My body stilled as I stared in heightened awareness at the fish, equally frozen, some twenty feet below the ocean surface. Effortlessly, without thought, I gently sank as my fish awaited my spear, the first I was to shoot, ever, after many weeks of trying.
Immediately following the calm of this numinous encounter I was overtaken by a surge of hunter energy that possessed me to shoot wildly in a feverish effort to add to my bounty. My spear missed every fish.
Frantically I raced to reload my spear, great pressure exerted to reset the spear in the back of my slingshot style gun. This time the spear missed its setting completely and forcefully penetrated the palm of my hand. I blacked out.
Next thing I knew, I opened my eyes to find myself sitting alone on a deserted beach, spear and gun at my side, my injured hand packed in sand. I brushed aside the sand, no bleeding, only the imprint from the back of the spear stigmatized into my palm: a Zia, the Pueblo Indian mandala of the sacred circle and the four directions. The gods had meted out both their punishment and their healing. I had been initiated into the human hunter clan. My hubris was humbled. I was taught moderation and respect for life.
The Age of Aquarius was ushered in with overwhelming numinous energy. The Beatles, themselves a four-sided mandala, heralded an archetypal influx of spirit energy that put the world into trance and opened human consciousness to infinite possibility. If I put my original Meet the Beatles on the turntable right now I am immediately delivered to that energy; it is sacred shamanic music.
The 60s broke open direct experience of the spiritual dimensions. There were many casualties of excess. As the Modern Age has progressed so has the shattering of limits reached every sphere of existence. Most excessive has been the human population, which treats the world as its oyster, with little concern for balance, health, or the sanctity of all life on the planet.
Like my mishap in loading my gun our world is now being humbled by nature to temper its greed and disrespect. Nature has delivered its hurricanes, fires and floods with volcanoes abrewing. Nature has taken possession of world leaders, rendering them untethered hot air balloons, catapulting the demise of greedy rule.
The destructive side of Nature also shows up in a human psychosis that results in a mass killing spree. This storm reeks its havoc through human psyche and human hands. Nothing is impervious to nature’s intent for change.
Indeed, Mr. President, it is “pure evil”. Evil, however, will always take charge when the will of the ego has transgressed the laws of nature and thrown the world into untenable imbalance. Are we ready to question why the uninitiated human hunter is allowed to be armed with an arsenal? If we cannot submit to moderation we must suffer the consequences of excess.
How far will nature’s destructive side need to go? When will it deliver its healing balm? Destruction is leading us to the healing. Love that transcends greed is birthing in the Caribbean. Necessity is so great that only true human compassion can ensure survival.
Nature has launched an all-out offensive to shift human consciousness, to bring it to truly embrace moderation or face further destruction. Until we are solidly fixed in this new attitude as a species we can expect the destructive side of nature to continue to unleash its war on our old attitudes of superiority and unbridled greed, like the inflation I experienced as I voraciously sought to possess all the fish in the ocean!
But nature, as I experienced sitting upon the beach, wants us to learn not to perish. Nature nurtures life and nature heals our wounds. It’s Nature’s Way. May we join nature’s healing intent: drop the greed, embrace compassion and accept moderation. Moderation is indeed nature’s intent for our species now. May we find our way there and be healed.
For today’s blogpost I decided to channel a message. I’m always interested in gaining a new and different perspective and channeling never fails to produce just that. I hope you enjoy what follows and are not afraid to take it to heart, for at its heart is a message of love.
Love is… – Photo by Chuck Ketchel
Here is the channeled message for all of us:
What the world needs now is love but, unfortunately, that is not enough. Even love is not enough to change the world. The world and the people in it have too many other problems, the greatest being ignorance. And so, the first issue at hand is to rid the world and the people of the world of ignorance.
Ignorance is responsible for all the ills of the world, for the sicknesses and the disputes, the wars and the battles that wage across the globe—between countries, between factions within countries, within families, as well as within individuals. Ignorance, topped with arrogance, makes things even worse.
To say one has the answer is arrogance. To say one has found the way is arrogance. To declare that one is the prophet of the world is arrogance and yet there are many who say such things and many who believe them. There are as many answers as there are people, and there are as many paths and as many prophets as there are people because all who exist upon that earth have the answers, the way, and the teachings within. But many do not know this, nor know how to find this “within” I speak of. However, that being said, there are many truly good people who are available to show the way.
There are advanced beings who walk among you, quietly going about their own work while offering what they know in a most humble and docile way. It is up to each one of you to determine who they are and, by your heartfelt knowing, allow yourself to be taught and guided by them. Their methods will be without personal gain and without needing anything in return, as they will live by the laws of nature and in alignment with the principles of loving kindness to all beings.
To understand and find the answers within, to take up the task of taking the journey into the self, gaining in knowledge and awareness, will reveal the truth of what I speak of. Such a journey will be the beginning of the end of ignorance and yet, even so, there will be many of arrogance who will say, “You are not capable; you are not doing it right,” and they will try to persuade you to do it in their way, for there will always be greed. And so, you must know that greed lies beneath arrogance and so arrogance will not abate until greed is no longer an issue.
And how will greed be eradicated? It will never completely disappear, but it can be put into perspective, into the human animal’s genome, as an inevitability of life in the human form. Everyone has to contend with greed and to accept it about the self. That you are a greedy human being cannot be denied. It is the first big lesson in losing your own arrogance and overcoming your own ignorance.
Nature’s helping hand… – Photo by Jan Ketchel
To accept that all of you are the same, with the same processes to undergo and the same issues to address will begin the slow trek to abolishing arrogance and ignorance. Once this process is begun then love, real universal love, will find its way into the world.
As the clearing away of all that holds the world now in its grip begins, love will find the channels it needs to seep into the hearts of all the peoples of the world. And then real changes may begin to take place.
On a practical level, on a personal level, it is really about time to learn how to love yourself. Is this not true? And to do this, you all must contend with the three main issues of all human beings: greed, arrogance, and ignorance.
You will not understand ignorance until you understand arrogance. And you will not understand arrogance until you understand greed. And you will not understand greed until you understand the self as a human animal, a being of greed.
First, you must understand that none of these issues are bad. They are the lessons that all living beings must contend with to evolve into loving beings. All of life must contend with such for balance to be gained and for all of life to flourish, on a human as well as a natural level. But the human being must take the biggest responsibility for the imbalance, for it is the ignorant, arrogant, greedy human being who has caused the issues that now confound the very soil, water, and air of the planet. It is the human greed machine—and you are all a part of it—that has created the situation that now plagues everyone; everything from sickness of people to sickness of Mother Earth, anger and hatred, war and destruction. All have been caused by the imbalances created by the human animal.
Remind the self often that the human animal is but one part of the picture of who you are, part of your wholeness. Each human animal is accompanied through life by an energy body self and a higher spiritual self, existing above it all, above life on earth.
The physical and the spiritual… – Photo by Jan Ketchel
These are the other aspects of self that many do not feel or even desire connection with, for encounters with these other aspects of self are often frightening. When the human self encounters these profoundly loving and knowledgeable higher spiritual selves they may be startled and fearful, as they discover that they are not what they have always thought themselves to be. To discover that you are something else does indeed strike fear in the hearts of many!
Accessing these other aspects of self begins the process of letting go of all that is human, and this is what is also frightening, to have to leave the known world and face the unknown! But this is exactly what everyone will be faced with sooner or later.
If you really want to help solve the worlds’ problems, the deterioration and death of the world as you know it, coming closer every day, why not turn and face your own death first, the death of your physical self that will happen anyway? In so doing, you will discover your life force, that which never dies. What is so frightening about that?
If all beings were to begin this process of facing death by reaching out to their spiritual higher selves, the world would have a chance of once again returning to balance and even possibly becoming an environment that is in the Tao, in alignment with nature, and thus without cause for any disputes. For in nature all is natural, all is accepted, all is appreciated, as every living organism is respected as part of the whole and this, My Dears, is what love is.
Do not only admit that you are a greedy human being, but fully explore it and own it by finding out what it means and only then put it to rest. If you can do this before death puts it to rest for you, you will have begun the greater journey that awaits outside the realm of the physical where you will learn your greatest experiences of love and life.
How can you truly love if you do not love all of who you are? How can you totally love another if you do not even like certain parts of yourself? How can you say you are in alignment with nature if you do not own nature in you? How can you say you know everything if you do not allow nature to be your guide and your teacher, including nature inside you? How can you keep saying you love everyone and everything, if this is not really true?
In the Tao… – Photo by Jan Ketchel
The work of the world is in each one of you. If you are to act on behalf of the world, and all beings, in the context of the life you lead, then let every day be dedicated to learning more about the self on the deepest levels.
As you face all that you are, even your most greedy and entitled self, you will understand the world a little bit better too. And you will no longer be angry at it and at what is happening to it, but you will know that you are beginning to change it, one compassionate self-directed discovery at a time. Only then will your kindness really matter, your compassion be utilized, and your love be enveloping.
You are the work of the world and the work of the world is the work of you. Take up the challenges you face and you will aid all of humanity, even as you remain an active part of life and the world. For to do the work of the self is not to remove oneself from life but to fully embrace it and live it, consciously and with good intentions always in your heart.
If one human being’s energy changes it affects everything else. That is nature. That is love.
Thank you to Jeanne, channeled with love and gratitude for all of us, Jan
I don’t know if there is a more revered coach in that most masculine of sports, football, than 84-year-old Joe Paterno, affectionately nicknamed “Joe Pa.” Once again, the truth of sexual abuse has reared its ugly head and brought down another father—Pater in Latin—of the reigning order.
Simultaneously, Herman Cain, the pride of the Koch brothers and their American Enterprise Institute, finds himself steeped in the mire of sexual harassment charges.
Earlier this year we witnessed IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn, France’s heir apparent, being brought down by charges of sexual abuse.
The old king is dead!
All of these incidents, combined with the major revelations of worldwide sexual abuse within the institution of the Catholic church, are signs of the end of an era. An end of an era is represented by death of the father—he who sets the rules.
In ancient times, the people of a kingdom would kill the king in a failing kingdom, declaring: “The King is dead. Long live the king.” Out with the old, in with the new! This is the time we are in now—The king is dead. Long live the king!
It’s the end of an era that put football, church, business, and the affairs of state over the truth of sexual abuse, rampant in the shadows of abuse of power. It’s the end of an era that has allowed for rampant greed, through the abuse of masculine power, to the detriment of the 99% of the world. It’s the end of an era that denies the animal in the human animal. We must reckon with the fullness of our being, of who and what we are and what we really need. This is the challenge of the new king.
Last week, I blogged about the energetic wave of the new era impacting Greece and Italy. Since then both Prime Ministers are stepping down. Greece is installing a banker. This is an old-world father, an IMF move to settle the markets, to restore the status quo. In Italy, similar moves are being made to force the Italians, like the Greeks, into indentured servitude. It won’t hold: Pater-no! The King is dead. Long live the King!
The 1% is “Pater.” The 99% say “NO!” This does not mean the end of wealth. Wealth is part of nature; wealth has a legitimate place. But it does mean the end of unbridled greed as the dominating Father of world principles. The facts of life simply cannot uphold the legitimacy of that world any longer. The facts, as they are rapidly revealed in our information age, immediately shatter the old world spins on reality.
Unsettling truths revealed.
Worlds are colliding now: worlds of greed, worlds of denial of need, worlds of suppressed truth of sexual abuse. Truths are being revealed; truths too unsettling to uphold the reigning order of suppression and trickle-down survival.
As we move from fall into winter now, from decay into darkness, may we all reconcile with our deepest truths, mirrored so powerfully in the outer world right now.
With the end of Pater-no the seeds of new life are planted deeply in Mother Earth, with new life and a new era surely on the spring horizon. Pater-no!
Early last Saturday morning we acquiesced to the real possibility that the predicted absurdity of a severe Nor’easter in October would actually blanket us. An ambitious plan of preparation ensued: shop at Adam’s when they opened, deal with the already fallen leaves and snow, clean the gutters, prepare the snow machines, the generator, etc.
We finish at Adam’s by 8:15 a.m. As we drive cautiously down the exit lane through the parking lot we stop to allow a car to back out of a space while another impatiently interrupts that process, hurriedly slipping into the space next to it. Suddenly there is a loud shout and a commotion and we are blindsided as an SUV pulling out of a space—obviously oblivious to us—rams into the rear side of our car. To make matters worse, the driver then hits the gas instead of the brake, lifting us off the ground!
Sitting Duck
I was completely caught off guard as my attention was focused in front of me. I had no emotional or energetic reaction other than surprise and curiosity. What just happened and what does it mean?
It was 100% evident that we were sitting ducks. We had done nothing wrong. I have no attachment to feeling victimized—that clearly wasn’t the point—I don’t need that lesson. The message was more about the energy that is now upon us. No degree of careful preparation or defense can forestall the inevitable. We were indeed simply sitting ducks. Just like a Nor’easter in October, with leaves still on the trees, we are all sitting ducks. We are all being cornered now by an energy that cannot and will not be stopped.
I watch this energy reverberate now through many dimensions. Occupy World Street finds its way to Greece this week. In an effort to forestall chaotic revolution, Prime Minister Papandreou calls for a national referendum, a vote by the people on the proposed debt deal for Greece imposed by representatives of the 1%. The IMF and the European Union deal-brokers offer Greece 10 years of indentured servitude in exchange for funds to finance its debt.
Sitting Duck Duck
Sitting duck energy is prepared to hammer that deal differently and the banks and Wall Street are terrified of that. Their reaction to Papandreou’s surprise move: How dare he even think of going to the people of this ancient cradle of democracy and risk destabilizing the world economy?
The bottom line as of this morning: even though Papandreou has agreed to pull the referendum and even step down from his post, even though he caved, there is no holding back the energy of now.
MF Global, the as-of-this-week now bankrupt Wall Street investment firm, saw the writing on the wall, as it had overly invested in the “secure” higher interest of European debt. The reality is: the 1% are in trouble and they know it! The markets are in trouble! World economics that catered to the greed of the 1% is in serious trouble—sitting ducks too.
Greece may drop the euro and leave the European Union. Who might be next? Italy? I see a potential cascade of tumbling nations receding into simple autonomy once again. I see a breakdown of world financial interdependence. Greed has had its day.
On a more personal level, I’ve observed sitting duck energy absolutely corner many people this week with very deep truths and challenges—it’s obvious: there is no escape.
Take counsel from sitting duck energy:
Lesson #1: Suspend judgment, it’s not your fault. It’s not personal, though it will expose the deepest personal truths and challenges.
Lesson #2: There is no escape from sitting duck energy, only acquiescence to processing and reckoning with the truth revealed.
Lesson #3: Realign your life with the truths now revealed by sitting duck energy. That means alignment with the truth that it’s all leading to a new, very much needed balance as new worlds form both personally and globally.
Sitting Duck Duck Duck
And that is the final truth to face: a new world is indeed in order; sitting duck energy is making it possible. It doesn’t matter what final decisions Papandreou or the IMF or the European Union or the banks make, the power is now in the hands of the 99% and it is unstoppable because it is fueled by sitting duck energy. And the final outcome of sitting duck energy will be the same no matter what: CHANGE!
—Chuck
In a dream, I witness a family with young children confronted with frightening events. They play a game where they race to outpace the impending disasters by creating stories that keep them at bay.
We tell ourselves stories, or stories are told to us, to spin reality and make us feel safe. We live in a time of great storytelling delivered through modern machines. Economies are now driven by handheld storytelling devices competing to deliver the latest story the fastest. Who can give us the latest image, joke, and spin in the fewest nanoseconds?
Meanwhile, the post-American Dream reality continues to debunk an illusory world long over. There are no real American corporations. Corporations are moneymaking entities with allegiance only to that which generates profit. America’s manufacturing has long left its shores in search of highest possible profit. America has become a Third World country that industry now seeks to exploit for its final riches—its natural resources. All this under the story of keeping America safe, secure and, of course, working!
When could we have imagined that fracking—a known disastrously carcinogenic procedure to obtain natural gas—is almost certain to be allowed in the midst of New York’s Hudson Valley, the major water supplier to millions of people in New York City. The storytellers are powerfully suggesting that it is the only American thing to do, to shore up our economy and preserve our independence. Such a “safe technology!” We are assured that our drinking water won’t be compromised. How reassuring!
The corporate world has wormed its way into the internet, the final frontier of free speech. Algorithms, ultimately programs designed to cater to our likes, secretly prejudice the information we call for and unleash the modern “hidden persuader” in search of our money. Watch TED talk:
So blinded are we by our own hunger for self-importance that we readily reveal all our likes and dislikes to Facebook, who’s algorithms digest the data and hand it, on a silver platter, to industry. And, we don’t care! As don Juan said: We are happy chickens in a chicken coop! Happily pecking away in our imprisonment, being fed to bursting.
Tweetie Bird, Twitter, has come of age as a scientific storyteller, yesterday revealing the universality of global mood shifts. The big news: people are happiest in the morning and on the weekend. How enlightening. With that news I can now be happy when I awaken and when the work week is complete, knowing that I’m normal, just like everyone else. Do we really need a “scientific study” from this giant storytelling machine to tell us something that we know by simply observing ourselves? Or have we come so far from knowing ourselves that we don’t know what we feel or when we feel it without Twitter’s enlightenment?
We are indeed in a time of great change. The old stories are folding and we anxiously grasp at our storytelling machines for calming new stories like the young family in my dream desperately seeking to stave off impending doom. I think it might be time to turn to an old story that presents a simple technique to find calm without a story.
No CAT-astrophies
There was once a Buddha who sat beneath the bodhi tree. He sat in utter stillness, calmly breathing, as apocalyptic and sensuous, lustful stories passed before him. He knew them all to be illusions and so he grasped at none of them, allowing none to plant seeds in his mind to generate worrisome, anxious or fearful attachment. Instead, he remained with the truth—unspun reality, simply what is—in utter stillness. With this he found his way to enlightening calm.
In a post-storytelling world of fully recapitulated truth we find our way into utter calm. Release the devices, find a nice tree to sit under, go inward and, in stillness, bypass attachment to the storytelling mind and allow yourself to stay present as the truths of the heart flow through you. Allow yourself to breathe the side to side sweeping breath, releasing untruths while consolidating inner truth.
