Grow Gardens. Make Music.
Play Games. Share the Wealth.
The TEK8 Learning Lotus grows all 8 dimensions of human development through daily practice — rooted in gardens, games, music, and community.
Click a petal to explore
The Crystal Cycle — a daily rhythm, a TTRPG session, a micro-rite of passage
What the Research Shows
TEK8 is built on decades of evidence from developmental psychology, education research, and community-driven outcomes.
ZERO
youth suicides in communities with all 6 cultural continuity factors
Chandler & Lalonde, 1998
147
studies confirm nature-based learning improves outcomes
Mann et al., 2022
90%
graduation rate at BroSis NYC — with 0% incarceration over 25 years
BroSis NYC, 25-year data
What is TEK8?
TEK8 = Traditional Ecological Knowledge, 8 Elements. A framework for holistic human development that maps eight dimensions of experience to eight dice, eight elements, and eight guilds.
Each dimension maps to a capital (what you build), a wellness dimension (how you grow), and an IB knowledge area (what you study). The attainment system — Roll/Maximum — means all petals are equal. A D4 roll of 3 (75%) matters as much as a D20 roll of 15 (75%).
No petal dominates. No die is "best." Growth is measured against the self, not others.
The TEK8 Learning Lotus — 8 elements, 8 dice, 8 dimensions
8 Forms of Capital
Cultural, Natural, Material, Experiential, Spiritual, Social, Intellectual, Financial — based on Roland & Landua's regenerative economics.
8 Wellness Dimensions
Emotional, Physical, Occupational, Environmental, Spiritual, Social, Intellectual, Financial — based on SAMHSA/Swarbrick wellness model.
Bhagavad Gita 3.42
Senses → Mind → Intelligence → Wealth. The philosophical hierarchy that structures the entire system.
The 8 Guilds
Ether · Sound · Creativity
Air · Touch · Strength
Fire · Sight · Agility
Water · Taste · Empathy
Earth · Smell · Endurance
Chaos · Mind · Willpower
Order · Intelligence · Focus
Money · Wealth · Instinct
370+ Academic Citations
Each petal has a dedicated research study — garden-based education, Indigenous games, music pedagogies, cooperative economics, and more.
Start Playing Today
Every guild has a course. Every course has 8 modules. Pick the one that calls to you — or explore them all.
Find your voice. Shape reality through sound.
Reach out. Touch the world. Bring back what matters.
Transform raw into refined. Make something real.
Every river remembers where it began.
Plant something. Tend it. Watch it teach you patience.
Play is not a reward. Play is the work.
Map the pattern. Build the world. Tell the truth.
What you value, you measure. What you measure, you grow.
7ABCs: The Local-Global Studies Cooperative
Free the Children. Grow Gardens. Make Music. Share the Wealth.
The 7ABCs community on Skool is where the Crystal Cycle comes alive. Courses across all 8 petals, live Crystal Cycle sessions, CrySword SAGA game nights, and a community of educators, families, and learners growing together.
The sailboat navigates by the Pleiades — the Seven Sisters — the oldest navigational stars shared by every culture on Earth. The play blocks are the foundation: learning is play, and play is structural.