#562 Chuck’s Place: The Impossible Dream?

Welcome to Chuck’s Place, where Chuck Ketchel expresses his thoughts, insights, and experiences! Many of the shamanic and psychological terms used in Chuck’s essays are defined in Tools & Definitions on our Psychotherapy website.

For me, as a young boy, the election of John F. Kennedy represented the possibility of real change. His election ushered in the dream of the sixties, a possibility fully realized now with the election of Barack Obama. Kennedy brothers John and Robert were early martyrs of the winds of change. I was struck with awe last night, as I listened in tears to all the accomplishments of their brother Edward who was left to manifest the dream through concrete actions.

As I watched speaker after speaker, in rapid succession, share their heartfelt anecdotes I noticed that even at this solemn occasion we were afforded not a moment to catch our breaths and feel the fullness of our inner reactions to the stories being told. I am reminded of Jung’s comments in a letter to his wife a century ago on his own trip to Boston. “Our time is dreadfully crammed. The Americans are real masters at that; they hardly leave one time to catch ones breath…I am looking forward enormously to getting back to the sea again, where the overstimulated psyche can recover in the presence of that infinite peace and spaciousness. Here one is in an almost constant whirlwind.”* Four days later in another letter he reflects: “As far as technological culture is concerned, we lag miles behind America. But all that is frightfully costly and already carries the germ of the end in itself.”**

That germ of the end Jung intuited I see matured in our all-encompassing need for technology to provide us with instant connection. In my own informal survey I see more drivers on cell phones than not. When I walk the streets I observe at least fifty percent of people, either alone or accompanied by others, on cell phones. The burning need for instant connection has made even voice mail obsolete as texting, whether driving or not, has supplanted listening to “ancient” messages. This obsession with connection has deeply disconnected us from the fullness of our selves. We are alienated from our dreams, from our natures, from our deepest selves, which we are left to encounter in fragmented projected rapid-fire moments in the outer world as we stop not to listen to our beleaguered inner voices.

This is the value of Jeanne’s message. Hers is the call to turn inward, to discover and trust the inner self, the truest traveling companion for this journey. She coaches as well in the art of connection through accessing our selves as energy beings, interconnected in a world of energy.

This, I believe, is the next step in the realization of the dream: the inward turn and the experience of energetic interconnectedness. Let us view our technological gems as symbols of our spiritual longing and answer instead the inner call for connection. Like the Kennedys, we are charged with making what appears impossible a possible dream.

As usual, should anyone wish to write, I can be reached at: chuck@riverwalkerpress.com or feel free to post a comment.

Until we meet again,
Chuck

* C. G. Jung: Memories, Dreams, Reflections p. 367-368.
**Ibid: p. 368.

A New Look!

Dear Readers and Fellow Journeyers,

As you can see we have spiffed up the overall look of our website. We have also now opened up the daily blog for comments. We invite you to post your impressions, whether in agreement or otherwise. You must login. All posts will be monitored for content and appropriateness and may be refused at our discretion.

We continue to offer this website as a free service, unadulterated by advertising, to spiritual seekers who are deeply committed to growth and evolution. With great respect for all of you as you take your journeys we continue to publish the messages from Jeanne for your benefit on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and Chuck’s Place on Saturdays. We hope you like the new format!

Thank you for reading! And thanks to our Site Admin, Nick, for all the work he has done! Today’ s message from Jeanne is posted below.

Love,
Jan and Chuck

#561 Constantly Weed Your Inner Garden

Jeanne Marie Ketchel
Channeled by Jan Ketchel

Dear Jeanne,
Do you have a message of guidance for us today?

Energetically speaking, pay attention to what is happening inside you as you go about your day. Pay attention to your reactions, judgments, feelings, emotions, and the physical manifestations of the issues that own you. Allow that which transpires outside of you to lead you constantly back into the self, requesting contemplation of the self, by the self, and for the self.

This is a good time to gain clarity on your own issues still unresolved, those that crop up over and over again, like weeds in the garden. Constant weeding of your garden will produce a beautiful result. Learn how the weeds creep in and attack the vital plants that you have tended so carefully, seeking sustenance that does not belong to them.

I use the metaphor of a garden today because each of you is fertile ground upon which beauty and sustenance may flourish if properly nurtured and cared for. Your gardens do grow best when well tended. Liken the self to whatever type of garden you most often visualize. Perhaps you are a flower garden, an herb garden, a vegetable garden, or an exotic sculpture garden, or the simplest of paths upon the ground.

Perhaps your garden self requires much attention and nurturance or perhaps your garden is, at this time in your life, well prepared and self-sustaining. No matter what type of garden self you are, or attain to be, so must you always pay attention to the needs of the garden self, for nothing but weeds may grow if left unattended.

Pay attention today to your garden. Ascertain what is most necessary to accomplish in order to keep a flourishing and bountiful self. Determine what nourishment and care are necessary, as you reflect upon this garden self that is mirrored by the outer world, as you pay attention to the busyness of the world in relationship to your inner work.

It is a time of inner work, a time of cultivation, assessment, self-study, and contemplation. Only in deeper connection to the self will you discover what gardening methods are best for the self and what fertilizer is required for continual growth. Even when the growing season wanes, a garden must be tended and prepared for constant inner work, for even in dormancy the garden still lives. Pay attention to this garden self as the outer energy continues to reveal and guide, as it continues to point out the issues of the self and the challenges that must be attended to as you continually nurture and grow.

#560 The In-Between Time

Jeanne Marie Ketchel
Channeled by Jan Ketchel

Today a reader asks a question.

Dear Jeanne,
I am currently at the hospital where my Mom has been in critical condition for two weeks now. Most of the time she is sleeping, waking only occasionally when it seems she is in pain or to reach for my hand. It seems like her spirit is still strong, yet her body is struggling for every breath. As I am sitting here next to her, I am terrified for that moment when she will stop breathing and, at the same time, wanting her not to “suffer” any longer. I do believe that we choose the moments of our birth and death, but I am haunted by the question as to why we would choose to continue like this. Also, I wonder where her spirit is at this time. There have been times when I feel like I am communicating with her outside her body, then I wonder if I am hallucinating or something.

Thank you always for your gifts of love and continued guidance.

Thank you Jan and Chuck too.

Love,
Debbie

My Dear One, you describe the in-between state quite well in your question. This can be a lengthy process as the moment of death is awaited by the recipient and those who are left to ponder. Death comes at the right time, at the moment when it is most necessary, but also at the moment that has, indeed, been predetermined, for we do all choose our moment, as you propose. However, how we reach that moment and in what condition we live out our last breaths are determined by how we have chosen to live our lives. So you see, though we choose our lives upon that earth, we also choose many scenarios and give ourselves many options in which to choose enlightenment and evolution. To determine the outcome of our lifetimes we must gain awareness of something greater, beyond ourselves, and this process takes place right up to the moment of our death.

Your mother now lies upon the shores of new life, waiting for her time in one life to end, finalized as she has chosen to complete it, and yet is she also aware of new life to come. In this in-between stage of existence one is open to experiences and aware, in a vague and dreamy way, of two worlds. This is the time of shift, a nebulous time of awareness of two worlds, so one is both present and absent, in body and out of body, in conscious state and in unconscious state. But do not take that to mean lack of awareness, for awareness at this time is both waning and awakening.

Awareness of the world that you, My Dear Debbie, exist in is waning for your mother, who knows of your presence as an engaging spirit, connected for many lives, holding historical data shared by the two of you, yet awareness of your present world has already ceased to be important to her. It is the connection to energy of that world that now holds her to you; her hand reaching out to you in energetic awareness of the world that she is leaving. Her energy body is seeking new awareness as she lies upon the shore, on the edge of a new sea of awareness, the waves gently lapping, inviting her to remember this other world, this other awareness where she has been many times before in energetic form.

If she appears out of body and holds you in her gaze with loving tenderness, or distant remoteness and detachment, do not ponder your own state, for you are not hallucinating or in distress of mental breakdown but, in fact, being invited by her to experience the glory of the disembodied state, the energy state. You cannot deny that its energy is interesting to you, though your rationality wishes to dismiss it.

Allow your self to have the experiences that you receive, for they are gifts from a mother who has not had an opportunity to give you anything that is so meaningful for your future. Although the past is not her intention at this point, you must find a way to attend to her present and future selves for your own resolution. As you watch, wait, and experience your mother’s passing be aware that you are in the presence of transforming energy as it seeks both release and relief in one world and new awareness and new life in another world.

The in-between time is full of interesting tidbits of information for both the waning one and the waiting one. Use your own awareness to understand the questions you pose today, for only in your own experiences will you fully grasp what is being enacted and intended for both you and your family in the presence of transformational energy. Each of you who are present will have a different experience, though each of you must seek to discover what your own lesson is.

What are you being shown by this woman you call mom? What is she showing you alone, for others may not see the same things you see and experience? What is her present state that she seeks to show you, and why does she do this now, at the hour of her death?

You are present at the moment of catalyst. Why? Hold onto your own awareness of two worlds, My Dear Debbie, as you are also in-between now, available to experience two worlds, being shown energetic awareness as it manifests in its many possible forms. Look for energy and you will find clarity. This is also your mother’s process, to look for her own resonant energy, to maintain her awareness of self as energy, and to allow her process to continue, as she holds onto knowledge of her own lessons learned in one life while grasping at what are necessary lessons in new life.

One life does determine the next life. It does determine the process of the in-between state and the process of the time between lives as well. Each life is significant. Each life is fulfilling. Each life is evolutionary. Do not judge another’s journey, but be open to the profound significance of energy as it travels now onward, gratifying it freedom to move on, releasing it to its future.

All life is future life, even as the past must be reviewed, assimilated, and gained perspective on. Even as resolution and acceptance must be gained regarding a life lived, so are the final moments doors of awareness that new life awaits.

I hope my answers and my guidance will open your own doors of awareness as you are granted access to the transformational energy that resides in the body and out of the body of this woman who is, and once was, your mother. Now it is time for you to understand what “mother” means in your present life as she goes into new life, at the moment of her grand transfusion of energy from one state to another, as simply enacted as a slipping away into the waves of awareness as they draw her further from the shores of two worlds and into her new life of awareness in another world.

Her spirit is in her energy and in the choices she has made and now makes. Let her have her experiences, as you also now accept your own experiences of her as an energy being. Watch her closely, with your own energy being, and beware of the conjuring mind, which will seek always to detach from such energy experiences. Stay connected.

#559 That Which is Not Seen Exists Nonetheless

Jeanne Marie Ketchel
Channeled by Jan Ketchel

Dear Jeanne,
Do you have a message for us today?

Consciousness must now reach a peak of awareness that is unprecedented, both on an individual and a collective level. By this I mean that, in order for progress to be made on an energetic level, awareness of everything as energy must be promulgated and become a defining factor in how people live, think, and relate.

In order for energetic awareness to grow, each one of you is responsible for using your expertise on the subject more thoroughly in your lives. Live as an example of an aware being, bringing wholeness into your own life, becoming more attuned, each day, to what it means to become an energetic being.

As you have recently been experiencing the outer energy, as either disruptive or challenging, so have you been learning how to flow with it. You may notice, each day, that your own place upon that earth is more clearly defined and solidly held in a place of energetic connection. How can you not notice that as the outer energy appears your inner world must constantly shift in order to accommodate it? This is wonderful training and it behooves you all to see it as such, rather than be disturbed by it or consider it non-conducive to growth.

Today is a day of shift, slight though it may be. You may notice something different in the energy around you and the people you encounter, and although it may be difficult to explain, or put a finger on, your awareness alone will allow you to accept the fact that, energetically speaking, you are being shown exactly what you need to learn.

You are learning that energy is in constant flux and that if you acknowledge that life is a time of learning and growth, with very specific lessons for each individual to learn and evolve from, then your awareness will always be ready to further accept what each day brings. So today, the first thing to accept is the inevitability of life continuing on its course, seeking always growth and awareness. That is what your life’s journey is attempting to alert each one of you to. Secondly, your lessons are always present whether the energy is forceful and outerly annoying, as it has been, or more subtly present, simply a gentle wave upon the shore of your life.

Watch the energy as you would watch the waves coming upon the shore. Notice what is riding in upon the water, what is present upon the horizon, and be aware of what lies beneath the surface, unseen, yet felt nonetheless.

That is the lesson for today, My Dears. Keep your awareness in tune. Remain in a heightened state of energetic life, for that is what life is all about: being energy, feeling energy, reading energy, aware of energy for its true meaning as guide, teacher, and evolutionary fuel. Good Luck!

Thought this may appear to be a rather vague day, do not be fooled by its seemingly calm surface. As I said: that which is not seen exists nonetheless.

Chuck Ketchel, LCSWR