Tag Archives: inner work

Chuck’s Place: Completing The Swim Across The Great River

Up from the depths come pearls of wisdom…
-Hudson River Brick wrapping by Maggie R.

In a dream, I am swimming across the Hudson River, beneath the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge. As I swim along, I reach up and gather thousands of fishing lines, thin filaments that originate from the top of the bridge and hang down to the water. No one is now fishing from above, these are the remnants of past efforts.

When I gather, in one hand, enough entwined lines to form a thick rope, I use it to propel me forward. Then I let go of it and begin gathering new lines. I awaken before reaching the Kingston shore.

Crossing the river is a powerful archetypal symbol of significant Completion, be it with a stage of life, a relationship, a passionate obsession or a dominant attitude. To truly complete, we must be ready to let go of the solid ground we have habitually walked upon, as we venture forward into the unknown of murky waters, replete with powerful tides and undercurrents of emotional uncertainty, before arriving at a new solid ground of knowing. Such is the perennial opus of human life.

Incidentally, the currents of the Hudson River are so powerful that they have claimed the lives of many a seasoned and professional swimmer. I associate those potentially fatal undercurrents with the state of the  global energy of our time. We are dealing with volatile, unpredictable currents of energy that can exhaust one’s intent to stay afloat, or simply move forward.

The dream offers a technology to successfully traverse such chaotic times. The suggestion is to grasp and appreciatively weave together the thousands of attempts to spiritually advance. This processing and act of love can now provide the strength for a major advance.

One powerful association, for me personally, with fishing, is the act of remembering and interacting with dreams, messengers from the depths of the unconscious, or infinity, who nourish and share their pearls of wisdom, as they deliver needed guidance to the conscious mind.

As all who fish are well aware, patience and effort are required to successfully reel in the fish that is quite energetically capable of slipping back into the river. In practical terms, this means setting the intent to lucidly remember the dream and then record it immediately upon awakening, before the familiar thought of, “Oh, how could I forget this?” lulls us back into oblivion and lost dreams.

There is no actual waking-life fishing permitted on this bridge of my dream. The fishing lines presented are symbolic of countless attempts  to align the efforts of waking life with the spiritual guidance from the depths. These are the many cycles of groundhog days we have endured to inch our way beyond our default habitual patterns.

In Buddhist tradition, this completion is emergence from a path of Avidya, which means ignorance, unwisdom or delusion. By suspending judgment we can see Avidya as a necessary stage of learning, whose cycles accrue to a broader awakening to the true nature of reality. We see the deeper picture and no longer need the support of older scaffolds of attachment. We can let go with love and compassion. The many strands of this journey, when fully entwined and grasped, thrust us forward into new life.

Completion requires us to not turn back. To move forward may require some sacrifice, but energetically we have fully explored and exhausted our attachment to our prior way of being. To look back at this point is to lose our fluidity and turn to stone. We no longer need to go there; it is done.

The many fishing lines also represent the efforts of our ancestors, whose knowledge is there to be grasped and consciously integrated. This is a major feature in the technology of advance in the water. By grasping and intertwining so many threads the strength is gained to propel forward. There is also the suggestion to stay collectively united with resonant beings who strengthen our resolve.

Inwardly, our greatest resource lies in the Divine Intelligence accessed in our subconscious minds. The subconscious is the storehouse of all memory and experience, the many fish brought up from the sea of human history.

As I write this blog, my subconscious immediately responds to my conscious mind’s deliberations with associations to vaster knowledge, both personal and collective. This interactive relationship between conscious thought and subconscious associative memory, personal or collective, is a constant creative interaction within and between our minds and bodies.

My subconscious brings to the surface several memories of frightful encounters with the undercurrents of the mighty Hudson River. I’m reminded of the I Ching, hexagram #63, After Completion, depicting the river being successfully crossed. Psychological references to the island in the ocean as ego, in its relation to the greater collective unconscious of humankind, flood my mind.

Aside from the powerful ability of the subconscious mind to miraculously manifest desired change, is this automatic ability to constantly interact with the conscious mind by presenting a treasure trove of timeless knowledge, accrued through evolutionary history.

Of course, it remains for the conscious mind to weave or process these associations in such a way that they provide the solution to the dilemmas and questions we face.

We can quite directly ask the subconscious a question before sleep that will spin its strands of knowledge into the dream we are invited to participate in.

And finally, we can retrieve those dreams, as I have done here, and deepen our ability to successfully navigate our lives, and the troubled waters of our time.

Entwining,
Chuck 

Chuck’s Place: From Ruin To Love

Ruin—Thoth Tarot Deck

The Tarot delivered me the 10 of Swords, Ruin, to represent the state of things leading into today, and the 2 of Cups, Love, as the energy of today. How does ruin turn into love?

The culprit of ruin is an undisciplined, warring force seeking complete disruption and failure, a marplot who loves to overthrow the happiness of others by ruining all intellect and moral qualities. This energy is amply being reflected on the outer world plane at this time. Joyce Sequichie Hifler, in A Cherokee Feast Of Days Volume III (p.66), states:

“When someone is angry or hurt or spoiled, they tend to want everyone to pay for it. Don’t… Go on with your life, but be alert. Know in your heart and in your spirit that you cannot be put down. Hold tight to your common sense and know you are spiritually protected always.”

Then of course we must face the inner truth of this outer mirror, reflected so powerfully to us at this time. Who is this inner encroacher, this meddler disrupting our inner true peace? Responsibility, ultimately, resides with the conscious mind, whose thoughts and beliefs are the major source of suggestions to the subconscious mind.

Of course, we receive countless hetero-suggestions each day, meaning the conscious and unconscious taking in of suggestions from outside influences. Nonetheless, responsibility for raising these suggestions to conscious scrutiny rests with the conscious mind. 

The royal couple who govern our inner and outer selves represent the conscious and subconscious minds. The true divine abilities of this couple has been known for centuries. In the 16th century, Paracelsus stated, “Whether the object of your faith be real or false, you will nevertheless obtain the same effects.”  

This translates today as, “you manifest what you believe.” The subconscious mind will generate your mood, state of health, and your position in life based upon the thoughts and beliefs of your conscious mind. This is at the heart of the paradigm shift awakening within us.

We possess the ultimate power over our lives. And that power initiates from what we think, believe, and intend. Even Victor Frankl, while incarcerated in Auschwitz, could sustain his life based upon his attitude and imagination, both strong sources of suggestion to the subconscious mind. The times we are living in ask us to wisely exercise this truth.

Whether we are aware of it or not, our conscious minds are in a very intimate relationship with our subconscious minds, determining the course of our earthly existence. In truth, we exist in constant trance, manifesting our innermost thoughts. When we practice responsible autosuggestion, we are bringing conscious intent to the construction of our lives.

Love—Thoth Tarot Deck

We arrive at responsible autosuggestion at the heart center, where we learn the truth from the High Self. Modesty is the requirement of the ego in this communication. If the ego can surrender its narcissism, its willfulness, and its bad temper it will be granted the necessary clarity to know what to intend.

This acquiescence to the truth is the ego’s expression of love to its subconscious, as it delivers suggestions to grow and advance the overall needs of the Self. This royal union of selfless truth, with its creative manifestation in physical form, is how that which was once ruinous becomes love.

Becoming love,
Chuck

Heart Speak Channeling: True Peace

-Artwork © 2025 Jan Ketchel

Let your heart be still as you allow truth to speak through you. All beings are capable of reaching inside and opening to words of wisdom, knowledge and truth.

Nothing is happenstance or accidental. The times you live in are indeed indicative of great change, that which has long been foretold. The period of waiting is over, for you are in the midst of the changing times you have long anticipated.

Get in alignment with the fact that the unfolding has begun, but also get in alignment with the fact that as each new day comes you have the opportunity to take things in a new and better direction. Every person living on the planet has free will and can decide how to act and react. Everyone. Is it best to pull inward? Or is it best to engage outwardly?

Everyone is different and every personality type must make a decision regarding what to do based on who they know themselves to be. Some people are a perfect fit for quiet work, for sitting still in prayer, setting intentions and making compassionate contributions, while others have the energy and personality to be physically and vocally engaged in outer ways, such as in political and social arenas. Decide for yourself what you are best suited for. Quiet private work? Or extraverted public work?

This time of rapid change will last for several years, and unfortunately much damage will be done, but that doesn’t mean all will be lost, for behind the scenes are many supportive energies offering new aids to humanity.

All progress leaves ruin in its wake. All that is good rises from the ashes of old. All transformation happens through sacrifice. All breakthrough leaves something shattered behind it.

Great good deeds are to come. Good will is stirred into action in hearts and minds, and those hearts and minds hold a vision of a new and just future where all human beings live in peace. True Peace has not been a part of life on earth yet, though True Peace has been a longterm goal.

Keep the phrase True Peace as a mantra. Let it sink into mind and heart as to its meaning, and make it the motto behind the changes you are now weathering through.

True Peace requires commitment and certainty as to its probability. True Peace is possible. True Peace is on the agenda. True Peace is underlying all the current changes.

Sometimes the bringers of change are not who you want, but they bring the much needed momentum that is sorely needed so that True Peace may become a household saying, rather than Home Sweet Home.

True Peace will arise from the destruction. It is in the contrast between chaos and destruction and the absence of chaos and destruction that True Peace will be experienced and understood. It has always existed and always will.

Are you, the human race, collectively ready to bring it down to earth? Is it time now for True Peace?

Soulbyte for Friday February 28, 2025

-Artwork © 2025 Jan Ketchel

Don’t let worry of what may happen prevent you from enjoying each moment of your day. Don’t let perceived ideas of what might be prevent you from learning about yourself in a deeper way. Each day is an opportunity to more strongly center yourself and bind yourself to the life you are in with renewed vigor, intention, and love for the journey you are on. Allow yourself a moment of breath, a moment of calm, a moment of uninterrupted enjoyment of the bliss of you and your life that you are so amazingly living.

Sending you love,
The Soul Sisters, Jan & Jeanne

Soulbyte for Thursday February 27, 2025

-Artwork © 2025 Jan Ketchel

If you block yourself from having experiences in life you also block your own growth. Of course you will make mistakes, it’s how you learn, so don’t fear how you may think you look or how you think you will act or how you may be perceived in any given situation, just get yourself centered in your heart and give yourself the message: I am enough. I am beautiful. I am worthy of life and abundance as much as anyone else. I am loving and generous as I go into my day.

Sending you love,
The Soul Sisters, Jan & Jeanne