The Ascending Orders
Eight stages comprise two-thirds of the Grey Robes' initiatic experiences. These are required to develop as a sibling, perhaps to become a hierophant.
With enormous respect to Clare Graves, Don Beck, and Christopher Cowan.
The Senex Speaks
Initiates of the Grey Robes, gather close. I have walked many paths before you. I shall warn you of the journey ahead, for it will involve happiness and hardship in equal measure.
I speak of the eight-stage path of your growth and transformation. These are the Ascending Orders.
These are not mere ideas. They are stages of mind, spirit, and value we climb as we wrestle with the complexities of life. They shape how we think, how we value, and how we bond.
In our order, they guide us to form sub-orders, each aligned to a stage, so that we may aid one another in the ascent.
We begin at the base, the first rung of Tier One, where most of us dwell in a fragment, sometimes treating others with suspicion.
Tier One: A Sibling’s Psychosocial Journey
First—The Order of the Naked, the stage of Survival. Here, life is raw—food, water, warmth, shelter. Safety from the storm. Nothing more. You fight the wild to breathe.
Yet this order is sacred. Due to the mastery of your forbears—men who chiseled stone and women who found springs, you exist to hear my words.
To ascend from this order, you must master one of the four elements—air, earth, fire, or water—and demonstrate its survival advantage. Show your siblings and/or a hierophant.
Second—The Order of the Moon, the stage of the Magical and Familial. Bonds form in tribes. Rituals bind you, superstitions guard you. Magic whispers in the shadows, red spots, two by two, reveal hungry predators in the dark. Safety comes from the group's embrace. No lone wolf survives.
Yet this order is sacred. Moonlight bathes your mutuality. Firelight warms the spirit as you remember your ancestors. You are secure together.
To ascend from this order, you must draw to others at this stage—or to family members. Go and build a fire away from the city, tell stories of the Grey, and spend the night together under the moon—waxing, waning, or full—until daybreak. (Never sleep directly under a new moon or blood moon.)
Third—The Order of the Fist, the stage of Power and Glory. Impulse rules. You dominate by demanding respect through strength or instilling fear. Ego swells like a storm. Power is taken, but never given. Glory is earned through victory in competition.
Yet this order is sacred. Finding your power means discovering your ambition and seizing your prizes in relentless, focused pursuit. But be warned, you have taken The Initiate’s Pledge, so the way of the Fist can never be pursued at the innocent’s expense.
To ascend from this order, therefore, you will have to win a competition over another to gain something you desire. And you must compete alone.
Fourth—The Order of the Pyramid, the stage of Structure and Order. Hierarchies stand firm—discipline, rules, a higher purpose or authority. Absolutes guide you: right and wrong are etched in stone.
Yet this order is sacred. Here, you must know your place in the structure of a holy hierarchy. First, subordinate yourself to wise commanders, and then, when you are ready, lead your subordinates by issuing wise commands.
To ascend from this order, you must wear the blindfold and trust your superiors to guide your steps and actions. After you have ascended, you will be obliged to guide the blindfolded.
Fifth—The Order of the Sun, the stage of Achievement and Advance. Your individuality awakens, only this time you do not seek success by winning a prize sought by a competitor. Reason lights the way. You pursue commercial success, scientific progress, or apply logical truths. Guided by strategy, your objectives drive you forward.
Yet this order is sacred. Demonstrations of success are profit and knowledge. Profit is the gain in revenue over the costs of production and trade. Knowledge is gained by using hypothesis and observation instead of instinct or theory alone.
To ascend from this order, either earn a profit for the siblinghood or share with us new knowledge about the world, which you gain through experiments and/or empirics.
Sixth—The Order of the Leaf, the stage of the Communitarian. Equality prevails. Social bonds deepen—as does care for all, and for the earth. Consensus builds harmony. No one is left behind, and we thrive together in unity.
Yet this order is sacred. We extend our care and consensus to as many as possible. This builds community. We show compassion, as we did when looking out for those under the moon, but we extend our compassion outward to more. We must be mindful, though, for we have signed the Initiate’s Pledge. That means we cannot make others worse off, even as we expand our circle of care. To do so confuses compulsion with compassion.
To ascend from this order, we must organize a feast together or give gifts with no expectation of anything in return. Any such event must be organized through requests and consensus, without commands or controls.
Tier Two: Of Hierophants Ascended
Some of us will ascend to Tier Two, where wholeness awaits those who persist. Fewer reach this tier, but this point of view changes everything. Some may never pass through the prior stages.
Seventh—The Order of the Nautilus, the stage of Integration. Systems unfold. Complexity emerges, and you weave it all together—diverse views, even those from prior stages. Synthesis is your tool; little is discarded. You learn to design protocols that enable people to thrive in networks that strike a balance among freedom, order, and community.
Yet this order is sacred. You become adept at taking on the perspective of others and moving among the prior orders in your context-specific communications and innovative actions. This is a kind of sorcery. You must not change your colors for the ends of cynicism or self-absorption. Instead, you must adapt your cognition and values to navigate a world of ever-increasing complexity.
To ascend from this order, you must demonstrate subversive innovation or subversive communication—first as exoterics, then, if successful, reveal in esoterics.
Eighth—The Order of the Lotus, the stage of Holism. The cosmos breathes as one. Interconnection reveals itself in everything. As within, so without. As above, so below. The universe is a living organism, and you are its awakened facet, a reality that may be glimpsed in a kaleidoscopic moment after meeting the Eye of All with your inner eye.
Yet this order is sacred. You must surrender to the awe, wonder, and recognition that you are stardust unfolding, but at least stardust unfolding from the All, which is the Law.
To ascend from this order, you must practice the arcana of the Hierophants, whose secrets will be revealed only to the few, only to the most deserving. Four stages lie beyond for the hierophants.
This is your path, initiates—eight spiral stages, each building on the last. Climb not in haste, but steadily and with patience. As Grey Robes, we honor every stage and its order, as every ascent by every sibling to every stage lifts us all. Go and reflect. The time to rise is soon.