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Jan's Blog

A Day in a Life: Recapitulation & Infinity

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Over the past few weeks I have written about recapitulation as both a shamanic journey and as undertaking the inner journey, doing deep psychological work. Today, I touch on the other experiences that arise as one undertakes recapitulation and deep inner work, the experiences of infinity: of spirit, of channeling, of visions, of seeing and experiencing energy. Infinity presented as a shamanic or spiritual term, really boils down to experiencing the self as energy, interconnected to all other energy, having experiences that cannot be defined in rational terms.

Carlos Castaneda writes, in The Active Side of Infinity, that he did not have explanations for the effects his recapitulation was having on him, that when facing the unknown and being confronted with things he did not have interpretations for he could not find a means of describing them. Don Juan presented him with a new source of interpretation by telling him that “infinity, or the voice of the spirit,” would come to his aid. He writes:

“Don Juan has guided me to accept the idea that infinity was a force that had a voice and was conscious of itself. Consequently, he had prepared me to be ready to listen to that voice and act efficiently always, but without antecedents, using as little as possible of the railings of the a priori. I waited impatiently for the voice of the spirit to tell me the meaning of my recollections, but nothing happened.” (p. 169)

As he goes on to recapitulate more memories of how he had behaved towards others in his life he finally arrives at the following: “I didn’t have to ponder anymore the significance of my vivid visions. For an unquestionable certainty invaded me, as if coming from outside me.” (p. 172) He goes on to explain how he discovered that the dictums he had been brought up with had overtaken him, what he had been taught driving his every action; so deeply ingrained they became necessities. This realization is his turning point. He goes on to say:

“I was aware, beyond any doubt, that what was at stake was infinity. Don Juan had portrayed it as a conscious force that deliberately intervenes in the lives of sorcerers. And now it was intervening in mine. I knew that infinity was pointing out to me, through the vivid recollections of those forgotten experiences, the intensity and depth of my drive for control, and thus preparing me for something transcendental to myself. I knew with frightening certainty that something was going to bar any possibility of my being in control, and that I needed, more than anything else, sobriety, fluidity, and abandon in order to face the things that I felt were coming to me.” (p. 172)

Don Juan admonishes Carlos to not get caught in “psychological exaggeration,” but to accept that he had entered an irreversible process. “Your true mind is emerging, waking up from a state of lifelong lethargy,” he says. Carlos writes:

“Infinity is claiming you,” he [don Juan] continued. “Whatever means it uses to point that out to you cannot have any other reason, any other cause, any other value than that. What you should do, however, is to be prepared for the onslaughts of infinity. You must be in a state of continuously bracing yourself for a blow of tremendous magnitude. That is the sane, sober way in which sorcerers face infinity.” (pp. 172-3)

Carlos proceeded to do what most of us do when faced with the “onslaughts of infinity,” he got busy, immersing himself in work, in writing, in anything to keep infinity at bay. During my own recapitulation I too used all my energy to keep infinity from invading and seeping into my life, until finally, out of sheer exhaustion, I realized it was hopeless. There was nothing I could do to keep it away, including my connection with Jeanne, which both greatly aided me and frightened me at the same time. My own experiences mirror what don Juan described to Carlos in the following excerpt, as he talked about the results of going into inner silence:

“He assured me that a dot of a peculiar, rich, pomegranate red shows up, as if bursting from the lavender clouds. He stated that as sorcerers become more disciplined and experienced, the dot of pomegranate expands and finally explodes into thoughts or visions, or in the case of a literate man, into written words; sorcerers either see visions engendered by energy, hear thoughts being voiced as words, or read written words.” (p. 174)

Carlos went on to have an experience of words moving at tremendous speed, impossible to read. After his experience he rushed to tell don Juan about what had happened to him, as I once rushed to Chuck, needing anchoring in this reality. Don Juan assured him that he had had his first encounter with infinity and although its descent was not gentle, it was nonetheless how it appeared and that Carlos was going to have to learn how to adjust to its onslaughts. In my own case, I too had to learn how my connection with Jeanne was meant to be utilized, what it really meant for me personally, but also what I was supposed to be doing with it: what I was being shown and why by infinity.

Carl Jung also experienced the “onslaughts of infinity,” and many of his psychological terms and tools come from these personal experiences. The Red Book is his personal journey into the unconscious, into what don Juan called inner silence, the place where we are offered access to that which lies beyond the rational world, which has so structured and defined our perceptions.

In The Red Book, on pages 230-231, Jung contrasted “the spirit of the time” with “the spirit of the depths” as two opposing forces that must be reconciled with, the outer rational world with the inner unknown world. When he asked “the spirit of the depths” to give him a sign that it was right to no longer resist its call, he received a two hour long vision that happened in broad daylight. This was the beginning of his journey back to his soul, for he could not resist this “onslaught of infinity.”

In daring to take the inner journey, whether it be called recapitulation or inner work, reliving memories or doing active imagination, both Carlos and Carl entered other worlds, as real as this one. Despite initial fear and resistance, in finally acquiescing to the “onslaughts of infinity,” they both perceived and experienced energy differently. Their lives changed when they chose to take the journey with infinity leading the way, as both resource and guide.

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

Sending you all love and good wishes,
Jan

NOTE: The books mentioned in this blog are available for purchase through our Store.

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.

Messages from Jeanne

#708 You Are In The Changing Time

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Jan Ketchel channeling Jeanne Marie Ketchel

Dear Jeanne,
I am sitting on the deck in the early morning. I hear a bob white calling as I give you voice. What do you deem to be the most necessary message for all of us today?

My Dear Ones, do you not hear the call of your spirit, of your yearning for other life, for rich inner life, cultivated so that your true purpose may become clearer? The following guidelines must now become your focus:

1. Remain attached to your inner life and the call of your spirit, even through the turmoil of your outer life.

2. Push beyond the stagnancy that drapes itself over you and attempts constantly to pull you down into its shadowy depths.

3. Seek new air, light, and food for your soul. Nurture yourself differently, My Dears.

4. Use your superior intellect to determine a new path. Elect, with determination—choosing to go into the realm of spirit self—to release the self of the past in order to move on and grow. By this I mean, most certainly, that it is time to help the self by becoming fully responsible for all thoughts, actions, deeds, decisions, and every step you take.

5. Allow for your failures, your missteps and mistakes, and your unconscious decisions, to be acceptable and recognizable as measures of teaching and growth.

6. Do not fall prey to your old demons, but ask them to explain themselves to you in clear language, but beware: they will attempt to tell you one thing but mean another. The demons look at you through mirrors and when looking into a mirror all things are reversed, including meaning. You think, for example, that you see another looking back at you, even a familiar self, but look again. It is a stranger. It is a self you have not fully accepted yet, for it is but the reflection of a deeper self.

7. Do deep inner work as you go through this time of grand change. As I have said before: you are in the changing time now. There is no more waiting or pending of events. If you are alive upon that earth at this moment you are being shown exactly what you must do to change, to evolve, and to have a rich spiritual life.

8. Remember to keep this mantra uppermost in your thoughts as you go about your days: All things are possible; everything is possible! That must be what leads you into new life, the truth of that statement.

9. Your choice must also be whether to go into the darkness or into the light, for both exist, and life exists in both realms. All things are possible; everything is possible! What you can see and what you cannot see, all of these things, imaginable and unimaginable, are possible.

10. Do not lose sight of the possibilities of the self to change. At all times now, must you push the self to change. That is how you and your world with evolve.

Jan's Blog

A Day in a Life: Recapitulation & The Shadow

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In The Active Side of Infinity Carlos Castaneda writes about the time when don Juan first introduced him to the concept of recapitulation. Don Juan describes recapitulation, on pages 142-143, thus:

“The old sorcerers used to call it recounting the events in your life, and for them, it started as a simple technique, a device to aid them in remembering what they were doing and saying to their disciples. For their disciples, the technique had the same value: It allowed them to remember what their teachers had said and done to them. It took terrible social upheavals, like being conquered and vanquished several times, before the old sorcerers realized that their technique had far-reaching effects.”

He goes on to say that, as time passed and events took place in the history of ancient Mexico and the old sorcerers disappeared, a new crop of sorcerers, disciples of the old, came along and renamed the old technique recapitulation. The essence and main point of recapitulation shifted to a process for making space within.

Don Juan explained to a bewildered Carlos that in order for him to teach him everything he knew he had to first make space within Carlos:

“The challenge I am faced with,” he says to Carlos, “is that in a very compact unit of time I must cram into you everything there is to know about sorcery as an abstract proposition, but in order to do that I have to build the necessary space within you.” He goes on to say: “The premise of sorcerers is that in order to bring something in, there must be a space to put it in. If you are filled to the brim with the items of everyday life, there’s no space for anything new. That space must be built. Do you see what I mean? The sorcerers of olden times believed that the recapitulation of your life made that space. It does, and much more, of course.”

What don Juan was proposing to Carlos, in actuality, was that he must go into his shadow, into the dark side of his unconscious, the same shadow side of ourselves that Carl Jung suggests we must all deal with in order to become whole. Don Juan went on to explain the technique of recapitulation to Carlos as a process of making lists of all the people he had ever encountered and then recollecting every encounter he had ever had with each person on his list. He suggested that he accompany each memory with a breathing practice of slowly fanning the head from side to side while slowly and naturally inhaling and exhaling.

As Carlos dutifully began the process of making his lists and recollecting the events of his life he discovered that the process took on a life of its own. He writes, on page 144 in The Active Side of Infinity:

“Ordinarily, my recapitulation took me every which way. I let the events decide the direction of my recollection. What I did, which was volitional, was to adhere to a general unit of time. For instance, I had begun with the people in the anthropology department, but I let my recollection pull me to anywhere in time, from the present to the day I started attending school at UCLA.”

When I read this I was struck by how accurately it explained my own process. My own unconscious led me on my recapitulation journey and often my biggest challenge became acquiescence to where it suggested I must go. Sometimes, like Carlos, I went whining and complaining. As he says on page 141 in The Active Side of Infinity:

“There was some part of me that resented immensely being bothered. I wanted to sleep for days and not think about don Juan’s sorcery concepts anymore. Thoroughly against my will, I got up and followed him.” As don Juan says on page 146 in the same book: “The power of recapitulation is that it stirs up all the garbage of our lives and brings it to the surface.”

Sometimes I just did not want to sift through any more garbage and I would turn away, tell Chuck I was done, and attempt to walk away. I too just wanted to sleep for days, but my unconscious, that most helpful partner, always found a way to drag me back to awareness of the process, its meaningfulness becoming more apparent each day. As I had experiences within the context of recapitulation in cahoots with my shadow, and the process took on a life of its own, I began to quite readily take the journey I was being shown was my true journey in this life, because as don Juan suggested, it does more than just make space within.

When I began my recapitulation I didn’t even know that such a thing existed. I hadn’t read any of Castaneda’s books after the first three when I was in my twenties and I wasn’t at all versed in the language or concepts of the sorcerers of ancient Mexico when I began working with Chuck. I was only slightly familiar with the work of Carl Jung at the time as well, though I had also read some of his works when I was in my early twenties. However, with awareness that I had perhaps planted the seeds of this convergence of the sorcerers world and the psychological during my twenties, I understood that my unconscious and a whole series of synchronistic events were leading me to the moment when I could no longer avoid my shadow, the dark side of myself that I had been running from for most of my life. As the process of this confrontation with my shadow unfolded, under Chuck’s guidance, the idea of recapitulation began to emerge.

Now, many years after I did the bulk of that work of encountering my shadow through the process of recapitulation, I am taking the time to read the later works of Castaneda. My own experiences are being further clarified in terms of a shamanic journey as I read of his encounters with don Juan and his line of sorcerers, and the apprentices of his own generation. More often than not, the shamanic terms, as presented by don Juan, mirror the psychological terms, as presented by Jung.

These two concepts, the recapitulation and the shadow of the unconscious work hand-in-hand. Using the technique of recapitulation, in whatever way it unfolds as guided by the unconscious, together with daring to look into the shadows of the self, the concept of emptying in order to be filled with new energy becomes clearer. It does indeed work as a means to achieving wholeness, and much more.

I do not mean to imply that the shadow ever rests or that recapitulation is ever done, because if we are going to constantly grow and evolve they must remain active participants in our lives. Personally, I have found these to be two most interesting and inviting companions as I continue my journey.

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

Sending you all love and good wishes,
Jan

NOTE: The Active Side of Infinity is available for purchase through our Store in the Shamanism category.

Messages from Jeanne

#706 Find Common Ground

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Jan Ketchel channeling Jeanne Marie Ketchel

Dear Jeanne,
I must say, I have lately been feeling that we must be in a time of powerful transition, or at least that’s what it feels like. The energy feels really good and flowing, but at the same time it offers much change, and change always brings its own challenges. In light of that, what message of guidance do you offer us today?

Change in itself is not the issue, for change happens constantly. What is the issue during times of transition—as you intuit this current phase to be, and correctly I might add—is whether or not the choice to flow with the energy will be allowed.

This is a time now of energetic shift, but it is up to each individual to grab onto the energy being offered and use it to personal advantage, irrespective of the needs of others. I do not mean to imply that one skirt duties or neglect that which must be attended to in every day life as concerns others, but I do suggest that each one of you has a personal agenda in life and it is important to pay attention to that personal journey.

During times of transition, opportunities to stay the course, to shift and gain momentum will be offered. Many choices will be offered. Awareness teaches that to be offered an opportunity is not rare, but to notice each opportunity may be quite challenging, as often opportunities come clothed in disguises.

You must each look at your self to determine how your personal opportunities for change are being presented. Often they are not as clearly stated or structured as one would like, but instead must be realized through the process of inner work. And that is today’s message of guidance, My Dear Ones: stay innerly focused on your personal energy no matter what calls from without. This is a time to stay innerly centered and calm, to indeed feel the energy of transition, but in order not to waste it one must take it inside and work it within the realm of personal energy, personal goals, and personal needs.

I have made many suggestions over the past few years regarding inner work. It is not too hard to begin the process again if some time has lapsed. Each time that you go outside of the self, departing from the inner self, the compunction of the inner self grows stronger, so that when you return you will be greeted like a long lost friend, made welcome again, and be invited to stay longer. This inner determination grows at each return. It is your anchoring place and once found it will be difficult to totally reject its call.

Quiet moments alone are a most necessary aspect of growth. I suggest that you accept this most important fact and allow your inner voice to meet you on common ground, where your ego self feels safe and relaxed and your inner self may be more clearly heard. Find time for such inner work and you will realize not only your challenges but also your inner goals, the spiritual ones.

I spoke earlier of disguises and by this I mean that your challenges may come in one form but actually mean quite the opposite. You may get invited to participate in life outside of you, but the real challenge may be to turn from it and say, no, I must remain alone and quiet today. I must become more familiar with my inner self and allow my ego self to go dormant for a while. I must also take off my ego disguise in order to meet my inner true self. I must allow my outer disguise to be left in the closet as I allow my innocence, my vulnerability, and my calmness to accompany me through this energetic time.

This is a very personally centered energy time and if you are ready to be personally focused and accountable, truthfully open and honest with the self, you may grow exponentially over the next few weeks. But, as I always say, it’s up to you! Are you ready to confront the truths of the self? If you are, have a most interesting journey. And if you aren’t, have a most interesting journey too! Either way, your experiences in life will give you what you need to grow.

Be sure to ask the self questions as you have your experiences. Find out what they mean to you personally. “Why am I having this experience at this moment?” you might ask. “What have I been thinking about, caught by or needing? Why did I receive this answer to my question? What is the real message? Where does this lead me? What is my challenge today?” These are all good questions to ask as you encounter what you must.

Good luck as you take your journeys, My Dears. And remember that is what you are supposed to be doing: taking a journey, growing, and evolving.

NOTE: As I was channeling this message at 7 a.m., and as I finish typing it up now, the air outside my windows is full of the happy sounds of baby robins. It almost appears as if a big transition is taking place in nature; all of the nesting birds seem to be leaving their nests simultaneously. I look at this synchronicity in light of the other feelings I have lately been experiencing regarding the energy and as regards Jeanne’s message today. Looking out onto the deck I saw what appeared to be a large flock of baby robins, chirping loudly, some of them being fought off by the bluebirds nesting in a box in a nearby tree. The bluebirds, not quite at the point of transition, still have a lot of work to do inside the nest, inner work to prepare for their day of transition. The robins are loud and cheery, extroverted and eager for their journeys in the world, singing the joys of transition. Both energies are equally vital and alive, equally necessary, when the time is right.-Jan

Feel free to share experiences or comment in the Post Comment section below.