One premise of The Seminary is that our culture is, in many ways, inconsistent with the laws governing life. Here we're not referring to physics, but laws that most directly influence the types of social realities and relationships with the non-human world we can create. John Michael Greer outlines seven such laws.
The Law of Wholes
Everything that exists is part of a whole system and depends on the health of the whole system for its own existence. It thrives only if the whole system thrives, and it cannot harm the whole system without harming itself.
While our culture reduces all things to their parts, the universe functions in wholes. This is the basic difference between being reductionist and being holistic. The fundamental implication: it's not possible to truly know something without considering how it fits into its broader context.
Consequently, we—alongside everything else—cannot truly thrive unless the whole context in which we live thrives. If we pollute the air to industrially produce consumer goods, or use technology reliant on polluting energy, we're ultimately shooting ourselves in the foot.
The Law of Flow
Everything that exists is created and sustained by flows of matter, energy, and information that come from the whole system to which it belongs and that return to that whole system. Participating in these flows, without interfering with them, brings health and wholeness; blocking them, in an attempt to turn flows into accumulations, causes suffering and disruption to the whole system and all its parts.
The dominant culture may deny this law more than any of the others. It's been built on an endless quest for accumulation, seeing it as a good above almost any other. We're taught to accumulate money, homes, friends, partners, experiences, qualifications—for no reason beyond that doing so is 'good.' We might even be told it makes us happier, but basic observation verifies this isn't true.
Accumulation is fundamentally about having, while participating in the flows of the living universe is fundamentally about being. The problem with emphasizing having over being is that possession is itself a fiction—at the end of our lives, can we take anything we've accumulated with us? The Seminary aims to give us space to be, and for that to work, it needs to take away the space to accumulate.
The Law of Balance
Everything that exists can continue to exist only by being in balance with itself, with other things, and with the whole system of which it is part. That balance is not found by going to one extreme or the other or by remaining fixed at a static point; it is created by self-correcting movements to either side of a midpoint.
In nature, if something accumulates, a correction takes place to restore flow. Such corrections are not moral (right/wrong), but natural and neutral. The unprecedented accumulation of matter, energy, and information in our culture over the last several thousand years will lead to re-balancing.
This law isn't about going to extremes or remaining fixed at a static point. Neither is the objective to reach a point of balance, but to practice the art of balancing. The former is an end-state, the latter is an action, a way of moving in the world. Notice you're in an extreme; apply a corrective action; pass through the midpoint; repeat—forever.
The Law of Limits
Everything that exists is subject to limits arising from its own nature, the nature of the whole system of which it is a part, and the nature of existence itself. Those limits are as necessary as they are inescapable, and they provide the foundation for all the beauty and power each existing thing is capable of manifesting.
While it may seem self-evident that life is characterized by limits, our culture is predicated on the notion that human ingenuity can overcome most limits. Tech oligarchs spend billions researching how to overcome mortality; there's confidence that nuclear fusion will result in limitless energy.
We often fail to recognize that things thrive because of, not in spite of, their limits. A bird cannot fly unless it accepts limits on its structure (no teeth, hollow bones); it is because of its limitations that flight is possible. Limits are not to be broken, but embraced as sources of beauty and power.
The Law of Cause & Effects
Everything that exists is the effect of causes at work in the whole system of which each thing is a part, and everything becomes, in turn, the cause of effects elsewhere in the whole system. There must always be a similarity of kind between an effect and at least one of its causes, just as there must be a similarity of scale between an effect and the sum total of its causes.
Put simply, this law states that nothing happens by chance or coincidence. The principle of similarity in kind can be restated as "What you sow, you reap". It's important to align methods and goals, and to gain understanding of cause-effect relationships in the systems we inhabit.
The second principle is similarity in scale: "Great oaks from little acorns grow". Large, complex effects require sufficient accumulation of causes of similar scale. This law is both a diagnostic tool and a mandate for patience.
The Law of the Planes
Everything in existence exists and functions on one of several planes of being or is composed of things from more than one plane acting together as a whole system. These planes are discrete, not continuous, and the passage of influences from one plane to another can take place only under conditions defined by the relationship of the planes involved.
Giving primacy to the physical world is a historical anomaly. Since time immemorial, human beings have understood that reality is composed of multiple planes. Beyond the physical, there are also:
- The Etheric Plane: the plane of life force or vitality
- The Astral Plane: the plane of thought, emotion, and culture
- The Mental Plane: the world of archetypes and ideas
The key insight: problems manifesting on one plane cannot always be solved by interventions on another plane alone. The planes are interwoven, but distinct.
The Law of Evolution
Everything that exists comes into being by a process of evolution. That process starts with adaptation to changing conditions and ends with the establishment of a steady state of balance with its surroundings, following a threefold rhythm of challenge, response, and reintegration. Evolution is gradual rather than sudden, and it works by increasing diversity and accumulating possibilities.
At its core, this law means that species and systems adapt to their environment through a constant process of challenge, response, and reintegration. We are not the apex of evolution, nor has evolution stopped for us.
This law invites us to actively participate in the ongoing process of challenge, response, and reintegration. It reminds us how important it is to expose ourselves to the world we live in, rather than to seek shelter from it. Only through direct contact can evolutionary adaptation act upon our being.
Last, this law invites us to be patient. Change is slow, but when the right kind and scale of causes are in place, it will happen.
Weaving the Threads Together
These laws are not abstract concepts; they shape how everything functions, including how The Seminary should function.
The Law of Wholeness demands that The Seminary break the cycle of thinking we exist in a vacuum. We should be as much, if not more, generalists than specialists.
The Law of Flow leads us to cultivate spaces to consciously engage with flows of matter, energy, and information. We become conduits rather than accumulators.
The Law of Balance pushes us to foster a culture that can recognize extremes and apply skilful corrective actions. This law reminds us to let go of the idea that The Seminary might reach a final goal—the process is cyclical, not linear.
The Law of Limits asks us to embrace limits as both unavoidable and as the source of power and beauty. Like the bird whose flight is only possible because of its physical limitations, The Seminary needs to embrace its limits to experience its potential.
The Laws of Balance and Limits, combined with insights from Graeber and Wengrow's 'ecology of freedom,' remind us that we do not want to become anything—not farmers, not primitives, not any fixed identity. We want to remain human beings with the freedom to practice agriculture without becoming agriculturalists. When we accept that cultivation can only provide some of what we need, we naturally maintain multiple modes. We forage because cultivation has limits. We hunt because the forest garden has limits.
The Law of Cause and Effect reminds us that cultural change is a vast undertaking that cannot be achieved with any single grand gesture. This law is a mandate for patience: if we consistently apply the right kind and scale of causes, the corresponding effects will eventually follow.
The Law of Planes reminds us that putting up some yurts and creating a vegetable garden only acts on the physical plane. To forge a culture we must go beyond this. The Mental Plane is The Seminary's 'why'; the Astral Plane is its culture; the Etheric plane is its vitality; the Physical Plane is the material manifestations.
Last, the Law of Evolution reminds us that if we are to thrive, we must expose ourselves to the world we live in. Without difficulties, the cycle of challenge, response, reintegration cannot take place. The Seminary needs to be a place that allows evolution to take place, while steering clear of excess.
These Laws Guide Everything
From how we make decisions, to how we relate to the land, to how we structure community life—the Seven Laws provide the framework for all that follows.
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