I look at what is happening in the world today and part of me is horrified, but there is another part that knows that all new beginnings emerge out of chaos and destruction. This knowledge does not take away the need to be fully aware and concerned, but it points to a far greater reality: the times of change are now, and we are all in it together whether we want to be or not. The other reality that I embrace is that all of us are being simultaneously challenged to go through our own changes so that we can be fully present in a new world. In other words, if we all do something to change ourselves at the deepest of levels, we participate in changing the world at increasingly deeper levels too.

Death is around us all the time; we are aware of it. But it is only when it becomes personal, when it visits our own lives in some way that we must deal with it more directly. Some choose not to deal with it even then, unable to reconcile with endings or grasp at the notion of continued life. If we staunchly adhere to the idea that consciousness ends when the physical body dies, does that also mean that there is no hope for this world in chaos? I don’t think that way at all.

The Tarot card The Tower points to the kind of destruction that we are experiencing now. Society is collapsing all around us. Human life is of little consequence in the eyes of militant and ideological might, the attack on Charlie Hebdo in Paris the most recent example. But what about the desecration of sacred lands and symbols of spiritual unity, the rapes of women in India, the shootings in America and other parts of the world? What are we being confronted with? What should we believe? How can our fellow human beings be so cruel and can they be trusted? Are we all hidden terrorists underneath the facades we present to the world? I could go on and on, but what seems most apparent to me is that we have to face that the world is not as black and white, as rational, as we may have wanted to believe. Things happen for reasons that reason is incapable of explaining.

Angeles Arrien writes in The Tarot Handbook that “The Tower is the symbol of the universal principle of healing, renovation, and restoration.” The card looks violent, a good symbol for the world today in fact. But she warns not to get caught up in the horrors of it but to look at it as a symbol of the necessary change and awakening, as all that is false or artificial within our natures must be dismantled before new life can happen. It points to the need to get back to the basics within and without, to reconnect with that which is innate, with spirit and nature inside us and outside of us.

We are all being asked now to do the deeper work that will enable us to start down a new path. We must return to balance, align with nature, with what it shows us about change. We must face the truth that what we have all become is being exposed and reflected in the violence in the world around us. We are all on a path of self-destruction and it will get worse, it has to if we are to change.

Sages have been predicting such changing times as these for a long time. Yogananda warned of it as he brought yoga to America. The Tibetans have been expecting it, in fact I see their diaspora as a necessary part of this process, bringing yet another form of ancient spirituality to the rest of the world. It’s clear to me that the hunger in the west for spiritual connection and the search for a spiritual identity has brought these ancient traditions to our shores, the power of intent in action.

Edgar Cayce, America’s most well-known psychic, warned of these changing times. Our own American Indians have been anticipating it. Even in more recent times, since the 1960s, the so-called “new age” gurus and the protectors of the earth have been predicting the decline of civilization as we know it, largely due to human folly. Many of them, however, have failed to speak of the rebirth of a new era. They have left us mired in the collapse with little hope for anything good to come out of it.

I truly believe that those “changing times” are here now, but I do not believe that all hope is lost, that it is too late, as many say. Not a defeatist by any means, I am instead a staunch and pragmatic optimist. The tower may be burning, but we have the power to build a new and better one.

Jeanne, the being I have channeled for the past 12 or so years, in her messages to humanity, as she calls them, has consistently asked us to make ourselves ready for the changing times. Along with many other current day messengers, from many realms and realities, she has not only called for a wake up, but has offered the means by which to prepare for not only the destruction but the renovation to follow. This involves a deep personal commitment to changing the self and how we live in the world, making decisions that are universally thoughtful and protective of our natural resources. We are being asked to let go of our personal greed, selfishness, and overconsumption in favor of less, in favor of a return to local community and commerce, to sustainable activities that not only embrace a new paradigm but enact it now.

In all that Chuck and I do, clinically and in the channeled messages and personal posts we write each week, our message has been consistent: We are all being asked to change, and here are some options and ideas for how to do that: Choose what feels right, but don’t hold back. Your spirit and the world you live in are asking you to break through all that holds you bound to old ideas, emotions, behaviors, to go through the changing times and prepare yourself so that you are ready for the rebuilding times. How can we rebuild, renovate, renew, if we have not first destroyed that which is obviously not working? This means both within and without, of course! Those are our messages.

We have offered recapitulation as a means of changing the self, a process of deep inner work, but there are many processes and we know that recapitulation is perhaps not right for everyone. To choose a path is a very personal decision, but from my own experience I can tell you that the right path is not an easy path. Easy paths do not necessarily offer the disruptions and the challenges that signal a new direction, or that something is not right, or perhaps they do in that they become boring, unfulfilling, too comfortable. And so, a good sign that the spirit is urging new movement is when the comfortable becomes uncomfortable. To challenge the self to seek a new path is to step outside of your comfort zones and try something new. It might take a lot of searching to find the right path, but even the search can yield inspiration and insight.

The only real way to change is to take action. Life is full of experiences waiting to happen, but if we do not move ourselves into action we will not have any experiences. Our lives will stagnate and we might even start to imagine that there is no real meaning in life, that we are destined to be stuck forever, that nothing good will happen to us. But this is never true. It’s only true if you decide it’s true. Often at times such as these we are being prodded to wake up, to stop our negative thoughts and do something to change what we are unhappy with. Sometimes our wakeup call is just that subtle a catalyst. If you jolt yourself into action you will discover that life will meet you. Suddenly, life becomes full of new experiences and new opportunities!

So, where am I going with all of this? As we begin another new year, I implore you all to take this time of change very seriously. Seek to reconcile your own life. Seek to find the connection to that which is inside you, both your spirit and your core issues that keep you disconnected and uncomfortable. Confront your weaknesses and turn them into your strengths, into the catalysts that will change you.

Yes, these are the changing times and that means we must all be brutally honest with ourselves in every thought, action, and deed. As we look around at the destruction of the world, at the terrible things people are doing to each other, we have to look inside ourselves and question our own motives for how we think and act, for the messages we give ourselves, and the things that come out of our mouths. Do we really believe the things we say? What will it take for us to challenge ourselves to change so that we too may rise out of the fires of destruction like the phoenix, the firebird, transformed into new life.

And so, just as Chuck wrote in his first blog of this New Year with a dire message of the necessity for change, I begin my own year of blogging with a similar message, a message that I not only write but act upon in my own life. Every day, I confront myself, for I am intent upon more fully embracing and becoming all that has been revealed, my greatest challenge now to not hold back. I just have to keep daring myself.

I know that I will die one day and I am intent upon not dying unfulfilled, and so, I dare. And I wish the same for all of you. So please be daring. Take the path of heart and change that is right for you. If you do not seek you will not find, but if you begin the search the path will appear and you will recognize it. It will be tough, but the rewards are more than you can ever imagine.

I send you love and gratitude for daring to take such a journey, as you are part of the greater whole of this changing energy. Know that with each breath you take and each step you take you are transforming.

Not holding back,
Jan