Jeanne Marie Ketchel
Channeled by Jan Ketchel

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

Continually find your equilibrium, your balance, and although you may fall back into old habits or old interactions remain focused forward. Even as you may stop and chat along your path, so keep your step ready and waiting for the next forward move. In shifting always forward and away from that which seeks to bind you, may you find that your lessons in detachment become easier to accomplish and are more lightly maneuvered.

Your primary objective, at this moment in time, is to remain focused on fluidity of motion, ease of transition, and blanket and straightforward progress. In times of looking back, there is no need to look back for attachment in an old manner, for as you have moved onward and grown in your life, as you have allowed your self to evolve, so will you no longer find contentment in old places that once held you in their grasp. In looking back notice your distance, your new perspective, your wider outlook, and, most of all, notice your need and ability to continually move forward.

Keep moving forward, no matter what seeks to capture your attention and your energy. Do not hold fast to comments or criticisms of those who sit by the roadside, unmoving, yet full of judgment and sarcasm for those so full of spirit, lightly skipping past. Do not listen to what they say. Remind your self that as you also once sat alongside the road and made your own comments and judgments so did you also yearn to be moving forward. In your new delight at growth, and your ability to accept your challenge to move on, so find also your steady balance, your compassion for those who cannot find the strength to get up and make the journey, and your love for all who struggle, as well as all who lead.

In finding your equilibrium may you find your inner guide who does but ask you to hold steady to your potential, your purpose, and your direction. Look continually forward; even as you must also sometimes look backward for what you must learn, having once failed to notice what life was attempting to teach you. Now, however, look back not with sadness or pain, but with confidence, with attention to now, knowing that your life will not allow you to sit by the wayside again, for your spirit has awoken you to the fact that an unawakened life is a dire life indeed. Your challenges now are to remain focused on forward movement, inner calm balance, and learning healthy detachment, even while you proceed at your own pace, fulfilling your most promising dreams.

Life will not wait for those who decide to sit upon the rock-strewn shoulders of the roadway. Life but drapes a heavy cloak upon their backs and allows them to find what comforts they may. In contrast, life offers its bounty of change and of challenge, of energy and of delight, to those who plod always onward, whether with heavy tread or with light step. Life energy is a steady companion along such a path full of meaning, with gestures of encouragement for those who seek a path of change and of growth.

Remind your self often today that you are an evolving being, that every step forward is more meaningful than every turn to look back, that every path shows you where to go next, and that every step is meaningful. Do not harm or ostracize the self, or judge or inflict pain upon the self or others for the journey thus far taken. Each day offers a new opportunity, each moment asks you to notice its full potential, its possibilities to move you forward. Keep moving forward!

Jeanne Marie Ketchel
Channeled by Jan Ketchel

Dear Jeanne,
My recent question to you regarding the animus, Chuck’s blog on the subject, and the fact that Venus is retrograde, which we learned from a friend who follows the astrological charts, means that quite synchronistically relationship issues, male/female, anima/animus issues are in the forefront right now. It appears that this is a time of confrontation with past lovers and old conflicts, coupled with the danger of repeating, returning to, or renewing old acquaintances that may not be appropriate. Do you have further guidance and comments on the relationship issue in light of this new factor, the astrological alignment with Venus retrograde?

Alignment is the key word here and should remain present in your inner work as you question whether or not you are personally in alignment with self, with inner spirit self, innerly and outerly. As I spoke of the other day, so do I contend that to be in alignment with a new self is what you seek now. To remain focused on your path of growth as an individual, to be steady, and truly knowing of self, above all else, is your challenge. For only in truly knowing self and the whys behind every action will you discover what true relationship is.

I contend also that one becomes drawn to return to old situations, no matter what their imprint is, more for reasons of curiosity than for reasons of growth. I suggest also that in order to continually move toward alignment of self a healthy detachment from the past is vital. By healthy, I mean, with a clarity of knowing that it does not fulfill the new person you have become because the past is no longer with you. Only in memory does it come to aid you, to remind you of your past tests, trials, and truths, in order for you to recall the lessons learned, to view them from the perspective of now, offering the opportunity of recapitulation, in order to fully acknowledge that you have indeed grown, matured, changed greatly, and become more focused on your true path of self-discovery.

Only in truly knowing who you are, My Dear Ones, will your life be fulfilled in relationship with another.

I advise careful study of the lessons of the self as you encounter what you must over the next few days and weeks. Who comes to greet you, offering you the opportunity of further detachment? Growth does not entail attachment, but conscious detachment, in order to continue a journey of self discovery. Conscious detachment entails learning compassionate non-judgmental retreat from a past that no longer fulfills; for it does not, in fact, exist in the present, nor acknowledge the present you. It but lingers in memories of old recycled dreams that have no meaning in life, for they once held powers of test and challenge based on an old you.

Acknowledge now your own growth during this time of retrograde. You cannot escape the energy of it if you are still in need of learning its lessons, but keep in mind that its lessons are hard earned ones, already completed, simply reminding you that you have already processed them, perhaps many times, perhaps too many times for comfort’s sake. Do you wish to grow and achieve alignment of self, and offer the opportunity for a new you to be an active journeyer? Keep in mind the word alignment in respect to self. This is now key in order to utilize this energy of now for growth rather than repression.

If you choose to delve into a murky past, do so with awareness that you will not uncover anything new, for there lies only what you once dug up and learned from. Newness lies in looking forward, while only charred remains lie buried in the holes being uncovered by the retrograde energy.

As I suggested in my previous message, it is time for a new opening, a new hole, by taking off your lid, accessing the inner self, the inner channel of self, in alignment and balance with what you have learned about the self, rather than anyone else. This is necessary in order to open to new opportunities of psyche, self, and truth.

Jeanne Marie Ketchel
Channeled by Jan Ketchel

Although posted today, Monday March 16, 2009, this message was channeled on Saturday March 14, 2009 in response to a request for clarification of Jeanne’s use of the term Id in her most recent Message #464 The Animus. We hope it will be helpful.

Dear Jeanne,
When I asked you to comment on the animus on Friday, which Chuck wrote about from a Jungian perspective in his Saturday blog, you threw a Freudian term into the message, the Id. During the channeling I remember pausing there, questioning your use of the term, but you were very definite about using it. When I looked it up later, wanting to understand it in the context of your message, Webster’s defines it as: one of the three divisions of the psyche in psychoanalytic theory that is completely unconscious and is the source of psychic energy derived from instinctual needs and drives. So, I thought, that makes sense since you are suggesting that we wake up and bring our psychic energy into alignment with our evolving selves, but Chuck thought it a weird choice of terms. Were you slipping in a Freudian term as a joke?

My Dear Ones, yes, I did use the term Id as a joking stab at My Dear Jungian Chuck, but I also used it in a broader term, meaning a new I.D., for all to consider themselves as changing, as bringing together all of their parts now, all of their egos, seen and unseen, revealed and as yet unrevealed, in order to gain a greater sense of true self, true balance, and true ability. I suggest that until balance and alignment are achieved no true acceptance of the gifts given, innate and revealed, will be possible. Although I did expect My Dear Chuck to notice the Freudian slip so did I also wish to synthesize all aspects of self, taking away old labels and asking for a dissolution of such labels, even as I suggest a dissolution of egos in order to become a more balanced person. I suggest that no labels are really necessary once the underlying self is discovered. For within each of you is the capability to understand the self as pure energy, with pure spirit driven potential. You see?

Yes, but labels and definitions are necessary or how would anything be properly understood? In fact, I can attest that my own journey has benefited greatly by being able to assign new labels to my experiences, opening so many new doors, including this door to you.

Yes, of course, I am not disputing any of that, but what I am saying is that with a new I.D., a new sense of self, as you further discover your balance and your gifts of understanding, so will you find that even those labels, words, and definitions, once so helpful, will no longer be necessary or descriptive. The new language of spirit, and the practices and experiences you undertake and receive, will call for new words, and explanations as well, and they may be both personal and universal experiences. Your own inner work will reveal the meaning to you simply in your understanding of your experiences on an individual, moment to moment, level.

Do not dismiss what you seek to teach and to learn on a daily basis. Do not push aside your old terminology that works so well for you, but do look for new words to identify your new experiences of spirit. As you reveal to your self the importance of your experiences, in the context of your life, so will you find that many psychological terms attempt to consolidate such spiritual experiences in concrete terms, yet without admitting the truth of the underlying spiritual aspect of the experience.

So, I suggest new I.D.s, new egos, new alignments, new means of expression. Whether based in Jungian, Freudian, or Schopenhauerian terms, so do all of them attempt to explain that which has been considered unexplainable. But you know this unexplainable as experiences of the spirit, of other worlds, of interconnectedness, and that is what we seek to teach, not words per se. We teach the ability to accept the true facts of life as energy, as spirit, leading to true acceptance of such aspects of life, offering awareness, and access to allowing each one of you to accept the gifts, the experiences you are given.

The signs are everywhere, even in my messages, but what are the signs, the I.D.s, in your own life, and how are you aligning with them? What are your experiences teaching you? Do you trust them? Do you seek them? Do you allow yourself to learn from them? Or do you forget them and fall too easily back into daily slumber?

Lift up your lid, allow energy to flow more freely in and out of your head, releasing your old ideas and allowing your experiences to teach you now, with no lids on your awareness, no labels, no Ids, egos, autos, or unaccepted aspects of self to interfere with your progress. As you have your experiences in life use them now to teach your self the true meaning of your journey. What does it truly mean? That is what you continually seek, the true meaning of who you are. Am I right?

Jeanne Marie Ketchel
Channeled by Jan Ketchel

Dear Jeanne,
Tomorrow, Chuck will be writing about the animus, taking a politically incorrect perspective in order to bring understanding to the truths buried behind women’s decision making habits. For instance, in the case of an abusive relationship, he will be presenting the underlying inner dynamics that result in a woman deciding to return to such a relationship. We are wondering if you would be interested in discussing the animus from your point of view? Chuck will be approaching it from a Jungian context. Any comments?

Such a complicated question in such complicated times! If we return to an earlier manifestation of woman, as eternal maternal, mother nature, mother goddess, when the power and position of woman was neither disputed nor questioned so will we be afforded a glimpse at woman unfettered and undeniably whole. But in order to do so, first must I acknowledge the role of woman today, which has become watered down by the “advancement of society” and the progress of the “human race.” I do not jest when I speak in such terms, but am very seriously posing the possibility that women have suffered greatly in the past centuries of modern times, as male domination has increasingly controlled every aspect of life upon that planet earth. A simpler time once existed, but I will stay focused now on the question of the current state of the animus, which I perceive as having been contaminated, just as the anima has been slowly demeaned in the male counterpart.

First of all, looking at what the animus means, the projective desires of the inner female, whether known and recognized or dismissed and unknown, so is such quality present in life. Each of you has such projective aspects, and this must be fully accepted in order to proceed in accepting full responsibility for the choices one makes in life. Whether the animus, the male aspects of a woman’s psyche, is active or dormant does not really matter. What does matter is the acceptance of the truths of such aspects; this is what Chuck is going to be asking you, My Dear Readers, to consider in your own being.

There are so many means of interacting with this aspect of self, but I will stick to your example of a woman in an abusive relationship. What is that relationship based on, now, in the present? In order to understand that must a woman’s past be taken into consideration. What kind of social background did she encounter growing up? Was she a member of a male dominated home group, a maternally dominated home group? Or did she have neither or both as a strong character reference? Within this structure, did she have purpose, position, respect, and the ability to express herself? Was she, perhaps early on, placed in a position of being undernurtured and underfed creatively, innerly, and denied access to her feminine truths?

Are women allowed to be truly feminine? I do not mean the female aspects as displayed on magazine pages or the ideas perpetrated by the male dominated desires, but I mean the true female qualities of nurture, earth, creativity, and recreative growth, as well as the heart dominated psychic powers that all women hold within. I do not mean to inflate or over present the innate powers of women, but they must be stated.

In ancient times, times no longer recalled except in the visceral sense, women’s roles were more clearly defined, women’s powers more actively present and acceptable, as well as noted and respected. Woman as mother, as god-partner, as nurturing aspect of godhead, in balance with the warrior qualities of masculinity, as represented in equal partnerships, ruled a more balanced, nature-driven and universally encompassing world. Does that make sense?

Male and female, both innerly and outerly, had achieved a better balance. However, there have always been examples of over-dominance of either one or the other, and that is what we speak of today. I like to speak of ancient times because, in truth, do those early ancient aspect of male and female remain resident in each of you, even today, watered down, yet still available to nurture, if you so choose. This is what I have been teaching you, you know, to access your innate and ancient selves, who are aware, balanced, and mature, holding the many keys to true success as a journeyer who wishes to evolve.

In the case of now, where a woman’s role has not only diffused in one sense, having now little connection to ancient truths, and yet clearly defined in another sense, because of the need for new truths, so must we speak in different terms. A woman now has been trained, through many generations, to look to her male counterparts in life to lead, direct, suggest, and provide a concept of life that is acceptable to only some aspects of the true female presence. In order to understand what has evolved must one accept the truth that yes, women have been dominated and continue to be dominated by their male counterparts, in relationships, in family dynamics, in society, religions, and just about any aspect of life upon that earth. This is the underlying truth that Chuck wishes to point out. You can be angry about it, both women and men, but let’s get it straight, it is the truth.

So, if we can accept that bare bones truth, then are we in a position to discuss the dynamics of abuse and reuse, or return to abuse. A woman, in her role as partner, makes a choice, whether consciously or not, to be in a relationship with a certain person. (The sex does not matter, for many male dominant women abuse female dominant men, male dominant men also abuse female dominant men, and male dominant women abuse female dominant women, etc.) In so choosing a partner is some inner aspect of self asking for recognition.

The second truth to acknowledge is that everyone makes choices. I don’t care how much you wish to dispute me on this; I still contend that you always have a choice. In the case of repeated abuse, and I speak of adult-to-adult behavior here and not child abuse, the choice is always: do I stay or do I go? When the choice to remain, to return, to retreat back into the safety zone of the relationship, that for all intents and purposes appears to be abusive, is made, so are you challenging your self to the greater task of waking up to your own inner guide who is showing you something important about your self that you are not quite getting yet.

You are not quite awakened to the fact that you have great forces inside you that wish to be recognized, accepted, loved, and nurtured into healthy aspects of life now, by you. Although we are using the female partner as an example, I must contend that the same dynamic is present in the male counterpart. Who is really the abuser here? Yes, My Dears, you may wish to say that the dominant male is the brute in this picture, but I contend that the woman is allowing her own inner dominant brute to control her decision making, rather than accessing her own powers that lie deeply waiting for her to recognize, respect, retrieve, and rekindle in balance with her feminine self.

It is not so simple to stand back and judge others for the decisions they make. Although many of you, My Dear Women, may consider your selves quite stable and advanced, I contend that you have, within you, your own abuser, who continues to dominate, for that has been the trend and the habit, not only in your own lives, but for many generations. A healthy woman, a healthy man, and a healthy relationship revolve around everyone accepting the possibility of every aspect of humanity being present within the self. It is the process of inner discovery that will lead you to discover why you remain stuck in your present self-abusive relationship with your animus or anima.

It is your inner acceptance of the deeper truths of self and society that will allow you access to healing within and, eventually, in your interactions without. Your ability to heal is dependent on your ability to access some pretty nasty basic truths that your ego would prefer to deny. In order to understand the deeper truths of the self, and use them to your advantage, it is a good idea to ask the old ego to move over and make room for a new ego based on old truths, ancient truths of female and male character, combined with new truths of the modern self, the Id, the self of now.

Who are you? I pose this question to you quite often, My Dears. This question today, and Chuck’s work on presenting you with acknowledging your basest truths, may aid you in truly recapitulating how you live your life now. Who is in charge in your decision making process, in your actions, in your determination, in your resentments, your regrets, your inabilities to go beyond a certain place in your growth? That is the deeper question. Who makes your decisions for you?

Perhaps when you discover this aspect of self you may realize that it is not your true self as you had imagined, after all, but some other who has possessed you, without your even knowing it. Repossession of self requires acquiescence to possession, to the truths of it. In order to understand how it has happened, how you have been habitually tricked and trained your whole life, by the possessor, may be your true awakening.

Do not retreat in anger, but proceed with energy and desire to know the truer self, the ancient self, the balanced self, so that you may sit beside your partner, inner and outer, with truths revealed, accepted, and respected. May you, eventually, sit in inner balance and outer balance, knowing that you are whole within the self, at the crux of your being.

In such a place of inner balance will you become more aware of who or what is possessing you and making your choices for you, for these challenges of attempted possession will never cease. In such a place of inner balance will your ability to more swiftly move to repossess once again become a most natural ability. Whether you are male or female you have, within, the ability to become wholly balanced and in superb compassionate, non-judgmental command of the self as a creative, evolving, eager spirit.

In conclusion, I would like to comment that although I give you advice quite often, I do so in order to instruct you to discover that, within each of you, you are fully capable of teaching your self in an aware and enlightened manner. If you are ready to tackle the egos you have been operating from, not by destroying them, but by balancing them and taking their finer aspects and merging them with the most basic truths (easily acceptable or not), so will you gain a new alignment of inner and outer egos, achieving access to your own greatest teacher who resides in you, the Self.