📜 Internal Codex Classification Charter

Public vs Steward-Level Determination

Purpose

This charter defines how Codices, Scrolls, and Transmissions are classified within the Living Archive.

Classification is based on function and field role, not on content safety or accessibility.

This document governs intent, audience, and field responsibility.

I. FIRST PRINCIPLE (Non-Negotiable)

A codex is classified by what it does in the field — not by how gentle, ethical, or safe it sounds.

Psychological safety is a minimum requirement, not a classification determinant.

II. THE PRIMARY AXIS

Every piece answers one dominant question:

A. Public Codices answer:

“What is happening?”
“Why does this pattern exist?”
“How can this be understood?”

B. Steward Codices answer:

“Who holds responsibility?”
“What must be upheld?”
“What governs participation?”

If the text answers B, it is NOT public, regardless of tone.

III. PUBLIC CODEX CRITERIA (OPEN ACCESS)

A Codex is PUBLIC if all of the following are true:

  • ☐ Descriptive or explanatory in nature
  • ☐ Addresses human experience, not defined roles
  • ☐ Offers insight, reflection, or understanding
  • ☐ Does not assign responsibility, authority, or custodianship
  • ☐ Can be read without implying readiness, obligation, or appointment
  • ☐ Misreading it causes confusion at most, not mis-positioning

Examples of Public Codices:

  • Pattern explanations (scarcity, flow, grief, collapse)
  • Ethical reflections without role address
  • Interpretive frameworks
  • Witness texts
  • Orientation essays

Public Codices may be deep.
They may be spiritual.
They may be profound.
They are still PUBLIC if they do not govern.

IV. STEWARD-LEVEL CODEX CRITERIA (RESTRICTED)

A Codex is STEWARD-LEVEL / PRIVATE if any one of the following is true:

A. Role Address

  • ☐ Explicitly addresses Stewards, Flameholders, Record-Keepers, Councils
  • ☐ Uses appointment or responsibility language
  • ☐ Speaks to a role, not about a concept

B. Constitutive Function

  • ☐ Establishes ethical obligations
  • ☐ Defines how power, wealth, healing, or authority must be held
  • ☐ Functions as a governing instrument
  • ☐ Sets norms rather than explaining patterns

C. Threshold / Passage Language

  • ☐ Uses scroll, covenant, threshold, continuation, council, ledger framing
  • ☐ Implies readiness, entry, or passage
  • ☐ Risks being read as a mandate rather than reflection

D. Risk of Self-Appointment

  • ☐ Could cause a reader to assume authority or role prematurely
  • ☐ Is safe, but dangerous by inclusion
  • ☐ Requires containment to preserve integrity of the field

If any box is checked → PRIVATE.

V. TITLES THAT SELF-CLASSIFY AS STEWARD-LEVEL

The following terms automatically elevate a piece to PRIVATE unless explicitly reframed as metaphorical witness text:

  • Codex (when tied to governance or ethics)
  • Ledger
  • Council
  • Appointment
  • Responsibilities
  • Stewardship (when role-specific)
  • Flameholder (when role-addressed)
  • Record-Keeper
  • Threshold / Continuation Scroll
  • Covenant (role-binding)

The title alone can determine classification.

VI. BORDERLINE CASE RULE

If a Codex is:

  • Psychologically safe
  • Conceptual rather than technical
  • BUT role-oriented or field-holding

Then default to:

PRIVATE unless explicitly reframed as symbolic / witness-only.

Containment preserves integrity.

VII. FINAL GOVERNING STATEMENT

Public Codices explain reality.
Steward Codices govern participation in it.

If a text governs participation —
it does not belong to the public.

VIII. AUTHORITY OF THIS CHARTER

This charter:

  • Overrides ad-hoc judgment
  • Applies retroactively
  • Applies regardless of platform or paywall
  • Is the final reference for classification decisions

The Living Archive is organized by domain rather than chronology. Each pillar reflects a structural field of inquiry within a unified body of work.

Readers may enter at any point. Depth increases through coherence rather than volume.

For applied governance, systems architecture, and institutional design, see The Stewardship Archive.

All codices remain searchable through the site’s search function. Selected works are available in downloadable format through the main Download Library or PayHip Bookstore. Advanced materials are organized within the Stewardship Archive.

This archive is offered as a structured contribution to long-range systems thinking, ethical leadership, and conscious cultural evolution.

It does not ask for belief.
It asks for discernment.

Coherence precedes influence.