#592 Intend Shift Today!

Jeanne Marie Ketchel
Channeled by Jan Ketchel

Dear Jeanne,
Do you have guidance for us?

As always, I suggest that your focus and your intent remain turned inward, on self-growth and self-discovery. Continue your process of discovering who you truly are, why you are there, and what you are supposed to be doing with your life. The answers to these questions will change as you grow and evolve, as you discover new abilities and allow the self to utilize them to your fullest. This becomes one of your greatest challenges, My Dears: to fully utilize your abilities; to more fully discover your life’s purpose by daring the self to truly venture into new worlds by utilizing your own abilities.

Your purpose in life will become clearer as you learn the truth of the self and allow the self to venture forth out of the familiar and into the unfamiliar where adventures and experiences await you. But one can only truly have adventures if one is willing to sever ties to old comforts and habits and by daring the self to change. In pushing the self to change one offers opportunities to truly grow and evolve, leading to greater self-discovery and a greater participation in the adventures of life upon that earth.

Do you wish to live a vigorous and engaging life upon that planet, part of the greater energy, discovering how you specifically fit into this greater energy beyond the self? Do you admire others who have the daring to move fast, determining that they must embrace what they know is right? Do you struggle with complacency and attachment to the known and the familiar, even though they may be quite detrimental to you?

Each day is an opportunity to offer the self new life, and that is what I suggest to you today as a means of pushing the self beyond the mundane. Allow the self a little adventure today! Ask the self to follow your spirit’s urge for something new to spark your interest and shift you out of your place of boredom. In shift will you discover something waiting in your path that you have not noticed before. In daring to shift you will open new doors and you will begin to find the self quite engaging.

Intend shift today, leaving your intention open to the universe, to the greater energy to show you what is specifically a new direction for you to take. You will be presented with something. Allow the self to be open to what comes, receive it with humility and wonder, no matter what form it takes, and accept it for the fact that it comes to guide you and lead you forward. It comes as part of your adventure, to lead you on your way.

In intending shift you must remain alert to how your gift of shift arrives. It may be quite a subtle suggestion or note; it might be quite a whack over the head, or in a form that you might find quite unusual and almost unnecessary. Do not question how your intent is answered, but accept it as truly necessary to move you forward. In its arrival will it carry with it many as of yet unseen gifts as well, and this is what you must be open to.

Life offers many gifts, disguised yet necessary, and each of you must learn why your gifts arrive in the packages they do. This is where your inner centering self must come in and remain cognizant, part of your process, not obsessively present, but aware and flowing with you on your journey. This inner self must become your trusty and familiar new companion, open to new life, and as daring as you need to be in order to accept the gifts that life tosses at your feet, asking you to pick them up and utilize them to the fullest.

It is a new time of shift and, as I have been noting, it is up to you to elect to ride the energy of change. Do you dare?

#591 A Time to Test What You Have Learned

Jeanne Marie Ketchel
Channeled by Jan Ketchel

Dear Jeanne,
Do you have a message of guidance for your readers today?

The time is now one of quite good energy. It is a time of awareness building and energy building; a time to hone some skills, whether they be in the real world, in the inner world, or in crossing the great divide in between. It is a time to test what you have been learning, a time to step out into greater awareness by urging the self to stay upon the path of growth, but also to now be a little more daring.

By being daring, I mean that the energy of now is prepared to offer you the opportunity to have meaningful experiences, and because you have been training your attention to notice the signs in your life you may now be in a position to experience something new. But, as always, this requires action on your part. In daring the self to move beyond the well-worn zones of comfort that are both necessary and a little boring, you challenge the self to grow, and this is good. By challenging the self to go beyond your comfort zones you open the door to new energy for the self. This energy may come in calm inner knowing of the value of the self. It may come in vigorous energy of new self-esteem and new capabilities that have, as yet, not been awakened. If you are young and have not ventured into the world much yet, this is energy of kindness and graciousness, gentle, helpful energy that will show you that there is really nothing to fear as you step a little further along your path. If you are older and have had a lot of life and may even be somewhat bored with your life, cynical, or have gotten into a bad rut, then you too may appreciate this specific energy, for it may remind you of your young and vigorous self, so innocent and eager for life, though fearful at the same time.

I urge you all, My Dear Readers, to venture out into the energy that abounds over the next few days. This is good and vital energy that, if you are ready and daring enough, will show you something important about the self that you really do need to learn in order to continue your journey. To learn about the self is a valuable lesson and this time is one of goodness and gentleness, well-attended by spirit guides and others who are ready and waiting, prepared to carry you forward because you ask to be pushed a little now, for your own good.

This is a time of transition that will be quite invigorating and positive, but the impetus must come from within. The self must be challenged by the self; the self must push beyond the boundaries and well-established limitations in order to tap into this energy of goodness and kindness. If you do this you will learn something of value that will enable you to push forward, in spite of common obstacles and the opinions of others. This is not about what others confront you with, nor the judgments or protests that may arise from outside of you. This energy is about the mature adult self truly knowing that it is time to step outside the box and take on the energy that is available, fully knowing that it really is time to do something new and different, keeping in mind that, yes, this is good energy to engage.

I hope you will dare to step out into the freshness of this energy time, for it invites participation, not in foolhardy terms, but simply because you are ready to move beyond your present situation. You know you are ready; you have just been waiting for the right opportunity to present itself. Well, My Dear Readers, that time is now. Good Luck! I await your growth!

#590 A Day of Feeling & Reflection

Jeanne Marie Ketchel
Channeled by Jan Ketchel

Dear Jeanne,
What message do you have for your readers today?

Today is a day to feel. Allow your selves to feel for the self, but also allow the self to feel for others. This is a very important practice, for only in feeling the pain, joy, confusion, despair, agony, and all else of others will you be able to learn what it means to be a balanced individual. If all emotion and feeling is internalized, for the self alone, then you will remain bound by ego and self-pity. If no outward turning happens and no outer reciprocity is achieved then you will not learn the meaning of either compassion or loss of ego. Both of these things are supremely important if you are to evolve.

Compassion requires outward turning. It requires looking outside of the self and truly feeling the self in others. For only in so doing will you be able to comprehend what it means to be human. But first one must be able to allow one’s own feelings to emerge and become acceptable to the self. One’s own feelings of loss and sadness, of joy and excitement, of pity and despair must be acknowledged and fully felt in order to be known and accepted as human attributes in all beings. In accepting that you are not alone in your emotions, and in turning your awareness toward all others as harboring like feelings, will you begin to live a more passionate and a more compassionate life. If you remain locked and blocked to the true feelings of the self you will not achieve fulfillment of this basic task of self-knowing.

In fully knowing the self will you be open to fuller knowing of all who reside upon that earth. In this way is the process of projection both helpful and growth oriented. You see, the reflection in the mirror looks back at you with expectations that you will do the job that your image so desires. Your image looking back at you is full of all the feelings and emotions of the world, holding all that you must learn and accept about the self as being no different from anyone else.

With self-knowing, self-acceptance, and loss of self-importance comes true passion for life and the lessons in what it means to become a truly compassionate being. This is today’s lesson: allow the self to truly feel today. Pay attention to whom in your life is triggering feelings. Who is responsible for getting you riled up, angry, sad, delighted, or any number of emotionally attentive behaviors? Pay attention to your feelings. Pay attention to how they arrive. Pay attention to what they are showing you about the self. Pay attention to what they are showing you about others and about the world. Pay attention to how you are being confronted with your big baby, your ego, your superiority complex, your ego-busting self, your low self, your high self, and everything in between. Pay attention to the energy of reflection today, for it is here to guide you, and it will come riding in on the feelings that are being stirred and evoked by the circumstances in your life.

Do not dismiss anything today. Keep in mind that everything is meaningful. Look for the signs of what this means and attempt to read the signs from an egoless state today. What do the signs you receive mean about you, truthfully? Look at the self with an eye of discernment as you go into this energy of emotion and feeling. Do not wallow in it or get swallowed by it, but use it as a study tool. What does it mean about the self? How important are you? And, once you discover that, you may begin to take the next step toward compassionate understanding of the self and others.

Do good work today. Soften the self and trust the signs. The energy is waiting.

#589 Chuck’s Place: Intent!

Welcome to Chuck’s Place, where Chuck Ketchel expresses his thoughts, insights, and experiences! Many of the shamanic and psychological terms used in Chuck’s essays are defined in Tools & Definitions on our Psychotherapy website.

When Carlos Castaneda wrote The Wheel of Time he discovered that the quotes he had selected from his prior works were meaningfully chosen, not by his conscious knowing, but by the intent of the sorcerers of ancient Mexico. He thought he was choosing them, but they were chosen by a force independent of himself that worked through him. Anyone who aligns personal intent with the intent of the sorcerers of ancient Mexico will indeed be swept away by their intent. I can acknowledge that I personally identify with this intent. This is not a frightening predicament for me because the intent of those ancient shamans is indeed evolutionary, continually striving to break rank with the comfort of the known by lifting the veils in an infinite journey of adventure, which I have sought my entire life.

Shamans of subsequent generations have always granted themselves permission to adjust the practices and intent of sorcery to fit changing times and new discoveries. The shamans of don Juan’s generation lifted the heaviness of ritual from shamanic practice settling on transmitting knowledge through direct practical exercises that enable apprentices to see for themselves how to lift the veils, to perceive and live in expanded awareness. Modern sorcerers, in general, shifted their intent to total freedom to evolve beyond this world, rather than staying bound to the ability to manipulate and elongate their lives in order to remain attached to life in this world without dying as many of the old sorcerers did. Carlos and his cohorts eliminated all the hierarchy and the old roles; there is no nagual in the present generation, all are equal. In fact, Carlos eliminated all secrecy by making available all the knowledge of his line to anyone who wants it. One need only pick up his book Magical Passes to find all the pragmatic tools necessary to reach the energy body and journey in infinity. When he introduced these passes in a workshop he stated bluntly, “this is all you need.” Everyone is in a position to be a nagual to themselves in their evolutionary development if they intend it and are willing to engage in a practice that lifts the veils.

Jeanne traveled into infinity on the wings of the intent of those ancient sorcerers. I like to think of her as a nagual woman who leads the way by continually and redundantly offering a set of practical messages intended to offer everyone tools to lift the veils, so simple in their exposition that they may escape our higher sensibilities. We tend to be suckers for new fads, which burn out quickly. Redundant messages may not appeal to the hungry imagination seeking to be fed exotic new paths to truth. The shamans would argue that we get trapped by the cogitations of the mind. They focus instead on practice and experience. They are clear that we need repetition and perseverance to develop new skills, much the same as we were exposed to in our early education, learning by rote. They encourage suspending judgment. Ultimately what that means is to remove the walls created by the mind’s tendency to construct and create constructs that block action based on reason. Instead, they suggest simply doing and seeing what happens.

How do we practice intent? Don Juan’s answer to this query was, essentially, we intend by intending. There is no rational process to engage intent. Intent is not part of the mind. We intend by calling intent, literally: “Intent!” Actually, it is important to intend clearly after deep introspective reflection. However, when we release our intent to engage intent it is important to remain calm and carefree, with joy and abandon. Intent is light, not heavy. Intent defies the mind’s timetables and expectations. Intent is not a bargaining prayer to God. Intent is an inner certainty let go to the wind, an awareness of a future without attachment.

Intent has no use for the big baby. No victims welcome. In fact, the big baby wastes its intent by intending victimhood for itself. Commanding intent requires adult awareness and responsibility. There may be many steps to arrive at our intended destination. We are challenged to discover why we encounter the things we do as stepping stones toward the realization of our intent. This requires patience and trust in the process. I suggest keeping a journal such as an Awareness Log that can help track the process of intent.

As always, should anyone wish to write, I can be reached at: chuck@riverwalkerpress.com or feel free to post a comment.

Until we meet again,
Chuck

#588 A Day of Manifestation

Jeanne Marie Ketchel
Channeled by Jan Ketchel

Dear Jeanne,
Do you have some guidance for your readers today?

Today is a day of manifestation, a day to finally accept the truth of where you are, looking at all that you have been gifted with, and acquiescing to the journey of now. Manifestation comes in taking the next step, allowing the self absolution in order to do so, simply because it is the right step to take. This must be the focus today, a concerted effort to acquiesce to the inevitable, to what you have been shown about the self, and acquiescence to the truth of now as regards the self, the whole self, and the truth of the whole self.

I do not wish for any of you to fall by the wayside as the energy churns up again, spitting you aside if you are not firmly grounded in the inner self, fully aware of who you are now and the potential you hold within you to certainly grow beyond this moment. You do not wish to be spun off as chaff from the thresher as it harvests the crop either, do you?

The next level of energy to engage the planet earth is the energy of harvest, sweeping down upon you in great force, plucking that which is ripe and ready and turning back into the soil that which does not yet have the vital growth necessary to offer sustenance.

You see, it is now a crucial time for those who reside upon the planet earth. For although the planet is large and there are many climates coexisting, so it this a time of shift, of change, and it does affect each of you no matter where you reside. When such shift occurs the choice of each individual becomes a choice of advancement with the energy of shift or getting caught in the undercurrent, the churned under energy of the previous energetic time, now worn out and ready to be ground under.

Shift requires action on your part, My Dears. It is not enough to take note of it, for in simple awareness there is no movement. But, if awareness is held onto and kept alive, waiting for the right moment, and then action is taken, you will find that the energy will carry you to new levels. Do you see what I am stressing today? I am pointing out that it is your awareness that must be maintained in order to make good decisions in your life.

If you are well on the way to making changes in your life do not fall into inflated complacency, thinking that you have everything under control, because something will come along to jolt you. It always does. If your awareness is not kept up to snuff you may lose your self in an old place or habit, and this will result in being caught in the undercurrent, and you will be churned under, joining the seedlings for another season of opportunity to grow.

This is a powerful time. There is abundant opportunity to move into new life. To stay upon your path of growth you must remain alert now, for as always there will be tricks, and tried and true old habits will emerge to carry you down with them into the comforts of old complacency. Avoidance of reiterating the old mistakes may be the best place to ground your self. Remain aware of your weaknesses and look into your strengths as you move forward now. Forward you will move, no matter what happens, for as I am fond of noting: everything happens for a reason. It is up to each of you to determine what that reason is for you.

I advise studying what it means to be compassionate toward the self and others, what it means to be generous of spirit, helpful and available, yet also firmly fixed upon the path you have chosen. Your path may be extremely clear as to the next step, or it may be quite foggy. It doesn’t really matter. What does matter is whether or not you are in a place of alertness and acquiescence to the truth of who you are, where you are, and what is being offered to you, right now, to lead you forward. If you are aware, and ready to acquiesce, then I suggest you move forward. Determine, without self-doubt and self-judgment, the life you are being offered and, fully embracing it, manifest it now. Good Luck!