A Day in a Life: Further Explorations In Channeling & The Issue Of Trust

Like the spreading branches of a tree we are all interconnected... in all worlds. Art by Jan Ketchel
Like the spreading branches of a tree we are all interconnected…
in all worlds.
Art by Jan Ketchel

I’ve been channeling Jeanne for more than ten years now. The process began during my recapitulation when she appeared to me and told me to trust her and to trust Chuck. She told me that everything would be okay and that after a three-year-long period of intense inner work I would arrive at a new place, that my life would make sense to me and my purpose be more fully revealed. Everything that she told me then and as the years unfolded has come to pass.

The issue of trust, specifically lack of, was the biggest challenge I had to face. It was at the core of my recapitulation process, the blockage that appeared again and again, pointing out just how deeply wounded I had been by what happened to me in childhood. It had controlled me and every decision and choice I made and I knew I could not let it stay in control. Jeanne pointed this out to me on the first night she appeared to me, stressing that the key to my success would be in learning to trust. She was absolutely right.

I soon discovered that trusting meant learning how to be okay in the world, how to not only trust others but myself and my experiences as well. It meant being confronted with issues of trust over and over again as my defenses slowly chipped away and as I let go, sometimes quite fearfully, of all that had once held me up and together. Without my defenses how could I possibly survive? How could I possibly trust anyone or anything when it had been ingrained in me at a very young age that I could trust no one?

The world was not a safe place; that was a given. Nothing and no one in the world offered safety. For most of my recapitulation I battled my inability to totally trust Chuck, who was by my side, taking the journey with me, and showing only the deepest respect and kindness toward me. Yet even into the third year of deep work the issue of trusting him would arise.

I would hear Jeanne telling me to trust him, to trust my experiences as being real, and to trust that all would be fine in the end. Her messages never changed; she patiently delivered them over and over again, whenever my fears and insecurities arose. Whenever I thought I was going crazy or having hallucinations she would tell me to trust them, that they were meaningful; they were showing me the way to healing. There I was talking to a discarnate being, going out of body while the world was cracking open inside and outside of me, revealing its intricacies and secrets, and yet as soon as I heard her soothing voice I would return to the new normalcy that was slowly constructing, a new life full of trust.

My channeling chair... - Photo by Jan Ketchel
My channeling chair…
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

Once the recapitulation of my childhood was complete a new kind of trust became the challenge and the focus. I was challenged to trust my channeling connection with Jeanne and to take it forward, first to Chuck and then into the world as we struggled to figure out how best to use it and for what purpose. We sought meaning and value, nothing for ourselves, only the means to pass the messages along so that others might hear them.

Neither of us had read Jane Roberts back when her Seth books were all the rage in the 1970s. I didn’t even know about her and Chuck wasn’t interested. Funny that now we find our way to her through a series of synchronicities. So similar are our explorations to hers and her husband Rob’s, as they interacted with Seth and found the best way to meet him more fully and profoundly, that we could almost be reading about ourselves and this process that you are all part of.

Once again, trust comes into play. Can I let myself be completely open and just see what happens as we explore new methods of channeling? I lower myself into the mystery and wonder of it with slight trepidation, much as I lower myself into the cold swimming pool. I don’t hesitate too long though. I always know I’m going to go in, and so I push myself to let go of my fears, real or not, and join the cold water in a delightful embrace. Just as I throw myself into the cold water, so too am I pushing myself to dive into new explorations in channeling.

Those recent explorations have taken us to meet Saleph, River of Consciousness, the name of Jeanne in her wholeness, all her lives joined. She left it up to us to call her that or not and so we have been channeling Saleph for a few weeks now. Last weekend we had a personal conversation with Saleph that was very revealing. We discovered that Saleph delivers different messages from Jeanne.

We talked back and forth to each of them and discovered that Jeanne, being modern and known, responded with greater insight and connection to this world, while Saleph—whom I had felt was far away—responded with more esoteric responses to our questions. All of this made us realize that not only should we be channeling both of them, but also that I, my channeling self, had easy access to both of them simultaneously. I also discovered that I could switch in and out of trance rapidly and easily and that I too, Jan, could engage in the conversation. I don’t have to just be a channel. Once I realized that, it felt as if I had broken through a final barrier.

These explorations are broadening our understanding of what it means to channel and also how to embody it naturally all the time. This takes trust! I am not so bold or confident, I guess, as some channels. I have had to overcome my shyness and I care deeply that the messages be helpful and meaningful. I would never intentionally cause harm, and so I have been slightly afraid to be so open, afraid of what might come out, but I am trusting that in some way the words will always be right. I also know that I am safe too; I have been well trained to guard my energy and only use it when appropriate.

We are excited by these new discoveries and hope to involve you all in the unfolding process, bringing you new messages from both Jeanne and Saleph, in conversation with us too. The funny thing is that all we had to do was try out a few simple changes and be innocently open and trusting. Trust, it’s that important!

The evolving self will naturally rise to the challenge... - Photo by Chuck Ketchel
The evolving self will naturally rise to the challenge…
– Photo by Chuck Ketchel

I trust that all of you, our readers and listeners, will put trust to the test and see what happens in your own lives too. Releasing blockages through recapitulation enables for the process to flow, but keep in mind that setbacks are part of the process and should be respected and taken seriously.

Be gentle and firm, daring to dive into the cold water of recapitulation knowing full well that in that water you too will be safely embraced and given all that you need. In so doing you will learn what it truly means to trust. It’s all about trusting the self, finding safety in the world of the whole self, learning to trust all that you are and all the gifts you are given every day. Whether you view them as gifts or not upon receipt, as life unfolds you will eventually realize that they are gifts indeed! Trust that!

As Jeanne always says, “Everything will be fine!”
Jan

Soulbyte for Thursday August 14, 2014

In deep contemplation of the New Self know that you have already come far, through the darkness and into the light. Your direction certain, your warrior sword drawn, pointed inward and outward simultaneously and in balanced perspective, forge onward.

Introspection, contemplation, truth and honesty are your constant companions. Acknowledge them and bring them astride your steady steed as you make your way along your path of heart. Unwaveringly staying upon your path—and without turning back except to say, “Yes, I know” and “Yes, I remember” and “Yes, I release” and “Yes, I move on now fully healed”—your eyes will remain focused on the forward intent you have set for yourself and worked so hard for.

Now is the birthing stage. New life is at hand. Occupy it.

Soulbyte for Wednesday August 13, 2014

What does a warrior ultimately seek? What is a warrior’s sword used for? The answers: a warrior seeks the self; a warrior uses a sword to cut through all that comes to thwart progress. There is no other goal than to know the self in the deepest and fullest sense.

Time now to keep going, like a warrior to cut through time and space, to cut through the past and the present, to embrace the energy of all that lies within and take the self forward in a new direction. You have done the work to get here. Now is the time of continuation.

Do not stop or hesitate, but carry the self forward with the energy of change fueling your warrior spirit!

Chuck’s Place: Safety

One of the scary dogfighters in the sky... - Photo by Jan Ketchel
One of the scary dogfighters in the sky…
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

As we drove past the Rhinebeck Aerodrome in the midst of a dogfight in the sky, a golden retriever with leash dragging scurried toward our car. I stopped, opened the car door, and the dog immediately leaped in and planted itself on my lap.

I could feel the dog’s terror and need for safety. He was at home with us and would have moved forward in life from that moment, never leaving our safety, never looking back. We diligently went in search of it’s owner and eventually discovered his whereabouts. He was deeply engrossed in the planes in the sky, with no consideration of his dog’s terror of loud noises. The dog was so planted in our car, clinging for dear life, that I ultimately and sadly had to lift its frozen statue frame from the car to send it back on its journey. We watched as it was led away, slunk low to the ground, peering to the right and to the left, seeking safety once again as the bombs went off overhead.

Domesticated animals are ultimately dependent on their “owners” for their safety and survival. This is the contract they make in domesticated form. Though their instincts are fully available to protect them, their survival is largely delegated to their owner.

Humans, in contrast, are charged with taking adult responsibility for achieving safety for themselves in this life. Many humans reach adulthood unable to fully achieve individual internal security due to lapses in milestones of emotional maturity, caused by trauma or compromised parents. The legacy of these lapses is a physically mature but emotionally insecure adult who anxiously seeks relationship attachments outside the self to feel safe.

These kinds of relationships may feel powerfully necessary for survival and the threat of losing them generates states of anxiety and panic similar to that of the golden retriever that anxiously attached to us and the safety of our car. Relationships driven by such anxious attachment often start off with intense love feelings—finally feeling “home”—but generally degenerate into worry, panic, and fear of abandonment.

Relationships at this level are often frozen at the level of dependency, control, and fear, leaving little opportunity for adult companionship and relatedness. This is inherent in the relationship’s initial underlying intent: safety. Until safety can be found within the self, relationships will be controlled by an over-dependency on the other person’s behavior as the locus of control for inner safety.

We must become the parent to our inner panicking child. If we allow the child’s anxiety to control our decision making and actions, we are sure to engage in external parenting relationships as we allow the child in us to go in search of a secure person to latch onto, just like the dog that leapt into our car. Our adult self must be in charge of decision making and self care. If our child self is frightened it might be time to pick it up and go for a soothing walk alone rather than desperately seek inappropriate attention elsewhere.

Blossoming as one united being... - Photo by Chuck Ketchel
Blossoming as one united being…
– Photo by Chuck Ketchel

Eventually, the child will discover that the adult self is its one true parent, the one that can take charge of decisions for the whole personality, leading it to safety, play, and fulfillment. From this place, with the locus of control coming from a place of deep inner safety, relationships may be engaged in as adult partnerships, with everyone responsible for their own inner parenting.

Self care at the deepest level is the only adult ticket to true inner safety. Inner safety leads to outer blossoming and allows for flourishing in true adult relationship.

Embracing inner safety,
Chuck

Soulbyte for Tuesday August 12, 2014

Engage not the old energies, nor the frailties of the old self, but stay focused on your path of heart, even though that which is done will seek to pull you back.

This is a time of between worlds and your warrior’s sword will now come in handy. Use it wisely, not to injure or harm self or other but only to cut through that which encumbers so you can move on to that which you already have tasted and know as your destiny.

Life in the between worlds is murky with the old coming to show you its pleasures, but remember, those pleasures offer little real comfort, for they are but momentary delights. The real delight lies in the new world that you are creating for yourself.

Take up your sword and fight your way forward. This is the battle for freedom that all warriors must engage in, in the between worlds as well as in the inner and outer worlds. Fight on!

Chuck Ketchel, LCSWR