The Use of Iteration

Through the development of Emergent Knowledge, David began to notice a structure to the language clients used as they ran his processes. Asking a simple question repeatedly, provided some very interesting results. David observed clients in the USA, UK and in France and found that even across cultures the structures proved to be common.

The questions used were:

• “What do you know?” and then
• “And what else do you know?” five times and finally
• “And what do you know now?”

1. The client on the first question will ‘Proclaim’ their problem.
2. The second iteration the client usually ‘Explains’ what was said in (1) Proclaim, this time it will most likely include their personal experience, the narrative of the problem.
3. With the third iteration, the client will ‘Reinforce’, just like the explanation in (2), although now they are moving to the global nature of the problem, they are ‘Expanding’ and ‘Reinforcing’. We also get a hint from them that this is enough, “Look, I’ve told you my problem 3 times now, it really is a problem!”.
4. The fourth iteration has the reinforcement of (3) at the beginning, but then we get ‘The Wobble’. There is a pause and then doubt enters in, (the facilitator should wait for the doubt), it will usually be the opposite commentary to what we have just heard.
5. Getting onto the fifth iteration really lets the client heat up on the inside, their world is shifting, how can they be stating two binary opposite statements in the same answer at (4)? The structure of their issue is collapsing. For intellectual processing the issue deconstructs; for physiological processing the client literally heats up, there is an exothermic reaction within the body. We are at a critical time here and the heat needs to be kept on.
6. Now we pass over into the sixth iteration, the edifice has collapsed, the structures that held the issue together are no more, these fell away at (5). What happens could be considered to be like the ‘Phoenix’ for out of the ashes comes new knowledge, reconstructed cognition, new awareness.
7. The ‘Pause’ or moment to consolidate – this is the 7th or zero point.

This [six (+1) step] process is an epistemological exercise, one based on knowledge. As each step is taken the client experiences another kind of knowing. As humans we cannot not know something, so as soon as we have expressed our knowledge or our understanding, we are open to new knowledge and understanding developing about that knowledge.

This is an unending, infinite process of unending knowingness. The steps expressed by the ‘Power of Six’ are as follows:

1. Proclaim
2. Explain
3. Reinforce and Expand
4. The Wobble
5. Crash and Burn
6. The Phoenixity – that which arises from the ashes of its predecessor.
7. The Pause

We shall be using this six-step construct repeatedly during the later sections, with respect to the already mentioned Over-Drive process and others.

A revised model for the 'Iterative Pattern of Emergence' has been developed by Matthew Hudson and was first presented in his book, 'The Eternal Moment of Now'. This renaming of the stages is as follows:

• Recognition
• Effect
• Consequences and Contradictions
• System and Form
• Unravel
• Emergence
• Rest and Consolidation

This renaming also provides a useful acronym to remember the pattern through: RESCUER

A particularly interesting feature of the nature of the ‘Power of Six’ is that it operates on many levels, operating with a fractal or holographic nature. For example, when running six sets of six questions, each set of six questions will have a general theme of the nature of each single step within the process; (see the transcripts in Chapters 6 and 7).

Another interesting insight from Steven Saunders in this area is showing that the pattern of six with a pause to consolidate is a pattern we, in the occident, have all inherited through our culture and ancestors – this pattern is based on the seven-day week. The clues to this ancient pattern are still encased within the original names and symbolism of the days of the week:

• Sunday – The day of the Sun, represents the self, one’s personality and ego. It is our identity and our face to the world. The space of ‘A’.
• Monday – The day of the Moon, represents the unconscious, feelings and emotions – this is the reflected self. The space of ‘B’
• Tuesday – Tiw’s day, the day of Mars, the god of war and agriculture. Representing the space of ‘C’; where the war / growth between A and B takes place.
• Wednesday – Woden’s day, the day of Mercury, Woden/Odin held the power to bind or unbind a man's mind. This is the midpoint of the pattern and interestingly Odin is traditionally depicted with a raven on each shoulder and a wolf on either side of him, representing balance. Mercury, the “messenger of the Gods”, the hermaphroditic intermediary between the Sun (A) and the Moon (B).
• Thursday – Thor’s day, the day of Jupiter. Thor, the God of thunder, whose hammer is able to throw lightning bolts. Jupiter astrologically represents the ability of the organism and the spirit to expand, and in Roman mythology also has the symbol of a lightning bolt and is the King of the Gods, bringing truth and intellect.
• Friday – Freya’s day, the day of Venus, the goddess of love, beauty, and fertility. Bringing into being, manifestation.
• Saturday – the day of Saturn, signifying rest and contemplation. Saturn also represents our limitations, our restrictions, yet he is also our inner mentor and teacher. His lessons are manifested only over time, after which we go through inner rebirth and enjoy spiritual growth.

There is also a pattern to be observed with the story of Genesis - The world was made in six days and on the seventh day God rested. Please note that these correlations are simply interesting notes on cultural references and are in no way representative of presupposed religious belief or similar.

• Creation Day 1 (Genesis 1:1-5)
  • God created the heavens and the earth. God then speaks light into existence. This could be considered the first statement, again proclaiming and the sun shining (light)
• Creation Day 2 (Genesis 1:6-8)
  • God creates the sky. The sky forms a barrier between water upon the surface of the earth and the moisture in the air. This is a structuring of what is originally presented, giving more form (explaining) and initiating the boundary conditions.
• Creation Day 3 (Genesis 1:9-13)
  • God creates dry land. God creates all plant life both large and small. This is the world around us, that which supports and holds the context for that which has preceded it.
• Creation Day 4 (Genesis 1:14-19)
  • God creates all the stars and heavenly bodies, the sun and the moon are made manifest. Here there is a shift of the pattern as this myth holds the Sun and Moon in stage 4, however, note that much of what is being presented are boundaries - here in 4 we are breaking outside of the constraints of the Earthly form and out into the beyond.
• Creation Day 5 (Genesis 1:20-23)
  • God creates all life that lives in the water. Here in 5 something special has occurred, the spark of life - not so much a sense of Crash and Burn from David's structure, but in relation to Thor and Jupiter the lightning strike, truth, intellect.
• Creation Day 6 (Genesis 1:24-31)
  • God creates all the creatures and man. This fits soundly with both structures, representing a full growth and manifestation - all of that which has preceded this has brought us to this moment of a new creation.
• Creation Day 7 (Genesis 2:1-3)
  • God rests. The day of rest, the pause, the consolidation.