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Chuck’s Place: Look Into The Mirror Of Self-Importance

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Who is looking back at you in the mirror?
-Artwork © 2026 Jan Ketchel

What rules the outer world, at this moment in time, is the most fantastic display of self-importance the world has ever known. Of course, it’s the most fantastic display, ever! It wields the Midas Touch, as everything it touches turns to gold, real or imagined!

Let us face this outer reflection of insatiable self-importance as we discover its hidden presence within the workings of our own inner Soul. We are all subject to the Hermetic Law, as without so within. May we all truly find the gold within in this golden moment of our planetary progression.

Self-importance has its roots in the developmental needs of the human ego. The mention of ego often provokes a pejorative reaction, as it is frequently associated with negative self-importance, one of its trappings so offensive to the virtue of humility. However, in its functional form, ego is the part of the personality that forms an identity that navigates the life we were born into, and the entire journey of our lifetime in human form.

In fact, ego is a part of our Soul that generally suffers amnesia at birth—what is called a blank slate—where it is separated from its royal ancestry of infinite Soul, to be born into a human family, as a mere mortal who will live and die in human form. This royal scheme is the greater Soul’s intent to explore vistas of being that only life and death in finite form can provide.

Ego, born into this state of alienation, is obsessively driven to bond to parents who will ensure its survival. It grows through helplessness and dependence to secure independence, when it can more fully undertake its hero’s journey to complete the mission it unknowingly signed up for prior to birth.

Ego has an insatiable desire for attention, particularly from its parents, which is largely met by parents through mirroring glances of acknowledgement, joy, and welcomeness to young ego, who experiences validation and the definitive right to take up space and thrive in this world. Failures in early mirroring can lead to depression and obsessive attention seeking behaviors, as such an ego lacks secure attachment and inner worth.

Ego may revert to strategies such as ego inflation, where it puffs up its self-importance to more securely navigate life. Equally, ego may choose to hide, seeking no attention. Attention entails performance, which can lead to failure, shame, and rejection. In this adaptive hideout, one may live a fantasy life of importance and fulfillment, though secretly feel entitled, superior, and resentful.

Another ego strategy for navigation is the pursuit of perfection to avoid the judgments inherent in being seen. The problem with perfection is that it leaves no space for the acceptance of being a mortal human with flaws and inadequacies. Avoidance of rejection and shame can monopolize all of one’s energy for life.

Blatantly mirrored, in current world rule, is an ego strategy that exercises its full might to consume all world attention and stamp out all possible criticism and limitation. This strategy is a concretized attempt to achieve wholeness and oneness by literally having, and becoming, all that is.

Ultimately, we are all being challenged to address our fixations with self-importance as the collective planetary ego prepares to evolve in this Age of Aquarius, which we have recently entered. The ego of the Aquarian Age is opening up to telepathy, where thoughts and feelings are transmitted without verbal communication. This mind-reading function does not require another to be locally present for thought-sharing to occur.

Ego cannot hide out during telepathic communication. The ego becomes the emperor with no clothes in this scenario, for all is known. Ego can no longer hide behind words and persona; it is simply seen as it truly is. This progression in evolution requires that ego be in acceptance of the truth of what it is, with all its flaws and limitations. This alignment with truth opens the door to love of self, as well as love of equally flawed neighbor.

P. P. Quimby discovered that most of what becomes disease in our lives is  erroneous ego beliefs, which condense and are reflected in the external conditions of our body. His method of cure was to have his patients see the blatant truths of these errors and open to the love and truth of their divine beingness. This orientation also opens us to the truths and intentions for the greater good for all rather than the cloistered, self-serving ego of deception.

This attitude of love and reverence for everyone prepares us to take full conscious possession of our divine ability to manifest, via suggestion to our divine subconscious mind, sincere fulfillment for self and all others.

Until recently, we have all projected these divine abilities to create and manifest onto godly beings beyond ourselves, or concretely upon money and physical objects. The Age of Aquarius is reflecting to us our royal potential, as we retrieve our projections and advance our innate energetic abilities.

In effect, the more truthfully we face and accept the full truths of our lives, the more ego discovers its true royal heritage, which it can then align with for the greater good of self, and all others. Ego then serves the needs of its greater Soul, in truth and wisdom, rather than its own self-aggrandizement.

The shamans of ancient Mexico, who recognized the utter necessity to become free of self-importance, stressed that laughter was the best medicine in accepting our flawed selves and the wily ways we adopt to cover ourselves up.

Every one of us has the capacity now to advance the world from within, by facing the giant of self-importance, so boldly mirrored to us from without. May we follow the true guidance reflected by this utterly glaring projection!

With affection for all,
Chuck

Chuck's Blog

Chuck’s Place: The Power Of The Coin

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Ask in alignment with heart, mind & spirit…
-Illustration © 2023 Jan Ketchel

In the solid world of everyday life a coin is an agreed upon object of stored energy for commerce. Our saved coin is our buying power.

Even in this most physical world, abstraction, or subtle reality, animates the value in coin. Without an agreed upon reality amongst humans—that assigns and allows coin to ‘contain’ a spirit energy—coin would hold no value.

At the soul level of reality, the appearance of a coin in a dream is a type of mandala, the outer attire of one’s High Self. Essentially, the High Self is affirming that this dream theme, accented by the coin’s appearance, is the next step on one’s path of individuation.

The use of a single coin throw for guidance is a very early predecessor to the I Ching,  an oracle which uses three coins tossed six times to create a highly differentiated hexagram of oracular wisdom. A single coin represents wholeness, via its circular shape, a shape that includes all that is. The two sides, heads and tails, give equal representation to Yang and Yin, the building blocks of everything.

Heads is assigned Yang. It is the masculine, active principle. When it appears, it says Yes to taking action. Tails is the feminine, receptive principle. When it appears, it says No, the time for action has not yet arrived, as things are still in utero. A single coin toss is only capable of reflecting a gross answer of either Yes or No, with no further elaboration.

Who is it that answers the question? The answer is, one’s High Self, or Spirit. In effect, one’s ego self poses its question to its High Self, which in turn answers Yes or No to the question posed. Sounds pretty straightforward, but actually much consideration and preparation are required to benefit from this oracle of the single coin.

Firstly, ego must assume full responsibility for its life. Ego can’t simply turn over this responsibility and sheepishly ask the High Self, as parent, to tell it what to do. High Self is the center of personality that insists ego evolve and expand consciousness through its thoughtful suffering of the travails of a human life. High Self will provide support and guidance but not the answers that ego must rightly figure out.

It’s not beneath the High Self to give a wrong answer if the ego is evading its responsibility in asking, or persists in over-asking. Even the I Ching has a reading, called Youthful Folly (hexagram #4), which reacts rather sternly to perseverating questioning:

“It is not I who seek the young fool;
The young fool seeks me.
At the first oracle I inform him.
If he asks two or three times, it is importunity.
If he importunes, I give him no information.”*

The expectation is that ego sit in the tension of the opposite possibilities inherent in the question it struggles with and, as objectively as possible, come to a tentative decision of what truly is right action.

Right action is action free of prejudice or secret motive, action truly in alignment with what is right to do in the situation being considered. This of course would be action in alignment with the High Self.

Having  done this preparatory work, ego is in a position to say to High Self, “I’ve done my due diligence. Are you in agreement with my conclusion?”

If the answer is No, it gives ego the opportunity to go back to the drawing board and to look further into its shadow, asking itself, “What am I missing?”

I personally have benefited much over the years by being directed to reflect again, shedding greater light upon the blindspot of shadow’s hidden influences.

Of equal importance is the reverence one assumes for the feedback received. If ego has already decided what it will do, and then rejects the contrary council of the coin, ego is truly guilty of insincerity in asking its question.

For true guidance, when approaching the coin, one must be open to the possibility of not doing what one has already decided to do.

This may mean returning to the drawing board to deeply consider why one feels so certain of getting a No answer. Of course, it could be possible that ego must go it alone and make a decision that defies even the Law of the High Self.

Was this not the situation in the Garden of Eden, where a law being broken gave birth to human consciousness and free will, the essential building blocks of planetary growth?

Indeed, this may be one of the High Self’s greatest tests for ego—to take responsibility for right action, even in the absence of any support.

The bottom line is that an oracle is really only helpful if used as a support to ego growth in its refinement of subjective motives, as they are transformed into service to the underlying truth of its being.

The real power of the coin rests in the sincerity of the seeker who turns to it for guidance. And though of great support, nothing replaces the primacy of ego assuming full responsibility for its growth in its sojourn in a human life.

Valuing the correct use of the coin,
Chuck

*The I Ching or Book of Changes, Wilhelm edition, pp. 20-21

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Chuck’s Place: Synchronicity & The Ego

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Synchronicity: Spirit meets Matter…
– Illustration © 2022 Jan Ketchel

Synchronicity is a spiritual encounter in everyday life. Once, a scarab beetle plowed into Jan’s neck as we sat on our deck. It fell to the floor and lay there in a stunned stupor. Jan immediately identified it as a scarab beetle, a rare occurrence for the time of year. We later discovered that the encounter with the beetle occurred at the same time as the death of someone we knew, someone whom I had once animatedly discussed Jung’s experience of synchronicity with a patient involving a scarab beetle, a beetle rarely seen in his environment.

The meaning of this synchronous encounter was obvious: a departing soul sent us an undeniable farewell gift that I alone would unmistakably recognize. From the spiritual dimension contact was made with the physical dimension in a most meaningful and touching way. That’s a synchronicity.

My ego, the soul agent of everyday physical life, was critically necessary for remembering the long ago scarab beetle discussion, but, to truly be touched and taught by the experience, had to humble itself to a higher  power, higher than itself. The narrowly rational, doubting-Thomas, typical ego attitude of everyday life has a tendency to laugh off the experience as coincidence, or to inflate itself with spiritual airs for having had the experience.

Since the dominant spiritual dimension of our existence comes to life in our sleep/dream time and is largely lost to memory upon awakening, when ego reawakens to its governance over waking life, synchronicity can be seen as the Soul’s adroit use of physical reality to impress itself upon the ego’s limited knowledge of its greater Self.

Sometimes, synchronous events can seduce ego into recklessly misinterpreting their meaning and inflating itself in its decision making. Stan Grof humbly shared his experience of a celestially romantic relationship with Joan Halifax in his book, When the Impossible Happens, that led to an impulsive decision to marry during a transpersonal conference in Iceland, which was attended by Joseph Campbell and officiated by Huston Smith.

The relationship, or non-conscious relationship, between Joan and Stan lasted very briefly after Iceland. Joan went on to become Joan Jiko Halifax, a famous American Buddhist teacher, founder of, and currently Abbot of, the Upaya Zen Center in Santa Fe, NM. Stan went on to marry Christina Grof with whom he collaborated on the creation of Holotropic Breathwork to gain non-drug induced access to the spiritual depths of the psyche. Both Stan and Joan were humbled and advanced in their relationship with Soul and the language of synchronicity through this memorable coupling and uncoupling.

The lesson of Iceland was for ego to become humbled but not intoxicated by the power of synchronicity orchestrated by the Soul. Ego must also assume 100% responsibility for its decisions in this world. Ego craves union and connection with its higher Soul, or Higher Power, but must retain decision making responsibility in the life it is currently in. Synchronicities may offer numinous spiritual experiences of Soul union, but Soul refuses to do the work of ego: to reflect, think, feel, intuit and decide.

If Soul already knew the answers to the life we are in, how would it benefit from sending us into this life? What would be the point? We are here on a mission of growth, ultimately accrued to the benefit of our greater Soul. Granted, Soul has much wisdom, resource, and power, but it requires of ego to access that guidance and apply it, as feels right for itself. Even if ego is mistaken in its judgment, it will learn and grow from its mistakes.

High Soul uses its power of synchronicity to help ego grow. Sometimes that means being the trickster, as in Stan and Joan’s Icelandic adventure. At other times, synchronicity lends itself to facilitating a meeting of souls, as was the case with Jan and my encounter with the scarab beetle.

Synchronicity can also be straightforward with spiritual guidance, as with the I Ching. Throwing physical coins is correlated with spiritual tuning in and guidance. Yet even the I Ching will become a trickster if ego becomes overly dependent, constantly deferring its decision making responsibility. Sometimes it gives you a totally inappropriate reading, essentially communicating: Wake up! Think for yourself!

In step three of the Twelve Steps of AA, a person in recovery is required to turn over the ego’s decision making to their Higher Power. Bill Wilson, cofounder of AA, was given the Twelve Steps in a direct encounter with his Higher Power during a therapeutic LSD therapy session. The function of step three is to refine and grow ego responsibility by first submitting it to the guidance of its Higher Power.

In the case of an addict, ego’s alienation from its Soul leads to attempts to merge with Soul through the use of excess substance, creating habitual spirit misfires, resulting in addiction. Step three suspends habitual behavior, while ego undertakes an honest life review and prepares to become a mature version of itself, with the support and leadership of its Soul. Eventually, ego is able to take full ownership of its life, and thus its decisions reflect the higher intent of its Soul.

When synchronicities occur, enjoy their numinous welcome but be careful with how you interpret and act upon their apparent insinuations.

Be humble before Soul, but never give up assuming full responsibility for decision making. That’s our deepest reason for being in this life.

Assuming responsibility,
Chuck

Soulbytes

Soulbyte for Wednesday June 30, 2021

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A path of heart is one in which the heart leads and spirit shows the way, where ego learns its place and is but a stabling entity rather than an overpowering force. When spirit speaks through the heart, ego steps aside to listen and consider that there may be another and better way. This is ego in alignment with spirit. Turn in the direction of spirit more often and let it guide you to what is right. In this manner no part of you will suffer but all will travel through life knowing they gave it their all on your path of heart.

Sending you love,
The Soul Sisters, Jan & Jeanne

Chuck's Blog

Chuck’s Place: Spirit More

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Spirit comes down to earth…
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

In addition to the petty tyrants that all people are impacted by—in their outer lives in the everyday world—is the tyrant within, the one that has us do what our more enlightened self would have us not do. Who is that mysterious other that upends our clearest, most grounded rational intentions, in a heartbeat?

That mysterious other is indeed a spirit, recognizable by its insatiable appetite for more. Rightly situated, that hunger for freedom is what propels the energy body to explore the universe, also in a heartbeat. Command of that spirit in dreaming is the goal of all spiritual seekers, as they prove for themselves the fuller capabilities of all that we are.

However, when that same spirit more projects itself upon the object world of everyday life it fixates on substances, objects, behaviors and people to quench its insatiable appetite for more. This is the obvious basis of all addictions: Our insatiable spiritual appetite entwined with the concrete objects of this world.

Being an insatiable spirit, it stands to reason that enough will never be enough. When spirit more attaches, obsession without end—its version of infinity—is its marching orders. Once spirit more takes up residence in ego spirit’s domain (the world of everyday life), ego is easily mesmerized by the promise of ecstatic fulfillment.

The problem with spirit more’s perspective of everyday life is that it acts there the way it acts in its pure energy body state. In that spiritual state anything is possible and time is largely nonexistent. Spirit more does not have to face the aging and dying of the human body, it lives in infinity.

The human body, in contrast, has its definite limits and fixed duration of life. When driven and controlled by spirit more, it is subject to illness and injury, as well as the distorted idea that it will live forever. It can cause many to delay their growth because they believe they have forever.

Of course, a touch of spirit more sprinkled lightly upon the affairs of everyday life is extremely helpful and energizing. Spirit more is a source of magic in everyday life. However, its proper domain is the energetic world of dreaming, where its true ambitions can be realized. When left to roam freely in the playing field of everyday life it wreaks havoc.

This is the heart of the opioid crisis. This is at the heart of the greed currently controlling the world. Spirit more can act as a tyrant when it infiltrates the psyche of a leader. We do well to view it as a misplaced spiritual drive, rather than our manifest destiny to entitlement.

In the world of everyday life, we are spirit beings in finite bodies. In the world of spirit, we are infinite beings, currently engaged in an enriching time-limited human form adventure. To integrate our spirit longings with our physical limitations is our deepest challenge in this life.

Honor spirit more by allowing its touch in everyday life, but be sure that ego spirit remains effectively in control at the heart center. In return, intend to journey with spirit more in its infinite playing field through the gateway of the dream.

Find fulfillment in both realms, but never confuse who should be in charge in their respective domains.

On the adventure,

Chuck