Tag Archives: intent

Chuck’s Place: Beyond the Shadow of Doubt

The shadow is everywhere…
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

Reason is the dominant tool of the first attention, what the Shamans of Ancient Mexico call everyday life. Beyond the first attention is the second attention, the world of energetic life, which is replete with all things irrational.

The Hindus note, for instance, that the emotional body component of the energy body, which is the home of powerful emotions and passions, is a prominent feature of the second attention.

Jung calls the second attention the collective unconscious, which lacking consciousness to guide volition, operates through the activation of powerful archetypes that can overwhelm the reasonable ego of the first attention, causing it to perform outrageous acts. To preserve the order and decency of normalcy, Jung asserts that these deeper dimensions of the psyche are repressed and housed in what he called the shadow, a component of the second attention.

Reason and shadow are mortal enemies, hence the natural tendency to keep them separated. Reason insists upon the rules of logic and fairness for decision making. Shadow insists upon the release of intense emotions and passions as its modus operandi, reason be dammed. Reason, in its own condescension, snubs the irrational shadow, misjudging the power of the repressed.

The history of humankind reflects the occasional reckoning of these two dominants in the clashes of world wars. Our current world predicament is a prime example of reason clashing with the formidable energy of the irrational. The world is rapidly disintegrating into such a primal clash at this very moment.

At a fundamental level the worlds of the first and second attention are layers of the same onion. As humans we are both consciously reasonable, solid beings, as well as irrational, energetic spirit beings. The totality of ourselves requires that we integrate these worlds despite their inherent opposition. Evolution is absolutely requiring such an advance at this time. How can we achieve this integration without the ultimate disintegration, Armageddon?

To begin, reason must address the limitations of its own belief system: “Things aren’t that bad… no one would let that happen…” In fact, the shadow thrives on letting anything happen that offers it powerful release.

Next, reason must recognize that shadow is a dimension of its own self. Reason often doubts this, despite the many addictions or obsessions that it notices in its own functioning. Does it also notice its fascination and vicarious excitement with the emotional outbursts of now?  Reason always believes that it has things under control, or that things are, ultimately, under control.

Reason must accept responsibility in developing a relationship with the energetic world of the second attention. When people discover the out-of-body world, they are often at first driven by insatiable desires, repressed in the first attention of everyday life. Maintaining the operation of reason, with the intents available in the second attention, is critical for deep responsible exploration.

I strongly recommend Robert Monroe’s three books, which detail his own journeys into the second attention with the evolving accompaniment of his first attention, reason. With his success and guidance, he is truly deserving of the title of American Shaman.

Exploration and reconciliation with the deeper dimensions of the self offer a playing field of deep soulful satisfaction, which checks the tendency of the shadow to need to project itself upon habits and outer events that mesmerize the ego and take over consciousness.

Ego must humble itself to the existence of energies within the self that are far more powerful than ego itself. Ego has reason, but that’s no match for the irrational. Ego, in its humble smallness, can say no however. What change would happen overnight in the world if all individuals just said no, not driving today, not consuming today? Such a world strike of no would force a different relationship with power.

Nonetheless, ego must not be unreasonable in its demands. The world of the irrational, the world of passion and spirit must be lived. Beyond the shadow of doubt, reason must join with its passionate, spirited, irrational self in deep exploration and life, beyond reason.

Living the irrational, with reason,

Chuck

Soulbyte for Friday October 25, 2019

Let your heart be still, your mind clear, and your intent focused so that your path of heart appears in each step you take, in each day’s unfolding, so that you are always in alignment with what is right for you to do, within and without. Make decisions based on the question, “Is this my path of heart?” Discover yourself more fully each day as you pose this question and make decisions, testing your ground and feeling your way. Train yourself to know in an instant what to do, how to act and react, until your path of heart is automatically your first and only choice.

Sending you love,

The Soul Sisters, Jan & Jeanne

Soulbyte for Thursday October 17, 2019

Stay connected to your healing intent, to your convictions that you are worth the effort, to your dream of a new you. In alignment with all of that, and sure of a higher purpose and greater meaning, find solidity in your life. In keeping with the knowing deep inside of you that your path of heart is the only path for you, continue your journey restrengthening your intent with renewed vigor every day, restating that you matter and that your dream matters. Resolve the issues that hold you back so that you may become fully open and accessible. Lose your regrets and resentments so that you may be truly ready for new experiences. With love, let go of your attachments so that your energy may be truly free to enjoy, explore, and embrace your new dream of you. Keep your intent strong from moment to moment and day to day. Your path of heart will not fail you nor disappoint you, but it’s up to you to stay upon it, to act on your own behalf, and to be the dreamer dreaming the dream of the new you. Dream on, with intent!

Sending  you love,

The Soul Sisters, Jan & Jeanne

Soulbyte for Wednesday October 16, 2019

True maturity entails taking full responsibility for the self. It entails taking who you are, what you got in this life, and molding it into shape, into a shape that you can fully embrace, respect, and love. True maturity means detaching from that which first molded you so that you may mold yourself anew, into that which is truly you. True maturity involves letting the self do this and letting others whom you mold and whom have molded you do this as well. In the end everyone gains, because everyone matures into full responsibility for themselves, into beings having taken on the full task of making something of life. Go and let go with encouragement, with high expectations for self and others. With impeccability and good intentions, take on the task of maturing, knowing that it is the fullest expression of love, for self and other, and that it is the true and noble work of a lifetime.

Sending you love,

The Soul Sisters, Jan & Jeanne

Chuck’s Place: Where Will Magic Greet Me Today?

Join Chuck on his Magical Tour…
– Thanks to Capitol Records

This is the essential question to ask, as you begin each day: “Where will Magic greet me today?” No room for doubt in this question. Magic will happen. Intend to be aware and present for this most certain encounter.

Magic will happen because it is our other side, our energetic half. How could we not experience, in some way, our mysterious magical side, each and every day?

We live it in our dreams and it makes its appearance at unexpected moments in the day. A sudden deja vu, sounds from the environment that respond to our thoughts, a fleeting glimpse of an entity scooting into the bush, a smile from the moon, a song that appears and engulfs, a phrase spoken to the mind from within, a pressure on our arm, a knowing certainty that something will happen—these are but a few of the infinite possibilities of visitation from our magical side.

Sometimes the magic completely projects itself upon another person. We may be seized with attraction, or thunderstruck with terror to encounter such a powerful being. Feeling inadequate, we may shrink ourselves or doubt our worthiness. In these instances, we experience our magic vicariously, as we are unaware that the magic we feel really emanates from within ourselves.

“Not worthy,” does the smallness within becry? That’s normal, because it is normality that we cling to, as we know how rattling the magic can be. Secretly, we long to merge with our magic, yet we titrate its impact with wishing and hoping to remain safely insulated from direct exposure to its live current. This is fortified by doubting our worthiness.

Magic defies reason. Magic shatters, period. If it be the magic of a soul encounter, it delightfully transports us to an ecstatic world far beyond the world of reason. If it be a dark encounter with black magic, it threatens to devour the self. We never know for certain how or in which form it will appear, hence, the vigilance to seek safety behind the veils of true encounter.

The world stage is replete with magicians at present that excite us with their tricks. They serve to remind us that anything truly is possible, nothing is really as solid and reasonable as we believe. But don’t merely be vicarious spectators at these main events; fully show up for the main events in your own life! And such events are the Magic that awaits you this day.

Reason, our impeccably trained other half, longs to commune with its magical side but is terrified of loss of control to a power greater than itself. All our addictions are sullied pathways to our magic, protected by badness. Reason structures an out-of-control encounter that it can then regret, remaining safely in charge through the feeling of guilt.

Reason itself is magical. To construct a world that can be completely accounted for with reason is one magical feat. The problem for reason is that, in and of itself, it is boring; it lacks the power of magic. This fact might explain our current political reality, where the attraction to irrational impulse has consistently trumped reason.

The real challenge is to bring reason and magic into complementary alignment. Reason is a formidable guide with which to know and navigate the world. Magic, on the other hand, is infinite possibility in many worlds. Reason can steady and affirm the self as it journeys into infinite possibility, whereby supporting one’s quest for wholeness. To do this, reason needs to suspend and refine its normal judging function, granting the self encounters with its magical side in everyday life.

Thus, begin each day with a direct question to magic: “Where will WE meet today?”

Know that you will. Ask reason to guide you to its appearance and to hold you steady in the grip of its encounter. Ask reason to be expanded and blessed by the realness of its communion with magic. Roll up for the Magical Mystery Tour, you won’t regret it!

In the magic,

Chuck