Here is Jeanne’s message for today, channeled most humbly. May it be helpful and informative.
The seeker’s intent… Photo by Jan Ketchel
Constant reawakening is necessary if one is to take a deepening journey, if one is to make a life that is truly fulfilling, taking in all aspects of self. Constant reawakening is necessary to truly evolve.
How do we do that?
Become more familiar each day with the inner self, with the layers of the true self beyond the outer layers, beyond the person you are or strive to be in the world. Worldly success will only come, in a meaningful way, if one acts from the heart—keeping in mind both the deeper truths of the human condition and the higher potential of all human beings.
Seek within the self to fully grasp and understand the different parts of the self. Pay attention to your true voice, the one that you know is speaking the truth but that you often elect to dismiss and do as you please. This often leads to failure, disaster, or trouble that you would not otherwise encounter. In order to listen and act on the advice and knowledge of the true self, one must be prepared to forego what the ego or needy self desires. It requires maturity and discipline if one is going to tame the human beast and learn how to act and react from a deeply private and truthful place.
It’s okay to be different. It’s okay to study the self in a deep and meaningful way. It’s okay to say, “No, ego-self, not today. Today we need to say no to the pulls of the outer world and just be calm and introspective. Today we need to be okay with what is. It’s okay to be alone today.”
A process of constant monitoring of self, weighing inner and outer needs, and remaining constantly aware of which part of the self is making the decisions in life will lead to constant reawakenings.
Who is making your decisions today? Slow down, take a minute to listen and find out, then decide if it’s the right voice, for the right reason. Act more frequently from your heart, for yourself and your world. That is how to constantly reawaken.
When anger is present it supersedes all else… Photo by Jan Ketchel
Anger is an emotion rooted in our deeply instinctive selves. Anger has protected our survival through eons of evolutionary growth and rests at the foundation of our human form. Our ability to restrain and supplant the automatic defense of anger, with reason, is the hallmark accomplishment of civilization: a civilized mind.
We know the deleterious effects of anger and its variants—jealousy, greed, negativity, resentment—upon the endocrine glands, respiration, digestion, and the central nervous system. We know the psychic effects of sustained anger and negativity in depression, dissociation, and bipolar disorders.
We especially know the horrific evil unleashed upon innocence when the rational mind teams up with anger to manipulate, groom, and abuse. This potential malevolent partnership inside human beings is capable of perpetrating atrocities unheard of in the purely instinctive animal kingdom.
We cannot eradicate anger anymore than we can eradicate evil. However, if we are to change ourselves and our world, a focus on positive attitudes can shift the color of mood that our deep unconscious pumps through us. The result of positive thought is that we physically experience calmer energy inside us and we are actively calmer outwardly as well.
The unconscious is not a thinking mind; it is a reactive mind. Our thinking mind can decide on an attitude and we can focus that attitude on the body. When I say “calm” and focus on a muscle it relaxes. If I didn’t focus on it, the muscle would not automatically relax. The same goes for the unconscious.
Enough cannot be said about the power of positive thinking. However, to arrive at truly effective positive thinking we must be a united self, providing our instinctive self with a clear, cohesive set of instructions in the form of soothing neuro-transmitted commands.
Taking what I need… – Photo by Jan Ketchel
The truth is, we are fragmented beings frequently working in opposition to a single intent. Our young child self might say, “I need.” The self burned for needing might say, “No, you will get hurt if you need.” The adolescent self might cry out in disgust, “Here’s what’s gonna be: we don’t need anyone, we’ll just take what we want.” Or the defiant teenage self might say, “We don’t need.” The adult might say, “I’m just going to be what they want me to be, this way I’ll get what I need.”
It should be evident that this multiplicity of self can generate an insanity within, as Jeanne pointed out in Monday’s message. This crossfire of attitudes from different parts of the self instructs the unconscious to release different protective angry emotions, directed inwardly and outwardly.
Drawing attention inwardly in recapitulation we identify the satellite selves of the self, appreciate their varying needs, and bring them into the fold of a unified self. Through the recollection of dispersed energy we become a “unified whole,” as the Shamans of Ancient Mexico see it.
Unified wholeness and calmness will come… – Photo by Jan Ketchel
In the process of becoming a unified whole, we must encounter all the selves within and we must accept, express, and release all the emotional energy of our past selves, be it anger or otherwise. This is loving acceptance and total integration of all that we are, all that we have been. With acceptance comes release of the anger once needed to protect, deny, keep separate, and avoid all that was not ready to be known and lived. With acceptance, love supersedes anger, and life moves forward in an ever-deepening quest for wholeness.
With this unity of self, under the auspices of spirit, or the higher self, a clear cohesive message is delivered to the unconscious that rejuvenates the body and mind to give and receive love. This tripartite unity of self—instinctive body self, reasoning mind, and spirit—is then freed to evolve and manifest in healthy proportion resulting in mastery within, advancement without.
Here is this week’s channeled message from Jeanne. May it guide and aid you over the next few days.
Attend to your personal chaos first… – Photo by Jan Ketchel
I continue to stress how important the inner work is. If you do not know yourself how can you know any other being or creature upon that earth? How can you criticize, judge, and teach if you have not gone deeper into the self where all the answers lie.
Pay attention to what comes to guide you. Outside of the self will arrive many teachings, ideas, concepts and proclamations. Many significant signs will be presented to guide you, but it is only in knowing the deeper self that you will be able to grasp and utilize what your outer world uses to guide you.
Even your inner world will provide you with tools by which growth may be cultivated and expanded, and awareness achieved, but if you have not attended to the inner self such things will have no meaning. In fact, fear may arise and your inner process be cut short by your judging mind, always ready to have some fun with you!
It is time now for all humanity to detach from the insanity of life on the outside and attend to the insanity on the inside. Only in resolving your internal issues and fears, and by addressing the purpose of your true life, will you find balance, compassion, and love.
Life is a journey of significance for each one of you. Look for that significance inwardly, even as you live your lives in a world of chaos. The chaos in the world will not cease until your personal inner chaos is attended to. You know what that process is. We have discussed it for years: Do the inner work, take the inner journey, ask for guidance in how to undertake it, and then see what happens. The answers will come both from without and from within!
Thank you, Jeanne and all of our guides! Most humbly channeled.
“You must go deeper still.” Those were oft-repeated and frightening words spoken by Chuck as I went through my three-year long recapitulation. Each time he said them I shuttered. I knew what it would entail to go deeper still.
As Chuck writes about in his blog earlier this week, taking the journey within means going into the inferno within, similar to the Inferno of Dante’s Divine Comedy. And just as Dante’s pilgrim had a guide, I recommend that the deeper journey within be taken with a seasoned guide as well. That being said, the journey can only be taken, fully experienced and its gold excavated, by you—the brave pilgrim.
A note of warning is in order. This may not be the lifetime to take this journey, and that’s okay, but if you dare to venture deeper within, to take the journey through the fires of the inner self: Be careful! It is a dark and treacherous journey. You must have a mature adult self firmly established as your main stabilizing partner, even as your child self often leads the way.
If you decide that it’s time to take such a journey, you will encounter all that you fear, but you will also encounter all that you need. You will receive the most profound of insights even as you walk through the fires and encounter the demons that reside deeper within. You will be granted those “calm and illuminating moments” that Chuck mentions in his blog, glimpses of greater insight and brighter life to come, even as you struggle for footing along your treacherous path. The journey within is the most profound of journeys. When you are ready to take it, in this life or another, know that you will be able to face what lies deeper within.
I am now in the last month of editing my next book, On the Edge of the Abyss, the second year of my recapitulation journey. As Chuck was writing his blog earlier this week I was in the midst of editing some passages from my book that struck me as quite apropos, examples of what it’s like to take that journey, to encounter the deeper darkness within, as well as the light at the end of the tunnel. Here are a few excerpts.
On June 1, 2003, when I was deep within, I wrote the following: When night finally comes I fall exhausted into bed and right into a dream. I’m in a new house where everything is empty, clean, and very white. The house is unfurnished and I know I’ll only be here for a little while. I’ve driven down narrow, crowded streets to get here. Children ran up to me as I drove, their faces alive with excitement, but as soon as they caught sight of my face they stopped just short of stepping off the curb. Their exuberance quelled into silence, as they somberly watched me drive past. I’m inside the house for a short while when I realize that someone else is here. I see that a sliding glass door has been left open and someone has tracked snow onto the carpet, the big footprints of a man. When I look out the door I see footprints in the snow outside as well, circling the house. Suddenly fearful, I’m certain that someone else is in the house with me and I no longer feel safe. I search all over for the man I am certain is hiding somewhere in the house. I can’t find him, but I also see that there’s really no place for him to hide. The house is empty; there are no possessions and no furniture to hide behind. I’m also aware that this is only a temporary place of fear, intense and real though it appears.
Jolted awake by this dream, I see by the clock that I’ve only slept a few minutes, but I know immediately what this dream symbolizes. As long I insist on keeping in what my psyche is pushing me to release then, yes, I must suffer. The children in the dream seem to be eagerly awaiting me—my inner children waiting all day for me to turn to them—for they rush up expectantly, calling out, “Here she comes! Here she comes!” They are stunned that I won’t receive them. They are perhaps expecting me to be different in dreamland, but I coldly drive by. Their enthusiasm dies as soon as they see me. They stand silently, with serious faces, and watch me drive past, my dour expression revealing that I’m not ready yet, that I’m on a different mission, still entangled in the trappings of fear. But it’s as if I’ve conjured up the fears, for although I see the footsteps of a man, there is really no man in the house, and thus nothing to really fear. I understand that if I fail to release my old fears, they will continue to haunt me. My dream makes it pretty clear that this is temporary housing, a transitional stage. And I get it—choosing to conjure up fear is of my own doing!
A few days later, on June 3rd, I wrote the following as I was challenged with going deeper still: I am mostly in the grips of fear at the moment, the fear of letting go, and the vast nothingness that I anticipate awaits the moment of letting go. I envision that letting go and leaping off the edge of the precipice, into the darkness of the abyss, means encountering an even deeper underworld filled with more fear, with more shame and more guilt. And I envision having to encounter all that once led to that pile of shame and guilt to begin with. Disgust lies down there at the bottom of the abyss too, disgust that I have needs and desires.
Even in the darkness there are glimpses of the Buddha in all of us… – Photo by Jan Ketchel
A few days later, on June 6th I confronted some inner truths, what Chuck wrote about: being human and a deeper understanding of just what that means, one of those calm and illuminating moments that show up in the midst of deep work to encourage us to keep going. Here is what I wrote in my journal on that day:
The yoga studio I’ve been attending for several years now will be closing at the end of the month. I’m sad that one of my safe places will be gone. In the meantime, I’ll practice on my own, as I’ve done for most of my life, though I’ll miss the regular practice that I’ve anchored so deeply in and my fine teacher. I have to take care of myself and learn to give to myself, not only learn how to do it, but learn that it’s allowed. Giving and wanting love are so basic. I’m also slowly learning that I’m allowed to have feelings, that they are human qualities and needs. I must accept that I’m human, though my experiences of being human have been far from delightful. That’s why it’s so important to keep going deeply into the devastation inside and acknowledge it, not only accept the truth of it, but really allow myself to understand that I have indeed been devastated by it, by the lack of affection in my upbringing and by the sexual abuse, and every other abusive situation I’ve landed in. The choices I’d made in order to survive as a child, and all the choices since, have gotten me to the point I’m at today, and excavating and understanding the dynamic behind them is the solution to changing how I react and live my continuing journey.
Though I understand now that I was desperately needy as a child, I mostly recall the bubble of numbness where most of my childhood was spent, my needs dulled and untapped. I realize that I needed love and affection then and I need it now; and although those needs were rarely acknowledged, I’m learning that in order to become a full-fledged human being I must wake them up. I must learn to give to myself, but I also need to learn to accept from others. I deserve, just as every human being deserves, the experiences of being human. We all deserve access to our highest potential. I deserve the praise, the thanks, and the well-meaning gestures of recognition, so that I may fully access the meaning of my own life. I must accept that it’s okay to be happy with my accomplishments, and that it’s okay to FEEL. All of these things are part of making me real.
My second book ends as I go deeper still and tussle with the demon energies of fear, and the demon voices of negativity and control that had dominated me my whole life. It ends on a glorious note, but I had to go even deeper still. The journey would not be over for another year. There were many more moments of pain and fear to be encountered and there were, increasingly, moments of illuminating insight as well. I gained balance as the two—fear and illumination—accompanied me deeper still. I gained a greater understanding of my abusive childhood, what it meant to me as a human being and a spiritual being. I understood why I had to take the deeper journey within. I began to see the greater meaning of all life, understanding that I would have to take the same painful journey repeatedly unless I was willing to put a stop to the endless cycles of living and dying. Like Dante’s pilgrim I had to pass through my own nine circles of hell and see my life for what it really is—realized without ego and without shame, for they were burned in the fires too—a journey of the utmost importance.
We too will transform and rise one day… – Photo by Jan Ketchel
I believe that at some point we are all ready to take the deeper journey within, into our darkness, and that we will be ready then to encounter all that lies waiting for us there. It will be frightening, and we will have to “abandon all hope” as Dante writes, in order to truly be open to what will eventually bring us new life. Only in burning off all that I once thought was meaningful and important was I able to discover what was truly meaningful and important: accepting that my human self is taking a most meaningful journey through life itself, within and without.
I emerged after my three-year long journey, like Dante’s pilgrim, to be greeted by a star-studded sky, released from all that had once pained and frightened me. Cleansed by the fires of my own inferno, I rose like the phoenix from the ashes a new human being, my spirit reignited. I had been reborn into this human life.
Here is Jeanne’s weekly message, channeled most humbly by Jan.
The time of sunrise brings new light and an opportunity to go within, into the network of the inner self… – Photo by Jan Ketchel
Having made the decision to change, you must hold yourself to the promise of new life. This requires attention, discipline, and commitment to a new path. In order to achieve your goals you must constantly pull yourself back to the bigger picture. Why am I here? Find that answer within. Within is all you need. There is no greater or more meaningful question or answer. All is within. And this you will only discover the truth of as you go within, turning always inward, even as you move forward into new life. The answers to all you seek lie within. I cannot stress this enough. Let that be enough. In allowing Within to be your guide, you will succeed in all your endeavors. Seek first within, seek connection to your higher self within. Then all else will naturally fall into place, and all else that you seek will be discovered, revealed, and supported as well. There is nothing as provocative and magical as what awaits within.
