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Messages from Jeanne

#741 A Conversation With Jeanne

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Written by Jan Ketchel and including channeled guidance from Jeanne Ketchel.

Last week I wrote about restlessness as being a catalyst for change and it often served me well, for I believe that we are here to change, that to evolve we must confront our restlessness and use it wisely to keep growing. I use the terms growing and evolving in the sense of allowing ourselves to have experiences in life that lead us to a higher awareness of ourselves as beings on a mission.

What is my purpose for being alive? What is my mission? At pivotal points in my life these are the questions that have spurred me to keep going. I could never imagine life as anything but extremely meaningful, but I also always knew it to be a very personal journey. Awareness of myself as a separate being on a singular journey arrived early, but it has taken many years to sift through the rhetoric of interference, what the seers of ancient Mexico call the foreign installation, the conjuring, rational mind.

The rational mind seeks concrete answers and explanations, wants everything lined up, quantified, labeled. The seeker side of the self may have experiences that cannot be so neatly tied up and explained in acceptable terms. If I tell someone I have experienced myself as pure energy, I may be met with disbelief and dismissal by a rationalist, or I may be met with excitement by a fellow explorer of energy. Both reactions are right, for we do live in a world of rational concreteness, but we also live in a world of wonderful energy. Once I allowed myself to really explore the world of energy that I had indeed always known and experienced, I learned how to detach from the foreign installation, personal importance, and being offended when someone dismissed me as just another kook.

In reality, I am a very pragmatic person, not lent to over-exaggeration or fanaticism. Basically, I have learned to live in two worlds and am quite excited to be in both of them.

Ten years ago, I began a shamanic journey with Chuck and Jeanne Ketchel. It was right about this time of year when the last great restlessness struck me and I knew, with a certainty I had never quite acquiesced to before, that I was about to embark on a journey of total change.

It was a year of shattering, of breaking through personal blockages. It was the year of September 11th and the year Jeanne died. It was a year of beginning a journey to new life, for out of the rubble of shattered lives rises the phoenix, transformed energy burning brightly, as it rises above the flames of destruction, carrying only the energy of truths revealed, reincarnated in new life.

What have we all learned in the past ten years? What have we done with ourselves and our lives that is worthy of speaking about? What have we done as a nation to promote healing and compassion both at home and in the world? What have we done on a personal level for ourselves and others?

Once again I feel restless because I feel that we are on the verge of another catalyst that will force us to change, for perhaps we did not truly pay attention to the true meaning of the events of ten years ago. Even though I have experienced incredible personal change, and even though there are so many more people spreading the message of the importance of personal transformation—not in a religious sense but in a perceptive sense—the Deepak Chopras, the Eckhart Tolles; the many people who have dared to become open channels, who have shed self-importance in order to bring forth the news of the dire necessity for change.

Something else is going to come along to shake us out of our boots again. It has to, for we have not done our homework on a national and global level. Yes, we have done a lot of work, but the true messages of change have not spread as they should.

People, Jeanne says, have become more isolated, more protective, more selfish, more inferior in their thinking. Isolationism breeds contempt for fellow human beings. Isolationism leads eventually to destructive energy. Isolationism breeds fear and that is the energy that now permeates the earth. Fear abides so strongly upon that earth that it cannot contain itself.

It will now begin a pounding at the doors of reality as you know it, seeking expression and release. There are two options:

1. to recognize it for what it is, fear of the unknown, and confront it, or

2. to allow it to rule, to dominate further, creating more destruction.

Fear is the only enemy upon that earth. This is true on an individual level, a national level, and a global level. Fear, once induced, like labor, will deliver what it holds within. Allowing it to release will have one kind of outcome. Allowing it to dissipate by close examination of what it truly is will have a strikingly different outcome.

Fear breeds fanaticism, which breeds destruction. Claim fear as a catalyst to personal change by wrestling it down inside the self. Face it head on, on a personal level, each one of you, and see what it really is that causes your personal restlessness, your personal discomforts, your personal anxiety, and your personal stagnation. I guarantee that it is not really anything outside of you that is so bothersome, but only something inside you.

If everyone voluntarily turned inward and confronted and cross-examined the fears inside them, the world would set a course correction for peaceful resolution and change. However, at this time, there is too much reliance on outer sources of energy, electricity of the manmade sort, rather than reliance on the inner sort of electrical energy.

Mankind is on the verge once again of choosing a new way of life, of freeing himself from destructive behaviors and old fears. If you knew everyone else had the same fears and the same desires, would you be less afraid? If you knew that everyone sought peace, happiness, love, and earth-oriented living, would you be less judgmental? If you knew that the sadness you truly feel inside you is felt equally deeply by everyone else, would you allow yourself to feel for others as you do for yourself? If you knew that today was your last day on earth, would you change your reliance on fear? Would you acquiesce to the fact that your energetic self truly exists? Would you let go of all that you hold so important and realize that none of it truly matters? Would you let yourself go free?

Jeanne, you are really quite confrontational today!

Yes, I am, for it is indeed time to shake things up on an energetic level. Take note: Your world is about to change. What are you going to do about it?

I suggest that each one of you find your inner self. Get to know it extremely well. Find out how it reacts to life and why. Don’t accept everything the mind tells you. Don’t dismiss so easily what your body tells you. And don’t dismiss your energetic resonance. Please learn what it means to be an energetic being. It will serve you well in the year to come.

Are you suggesting a big change? On a global level?

I am suggesting that the potential for disaster created by man’s fear of man is imminent. However, disasters have a way of being averted by those who choose to feel rather than judge. Become a feeling being and you will understand what I am talking about.

This message is for all of humanity. Look to nature to guide you in this energetic endeavor, for nature carries the answers. And you may need to turn to nature for your very survival, if all does not go well.

Instinct, feeling, heart-centered awareness of the self and all human beings as journeyers to enlightenment, to God-energy, will aid in the release of deep-seated fears. You must learn to look always within if you are to save the planet and learn to dispense with fear as the energetic driver of change. Allow something much more profound to enter your being and take over the course of humanity. A new direction is being revealed. Do you see?

Yes, Jeanne, I believe that many people upon the earth truly want change that is good, pure, and sensitive, that humanity as a whole wishes to be unafraid, to be freed of fear and judgment. But I also believe, as you say and through my work with other journeyers, that the biggest blockage is within each of us. We must learn to free ourselves first. Thank you for this message.

Dear Readers: Pass it on and help create the new energetic network of transformation and change that Jeanne suggests is so personally necessary for each of us to partake in, for all our sakes, and the planet too. And then set a personal intent and let it go to the energy of all good intent, to the Universe, who has a way of returning it to us in just the right way, at the right time, and in just the right amount.

Please feel free to post comments or respond to this message in the post/read comments section below.

Most fondly and humbly offered.

Messages from Jeanne

#715 Are You Being Urged to Awaken Now?

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Jan Ketchel channeling Jeanne Marie Ketchel

Dear Jeanne,
This seems to be a time of transition for many. Whether by choice or fate it seems that many of us who now reside upon this earth are being asked to confront deep issues, to become unanchored from our habitual tendencies, to flow without resorting to the familiar, to choose to be groundless. I see this time as not only transitional but transformative. I feel we are being asked to change, though not to simply settle down again into new habits but to keep changing.

If we are indeed to transform we must accept that transformation never ends, that it is an ongoing, eternal process. I feel that this is a time when most of us are being asked to choose acquiescence to our truths and face the unbending intent of nature, which is infinite in its evolutionary tactics.

Can you offer guidance as we struggle with disciplining ourselves to bear the tension of our choices to change, as we struggle with still wanting the familiar while we know full well that we are going on this ride of transformation?

You are always in this position, My Dears. You are always being asked to evolve, though through much of life the moment of awakening leads to naught. For many people now upon that earth, for those who are ready to gather their energy in a new way, acquiescence is a tenable process. For others it is not so easy. And for yet others it will not be the goal of this lifetime.

If you are being pushed in a new direction and you choose to allow the energy of that direction to guide you, you will be well placed for growth. Keep in mind, however, that you must allow yourself to be guided as much as possible. You must allow your path to appear before you each day. In some manner you must allow your world to open up before you without your say so, without your control or your decision making to factor in. In other words, you must allow yourself to be led.

This will of course not be easy. Your fears will arise to caution you, to hold you in place, to convince you that you must maintain the status quo. Just remember, the status quo will still exist even if you depart from it for a moment or two.

Your world will change if you want it to—and it may change even if you don’t want it to—if you are in a position of transformation, if you are at a juncture in your personal life, consciously so or not. You may be presented with a life changing choice at this very moment. You may be frightened of taking the first step that will change your world. You may be wondering if you are crazy to dare such a step.

Keep in mind that the world outside of you will still exist. It will go on as it always has. But the difference will be you. If you choose to acquiesce, to allow yourself to flow with the changes being presented, you will not only be different in the world, but you will enter a parallel world that will exist alongside the status quo, the old world. You will be riding upon a new vehicle of energy that will allow you to perceive differently. This is when you will notice that, although you still live in that known world, you are also in quite another.

The first step is the most difficult to take. This is when the pull to return to safety and complacency will attempt to overshadow your awakening moment. This is when you will have to fight the old comforts. This is when you will have to keep throwing the old blankets aside that will be tossed at you in an attempt to bed you down again with your old fears.

Remember that fears are just that, fears existing only in your mind and ready at all times to sabotage your awakening. You must be in a strong position to face them. You must not do anything foolhardy. You must choose wisely, intelligently, and pragmatically, even while you must choose daringly to change. You must remain focused on changing the self, taking your attention off others, asking the self to allow for growth that will transform you and unite you with your spirit.

It is now a time of spirit, of creativity, and unbridled energy of evolutionary potential. This means many different things to many different people. If you are restless in your work, it may mean it is time to finally change your job, your work environment, your office, or even simply to change your desk and chair.

If you are struggling in your marriage, partnership or relationship, it may mean that you must look to your inner self for the truthful answers to what to do to change your situation, for how to make it better, for how to make it work or for how to transition with grace, patience, loving kindness, and compassion for yourself and your partner.

If you are facing a great challenge or life threatening situation the energy of now asks you to slow down, to feel your way through your situation with quiet mind and quiet heart, to listen calmly to your truths, to not act hastily but to allow for right action to come from your heart-centered self, to allow your inner awareness to guide you.

To bear the tension of transition is what life is always about. You could not have even entered life if you were not well prepared to undertake the tension of the moment of birth, for you would not have survived that initial onslaught. One must accept the journey as it comes, in little awakenings and big ones as well.

Are you being urged to awaken now? If you feel the push, the pull, the needle pricking you, if you hear the knock on the door, the call from the outer world or the call from the inner world, it is a good time to slow down and pay attention to what you are being shown or asked to do.

Is it right for you to take this step, to make this change at this time? If you choose not to, when will you have this choice again? What does your spirit want to do? What do your fears want to do? And who do you want to listen to this time?

Your question, My Dear Jan, proposes that positive energy is available now and this I advise is so. But I also advise patience, thoughtfulness, practicality, and planning, knowing full well that change will institute a whole host of other changes, many of which will not be known and this is when you will be confronted with the old fears and desires to return to the comforts of the old self and the old way of life.

If you elect to glibly step out into a changing world be ready for the turmoil that is sure to come, for change does not happen easily or lightly. It comes with force and it asks you to stick with it, to, yes, bear the tension, to be patient, to be wise, to be focused and disciplined in action, thought, and deed. It also asks you to thoroughly commit to the path that leads you into the unknown, for that is what is ahead. And what is the unknown but the vastness of potential, of possibility, and of self. This is where you are all headed in the end anyway, into the unknown.

Messages from Jeanne

#711 The Groundhog is Dead!

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Jan Ketchel channeling Jeanne Marie Ketchel

Dear Jeanne,
Thank you for those words of insight regarding my first question for today. Sometimes I feel that I get caught up in feeling the energy of shift but then I fall back into complacency, almost there before I know it. The other evening, Chuck and I were sitting in our yard talking and enjoying the breezes, unwinding after a busy day. I kept smelling something rotten, and in fact pretty soon it was so overwhelming that I said: “We have to go inside; I just can’t stand the smell anymore!”

I was determined to find out where the stench was coming from, certain that a dead animal lay nearby. The next morning I looked all over the yard but found nothing. Even Spunky the dog, sniffing and restless as all heck, could not locate the animal. Every time she went too far her old legs gave out and I had to lift her back up and lead her into the house, for I could not leave her outside to sit calmly, as is her habit, for she was too restless. Later that morning, my son called to me, he had found the culprit! “A half of a rotting groundhog is lying next to my car, the top half!” he exclaimed. And there it lay, just where Spunky had been heading every time she stumbled and fell, a dead top half of a groundhog, neatly severed mid-torso, its arms and head lying in a pile of pine needles. It was quite a strange sight. I shoveled it up and tossed into the woods in the backyard and then called Chuck to tell him I had found the smell, a dead groundhog! “The groundhog is dead?!” he asked in wonderment, for he has written extensively about “groundhog day” habits. “Half of the groundhog is dead,” I specified, for I had no idea where the other half was and though I searched and sniffed around the yard, it was not to be found.

We surmised that this was still a very good sign, that something meaningful was being presented to us, and that we are indeed evolving if even half of the groundhog is dead! Jeanne, can you shed some light on this most intriguing sign?

Yes, My Dear One, I can certainly expound upon your summary, for it is indeed a precipitous sign, if you take it personally, as you do, and not just as an annoying stench.

First, you must note that it is the top half, or front half, of the groundhog, the consuming end: the mouth, eyes, nose, ears, and the digging paws with their sharp claws. It is the end that sniffs out life, but that incessantly digs in and wallows in the ground, for it cannot help itself. It must burrow into the earth. It is the desirous senses, the busy ego self, who digs so diligently to set up a life that is safe, secure, and patterned after the familiar. All groundhogs act this way. No groundhog has ever done otherwise. This is the truth of this creature: it is a creature of nature and it will do what it does until it dies. It is only when it dies that it changes, otherwise it follows its nose and its digging compulsions. It can do nothing else.

Humans, on the other hand, may look upon such a creature as cumbersome, unenlightened, rather boring. However, this is a perfect reflection of the ego in the world, for, in truth, it only does so much before it has utilized all its skills and it can go no further. The bigger the ego, the bigger the burrow, but it is still a burrow.

Look now on the fact that the ego aspect of self, the front half of the groundhog, is dead and rotting in your yard, next to a vehicle of travel no less, its stench so overwhelming that you could not rest in its presence! The habits of the ego—doing what it does so naturally—are now compromised, because the truth is, that in your world, the time of the ego in compulsion is dead. It is a time now of spirit, that which has been missing. But note, it is not likely that spirit has been totally absent from even the life of the groundhog, for its energy did exist in its very life force, though it was unconscious energy. Humans, however, have conscious awareness in every moment of life, yet do you push it away in the same manner that you attempt to push away the stench of decay.

In conclusion, I suggest that half an ego is enough, enough to navigate the world, using it to digest what you must, while at the same time accepting your most necessary inner awareness as your main guide in life. Can you allow your burrowing to become energetic exploration now, going deeper into new habits, while you allow the old ones to remain as compost upon the past, nurturing your future? Can you, My Dear Ones, use your spiritual drive and awareness to continue your digging toward fulfillment?

This is a time of great shift from the old to the new, from old habits to new means of growth. This is always what life is about, but as usual the choice is yours. However, it is very clear that, for all of you, over the past few weeks some old part of you has been creating quite a stench, and you all know that it is time to let it go. It is time to find a new method of digging and tending your gardens, My Dears. All of you have the tools within and that is where you must look.

Remain aware of what comes into your world to show you the means of growth. Life is all about growing and evolving and it will guide you energetically in signs and by all means available in nature and otherwise, so be alert. Take the signs to heart and ask to be shown your new path. Ask to be freed of your fears by facing them. Even as your fears lead you in the direction your life must take, even as they may force you to turn from the decaying remains of an old self, so are they your greatest guides.

We have no idea where the other half of the groundhog is, but I gather that it is not important. I see that enough has been presented to us and I accept the challenge to keep growing, even though I may have to do it differently.

Yes, that is what you are being presented with now: to keep going, using new tools, doing life differently on all fronts, without fear of the old catching up. For, after all, the groundhog is showing you that it is dead. The other half of the process is up to you.

Is the groundhog half dead, or half alive? Which way do you see it? And which half do you elect to use as your catalyst? Still need some groundhog in your life?

Messages from Jeanne

#710 Remain in Renewal

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Jan Ketchel channeling Jeanne Marie Ketchel

Dear Jeanne,
I feel as if I’m reclaiming some lost energy after many weeks of foggy discontent. Can you offer us a note of guidance as to how to handle our challenges over the next week?

This is indeed a time of renewal and power, for the fruits of your hard labors are coming to fullness. It is harvest time and, yet, is it also a time of picking through all that you have sown and deciding which fruits to consume and which to save as seedlings for future growth.

With the clarity that has been gained regarding the self over the past few weeks, it is time to determine more fully what you would like your future self to look like, deciding how you want to live but also how you want your life to unfold. You may elect that the unfolding of your life remain in its present process, though you all have the ability to change how you live, by how you perceive your life.

My advice for today centers around setting a new intent based on what you have learned about the self. You may have also learned a lot about the others in your life, especially those who are closest, but I suggest that you turn what you have learned about others toward the self, seeking always the deeper reflection of self in all you meet.

For instance, rather than wallow in your discoveries of self, truly learn from them. If you are bound in repetitive behaviors and you have learned this truth of self, then fully embrace that this is true. Look upon this self with compassion and understanding, as you might have for another, and then do something with this truth.

Electing to change will bring you to a new life. Electing to accept the self as you truly are is the catalyst to change, for if you cannot accept your truths you are bound to repeat them until you do. Now note, I do not call your truths by negative terminology, such as faults or downfalls, and neither should you, but only what they are: truths of the self.

Can you allow yourself to be truthful? Can you be brutally honest with yourself? Can you allow for the facts of the self to be fully revealed to the self? With your truths made known, you will set yourself free to change, to move on, to utilize all the energy you now feel coursing through you, that is asking you to turn inward and continue your deep inner work. It is the only place to go.

Nothing outside of you can compare to what you hold within. This is true for each and every one of you. It does not matter where you are in your spiritual process; you are all equal because you must all face the self, the biggest challenge in a lifetime.

Allow your energy that is feeling renewal to remain in renewal. Even as you harvest your fruits plant new seeds, tending your gardens with future growth in mind. Prepare always for the next planting, for its sprouting time will come.

Set your intent as you set your seeds aside, as you bury the bulbs of spring bloom, and as you determine that you do indeed wish to continue growing, blooming, and developing creatively, spiritually, and personally, in the real world, but most deeply in your inner world.

Jan's Blog

A Day in a Life: The Stubborn & The Curious

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Today, I switch from the subject of nature outside of us, which I have been writing about for the past few weeks, to nature inside, as it exists in its many forms inside our physical bodies. I define nature as that which is simply present, that which we are born with, and that which we cannot stop.

As I wrote about a few weeks ago, while watching a doe and her fawn in my backyard, I see nature as unstoppable. It lives and it dies and it lives again. I also feel that we humans have this same unstoppable force of nature inside us. Much as the seasons recur, we are positioned, over and over again, to encounter things about ourselves. Often these are things we do not like about ourselves but know we must confront in order to change. They may be well known issues, perhaps already acknowledged but conveniently ignored until we are ready to go more deeply into them, or they may only exist in our subconscious, blocked, suppressed, and left to smolder. In either case, nature has a way of revealing them to us, in ways that are really quite personally relevant.

First I must state that I believe we are all born with a core issue, one core issue, and although there may be many surrounding and resounding issues, each of us is challenged in our lifetime to resolve this one issue. It may even be an issue or challenge that we have carried over many life times. I feel that nature, our inner nature, in collusion with the forces of nature outside of us, is bound and determined to challenge us to confront this issue, teach us how and why it belongs to us, and ask us to evolve beyond it. This is the basic tenet of recapitulation, to recognize the core issue that is holding us back in life, to confront it, to leave it behind without regret or attachment after being fully relived and resolved, and to move on to new life.

At this point, I must make note of Chuck’s recent blog regarding the contention of the seers of ancient Mexico that everything resides within the human body. This is what I write about today, how our bodies tell us, over and over again, just what our core issue is. We can find out everything we need to know about ourselves by contemplating, studying, and paying attention to our own natural state, our physical body. Our bodies contain all the answers, in our physical, in our psyche, in our energy. Our bodies can tell us where we are blocked, why we are afraid, what our spirit asks of us, and why we are here. Of course, it is much easier to see where others are blocked, to guess at their core issues, and wonder why they so stubbornly refuse to change. I will give some personal examples.

In my family, I am dealing with two very old women, one in her eighties and the other in her nineties, who are nearing the ends of their lives. One of them is in denial, stubbornly pretending that everything is fine; this has always been her way. The other is curious, eagerly attentive to anything she can find that may help her understand where she is going; this has always been her way. When I look at them I have to admit that I see myself in both of them. In the stubborn one, I see my own potential to dig in my heels and kick and scream that I don’t want to go; essentially I see my own fear. In the curious one, I see my enlightened self, eager for the adventure ahead, because this side of me has always known that there is something exciting beyond the veils of this world. In these two women, I see the duality of nature, two very powerful forces in a grand tug-of-war, and they are inside all of us.

It’s natural to be afraid, to fear the unknown, but it’s equally natural to be curious. As I watch these two women struggling through old age, maintaining their dignity while confronting their natural and inevitable physical deterioration in their own ways, I know that nature will win out, but I also know that nature is both sides of this process. In spite of the strong desire to remain in control, nature does not allow us to hold onto anything, it forces us out of the physical body. However, nature also gives us the option of capitulating to our energy body, to finally evolving beyond our need to continue reincarnating in the physical human form with our core issues. It offers our curious selves the option to remain alive, vibrant, and engaged in learning about the possibilities that lie ahead. Energy too is the natural way of things, if we care to engage it.

So who wins the tug-of-war? Well, that is up to each of us; it is an individual choice. Do we allow the tug-of-war to hold our energy in eternal conflict, or do we reconcile the opposing forces, confront our core issues this time around, and evolve? Once we recognize what our bodies are trying to tell us, in all our aches, pains, and tensions, and what our psyches are trying to tell us, in our fears, and embrace the experiences that these two opposing natural forces offer us on a daily basis, we come into alignment with nature, with the opportunity for the stubborn and the curious to finally be reconciled.

If you wish, feel free to share or comment in the Post Comment section below.

Sending you all love and good wishes as you take your journeys to reconciliation,
Jan