Human Development - ECLET
Emergent Coherence Layered Evolutionary Template
The Emergent Coherence Layered Evolutionary Template (ECLET) is an evolution of Clare W. Graves’ Emergent, Cyclical, Levels of Existence Theory, first published in 1970 in the Journal of Humanistic Psychology, and later forming the basis for the book Spiral Dynamics: Mastering Values, Leadership and Change (Beck & Cowan, 1996).
ECLET maps the layered development of human consciousness through nine dynamic layers, each characterised by its own distinct value system, meaning-making capacity and moral code. Everyone is born into Layer 1 and grows sequentially through these layers, alternating between individual (3-5-7) and collective (2-4-6-8) themes.
Progress through the nine layers is determined by the complexity of your life conditions and your soul’s development (built over many lifetimes). A mature soul adapts quickly, seeks deeper growth, and may access higher layers more readily. A mature soul may also choose to experience extended presence in lower or transitional layers, often to serve, heal or stabilise others. Both your life conditions and your soul co-create the path, in a unique dance of adaptation and inner-wisdom.
In the image below we have integrated the transfiguration to the Pure Gem Body (which follows Layer 9), based on the Thothic teachings which bridge quantum science and conscious evolution, as documented by Sha’Maia Christine Nartoomid.
Find out where you’re at!
Map your personal development with our ECLET Snapshot report, drawn from this nine-layer research based model. You’ll discover your dominant Layer, whether you’re stable or in transition, and receive customised recommendations for your future development. The ECLET Snapshot uses a combination of self-reporting and our unique Coherence Field Mapping. It includes a Zoom session with Steve McDonald to discuss your results and custom recommendations.
First Tier Consciousness
Layer 6: Empathic Affiliation — Egalitarian, empathic, prioritises community & authenticity.
Layer 5: Strategic Agency — Success-driven, seeks progress, autonomy and rational control.
Layer 4: Moral Order — Rule-based, fixed hierarchy, seeks stability through obedience & moral code.
Layer 3: Egocentric Power — Egocentric, impulsive, identity formed through dominance and control.
Layer 2: Tribal Bond — Tradition-bound, kinship oriented, guided by ritual & ancestral knowledge.
Layer 1: Instinctive Survival — Reactive, instinctive, driven by immediate needs & physical safety.
Second Tier Consciousness
Layer 9: Sovereign Presence — Universally coherent, crystalline alignment with integrated field intelligence.
Layer 8: Planetary Stewardship — Planetary focus, spiritually anchored, coherence seeking.
Layer 7: Systemic Integration — Transrational, seeks flow states, reintegrates shadow personality.
The Pure Gem Body (Transfiguration — Beyond Evolution)
The Pure Gem Body emerges as a unified crystalline resonance that overrides karmic patterning and reveals the soul’s innate luminosity in form. It involves the transfiguration of the body into a vessel of coherent light, capable of interfacing with higher dimensions while remaining present in the earthly hologram. It is a fundamental shift in human identity.
Transitions Between Layers 1 to 9
Human nature is an open, cyclical, emergent system, continually changing and evolving in response to our life conditions and soul needs. Transitions between the ECLET layers are not linear, they spiral and oscillate. A person may regress, compress or recycle within the layers, based on complexity, trauma or other life conditions.
ECLET tracks transitional states using a five-phase Change Cycle:
1. Nodal Stability – Anchored in a dominant layer.
2. Stress – Emerging dissonance and a regressive search back through previous layers.
3. Chaos – The breakdown of your worldview and identity structures.
4. Renewal – Entry into a new worldview with insight, yet instability.
5. New Nodal Stability – Integration and coherence at the next, more complex layer.
