Layer

A **layer** (also known as a **level**) is a division of a system. If a sidesystem is metaphorically to the side of another sidesystem, a layer is metaphorically under/above another layer. This may be visually reflected in how an individual system's inner world appears, or it may not be quite as literal, with the parts of the inner world feeling similar to the layers of an onion. Layers are especially prominent in polyfragmented systems, but are not exclusive to this kind of system.

The term likely originated in or was popularized in a multiplicity context in the medical community in association with DID and OSDD-1, specifically the article "Dissociative Multiplicity and Psychoanalysis" from *Dissociation and the Dissociative Disorders: DSM-V and Beyond*, and later started being used by the endogenic and other portions of the plural community.

> The alters may be few or many, of various ages, including older than the body, same- or cross-gendered, hetero- or homosexual, alive or dead, with either or both coconsciousness and copresence to varying degrees, which may not be commutative (i.e., may be one-way), communicating not at all, or through hallucinations, or through direct thought transfer, manifesting different physiological signs in the body when out, clustered in various arrays of dyads, subgrouping, layers, purposes, and so on.
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It may be, and frequently is, difficult for system members to communicate across layers within the inner world. Layers may form for many reasons, but a frequent reason for layers forming is in order to compartmentalize memories and identity.

### Related Terms

Many community terms have been coined to describe varying types and functions of layers. Within the wider plural community, -strata is frequently used as a suffix for terms related to layers, which began with Grey Skies System coining multiple terms related to layers with the -strata suffix.

* Sector (The Temenē Alliance): A sub-division of a layer that experiences memory separation and/or communication difficulties.
* Narrative Layer (Our World's End Gate) / Scribstrata (Grey Skies): A layer in a polyfragmented system with a plot or story, similar to a daydream with real system members being the characters in the story. May overlap with paragenic systems or dreamways.
* Protostrata (Grey Skies): A layer that nearly always is in focus, or has individuals from the layer often fronting. There can be more than one protostrata.
* Deuterostrata (Grey Skies): A layer that is in focus less often than a protostrata. The layer or its system members may work in the background of the system, and this may overlap with function layers.
* Tritostrata (Grey Skies): A layer that is almost never in focus. System members on this kind of layer may rarely front (or may in fact be dormant and unable to front), or may be a layer in which system members form before fronting from other layers. There may be communication barriers between the protostrata/deuterostrata and this type of layer.
* Function Layer (Our World's End Gate) / Opstrata (Grey Skies): A layer in a polyfragmented system essential to the function of the system, which can be due to the system members being needed to front or for more internal reasons.
* Intra-Layer (Our World's End Gate) / Intrastrata (Grey Skies): A layer of a system that is introjected from another system. The layer may have events based on events that happen/happened in the other system's layer, may contain factives of members of another system, or may simply be visually like the other system's layer.
* Somstrata (Several Rats): A layer that is only accessible while the system/its members are dreaming while asleep. May be a part of dreagenic systems, but is not exclusive to these kinds of system.
* Euclid Layer: An unpredictable layer that may be hostile depending on which system member is in it.
* Pathempiric (September Sanctuary): A lack of internal communication and/or memories between system members, layers or other areas of a system, with the exception of passive influence.
* Ellempiric (September Sanctuary): A total lack of said internal communication, even excluding passive influence.

1. ↑ Dissociative multiplicity and psychoanalysis on APA PsycNet
2. ↑ Alters in Dissociative Identity Disorder on did-research.org
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Blossom Bot API dump on Google Docs
4. ↑ Tritostrata on Plurality Dictionary Wiki
5. ↑ Somstrata on Plurality Dictionary Wiki
6. ↑ Euclid Layer on Plurality Dictionary Wiki