In my holonic model, value and meaning play a role in the whole of the process of the descent of the micro-element along the arc and the subsequent ascent. The macro-system can perform "judgments" as to what to do (a role for consciousness). The "levels" can in some sense be described as "spheres": on the left there is more emphasis on physical-energetic side (and information), on the right side there is more emphasis on principles of consciousness, although there may be visible expressions, like in (level of ) organization of production and distribution of substance or flow of value (money, esteem, mission statement, moral idea) through a system.
The supervisory role of will, c.q. consciousness, is conform the ideas of Assagioli, and some of that can be found in cognitive models of the mind, like ideas of Baars in his book "In the theater of consciousness". Keep in mind that this pertains to a global function. That is simply necessary to explain the workings of the system, to explain the integrity and autonomy of process. Consciousness as such is whole, transcending earthly time, while attention is partial and in time (transactional, I think).
The idea of substance as eternal and indestructable is very old. It is the necessary ground that makes the value experience possible. It is the only way the qualia problem can be solved! It connects the different levels. On the macro-level it can take the form of a kind of light-substance. Not only ordinary light, but also subtle forms of it exist. This light can carry a pattern (encoded, enfolded), not a strange idea since scientists and technologists have succeeded in artificial encoding of radio and television content as a superimposed signal on broadcast waves. The pattern is unfolded, decoded in later stages, notably levels 3 and 4. But this is all food for research when we research the producer subsystem in conjunction with input system, decoder, converter, etc.
