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Chuck’s Place : Dweller & Angel

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Dare to trespass and grapple with the dweller!
– Photo by Chuck Ketchel

The dweller* is the ruler of the subconscious, in the basement of our human being personality. I also call the dweller the little soul of the personality. The dweller is bound to nature’s survival instinct with sex in the forefront for species survival, and food, shelter, material resource and power acquisition its focus at the level of personal survival.

The dweller relies upon nature’s instinctual archetypes to maintain physical homeostasis and prompt behavioral action. The dweller is extremely conservative, it stays with what works, the programs that have ensured planetary evolutionary survival. These programs are encoded in our DNA, our ancestral memory and, ultimately, in our deepest karma, our high SOUL’s purpose for sending us into this earthly life.

The dweller doesn’t think and is not open to change. Like a conservative fundamentalist, it follows, without question, the commandments of the archetypes. In the absence of new orders it stays with what works. Even if one has been miserable an entire life, from the dweller’s perspective this represents successful survival and, hence, it is loathe to allow new, consciously sought after behaviors to stick. In fact, like a hidden sniper, it patiently awaits its opportunity to defeat them.

The ego Soul, bearer of consciousness, lives in the ground floor of the human personality, as a result of its decision to gain knowledge and make its own decisions in Eden, resulting in its banishment from nature, the dweller’s domain in the basement. Curiously, though the dweller is bound to its programs, like a willing soldier it immediately responds to orders from elsewhere, such as from ego Soul, influential others, or public opinion.

This, in a nutshell, is the heart of hypnosis. The hypnotist becomes the ruler of the dweller through suggestions that the dweller enacts upon command. In fact, we, as ego Souls, are all self-hypnotists, constantly sending suggestions to the dweller through the repetitive internal dialogue of our thoughts. Thus the dweller manifests in the body in how we think about ourselves.

This includes our central nervous system, which the dweller oversees. Thus, if we tell ourselves we are not safe, the dweller activates neurological signals and chemical processes that mold us into body-clenching, anxious beings. If we maintain this belief system over time, the dweller institutes this habitual thought pattern as a permanent program, with its resulting body state—however uncomfortable it may be—as a proven survival program, the dweller’s guiding priority.

Here we witness the familiar vicious cycle of ego Soul attempting to enact change by exercising intent, discipline, mantra, or downright discipline and, after some optimistic initial success, ultimately being defeated. The hidden dynamic is the dweller, at first following ego Soul’s orders but actually opposed to them, laying in wait for a vulnerable moment to defeat the ego Soul’s heroic efforts with doubt and defeatism, whereby restoring the more trustworthy program of familiar hell. In truth, the ego Soul might willingly collude with the dweller’s plot, as glimpses of the unfamiliar lightness of being might scare the ego to death!

Often, ego Soul turns to the upstairs occupant of its human personality, the high Self, who is connected to the high SOUL, to seek solace and guidance and, frankly, to escape from the dweller’s paralyzing grip, which repeatedly freezes the possibility of change. Thus, we might turn to inspirational music, prayer, or positive self-help books to infuse ourselves with the positive energy of heaven, seeking release from the darkness of our private hell.

Dweller in Angel, contained…
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

Many religions offer the technology to cast out and cut off the devil dweller and identify instead with the beings of light: saints and angels. Psychologically, this often results in a state of dissociation where a major part of the psyche is disowned, the consequences of which, in extreme form, can be seen in bipolar disorder, where one swings from living a powerful identification with the dweller to a powerful identification with pure angel.

The plight of the Catholic Church, as well as many institutions and individuals outed by #MeToo, reflects the consequences of the disowned dweller unleashed in the dark, contrasted by only the sunny angel appearing in the light of day. Out-of-body practitioners must also be aware of their own physical body dweller, as the tendency of New Age technologies is to covet the light and disown the dweller in the dark basement. If you are in human form there is no escaping the force of the dweller.

Ironically, both Jung and Trump agree on one thing: we must construct the walls of a mandala sanctuary within if we are to safely integrate the powerful forces at all levels of the personality: little soul, ego Soul and SOUL. Trump reflects everyman/woman in his struggle to contain those forces within himself and has consequently become a major channel to the dark collective dweller archetypes that are currently wreaking havoc on the human playing field. Would that Trump would grasp that his projected wall must be created within himself!

Trump’s journey is instructive to everyone. We all possess the dweller, the angel, and an ego. We must use our ego to fully own all that we are. We must create a container, build that wall within, versus identifying exclusively with dweller or angel while projecting the dark side outside of ourselves onto someone else, or some other race.

As we bear the tension of our mandala container in our own body, with the dweller’s help we can turn toward the angel for inspiration and comfort. And then, well, see what happens! This is the journey of soul to meet its higher SOUL, the topic of next week’s blog. Until then, build your inner wall mandala, the sanctuary and proving ground for your own personal journey of wholeness and completion.

Contained,

Chuck

*I am deeply indebted to Elmer Green and his life’s opus, The Ozawkie Book of the Dead, for introducing the term dweller in the context I use it. Jan and I are on our fifth reading of this treasured three-volume masterpiece. It is truly a diamond, cultivated from the rough work of living a fully explored life.

Also Please Note: We are currently publishing Chuck’s blogs on Tuesdays.

Chuck's Blog

Chuck’s Place: The momentous opportunity of Now

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Turning in a new direction…
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

As without, so within. Without, we are all witnessing a stupendous archetypal drama. The dweller, at the threshold of the mighty house, has opened the door to the dark side of the force. Within, the ego Soul, at the threshold of the subconscious, must awaken to whom it has let in.

Difficult to own this projection. The drama without is so spellbinding it would seem to be the only real movie in town. That’s part of the challenge. The collective subconscious ego Soul has materialized a hypnotist, whose name is invoked daily more than any other word on Earth. Now that truly is black magic. With that much attention surrendered to the hypnotist, we are all drawn sheepishly to await the next suggestion upon which all life revolves.

Now, how could such an overarching outer predicament actually reflect the condition within one’s own personal psyche? The ego Soul, at the third chakra, is a child obsessed with its own wants, needs, and desires—particularly an insatiable hunger for attention and recognition. A child is simply incapable of seeing and caring for the rest of its personality and body beyond the mirror of its own appetites and power drives.

The subconscious soul is the warehouse of what Jung called the shadow or personal unconscious. However, it is also the gateway to the collective shadow and the collective unconscious archetypes deeply tied to the physical instincts. The subconscious soul is abundantly willing to cater to the power and appetite drives of the naive attention-seeking ego Soul at the third chakra, with the hidden intent of taking possession of the ego Soul.

What then ensues is ego Soul at the third chakra getting all it wants satiated via a Faustian-like pact with the devil, which uses its position of influence to take control of the personality and give free rein to its long suppressed shadow agenda. From an outer world historical perspective, the Nazification of Germany reflected the shadow taking possession of a collective national ego Soul, with atrocious consequences.

To actually reflect objectively on both inner and outer reality, ego Soul must establish itself at the heart center chakra, which enables an adult perspective and decision making center to come online. These include being able to acknowledge life beyond the self, as well as clarity as to the interconnected, interdependent wholeness of all things. This allows for acceptance and creative integration of all parts of the self. This enables the adult to raise the child at the third chakra with compassion and firm limits.

Outwardly, we enter a New Year with a new American Congress set to challenge the Executive branch. Investigations offer the possibility of temperance, but all must face the reality: as without, so within. No one is immune from encounter with the dark side, which is quite willing to change its appearance from devil to angel but still house the same power drives. All must ask themselves: From what center are they really acting? From the sly, rationalizing, justifying, manipulating possessed ego Soul, at the third chakra, or from right action, from the ego Soul raised to the heart center?

The momentousness of this time we live in is the opportunity for all world citizens to participate in the raising of the world ego Soul to the adult position of the heart center, both within and without. This is the dawning of The Age of Aquarius, which at this time beckons us to own the projections of our times, within ourselves, and to cover our ears from the master hypnotists, both within and without.

Turn and walk in a new direction. Don’t look back. Move forward with ease into new life. What will you meet? It’s all new now. Don’t get caught in the Scylla and Charybdis of depression or exhilarated denial. Walk the razor’s edge mindfully. You are the master of your own ship.

“The time to hesitate is through,” say the Doors.

Walk your ego Soul through the door to new life in the heart center of your SOUL.

The journey continues.

Happy New Life,

Chuck

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Chuck’s Place: Soulplay

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From soul to Soul to SOUL!

SOUL in its fullness…
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

There is indeed a developmental line of soul. Although we are born with the fullness of an immortal SOUL, it takes a human lifetime to bring on line a fully conscious knowing and relatedness of all dimensions of SOUL.

The subconscious dimension of our tripartite SOUL is connected to the physical body at the lower chakras, located beneath the solar plexus. The major intention of the little soul at this first level, as distinguished by a lower case “s” in the word soul, is survival, both at a species and an individual level. Sexual energy is its currency. As Freud rightly discovered, the little soul bridges body and mind, as it stimulates the psychosexual development of the individual and ultimately secures continuation of the species.

This subconscious little soul is not a thinking center; it strictly obeys the spirit laws of DNA, instinct, and the archetypes of the collective unconscious. The subconscious little soul oversees the majority of functions of the central nervous system, through the ancient limbic system of the physical brain.

As well, repetitive conscious behaviors drift into the subconscious little soul and become automatic habits. One obvious example is driving a car, which is largely managed by the subconscious little soul while the conscious mind, the ego Soul (distinguished by an upper case “S”),  floats elsewhere.

Although the subconscious little soul is highly automatic it is equally highly responsive to suggestion. As hypnotists demonstrate, the subconscious little soul can be influenced by conscious intervention. In trance, a hypnotist’s suggestion can become the subconscious little soul’s instructor, as it materializes, in behaviors, the instructions it has been given.

Furthermore, yogis, deep meditators, and shamans demonstrate a high degree of control over such functions as heart rate, physical healing, and shapeshifting, where the actual physical form can be changed via the power of conscious intent, i.e., the Soul’s will, at the ego level, directing the subconscious little soul’s relationship with physical matter.

I suggested in a prior blog that projection is the language of the little soul at this subconscious level of being, where it purposely mirrors itself on people and things in the world that attract and stir the ego—the conscious level of the Soul—to further its primal intent.

The subconscious little soul is equally capable of projecting its will through one’s own physical body. This is the basis of psychosomatic medicine, where ego Soul’s decisions that impact the body are challenged by the subconscious little soul. Essentially, the subconscious little soul creates a dysfunction in a body system to communicate to the ego Soul the error of its ways. Healing then requires the ego Soul to interpret the problem and change its ways.

The second level of Soul (with a capital “S”) is ego-consciousness, centered at the solar plexus chakra, the power center. Likened to the Garden of Eden, the ego Soul is where human beings grabbed and consumed the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, gaining their ability to choose their own behavior, even over the will of the archetypes, the gods of the powerful collective unconscious, rulers of our automatic, subconscious being.

From the furnace of the solar plexus center come the powerful emotions that influence the ego Soul’s will. Regardless of the freedom of choice, at this center the ego Soul’s worldview is largely narcissistic; it cannot see beyond its own needs and being. Whereas the little soul, at the subconscious level, operates via projection, the ego Soul, at the solar plexus chakra, operates through the mirror of self-reflection. Thinking is limited to what one sees in the mirror! World leadership is currently largely fixated at this level, where me only is the dominating principal.

The next level of ego Soul refinement takes place at the heart center chakra. Here the ego Soul cracks its mirror of self-reflection and begins to be able to reflect, that is, think, objectively. At the heart center, the ego Soul can see beyond itself to the true nature of interconnected reality and thus is capable of deep compassion for all beings.

Deep compassion does not mean allowing oneself to be harmed by an attacker. As even the Dalai Lama points out, sometimes we may need to protect ourselves aggressively from attack. Nonetheless, we still hold compassion for our enemy, a vital part of our totally interconnected world. This is the message of the Bhagavad Gita: both sides of the warring parties are God. This guidance appears particularly poignant in the world’s current fixation.

With the ego Soul equipped with interconnected awareness at the heart center, it is fully capable of right action—action that is truly right for our interconnected world. Thus, at the heart center level, decisions reflecting global warming would be in alignment with the overall survival of the planet, as opposed to the ego Soul stuck at the self-reflection level of the solar plexus, which cannot see or act beyond what it sees in the mirror: me!

Perhaps the best characterization of an evolved ego Soul, residing at the heart center, is that of a General following the plan of a Ruler, residing in the immortal third SOUL level, as distinguished in full upper case letters: “SOUL.”

The immortal SOUL is the high self that corresponds to the highest chakras, from throat to crown. Communications from this high center reflect the journey of the immortal tripartite SOUL through infinity. From here, we have access to all knowledge, as was evident in Edgar Cayce’s healing readings from the Akashic Record. From the immortal SOUL comes knowledge of all past life, much as the brain, at a physical level, can be seen as a storage drive for all sensory experience in this current life.

The immortal SOUL communicates via intuition and synchronicity. An ego Soul that has broken the shell of its narcissistic encasement and evolved to the heart center recognizes and resonates with the intuitive promptings of the immortal SOUL.

Synchronicity is the immortal SOUL’s manipulation of time and space, and even matter, to validate, support, and further the ego Soul’s decisions and actions, or, as needed, invalidate or challenge them as well. The immortal SOUL is the ultimate source of manifestation of intent.

Ego Soul does best to align its intent with immortal SOUL’s intent, which would be to solve one’s deepest challenges and find fulfillment in one’s current life on Earth. This alignment is sure to bring positive synchronicities, including positive relationships and resources to complete the necessary tasks of a lifetime.

All levels of our tripartite SOUL selves—from subconscious little soul, to ego Soul, to immortal SOUL—coexist in our human energy body, intertwining with our physical body in this lifetime. To judge and negate the subconscious little soul, due to its lowly position, would be to lose one’s footing in the world. To cling to, or solely identify with, the immortal SOUL would be to live in the heavens, without doing one’s work while in material reality.

To negate the needs and concerns of the subconscious little soul could prove fatal to one’s physical body. To not seize appropriate power at the ego Soul level, and protect one’s person, could prove equally fatal. The ego Soul, at the heart center, must mediate between the subconscious little soul and the immortal high SOUL. As above, so below is the operative suggestion here.

When subconscious little soul, ego Soul, and immortal SOUL are on the same page, all is right with the world! May this coming New Year bring us closer to such alignment!

Peace, alignment, and a whole lot of SOUL to all, and remember to enjoy your Soulplay,

Chuck

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Chuck’s Place: Soulmate 101

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For many, the search for their missing half is their primary mission in life. Though reflected in physical instinct, this drive actually issues forth from the spiritual plane, as the search for one’s soulmate. But what is a soulmate?

The one and only…
– Art by Jan Ketchel © 2017

Plato suggested that humans were originally androgynous, composed of a male and female head and body bonded together as one. When the Olympians came to power, Zeus, concerned with curtailing the human’s growing power, had them separated into two bodies, male and female. Thus, rather than rival the gods, the primary task of the human became finding their missing halves.

Indeed, the obsession, if not downright compulsion, to restore one’s wholeness, through bonding with another person, is an apt description of a primary focus of human life on earth. Notice, however, the underlying narcissistic foundation of this pursuit. To search for one’s soulmate is to search for one’s missing self. The object of the search is me not you. You are a mirror of but not my soulmate. This fundamental narcissistic truth is at the heart of many a relationship problem.

In fact, we are attracted to another through the unconscious projection of our missing other half onto the personality and physical body of another person. But how does this happen? Let’s start with the definition of soul.

What really is a soul? The Tibetan, as channeled by Alice Bailey in A Treatise on White Magic, states: “Soul… is neither spirit nor matter, but the relationship between them… the soul is the mediator of this duality.”

What, then, is spirit and what is matter?

What is spirit? Spirit is the blueprint of that which is to be born or built. Jung called spirits archetypes; designs or laws that create order and meaning. Spirits lack substance, but they exert power. Spirits have what we might call a magnetic or attractive force that draws matter to them, to give life and substance to their designs.

What is matter? Matter is dense energy. What gives matter its hardness, its material form, is energy tightly bundled together. All matter, from rocks to humans, represents different spirit designs that attracts matter to them to form all things physical.

What is the soul’s mediating relationship with spirit and matter? First of all, let me suggest that though spirit and matter are opposites, as one is invisible and the other quite visible, they are in fact different sides of the same thing. Spirit is the animating force of all things in nature: It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing, and that swing is the spirit in the physical thing. A physical thing without spirit is a corpse, dead or alive. On the other hand, a spirit lacking matter is unrealized on the physical plane.

The role of the soul in human form is to oversee spirit’s unfolding in manifested—physical—form. On a most primal level, our soul, through the subconscious, directs the intricate workings of the physical body to coordinate with our spirit design for the day: wakeup, eliminate, eat, digest, dress, and drive toward our intended goal. The soul is charged with mediating our primal relationship with our physical body to remain healthy, balanced, and capable of manifesting our spirit intent.

At the psychological, or spiritual dimension, the soul mediates our spirit’s longing for itself in matter. The root of desire is this attractive force of spirit seeking appropriate matter to realize itself, or to manifest as a physical reality. To accomplish this, soul uses the psychological mechanism of projection.

Projection is the unconscious language of the soul. The soul seeks out a physical reflection of its spirit’s intent by projecting its spirit’s image upon something or someone in the physical world, attracting us to it.

Rather than interpret this projection as a form of communication, most humans take the bait and concretize the projection. “I must have that person or thing; only they will make me whole!” Even with total conscious awareness of the projection, we are overwhelmingly emotionally drawn to this other person or thing. Attraction and desire are the active energies the soul uses as tools of mediation to bring us into fuller knowledge and realization of our whole selves.

The journey of the soul toward its spirit/matter fulfillment is the comedy and tragedy of human life errors. Inevitably—frequently through disappointment—we are led to what we need in order to take responsibility for the full realization of our selves. Rather than try to control the people who reflect our soul’s projections, let us own our inner spirit seeking to materialize within our selves.

We demand the attention, love and care of our cherished other, but do we realize these same qualities in our relationship with our own physical bodies and spiritual aspirations? Are we simply leaving it to the other to provide fulfillment of ourselves? Can we learn the secret language of the soul—projection—and take full responsibility to realize the self? Can we finally realize true love of another through the lifting of the veils of our entitled projections from the actual other?

Once we retrieve our true soulmate—our inner wholeness—we are equipped to meet the other as they truly are. Gone are the compulsions of need. We are simply two separate souls sharing…

Soulfully,

Chuck

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Chuck’s Place: Animal, Ego & Heart

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From trunk to heart…
– Photo by Chuck Ketchel

Modern civilization values highly its rational ability to be in control of its animal self. But what happens if a seventeen-year-old teenager drinks too much and the desire body of his human animal self takes charge of his decision making ego and aggressively tries to rape a girl? Should he be held accountable for his behavior?

Most people would say yes. Some would blame alcohol excess, hormones, or the seductive impact of the girl. Few would simply dismiss the encounter.

Our civilization’s approach to reckoning with its animal self, with its powerful instinctual energies, is to expect its mental body, the ego, to keep its animal self in line. This is particularly emphasized at a level of society that values perfection as a major qualification to  become, say, a Supreme Court Judge.

Civilization, as is now clearly being revealed in such highly regarded moral institutions as the United States presidency and the Catholic Church, has quite overinflatedly judged its prowess at containing the impulsive instinctual side of its animal self. Repression or suppression does not transform or raise an instinct to mental obedience, in fact, quite the contrary. The animal, tucked away in the shadows behind a squeaky clean persona, gains in energy and waits for its opportunity to pounce, a frequent occurrence at a college frat party.

As Robert Monroe, in energetic form, recently explained to Jan: “Always the sexual drive is dominant in men, and when present needs to be dealt with.”* Dealing with it in a blackout state is often highly traumatic to the recipient of its fury and can haunt a woman for a lifetime. Is there an alternative way for men to elevate their animal drive to human consideration?

Jung discovered mental programs that attempt to govern our animal impulses and contribute to our humanness, allowing us to rise beyond the nature of our primate relatives. Perhaps the most primary is the incest taboo, which is essentially universal, spanning all peoples on our globe. Though in many cases this innate taboo fails to control men’s sexual drive, it nonetheless has allowed for the stabilization of the family unit as a relatively safe building block for civilization.

Other innate archetypal programs that address the instinctual energies of adolescent males are the initiation/puberty rites of many ancient civilizations that, when properly enacted, result in a real transformation of the irresponsible/dependent child into a respectful mature adult. Modern civilization has either watered down these rituals to the point of meaninglessness or abandoned them altogether, with the result being a preponderance of uninitiated men, inadequate to safely channel their sexual drive.

Effective initiation in our time is largely a solo journey, as our civilization has largely locked the minotaur of its sexual self away in the labyrinth of the repressed unconscious, preferring to project its darkness on the evil other, who should be removed from our borders. This of course allows the real shadow to act out with impunity at the highest levels.

Perhaps the reinstitution of group puberty initiation rites will someday happen in some modern but meaningful form, but for this to happen society will first have to face the true status of men’s beleaguered sexual instinct and be willing to seriously address its  need for transformation and integration into humanness. There are signs of this today in the consciousness raising effect generated by the Me Too movement with its takedown of exploitative men. But it cannot solve the transformative/maturity issue at the crux of the problem, to say nothing of the grey area of human sexual exploration that can hardly be deemed abusive.

Nonetheless, the transparency of Me Too is shining a needed light on the sexual shadow that leads to a more honest reckoning with the massive hidden acting out of men’s inadequately matured sexual instinct. Punishment, however appropriate, will not result in transformation.

Real human maturity requires the heart. Maturity below the heart stops at power and control; truthfully, right where we are now. To rise to the heart, we must advance beyond the compulsive entitlement of our narcissistic instinctual desires. In a country that now sets the standard for the world as me first, instinctual drives are unlikely to rise to the level of combining sexual drive with true human love and consideration for another. We just aren’t there yet.

Nonetheless, the rising feminine, be it in the Me Too movement or in political activism, is being mostly promulgated by the ultimate feminine herself, Gaia, Mother Earth, who is absolutely insisting that mankind take respectful care of her body and come together as an interdependent whole to face the real deficits in human maturity by rising to the true heart of the matter.

Let’s see what happens,

Chuck

*Jan wrote a blog about this encounter on The Recapitulation Diaries Facebook page.