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Glossary

Earth Stewardship - Turquoise

The Turquoise worldview is related to a sense of the whole, not merely a superficial understanding of the concept of holography, but a deeply understood, perhaps even felt sense, of being part of a holistic reality, truly integrated with all life systems.

At Sector Two, Earth Stewardship, Turquoise becomes the potential salvation of living systems on Earth. While the Green perspective is on track for the issue, the limitations of its reactive nature and inability to effectively engage the machinery of capitalism makes it functionally ineffective when it comes to fully addressing the core subjects of sustainability operant on a grand scale, such as: species extinction, climate change, depletion of the oceans, pernicious exoteric toxic chemicals in the environment, or non-reversible genomic alterations of food-source phenotypes. The Yellow vMeme has the capacity to understand the importance of the issue on a systems level, and will engage in that way, and this is a start. However, because it remains individually oriented, Yellow is unlikely to make the requisite sacrifices and take the radical actions required to change the course of human activity in the ways that are ultimately necessary to attain real ecological sustainability on a planetary scale. Only Turquoise, for instance, will support real Social Justice on a Planetary Scale.



Image from wikipedia

A new epoch is being considered in honor of Homo Sapiens, because we have altered the planet for millions of years. The "Anthropocene" epoch will join the Jurassic, Cambrian and other familiar units on the Geological Time Scale. Humans have already created the sixth largest species extinction event on Earth.

The Turquoise veiw of Sustainable Culture, with a focus on Earth Stewardship, is not just a systems perspective - it is a supra-ecological understanding of the infinite degree of complexity and interconnectivity of all aspects of the living systems which envelope the Earth and all its people. Thus, while both Yellow and Turquoise can understand how important a full twelve sector approach is when it comes to Sustainable Culture, it is Turquoise that truly "knows" this, not just from a conceptual place, but a knowing that incorporates other dimensions of being. The Holographic interpenetration of life support services, the meshwork of evolved living systems — it is understanding of this degree of complexity that will be required in a long term ecosystem management system. In a sense it is not just understanding, but reverence that will be required if we are to competently caretake this world.

Green or Turquoise?
The physical presentation of Turquoise, as it works in the world, may appear a great deal like a healthy Green, or even a Green transcending into 2nd tier. One reason for this is that as Green transitions, it will have affinity for Turquoise, especially if it has the strong collective perspective as a primary driver. Signal indicators for turquoise, which may be revealed more in the perspective behind the presentation, in addition to the more holistic perspective in which self or self-group is embedded in total meshworks, will be less shrillness, a less extremist tenor, and separation from a fixation with the ideology of absolutism, one truth, etc. Turquoise represents a collective pattern, fully integrated with the One, yet without the strident fealty to 'Canon if Truth'; Turquoise has left the conformism of Blue well behind, while in some ways the absolutism of Blue overshadows or relates to the strident position taking of Green. But be aware, Turquise inspires and leads Green, and will use the Green momentum, directing into useful engagement on behalf of the whole.

Here are two examples of individuals who at least have a foot solidly in Turquoise, while their work may be perceieved to have flavors of Green:

David Crow, in his book "In Search of Medicine Buddha" shares a realization about how an engaged, compassionate approach to this issue may in fact be our salvation:

"I had come to Nepal seeking the renowned and potent Ayurvedic and Tibetan herbs from pristine habitats. As I traveled through the vil¬lages and countryside, I looked down from mountain peaks and up from dust-choked streets and alleys and saw environmental degradation spreading across the Himalayas, destroying the forests and threatening the existence of precious botanical spedes. I carefully recorded the words of my teachers as they described formulas that I:ould cure mlJCh of humanity's suffering, but I knew these medicinal treasures were disap¬pearing. Many of these plants and animals. were from a vanishing world, their habitats' encroached upon by civilization, their priceless !lifts hunted more aggressively as their value increased. Where will medicines come from whe'n the flowers, trees, vines, grasses, bushes, and wild crea. lures are gone~ I wondered. In the course of our short human lifetimes, the botanical richness repn:sented by the Medicine Buddha's icono¬graphic kingdom is evaporating, and we ,Ire losing the companionship of nature's life-sustaining diversity

. . . .

What is the purpose of administering Ayurveda's profound detoxification procedures if the water, soil, and air are poisoned? If we continue contaminating the earth's nourishing elements, transforming them into disease-producing toxins, the finest of both modern and traditional medicines will ultimately be rendered impotent. Over time, aS I witnessed the clinical successes of plant-based medicine and struggled with the dilemmas of health problems affecting rich and poor, young and old, I found the mandala of the Medicine Buddha growing brighter in my mind I began to realize that by harmoniously reintegrating human, plant, and animal societies, we can provide meaningful health care for everyone and avert the threat of global poverty, hunger, epidemics, and biological extinction that looms over our childrens future. By compassionately caring for all life, we will have cures for our diseases, foods that cleanse and strengthen us, happiness for our minds, and peace for the earth."

From David Crow, "The Medicine Buddha", 2006 First Indian Edition , p8-10

Some of this perspective shares commonality with green. And in a sense, there is a great deal of traditional native wisdom that relates to this understanding - the modern indigenous people's environmental perspective is a hybrid of Purple, Green and Turquoise.

Avatar Movie Notes
One person who demonstrates a general understanding of Sector Two at Turquoise and familiarity with the various codes of the Spiral, and who is now recognized by Native Peoples throughout the world is James Cameron, creator of the the largest grossing movie ever in history. If you listen to this interview with Amy Goodman after he joined the Indigenous Amazonians in a bid to stop a seminal hydro-electric project, a project that could set a dangerous precedent for the future of the Brazilian rainforest, note the integration of various vMeme perspectives. While a great deal of the orientation is Green, there is a deft explication of the themes of colonialism, capitilist impulse and its interaction with indigenous peoples. This could all be misunderstood as a Green perspective, but it is more sophisticated than that. Green cannot brush against Coral in the way it is done in Avatar; the theme of soul-transference is an ode to third tier consciousness. The movie is produced from a second tier perspective and done so on behalf of the collective, so there is a dimension to all of this that reaches into Turquoise, the Turquoise that is the guiding light in traditional indigenous culture and is misunderstood by Orange, revered by Green, and appreciated by Yellow.

 


Communication
Codes:

Balance. Connection. Whole. Compassion. Caring. Responsibility.

 

 

 

Links to
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www.floracopeia.com

 

 

 

Culture of
Sustainability
Notes:

What is interesting is the theme that the transition of Mature Green into Second Tier has strong elements of emergent Turquoise. This is good news for all of us. Maybe we will get 2% of the population of the world into a muture Turqoise perspective in the next few years. So questions for many of us might be:
• Ok, so how do we support that to happen?
• How do I personally cultivate the appreciation for the holographic nature of reality?
• Is it possible for Green to transition more directly to Turquoise — is this a less understood path in the Spiral Dynamics community?

One of the best ways to get people interested in Culture of Sustainability, and ultimately, help them begin to appreciate the situation from at least a glimmer of the holistic Turquoise perspective, is through their health. These will be the people who have come to appreciate the limitations of the science / market oriented approach to healthcare, and furthermore, are moving into appreciation of the mature nature science that David Crow is pointing to, that is available through the maturing Ayurveda, which is adapting itself to integrate with the Western Cultures. Not everyone is on board with this, but interest is growing. This chart from wikipedia reveals the trend:

Running total of the number of research papers listed on PubMed
from 1990-2007 containing the word "phytotherapy."

From wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbalism