Chuck's Blog

#478 Chuck’s Place: Return to the Garden and Beyond

Welcome to Chuck’s Place, where Chuck Ketchel expresses his thoughts, insights, and experiences!

How challenging it is to truly embrace one’s gold. Dysfunctional families, dysfunctional relationships, dysfunctional marriages, etc, etc.; the concept of dysfunction is the current buzzword to account for out inability to embrace our gold, which is actually a direct connection to our archetypal inheritance; or in energetic terms, our feminine energy. Lacking a solid archetypal foundation, we struggle with low self-esteem.

As I look around this spring, I don’t notice inertia, hesitation, stagnation, or depression in the birds, the squirrels, or the peepers. Spring energies course through our human veins, yet often get caught in paralysis, hyperactivity, or failure. Apparently, when we left the Garden and chose consciousness, chose to take charge of directing that which had flowed so smoothly with unfailing precision, we were sentenced to sail the ship without a guidebook. We have been haphazardly crashing on the rocks and reefs, finding our way, ever since.

Our sentence, upon leaving the Garden, also included poor self-esteem. At the foundation of every individual germ of consciousness (the ego) is the fact of inadequacy. The ego is no match for the archetypes. The archetypes got it down pat through eons of experience; they know what works. They know how to direct nature’s energies and make things flow smoothly. Human egos, thrilled with their “advanced science,” marvel at their ability to create pharmaceuticals to correct what they judge to be nature’s inherent flaws. I simply can’t figure out how those birds manage to sleep through the night without their ambien or breathe without their nasonex! Do humans ever consider that their inherent flaws are inherent mishaps, created through the hubris and ignorance of haphazardly sailing the ship?

Now, to be fair, someone had to take the wheel, figure some things out, make some rules, and create order amidst the “chaos.” Have some compassion for the male God, it’s the best that alienated beings, with little to go on, could do, as they trudged, thirstily, through the desert outside the Garden. The egos invented the male God, complete with new guidebooks. Some of these guidebooks come close to the wisdom of the archetypes; some are seriously flawed. The latest reigning edition is the Book of Science, with google providing quick access and wikipedia providing up-to-the-moment certainty.

So what are the qualities of the male God? He knows, he is powerful, he is definite, completely certain, and competent. He is the antidote to the human dilemma of core self doubt and lack of self-esteem. Why wouldn’t we worship such a God? Why wouldn’t we gobble up the self-help commandments, which promise us a connection to such qualities? Why wouldn’t we overtly, covertly, or unconsciously, seek to emulate or unite with those in the world who reflect these desirable qualities? If only I could be so knowledgeable, calm, collected, definite, and powerful, as he or she!

So where is the flaw here? I see these strivings as compensations for a lonely, inadequate ego, completely ill equipped for life. That is the true state of our “conscious” beings, alienated from our archetypal core. Stated in another way, this is masculine energy alienated from feminine energy, which has been the energetic predicament of humanity since the birth of consciousness. It is true that many egos before us have made great discoveries about the “nature” of things. Unfortunately, many of these egos, or demigods, behaved like little Neros, so enthralled with themselves and needing to play with their powers that they created many aberrant natures. Often, they made it particularly important to eliminate, at all costs, any sign of strong feminine energy. Thank God for pharmaceuticals to correct the balance! The problem, as I see it, is that the male God, devoid of feminine energy, is an alienated god. Essentially, it represents the ultimate enshrined ego. That God has no need for archetypal wisdom; he simply can do a better job.

The question arises, should we have left the Garden to begin with? What is the value of consciousness when we view, honestly, the job it has done in steering the ship? Personally, I think it was our evolutionary imperative to leave the Garden, just as now it is our evolutionary imperative to discover ourselves as energy. However, even if the Garden is an illusion, because ultimately it’s simply energy, we don’t have the right to leave the Garden in this condition. The challenge is to reconcile the relationship between masculine and feminine energy. How can we solve this?

First, we must find our way back to the Garden. This brings us into direct contact with archetypal wisdom. Feminine energy never lost its connection to archetypal wisdom; the connection is automatic. But how does feminine energy grapple with consciousness? Feminine energy is direct knowing. Consciousness knows nothing a priori. First, it must discover, preferably through science, facts; then it knows. How does that which just knows (feminine energy) reconcile with that which has to figure everything out (masculine energy)?

The way this challenge has unfolded, to date, has been for masculine energy to become dominant, despite its ignorance, and completely subjugate and devalue the feminine. Of course, the feminine is inherently insecure in the light of consciousness because it really does not know why it knows what it knows, it just knows. This “just knowing” is pitiful from the perspective of consciousness alone, which must discover and label all the building blocks of the world it dismantles.

The reconciliation of these two energies, which desperately need each other, is in a new relationship of co-existence and partnership, without either dominating the other. Masculine energy needs to drop its god complex, ego inflation, and become pure awareness. Feminine energy needs to trust that it knows, dropping its ego deflation. Both energies, devoid of judgments, are free to see all the truths, consciousness and knowing in alignment. This alignment insures right action.

Masculine and feminine energy in alignment will allow restoration of the Garden and freedom to venture beyond, with awareness, into pure energy.

As always, I am open to discussion or comment. Should anyone wish to write, I can be reached via email at: chuck@riverwalkerpress.com

I was just carried away this week by spring’s awakening and do intend to return to the discussion of projection next week. Until we meet again,
Chuck

Messages from Jeanne

#477 Female Energy A-flutter

Jeanne Marie Ketchel
Channeled by Jan Ketchel

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

Today, I speak to women, for there is, and has been, much female energy a-flutter, but I speak also to the male, for without understanding the energy that abounds so will he not fully participate in life. So you see, no matter who I speak to directly, so is this message meant for all who read and seek guidance in life.

Now, as far as female energy is concerned, I wish to confide that this is a time of great shift for all women. This does not preclude the question of age, nor any other factor, and can also encompass the anima characteristics in males, so pay attention all of you, My Dear Readers. Female energy, when in a state of flux, as it is now, tends to be very demanding, noticeable, relentless, and quite available for interaction, on many levels. Such energy-in-flux, desires recognition, it demands acceptance, and it bodes well for real change to happen. However, it comes also with a shadow of doubt, which is often the greater challenge. Energy-in-flux may be easily attended to and assimilated, depending on the ability of all of you women to stay in your awareness of your selves as mature, worthy women, confident in your own skin.

However, in the case of the energy that exists now, the shadow of doubt carries with it such vital energy inside its cloak that it is paramount to pay attention to it, to what it reveals hidden in the folds of its cloak, and to capture the meaning of its hidden agenda so that you may have direct access to it, and be able to transform it into good working energy.

This energy-in-flux, right now, bodes well for women, as I have said, for it carries much feminine power, the power of female energy, such as self-nurturance, self-love, self-compassion, self-desire, and self-intuition, all of the maternal sort. In order to utilize it, must it be allowed into your awareness, into your body knowing, and into your mental (thinking) function in the world, as you live it, see it, experience it, desire it, and project it, My Dear Women.

I suggest that you understand this energy, first, as powerful, but do not fear it; second, as maternal, self-mothering energy, but do not turn the self into a big baby or even a toddler. Keep the self on a mature and balanced level, mothering the mother in you; and third, this energy is very enticing to others and you will feel the urge to give it away, but this I counter-urge you to hold inside you.

This third point is where that dark cloak of doubt, that shadowy backlash of energy, comes in to entice you to regress, to fail at your self-nurturing, and at your firm and balanced growth. But underlying it, in its folds, will you discover that the shadowy inviting cloak contains a new burst of energy that may send you in the right direction, if you learn how to use it. And this is the challenge that it offers, that it contains a second burst of powerful female, woman-strong, and knowing, intuitive energy, but it does not readily reveal it to you nor does it show you how to use it. It is up to each one of you to discover how best to use it in your own life.

Keep in mind, My Dear Women, my dear seekers of completion and growth, that you are there, upon that earth, to become whole. You are not there to serve, although your place has been described as such, for fear of just these powers that now envelop your world. Do not fear your own powers. Do not allow them either to overpower you; but do use this energy in a positive, self-loving manner. And I will give you a hint at the meaning of that second powerful hidden energy. It is not meant to grant you anything, except the clearer knowledge of what it means to be female, mature, loving, and compassionate. You are in a unique position, My Dear Female Counterparts, to advance individually, collectively, but also far beyond the personal, for it is a time of great shift.

If female energy aligns with this time of shift upon that earth, so may the future shine brighter. Each day is the future. Keep this in mind. You do not need to wait, at all, to use your powerful inner strength and confidence, nor spread your unparalleled ability to love and nurture, both inside and outside the self.

This is not an ego-building time, or ego-building energy, though your egos may be boosted as your inner self accepts her powers. Keep aware of the distinguishing characteristics of inner self and outer self as you ride this energetic flux. Abide by the rules of your inner goodness, your intuitive inner beauty, your trusty compassionate connection to all things, even as you maintain awareness of overdoing any aspect of who you really are.

Your answer to how you, personally, will use this powerful energy, both stage one of it and stage two, lies in your steady, balanced, calm, inner and outer pragmatism and not your egocentric desire body.

So watch the energy now, very carefully; study it, but slow down so that you do not miss the importance of it. Though you may wish to rush in and embrace it, that would send you off-kilter. Remain mature and gracious women of loving, compassionate power, aware, generous, and yet fully attentive to the greater needs of the self. For only in fulfilling those needs, in the most mature manner, will you be available to fully own your femininity in a far greater energetic sense.

My Dear Male Readers, do not be alarmed by this message of female energy and power, for you too hold within you such energy. It is equally necessary to awaken it in your self, and allow it to become part of who you are, as an evolving man in an evolving world.

The world needs great change now, and it is already turning and shifting before your eyes, asking you, all the people who inhabit it, to allow simultaneous shift within your selves, to meet it at every turn, to come into alignment with the truths that lie so buried. The truths that all of you, male and female, are comprised of the same thing: energy that desires recognition, acceptance, release into daily life, as mature, loving, compassionate self-fulfilling prophesies of what it means to be alive and evolving.

Each one of you upon that earth has this same challenge. Now the further challenge is to truly understand what the feminine inside of you is truly for, how to access it, and how to use it for the greater good, beyond the self. But you must all first use it to accept the mature self, and that is where to start. Good Luck! To help in this endeavor do heart-centered breathing, allowing it to spread to all parts of the body, for all parts are the loving heart, you see?

Messages from Jeanne

#476 This is an Anchoring Day

Jeanne Marie Ketchel
Channeled by Jan Ketchel

Dear Jeanne,
Do you have some practical advice and guidance for us today?

Yes, My Dear Ones; I suggest that you make concerted attempts, throughout your day, to maintain your central alignment of self in calm balance. This is going to prove to be your greatest asset as time goes on, for there will be many occasions that will seek to test your stability and your mature grounded self.

Practice not only detachment, as I have spoken of often, but begin to more frequently remind your self to stay grounded in your inner calm place of mature nobility and eloquence. Learn to trust that you are worthy of your progress, that you are indeed an evolving being, by allowing your inner alignment with your crown of inner knowing to strengthen. By this, I mean learn to trust your abilities of awareness, clarity, and intuition.

Invite your self often to a meeting of your inner strengths, proposing that you embrace them, even as you study them and test them. Allow your inner self to guide you to understanding just who you are on a psychic level, even as you study and learn who you are on a practical level in the world.

You are all comprised of energetic spirit, intent upon consolidating many lifetimes of journeys, presenting you with much buried knowledge and many treasures. As you go about your day, continually anchor your self in this inner power that is still slumbering, awakening it even more at each firm anchoring. For only in trusting it will you find that you will have greater access to it.

Today is an anchoring day. It is a day of self-discovery as you continue your inner journey. It is a day of recognition of inner strength, inner balance, but, most of all, inner knowing. Use awareness of this inner self for calm and peaceful anchoring, keeping you steady upon your path of growth. Though your way may be strewn with boulders and torn apart by raging waters, so are you fully capable of finding your inner destiny, anchoring to it, and proceeding on your way lighter, happier, more lovingly and compassionately, holding fondness for self and others always beside you as you go.

Messages from Jeanne

#475 Five Reminders

Jeanne Marie Ketchel
Channeled by Jan Ketchel

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

My Dear Ones, contain your inner selves, your balanced and calm inner beings in the protection of your own steady knowing that you are on a path of evolutionary growth. Even as you struggle, as you recapitulate, as you engage the outer world, and as you struggle innerly, so must you constantly remind your selves that you are leading lives of meaning and purpose. Though these things may yet be unrevealed so is it certain that, with concentrated effort on remaining balanced and focused on your evolutionary prospects, these aspects will be revealed to you eventually.

Remind your selves often throughout your day to:
1) guard your energy,
2) protect your golden liquid inner self,
3) keep in steady balance in both your inner and your outer worlds,
4) remind your selves that you are mature adults on evolutionary journeys, and
5) abide by the rules of travelers on such journeys.

Your future is already upon you. As you awaken each day your future is present, asking you to remain in balanced inner truth, staying on a path of steady seeking toward discovering who you truly are. This is your greatest talent and your greatest challenge, to find out who you truly are, just you.

NOTE: It seems as if Jeanne wants us to focus more fully on the rules of evolutionary growth, as she once again refers to her earlier reflections on what it means to evolve, contained in the sidebar to the left on this channeling page under Guidance. She is, once again, citing her Rules, Steps, and other suggestions for living and evolving from a heart-centered perspective in today’s message. Good Luck!
-Jan

Chuck's Blog

#474 Chuck’s Place: Projective Fire

Welcome to Chuck’s Place, where Chuck Ketchel expresses his thoughts, insights, and experiences!

My intention this week is to continue the explanation and exploration of the psychological dynamic of projection. My rational syllabus had been to broaden into the non-defensive dimension of projection, where the psyche shows us many parts of our unknown selves as they are reflected upon the screen of our relationships in the world. However, my appreciation of the non-rational phenomena I encounter, in this case a preponderance of synchronistic material, prompts me to focus instead on grappling with the power of projection, which can be so disruptive to our lives. No amount of intellectual knowledge can stem the energetic impact of projection, which ranges emotionally from bliss to terror. We must have tools to reign ourselves in from the dangers of such extremes. Furthermore, our ability to process or gain perspective on what is happening to us when we are caught in a projection is undermined, and of little value, while under the influence of such emotional intensity.

A couple of days ago, I heard a report on NPR about the current state of scientific knowledge regarding the value of releasing anger. With John Lennon’s primal screams in the background, this piece went on to challenge the value of cathartic emotional release. Evidence seems to suggest that the effects of cathartic release are temporary and, in fact, feed the fire, leading to greater emotional intensity; it is a bottomless pit. Despite my utter love for John Lennon and his Plastic Ono Band album, (my favorite album of all time!) I agree, in general, with this research. While it is necessary to empower an individual to have and express feelings that may have been repressed completely, or overly controlled, throughout life, release of feelings is not an end in itself. Release does not guarantee resolution. Resolution requires resolved detachment, as opposed to holding onto justified anger, for instance, which requires ongoing maintenance and essentially keeps one caught in victimhood, remaining oppressed. This continued attachment can also lead to opening the door to archetypal energies and states of possession, which I have explored elsewhere, in Message #456, Healing or Possession.

If the ego becomes debilitated by emotional intensity there can be no mastery and resolution. So, rule number one, in gaining such mastery and resolution over projective energy, is: stay an adult; maintain the integrity of the mature ego. Do not allow the intensity of emotions, such as love, rage, jealousy, or fear, to unseat your ability to remain in adult control of your self. If emotion is going to overwhelm your adult self, it is not time to release the emotion. Of course, the next question is, what to do with intense emotion that is welling up inside?

Intense emotion is fire! If you add wood to the fire it intensifies. Rule number two is, shut down the mind; do not add fuel to the fire! Thoughts provide plenty of dry kindling for a fire; firing rapidly they intensify an emotion. Thoughts might also add pressure to engage in behaviors to uncover more “evidence” of wrongdoing, which can, indeed, further fuel the fire. Allowing intuition, in its negative form, to run amok, like in Alfred Hitchcock’s movie, Suspicion, where projection is allowed to build a story that is totally untrue leading to dire circumstances, provides more fuel for the fire. So, how do we shut this process down?

Rule number three: don’t attach! This is the mantra to say, incessantly, to the self. It states an intent and attracts the energy of intent to support it. Inwardly, it draws a powerful circle around the self, shutting down the projector, keeping the energy of the self, and all its parts, safely contained within. Repeating the mantra, don’t attach, don’t attach, don’t attach, takes attention away from projected objects, and focuses, instead, on finding inner balance. It promotes letting go of thought, a major culprit in projective fire. There will come a time, a time of calm, when meaning and clarity can be applied to the time of intense emotional projective fire. That time is not now, during the encounter with intense emotion. Now is the time of turning inward, holding onto the full integrity of the self, and bringing all of the projected parts home, which removes the threat of loss of self. With this action we can restore balance and calm within.

I find myself turning to the active meditative exercise Jeanne proposed for this weekend, as an excellent tool for dousing the projective fire, in Message #473. Walk through your day with awareness focused on your own liquid gold in a bowl in your hands. Keep your focus steady; maintain calm and balance. You don’t want to spill one drop of your precious gold. Don’t allow your mind to wander, or the bowl might tip. Keep returning your attention to your golden focus. All that is precious, all that is you, is safely contained and balanced in your steady hands.

As always, I am open to discussion or comment. Should anyone wish to write, I can be reached via email at: chuck@riverwalkerpress.com

Until we meet again,
Chuck

Chuck Ketchel, LCSWR