Tag Archives: spiritual guidance

Chuck’s Place: Don’t forget To Ask If It’s Right

The Way of the Mandala…
-Illustration © 2023 Jan Ketchel

We live in an age where direct access to the tools of manifestation abound. As human evolution has shifted to the psychic plane, we are all waking up to latent powers that allow us to tap into both elemental and subtle resources to manifest our desires.

One question that emerges as we expand our consciousness and deepen our access to psychic powers is, how we might appropriately use them.

Robert Monroe provided explorers with an affirmation in their journeys, “to Use such greater energies and energy systems as may be beneficial and constructive to me and to those who follow me.”

Clearly, Bob is stressing here that we hone our intent to the benefit of all humankind. In fact, the mission of the Monroe Institute is, “Helping people create more meaningful and joyful lives through the guided exploration of expanded consciousness.”

I participated in a recent intensive retreat at the Monroe Institute where the theme of mandalas emerged in many participant’s journeys. I personally, during one journey, came upon the face of my round wristwatch at the center of a rectangular door. A mandala typically includes the juxtaposition of a circle and a square.

Experientially, this encounter with a mandala coincided with a very powerful vibrational energy that I was experiencing at my heart chakra, which provided the energy, via this sensation, to come to acceptance of a disturbing dream image from the prior night.

Carl Jung brought to the attention of the modern world the archetype of the mandala as the central organizing symbol of life. The circle encompasses infinity; the square, our humanness. For Jung, at the center of the circle was the Self, or Spirit, and not the ego, which is the center only of the conscious personality.

The path toward fulfillment in life requires one to square the circle; that is, to align one’s life with the core intent of one’s Spirit. Expropriating one’s psychic resources for ego gain, which is out of alignment with Spirit, would be considered an ego inflation, where ego assumes the identity and authority of Self. Humans have the amazing tool of free will, which all too often leads to ego decisions that throw them out of psychological balance and negatively impact the world.

Mandalas frequently appear in waking life and in dreaming, as trail markers from Self, as we suffer challenging experiences and make decisions in our lives. The mandala in my experience guided me to raise the vibration in my heart chakra to be able to activate love to accept the unacceptable.

Carl Jung’s Red Book is his diary of his journeys into the collective unconscious, which became the foundation of his contributions to the field of psychology. His communications with entities during his discovery process are documented alongside countless mandalas he painted that enabled him to maintain psychic balance throughout this extraordinary process.

Stan Grof, initially through the use of psychedelics and later through holotropic breath work, has deepened the mapping of the transpersonal regions of the psyche. His protocol strongly encourages all participants in his workshops to paint mandalas as they restore inner balance and recapitulate their soul retrievals and adventures in infinity.

The highlight of the mandala in my recent retreat was a collective reminder to be sure to not forget to ask if it’s right. It refers to one’s intent, decision or ambition for manifestation.

The Self often spontaneously and creatively provides some semblance of a mandala-like symbol to provide guidance. These can take the form of a dirty, heads-up penny on the ground, or a circular or rectangular pool, or a grouping of 4 objects or people—the permutations are endless.

One may also have to wait patiently for this guidance or validation to appear. Sometimes the Self requires that the ego go it alone, taking full responsibility for decisions made. The effects of decisions and actions taken are often the best teachers.

When mandalas do show up, give the ego the worthy job of contemplating their messages. Or, to get in alignment with Self, simply start drawing a mandala. Or use a finger in the sand, and like the Tibetans and Native Americans sculpt a mandala with the intent to align with Spirit.

See what happens. Remember Bob Monroe’s affirmation to make constructive and beneficial one’s use of greater energies and energy systems.

Aligning with mandala,
Chuck

Chuck’s Place: Tracking The Magic

Everything is alive and communicating…
-Illustration © 2023 Jan Ketchel

First a string of vignettes:

In my dream, I have rewired the lighting; it’s not fully operational. A silent, hostile female figure is rifling through my jewelry. I confront her. In Jan’s dream, she opens the passenger door of a dump truck as it’s unloading. Stan Grof is driving. He greets her with a big smile and eyes filled with gentle kindness.

Next I pull the tarot card for Lust (XI). Having tamed the beasts, this Anima Mundi is in complete alignment with the energy of the sun. Jan pulls the 6 of Disks: success that comes from deep within and manifests without.

I check an email from Cleargreen. I read in it a quote from don Juan that I am very familiar with: “I am saying that this is first a world of energy; then it is a world of objects.” As I read this quote aloud all the lights in the house go out. A brief glitch, then electricity is restored.

I open to Cherokee Woman’s wisdom for February 12th: Picking herbs with her grandmother when she is a little girl, she hopes she won’t have to eat them in her salad greens. She shifts focus to other dimensions of energy: the warmth of the sun and her love of being in nature with her grandmother.

Next I open the astrological Time Passages app. Moon is in Scorpio, with emphasis on energy at the level of the personality. I check my daily horoscope aspects. I feel resonance with the directive, “don’t be overly critical of others.”

I read aloud the next letter in Last Letters From The Living Dead Man, the chapter entitled, The Watchers. We learn that most souls are only partly incarnated into physical reality. The High Self is the Silent Watcher who waits in infinity as it watches and allows the personality to learn its lessons, sending occasional messages of guidance, support, or challenge. The suggestion is made to see the Silent Watcher in everyone, regardless of the current state of their personality. The Judge, himself a Watcher who dictates the letter, points out his own influence upon the souls in this world through his concentrated thought that is picked up here telepathically.

End of vignettes.

These vignettes depict a typical morning flow. I share them to demonstrate how to track the magic, the magic of the flow of energy from and through our multidimensional selves.

This blog is written on the morning described above. A previous version had been written two days earlier, as I pushed to complete it to make room for other upcoming activities. That ego push proved disappointing; though the ideas were stirring they truly weren’t ready to be gelled by the guiding hand of Spirit.

Dreams are the royal road to communication and interaction with the subtler dimensions of life. Dreaming occurs in brain frequencies that, like trance, allow for communication and education between energetic dimensions.

My dream pointed out that the wiring I had redone was inadequate for an enlightened space. The Silent Watcher antagonist pointed to the jewelry, the persona/ego/personality dimension that emphasizes the will and emotion.

Jan’s dream pointed to the clearing of the deeper transpersonal dimension of the self via Mr. Transpersonal himself, Stan Grof. To arrive at this level, one must first tame the beasts of the personality as the Tarot card of Lust depicts. Jan’s card emphasizes that success requires a balance, as within so without.

The shaman’s world chimes in with the affirmation that yes, the self is both pure energy and solid object, but start with the knowledge that all is energy first. The Silent Watcher trickster totally enjoyed this teaching moment, cutting the power, the energy, at a synchronistic moment. Synchronicity with nature is an ever-present meeting place between dimensions of self.

The emphasis on energy first is picked up by Judge Hatch, in his missives from the afterlife, as he suggests that we try to observe the High Self in everyone. Though it may not be currently emphasized within the behavior of the personality, we are all energy first, Spirit beings. This focus helps one break the negativity of critical judgement suggested by my astrological reading, which also pointed to the need for emotional work at the subconscious personality level of Moon in Scorpio.

Astrology, Tarot and the I Ching are comprehensive meeting places for the Silent Watcher’s reflection of the overall state of the Self. Books of wisdom, or simply any books randomly opened, are also meeting places for Spirit’s messages, portrayed through written words.

Cherokee Woman also prescribes a method to step beyond the dominance of the wanting personality and into deeper energetic truth. She suggests taking advantage of awakening from mental ruminations that generate dullness in the moment to discover the luster of love and a private meeting with Self.

Finally, the Judge alerts us to the powerful impact of concentrated thought that issues from the Spirit dimension of being and is telepathically received at the solid body dimension of the human brain. Synchronous communications frequently come to me in the form of thoughts—great ideas!—that for years my ego assumed were its own!

Thought energy operates on a shared frequency between dimensions that makes possible the transmission of thought from the more subtle planes of reality to this dimension, as well as among beings currently in human form. Don’t let the solid boundary of the physical body fool you. Thoughts are energetic and permeable, completely transparent at an energetic level. Remember, as don Juan emphasizes, energy first!

Be mindful to not inflate the ego with thought ownership and instead employ its reasoning capabilities to discern the validity of thoughts from beyond. If the shoe doesn’t fit, don’t wear it!

Every one of us tracks the magic of our multidimensional selves daily. The more we awaken to the fullness of ourselves, the more fully informed and participatory we become to the magic of all that is possible.

Tracking the Magic,
Chuck

Soulbyte for Tuesday February 7, 2023

-Illustration © 2023 Jan Ketchel

Be in awe of the grand unfolding of life, at how one thing leads to another, how you are guided and supported, how in its unfolding life gives you exactly what you need to aid you in your endeavors. You are not alone but fully supported. Whether you know it or not, you have a vast array of helpers aiding you every day. Turn around every now and then and give thanks. They don’t need anything from you, so it’s not for them but only to remind yourself to remain in awe.

Sending you love,
The Soul Sisters, Jan & Jeanne

Soulbyte for Wednesday February 1, 2023

-Illustration © 2023 Jan Ketchel

Keep your spirit attuned to, and tuned into, what is really going on inside you, within your body and your mind, and remember that you are spirit first. When spirit is given its place, it will more likely guide you spontaneously and without effort on your part. The effort is in training yourself to recognize and trust your spirit, that it truly can and will guide you properly and well, that it will not fail you. Trust is to be nurtured gradually so that you become fully open to your spirit’s intent and can allow its intent to become your own.

Sending you love,
The Soul Sisters, Jan & Jeanne

Soulbyte for Wednesday January 25, 2023

-Illustration © 2023 Jan Ketchel

Reconfirm your commitment to self each day. Look yourself in the eyes and with love and compassion reset yourself upon your path of change and growth. Your spirit is always with you, as are additional helpers and guides, too many to name, all eager to be of assistance. Close your eyes and feel their presence. Thank them and then go about your day in the best way possible so that your progress is unimpeded.

Sending you love,
The Soul Sisters, Jan & Jeanne