Having trouble finding a Kindle app that downloads trouble-free? Don’t mind reading a book on your computer, laptop or ipad? See if the Kindle Cloud Reader will work for you. Click the link to Jan’s book below and when the page loads find the Kindle Store bar just above the title. Click “Cloud Reader” and follow the directions to download the free application.
We do know that a lot of people prefer reading a real book. As luck would have it The Man in the Woods—in paperback!!—should be up and ready to buy over the weekend or early next week at the latest. The paperback will be a print-on-demand book, output at the time of order, so we don’t have to waste a lot of paper and have hundreds of books taking up space in warehouses. It seems the most conscientious and practical way to go as far as print books are concerned.
We’ll let you know when it’s ready for purchase.
In the meantime, here’s the link to Jan’s book if you want to try the Kindle version: The Man in the Woods.
Jan’s book is full of gritty reality and plenty of moments of awe, and it ends on a very hopeful note. The second installment, On the Edge of the Precipice is now being prepared for publication.
Written by Jan Ketchel with a channeled message from Jeanne Ketchel.
It feels as if a new era is dawning as I wake up today, as if a shift had happened, the universe presenting us with new possibilities while we slept. I know we just have to dare ourselves to shift as well, as individuals and as part of the greater collective.
I feel this shift as one away from selfishness, greed, inflation, and fear, to recognizing and accepting our humble selves, as no more or less than anyone else, all of us capable of working beyond our limitations, capable of freeing ourselves to experience the magic and awe of this world. This world is enough. We don’t have to go anywhere else. We have everything we need, presented to us in our daily lives; we just have to know that.
I learned a long time ago that even a very slight shift in perspective was enough to open a door to real and drastic change. Personally, I believe new doors await us each day; we just have to see them as doors and not as walls.
Today I ask Jeanne the following:Do you have some practical advice for us today as we face the dawning of a new day and new doors of opportunity as well?
Here is how she responds:
My Dear Ones,
The best advice I can offer is very simple: Shut down the mind! Block its incessant chatter or use it to send you into a state of rebuttal so that you may turn from it or allow it to catapult you.
Refusal to listen to the constant chatter of the mind—defined as not your own true self, but as doctrines, statements, facts, and beliefs poured into you from outside—leads to new awareness.
New awareness of the self as something other than what you have always believed is the beginning of a process of real change. Who are you really? This is the question to seek the answer to. Who are you without all that you now hold and uphold as true, both about the self and the world?
In order to shift the self enough so that you may observe the open door before you today, allow a new idea to enter your thoughts. Perhaps this may help:
I am a vessel.
At one time I was filled with what was available.
Now I stand uncomfortable,
burdened by the food of belief
that once meant so much to me.
I dare to tip my vessel self,
to spill out the contents
and be empty.
From emptiness I elect to begin again,
without influence from the old world.
I elect to fill only from within.
From within myself I now challenge myself
to find true beliefs of meaning,
seeking resonance in the world outside me
matching my own.
I am a vessel seeking not fullness
but fulfillment.
And that is the difference between
wanting self of old and
new desiring self of true spirit.
Let me be empty.
That is all I ask for today.
Let me be empty.
Let me be empty of mind and open to new awareness
In asking for emptiness, in pushing aside and turning from the old beliefs of self and world and life itself, one opens the door to new experiences on both a higher and a deeper level.
Tip the vessel of self today and see what happens as you let the old self spill out, accepting that that life is spent, a new one about to begin.
This is where you are today. Can you see that? Can you embrace that? Can you actually do something about it? In action, My Dears, only in action will you find new life. Take action. Go for new life!
I will be taking a break from blogging this week, but I leave you with plenty to read! I’ll return next Monday, September 12th with a new message from Jeanne.
The long awaited first volume of The Recapitulation Diaries is now available as a Kindle ebook. If you don’t have a Kindle device, don’t worry. Free apps are available for your Mac or PC, and all sorts of devices—ipad, iphone, blackberry, etc. If you don’t have an Amazon account you will be prompted to open one in order to download the app and buy the book.
Here is the link to The Man in the Woods The Recapitulation Diaries—Year One—by J.E. Ketchel
You can also access it through this link to our STORE under The Recapitulation Diaries tab on the lower left.
As promised, this book, which I’ve spent the last three years preparing, is being offered at $0.99, making it highly affordable and available to all who might benefit from it. This book and the two to follow document the shamanic practice of recapitulation, a journey that I underwent to fully heal from PTSD.
This is a deeply personal story, but I no longer have any attachment to it other than to offer it to others as an inspiration to seek healing. I request that any reactions or reviews of the book be posted directly on the Amazon page, set up to accept reviews and critiques and discussions.
Finally, as I state in the book itself and on the Amazon page, this is an adult book, containing graphic descriptions. I have included such scenes only because they are necessary to fully understand the process of recapitulation and the journey I took. Also, individuals concerned about being triggered by descriptions of physical and sexual abuse may not wish to read it. That being said, the book is also full of magic and awe.
I am planning, in the coming weeks, to prepare a paperback edition. Unfortunately, due to the cost of printing and shipping, this will be at a higher price than the Kindle version.
May my book reach as many people as possible. Total healing from all the burdens of trauma is indeed possible, followed by a most amazing unburdened life!
Love to you all,
Jan
In my upcoming book, The Recapitulation Diaries, Year One: The Man in the Woods, I describe learning the sweeping recapitulation breath, a Magical Pass. As frightening memories began making themselves known I used it often to clarify those memories as they emerged from the foggy past, as well as to calm the central nervous system. In both instances it was very effective.
In her book The Sorcerers’ Crossing Taisha Abelar writes about learning this recapitulation magical pass as well, first from her mentor Clara and then later from a man she immediately recognized as the master sorcerer. This master sorcerer gave her some valuable advice. When he found her talking to herself while doing the breathing pass, he suggested that she wasn’t breathing properly. She describes this meeting and the suggestion that she breathe like this:
Set an intent and breathe in the morning light
“He inhaled deeply as he gently turned his head to the left. Then he exhaled thoroughly as he smoothly turned his head to the right. Finally, he moved his head from his right shoulder to the left and back to the right again without breathing, then back to the center.”
The master sorcerer also told Taisha: “When exhaling, throw out all the thoughts and feelings you are reviewing. And don’t just turn your head with your neck muscles. Guide it with the invisible energy lines from your midsection. Enticing those lines to come out is one of the accomplishments of recapitulation.”
He went on to explain that “… just below the navel was a key center of power, and that all body movements, including one’s breathing, had to engage this point of energy. He suggested I synchronize the rhythm of my breathing with the turning of my head, so that together they would entice the invisible energy lines from my abdomen to extend outward into infinity.”
Find the key of power
Doing the sweeping recapitulation breath is not all that difficult. In every instance of reading about it I found variations, so it was often confusing, but I stuck with what Chuck had originally taught me, taking the liberty to change the way I did it to suit the intent I set with each sitting. Often I sat for only a few minutes, but I was just as likely to sit and do the sweeping breath for as long as an hour or more at a time.
Once one gets the hang of it and lets the thinking mind go, without getting caught in wondering if one is doing it right, it automatically begins doing its magic. Chuck always told me I couldn’t do it wrong, and indeed in reading and hearing all the many ways in which it was and is taught, it seems to me that just setting the intent and actually doing it is enough. As Chuck says, it’s the intent that matters.
Breathe out the past
So today I leave you with this sweeping breath. Set an intent. Find that key center of power and begin breathing from there. And then see what happens. I found it to be a most magical practice indeed!
Setting intent, finding breath, and sweeping away, I offer you all love and good wishes on your journeys, as I return to the last few days of editing my book.
—Jan
Excerpts used in this blog are found on page 132 of The Sorcerers’ Crossing.
Written by Jan Ketchel with a channeled message from Jeanne Ketchel.
The day after Hurricane Irene tramped through the Northeast, downgraded to a tropical storm by the time it got to us, dawns calm and sunny. We fared better than expected. All of the many ponds along our rural road overflowed and we were landlocked for most of the day on our mountaintop. But we didn’t lose power as our neighbors down the road did nor did we lose any trees. We still have internet service so I can send out this blog, and although the road to civilization is still flooded at one end we can wind our way to the main highway in the other direction. The freakiest part of the storm, for me, came last evening—after the rains had stopped—when a barrage of powerful wind gusts plowed through here, lasting for several hours, ominous and fierce in intensity. That’s when the trees came down at the other end of the road and our neighbors lost power. It was as if nature was warning us to not fall back into complacency, suggesting that yes, we had indeed gotten off the hook this time, but don’t take it too lightly. Perhaps this storm was all just preparation for the bigger ones to come.
From one end...
In the midst of the fury of those intensely battering gusts an enormous double rainbow spanned the sky. From the field across the road we gathered with neighbors to take in the full breadth of this wondrous spectacle of nature—just another reminder that we really have no control over what happens in the world outside of us. I took the rainbow as a sign to just keep hanging in there, stay with the awe of what life offers, ominous and wondrous both, and that everything will be fine in the end.
As I write this morning, I am reminded of two things related to the storm and to channeling these messages from Jeanne. Chuck and I spoke of these two things as we went through the lashing of Irene. Several years ago, perhaps as far back as 2005, Jeanne had warned of big changes to come, that weather related and natural events would be the changing factor in our world—not only changing the coastline and the shape of the world as we know it but the entire deeper makeup of it as well. She warned us to be prepared for this.
We actually felt lucky yesterday that we had already been hit badly last fall when a tornado came through in the middle of the night and took down our tall pines. Our house sustained damage then, our yard was ripped apart, but we’ve had so many windstorms since then and each time we breathe a sigh of relief that those tall trees that we so admired and appreciated no longer sway over our heads.
The other thing that kept popping up yesterday was Jeanne’s constant reminder that everything will be fine, that it will work out the way it’s supposed to, that in the end we will discover that we are exactly where we should be.
...to the middle...
Jeanne is fond of reminding us often that if we can learn to flow with what comes to challenge us we’ll have an easier ride and perhaps we’ll be able to notice the signs of the inevitable change, as well as the moments of awe and transformation a lot sooner too. This is true in everyday life as well as when doing recapitulation. I have found Jeanne’s words both comforting and reassuring no matter where I am in my life. Yesterday, as we repeated them often throughout the day, they once again guided us to flow through the storm, prepared but available to accept the inevitability of it.
Jeanne always suggested that we’d have an easier ride through life if we made the decision to acquiesce to the inevitable rather than fight it. Fighting takes a lot of energy and in the end we discover that it is fairly wasted as we end up having to let go anyway. We end up in the same place whether we resist or flow. The choice, however, remains in our hands.
Today, I am accepting of this changing world, both the outer world and my inner world, as I expect myself to acquiesce to the constant challenges of both of those worlds. I awaken healthy, thankful, respectful of nature and where we are today, as I ask Jeanne for a message as we begin this week.
What does it mean that we have gone through such a storm? What is the real significance, on a spiritual level and in general? Each one of us may have to face our personal truths regarding it, but, on a broader scale, how can we understand the meaning of it? What is the universe trying to tell us now?
Here is Jeanne’s response.
There is little to worry about as a new day dawns, except to pick up the pieces, salvaging that which is usable but in the interim learn what it means to let go. Even as you collect your old stuff around you, realize that in some way you were forced to let go of something. Learn to release attachments to old things and old ways and move on in life without regret. One can choose to travel lightly and with relative ease, moving always forward, or one can choose to travel heavily overburdened without a goal or deeper perspective. How one views and deals with natural and other disasters is always a choice.
As a new day dawns, I suggest that your same inner issues remain, though you may have gained some insight regarding the self after having encountered the fury of nature. In retrospect, investigate the self. Find the inner response, today’s response, and work with that. How can you change as a result of what you have both innerly and outerly just encountered or suffered through?
...to the other end.
Each moment of turmoil and suffering points the self in a new direction, offering an opportunity to change. How can you change now? How can you personally change? Many things are shown, presented and offered to you during the brewing, unleashing, and dying down of a natural disaster. Take it personally, as a personal message, as an offering in how to do inner work. Reflect on the self.
Yes, the natural world is rapidly changing and shifting. This you must all note. The natural world is showing you how to evolve. Can you choose personal evolution in keeping with that outer world? That’s the way to go.
Change is necessary now on all levels of society. I urge all of you to remain alert, aware of the necessity for drastic change in your world. Be daring enough to continue pushing the self to go beyond this moment. Each confrontation with the fears that reside inside means you are evolving.
I am with you all. You are not alone.
Choose to be open to change and you will fare well. Choose to fight it and you may suffer greatly, unduly so. You will end up in the same place anyway—evolved—though in the long run perhaps having learned a lesson very well that you did indeed need to learn in such a way. If constantly fighting the spirit’s call to change you may miss the evolutionary moments though—those grand moments of awe. With alertness and good preparation, in doing constant inner work, as you use the outer world as reflection, you all have the opportunity to evolve with awareness. Frightening as it may seem, you are all on a journey of change.
Again, I tell you: I am with you. And as Jan says: Yes, everything will be fine. Everything will be just fine, as it should be!
