the numbers of have-nots and the disastrous effect of "progress" on our planet. We realize that material success and possessions do not bring happiness and that there has to be more to life. We come to Green, the top of the first tier of memes. We develop our interpersonal skills, cultivate our inner child, and seek a purpose in life. We make peace with ourselves and endeavour to bring peace to society by resolving inequalities. This is the world of Greenpeace, academia, public education, and anti-discrimination legislation. Egalitarian and humanitarian, we campaign for the rainforests and the disadvantaged, feel guilty about things our country has done in the past, boycott multinationals who abuse Third World employees and consumers, join groups and accept their thinking to make ourselves acceptable, decide (eventually) by consensus when everyone has had their say, meditate for peace, care for each other, and enthuse about the wonderful new age we are creating.

So long as our consciousness is in one of these first-tier memes, it is quite impossible to understand the thinking of any of the others. The people in our lives we can never agree with probably have their consciousness in a different meme. Red thinks Blue is repressive. Blue thinks Reds are hooligans and that Orange is pushy. Orange regards Green as loopy. Many Greens who believe themselves highly spiritual are in fact regressing to the pre-rational comfort of Purple. Worse still, Green, thinking it has all the answers, excoriates Orange, which has produced the wealth that Green generously wants to share out. Green can't see that the drive and expertise of Orange can be harnessed to resolve the problems that Green has identified. And Green communities fail for lack of Blue to keep the accounts.

Second Tier

7. Yellow

The shift to second-tier Yellow is momentous (and only a minute percentage of the world population has made it so far). Our ability to cope with complexity becomes greater than the sum of all the earlier six stages put together. We no longer perceive the world only from the human scale. We see it from a total or universal perspective--a radically different viewpoint. We live fully, tread lightly on the Earth, treasure the magnificence of life above material possessions, rate knowledge and competence above power and status, do more in less time. In a crisis we can see the core of the problem and start to work on it without the help of a focus group. We can see the whole picture, how each meme builds on the preceding one and how everything fits together in one enormous never-ending spiral of life. We can see what each individual, organization or country needs to help it evolve to the next level. Red needs to be channelled, not repressed. Blue structures need to be restored. In Yellow we are seized with the urgency of fostering the evolution of human consciousness so that solutions can be found before the cumulative effects of action by first-tier memes destroy the Earth and humanity with it.

8. Turquoise

Beyond Yellow is Turquoise, which is about global synthesis and renewal, then Coral, the ninth level, which is just beginning to appear. According to Dr Graves, this second tier also consists of six levels of complexity and there are further tiers beyond that our brains cannot yet begin to envisage.

Spiral Dynamics connects everything to everything else. We can use it to observe our own thinking and that of others, and it provides methods for building more functional families, organizations, and social systems. It enables us to see globalization through an entirely new lens, it is being used in the corporate world and local communities to assess underlying value systems, and it is being applied in youth development projects around the world. It provides invaluable tools for leaders, and probably saved South Africa from civil war by replacing racial stereotypes with an understanding of the different value systems involved.

Can we individually aspire to reach a higher level? There are no methods that guarantee that anyone will change their thinking! Transformation is more likely, however, if we meditate and take an integral approach, improving the health of all aspects of our being: physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. Reading integral books like Ken Wilber's, or just thinking about and observing how memes manifest, will help to develop our brain's capacity to handle more complexity.

It is important to remember that although our psychology and rules for living adapt to new living conditions, the older systems stay with us. We may devote the weekend to Green projects, function well in a high-powered Orange job, and still drive like a Red road-hog, impose strict Blue rules on our staff, carry a Purple lucky charm, and wallow helplessly Beige in bed with flu.

[Rosemary Wilkie is ... a psychotherapist and heart awakener who writes adventure books for children. Visit her website at http://www.rosemarywilkie.co.uk. For information on UK events and others around the world, visit http://www.spiraldynamicsgroup.com. For advanced Cultural Surveys that explore the fitness of organizations, visit http://www.onlinepeoplescan.com. The foregoing article was originally published in What Is Enlightenment? magazine.]