Acknowledge first that you are human and as a human being you too are fallible. You too are capable of brutal acts. You too are due to do wrong at some point in your life. Do not dismiss the truth of evil within the self, for it exists as surely as the good exists within the self. Now look at the self as a spiritual being. Note that the same considerations must apply, for even in spirit are all beings capable of good and evil alike.
As conscious citizens of the world, it is your duty to remain conscious of good and evil at all times. Question the self constantly as to whether the thoughts you put out are harmful or not, whether the decisions you make are contributing to an energy that is good or bad. Use your energy wisely, for all of you are responsible for the world you live in. Do not leave it to a few to make the decisions that affect the many. Everyone has energetic impact.
In your own hearts you know right from wrong, love from hate. You know that your energy is powerful. Now is the time for you to use it powerfully in all that you set out to do. Abide by the laws of love and kindness, compassion and good. Be citizens of a new energetic morality that springs from the eternal knowledge of life as energy and each of you as energy as well. Elect a consciousness of good, and live with a gentle presence in the world. Elect to be compassionate and loving.
Elect to change the self now more fully, for there is no time to waste. Do not look outside the self for change, but look within. Society at large will not change until each one of you turn inward and rout out the dismal enemies that you carry within; until you purify your being, body and spirit; until your energy flows freely and lovingly toward all beings; until hatred is eradicated from you and all beings are accepted as energy too.
Change the self constantly. Confront the self constantly. Move into simpler life now, as you embrace the needs of a nation and a world for greater change.
Each of you matters in this process. If it is to have lasting impact, each one of you must be involved in an energetic shift away from excess and greed to the real deal, which is that life is precious. You have it for such a short time. Do something magnificent with your time there. By setting your intent to do so, you will have an impact on the shift that is now so necessary.
Be gentle and loving in thought, word, and deed—inwardly, to the self—as you face your deepest issues and deal with those. Get to your own roots and eventually you will get to the roots of everything and everyone, for the same roots grow through all living beings.
Be aware and conscious as you take your heart’s speak seriously. Take it more fully into your world now, for you and the world need it.
Chuck’s father playing taps for FDR on the day of his death…the day the nation lost its father…
When father appears in dreams or active imagination, look beyond personal father; look to the rules, judgments, beliefs, and attitudes that inwardly dominate your personality. Though he may bear the image of personal father, we all have an inner father that is our own, separate and distinct from the father of our conception.
Ego self is the child of the father. It remains for the maturing ego to confront the father’s rule. This takes the form of discovering the beliefs, attitudes, and judgments that govern perceptions and rule behaviors. This process can be quite challenging as the edicts of the father may be quite contrary to how the ego views itself and wants to be in the world. The energy and sternness of the inner father may be quite a formidable force and young ego might feel itself quite incapable of taking charge.
Sometimes ego self elects to blindly be ruled by the constraints of the father. Sometimes ego self identifies and emboldens itself with the opinions of father, never daring to discover its own true nature. Sometimes ego self, like a young Nero, assumes the emperor’s throne, assuming power with childlike exuberance and entitlement, becoming a little self-indulgent tyrant. This immature grab for power refuses to encounter and discriminate the wisdom of the fathers before assuming control, an obvious recipe for disaster, like the burning of Rome that ended Nero’s reign. Ultimately, ego self must assume the journey of true self-discovery, the Hero’s Journey, or remain forever a child, governed by the commandments of the almighty father.
It’s true!
Kronos, King of the Titans, ruled the heavens without challenge, as he forced his wife Rhea, to deliver each of their children directly to him upon their births for his consumption. Finally, Rhea, fed up with him—no pun intended—cleverly substituted a stone which she gave to Kronos instead of her next baby who upon birth was named Zeus. Ultimately, Zeus defeated his father and a new era was allowed to be born. Here is the obvious lesson of ego self taking control and ousting the father so that new life may flourish unencumbered.
As the Mayan calendar comes to a close, we too find ourselves on the brink of a new era, where old judgments, attitudes, beliefs, and rules are giving way to a new order. The signs are everywhere. The demise of the old Republican party protecting unbridled greed is one sure sign, as is the truth of global warming coming to the fore, as we face what we humans have done to our planet. In addition, gay marriage is now the law in many states; a Black president has been reelected, his rule no longer an impulsive fluke of the electorate. A woman president is undoubtedly next. These are all outward changes to appropriately wresting power from the domineering father of old and establishing new guidelines for a healthy and fulfilling life.
The Hero’s Journey requires that we venture beyond the father’s reach, that is, go beyond the conventional wisdom we’ve internalized that dictates the conclusions of our mind. We must be ready to accept full responsibility for discovering and taking charge of the truth, inner and outer, becoming like Zeus and defeating Kronos within us. We must also be prepared to accept the shattering that catapults us from the comfortable confines of socialization and the known; the shattering that is inevitable if we are to disengage father from our beings. We are not who we think we are; our minds are not our own until we make them so.
We must take ownership of our inner father, and become like Zeus defeating his father’s vicious entitlement. Ultimately, what that means is that we must confront all the beliefs and attitudes that have comfortably ruled us and protected us from our deeper truths and the greater unknown, both within and without. We must face our own destinies as individuals on our own journeys to fulfillment.
A new inner father breeds contentment…
Only through taking the Hero’s journey now, at this most energetic juncture in our lifetimes, can we participate in the world renewal and transformation that is indeed imbued in the energy of 2012. It’s a personal thing as well as a global thing—one massive interdependent whole delivering itself from the anachronistic father, into a new era.
I am aware that I am fully responsible for myself, for my mental, physical, and spiritual health. I am aware that life on this plane, on earth, constantly offers every opportunity to experience all that I seek. I am also aware that life constantly offers the opportunity to change myself, and my circumstances, but that it’s up to me to take the leap, to decide that now is the time to take a leap of faith and trust that life and the universe will support me.
Through a great part of this life I sought something outside of myself to bring me into balance: a lifestyle, a partner, children, a career, a spiritual practice, nature and the surety of the unfolding of each day as each sun rises and each moon sets and each moment leads to the next. All of these things are positive and important events in the life of an evolving being seeking wholeness, but as I journeyed further I began to discover that I no longer needed to look outside of myself so much anymore, for I held much of the balance I sought within. But even so, as I journeyed on, new things constantly arose, blips on the horizon that signaled something coming into my world, perhaps good, perhaps bad, perhaps nothing important at all. But I still had to decide what to do with what approached, whatever it might be.
What approaches most significantly now is anticipation itself, a restless wondering. It has been on the horizon for a long time now, in the coming of the Winter solstice on 12/21/12. We’ve all heard about it, as well as a lot of hoopla about the world ending. On the other hand, I cannot dismiss that hoopla, for I understand how important it is, how even hoopla can wake us up so that we take notice of something. Even hoopla offers opportunities: to regroup, to get into balance, to face the truths of ourselves and really change, finally becoming who we know we really are, allowing what we are capable of at the deepest level to emerge and fully live.
I also know what holds us back: FEAR—fear of making a fool of ourselves, fear of failure, fear of facing the honest truth of the choices and decisions we’ve made and why, fear of what others might think of us, fear that we are doing it all wrong. Fear that someone outside of us will judge, condemn, ridicule or taunt us burdens us so greatly that we let lots of opportunities go by. Oh, I couldn’t do that! What would people say!
What do we fear and why?
If we take all that energy that is going into being afraid, into wondering what will happen on 12/21/12, and instead of projecting it outwardly decide to focus on ourselves, we might begin to feel that great anticipation in a different way. If we pause and sit with what is inside us, as Jeanne suggests in Monday’s message, we might realize that our spirit is indeed anticipating change, eagerly awaiting our decisions. And not just on that date, but in general, for we live in a time of great change all the time. Jeanne has told us this many times and this statement is repeated often, not only among the spiritual communities, but in the mass media as well. It all depends on how you elect to interpret what that means. Does it mean someone else is responsible for that change? Or does it mean, as I am suggesting, that we are all responsible for daring to change ourselves. Now is a good time to sit and contemplate the change that our spirits might be anticipating, actually yearning for.
The solstice marks the ending of one season and the beginning of another, and it happens every year, twice a year to be exact, in summer and winter, as the sun reaches its highest and its lowest points relative to the equator. This is a natural occurrence that marks a shift; it always has and it always will. That’s nature working as nature does. Have we humans become so disconnected from nature that we don’t naturally feel this shift anymore? And why is this one supposedly so different? Is it in fact any different from this year’s summer solstice, or last year’s winter solstice? Is it only different because we’ve been told it is? Do we have to be shaken out of our complacency by the anticipation of something big occurring before we dare to take responsibility for ourselves, for thinking for ourselves, for acting independently in our best interests as citizens of the natural world, and as spiritually interconnected beings?
What is on the horizon for us all?
Many of us go through life afraid to change. We must be forced into it. Forced change comes in many forms: illness, divorce, death, birth, accident, loss, sudden and unexpected shifts in our world. In my case, forced change came in a barrage of unrelenting flashbacks that I could no longer ignore. Those flashbacks were synchronistically supported by the universe presenting me with all kinds of situations and truths. And so I knew that the only relief I would get was in facing my deepest issues and releasing myself from the hold they had on me. That was the catalyst to my doing a shamanic recapitulation: I could no longer hide from what was naturally occurring inside my own psyche! The psyche in imbalance, just as nature in imbalance, has its own ways of alerting us to change.
This is the other aspect of what we are all facing now as 12/21/12 looms on the horizon: the truth of the great imbalance that we humans have wrought upon this earth. We are out of balance with nature and have been for a long time. And yet, this natural phenomenon, a yearly solstice, portends to shake us up. The hoopla around this event is created by us, but in order to balance all that hoopla brewing outside of us, we must dare to face what is rising up inside of us first.
Keeping in mind that we are responsible for our progress in life—for our maturity, our spiritual growth, our ability to successfully navigate life—and if we remain open to changing ourselves now, we might succeed in giving ourselves the catalyst we need to make this next step of change really matter. Begin where you are. Begin where you are in your inner world and in your personal outer world.
I have long sought balance, achieving it quite successfully for long periods of time, and yet life does not let us get complacent. It seeks to shake us up. How many times must it shake us awake before we realize that it’s offering us the answers we’ve been seeking, and the only way to receive the gifts that life offers is to trust that they will be there for us? It’s an ethereal thing, this life, for in reality it’s nothing more than an illusion of moments, piles of moments. What makes those moments important and significantly meaningful is what we choose to do with them. Do we choose to face our issues and accept them as our catalysts to change? Can we all accept 12/21/12 as our personal wakeup call, no matter what happens outside of us? Can we dare ourselves to take the next step to a new level of existence, coexistence, mutual consideration and caring for all beings, and bear our truths, just as we ask our planet to bear what we have done to it?
It’s time to beat a different drum…
If we change ourselves, part of the world has changed. The more people who elect to change themselves, the more the world will change. There is power in that kind of change, in numbers of people electing to change themselves for the right reasons: because all living beings are equal, because our planet is a living thing too.
The solstice will arrive. I suggest trusting nature and the universe to guide us, to show us the way to true balance, as we each acquiesce to our own truths and take full responsibility for ourselves as individuals and as citizens of the world. Nature balances by constantly giving and taking, in tension and release, in yin and yang, in contraction and expansion.
What must we take and what must we give up in order to regain our personal balance, to relieve our personal imbalance? The only way to truly figure this out is to pull inward and release what is holding us back from our true experiences as living beings.
Remember, it’s a process, so don’t be too rigid; keep in mind that balance requires flexibility. Nature is challenging us to get in balance, because it’s time.
Dear Jeanne: What message do you have for us today?
Notice polarity and tension, notice imbalance in your lives and seek to remedy these most unnatural states of being. Notice how your lives present you with so many options and yet how you gravitate to the same ones.
Becoming part of the natural balance of all things requires that awareness of self and surroundings be keen, that your place in the grand scheme of things be a priority. In this adjustment of self in the universe—in your own home universe of body, mind, and spirit first—you will eventually be led to a new balance in relationship to all other beings and the universe-at-large. Relationship that is mature, grounded in nature, and that flows through you in a life that is lived in simple balance—as you learn how to both give and take within the natural balance of all things—is the key to happiness upon that earth.
All beings will benefit if each one of you correct your personal imbalances—your extremes, your polarities. With your desires checked, your inner balance calm and accepting of all you do as part of a process of growth, so will your journey through life be rewarding. This process entails constantly learning what it means to be in balance with all living beings, while at the same time letting go of self-discrimination and judgment, freeing the self of old ideas, while simultaneously accepting full responsibility for the journey you are on.
Nature constantly adjusts…
Seek balance in the middle way, traveling the middle road, taking the middle path, for that is where the Earth itself constantly seeks its own balance. In between birth and death, between light and dark, between near and far, between inner and outer is there always a midpoint where all contentions, disagreements, externalized projections and internalized disputes will find a place of rest and contemplation.
This place of rest upon the middle road offers mature and sober distance from the polarity of everyday contention—inner and outer—offering clarity and insight not otherwise achieved, and thus the balance required for full commitment to a path of growth and change in balance with all living things may be gained.
Be conscious of the self today as you experience the energy outside of you. This is the place to start. The outer energy may be experienced as quite powerful, and so balance will be found in turning deeper inward, as you ask the self why you feel drawn toward that outward pull, knowing full well that it is extreme and will only lead to imbalance once again. In inward contemplation will you discover that the outer tension will soon dissipate and balance be regained.
Contemplate the middle way…
Gaining personal inner-outer balance is the first step to gaining better balance overall and this is what I suggest doing today: Question everything you are pulled to, pausing for a moment to determine if it is right or wrong for you to engage in. Make your decisions based on what you know already by your previous experiences and on what comes to you during this pause. This is where balanced guidance comes from, from deep within the self. Though its voice may be hard to hear at first, the longer you sit with it, the better you will hear its words of wisdom.
You will experience a new mature self in balance with nature and all living things more often as you do this practice. The energy of this new mature self has the potential to spread into the lives of all other living beings upon that planet, for you are all part of the greater universe. Your true wisdom lies in gaining balance so that you may tap into its healing power and its knowledge of the far greater unseen energy of a universe in balance, all aspects traveling along the same middle road.
Thank you to Jeanne for this most inspiring message, especially as we come into a time that is traditionally a time of extremes, with overconsumption and overspending being the old way. The world needs us all to do something different now. What will our choices be as individuals and as a whole? I think it matter greatly.
Most humbly channeled with my deepest gratitude to Jeanne and all of you for being part of this journey. -Jan
Don Juan was clear: invite the intent of the Shamans of Ancient Mexico into your life and it will flow through you.
When Carlos Castaneda wrote The Wheel of Time, he was struck by the realization that a very ancient intent had methodically guided his 13 year apprenticeship in the shaman’s world. I recognize that since my early childhood, from the age of six when I lived in New Mexico, my life has unfolded under the influence of that same intent. Of course I did not know that at the time, nor am I anything special now, but I recognize that it flows through me nonetheless, advancing its evolutionary agenda: the advancement of human consciousness into its energetic dimensions. We are all energetic beings. When are we going to get that this is our true nature?
We have all heard about the “fiscal cliff.” In fact we are indeed on a cliff, though the “fiscal cliff” is a manufactured construction that distracts us from the real cliff and the real dangers we all face. Astrologer Len Wallick writes: Anybody who is conscious knows that Earth is already in crisis. Anybody who is practical knows that the crisis confronting our planet was brought on by human beings. We have mined the oceans to depletion, deforested nearly all of the land, and poisoned the air. Clearly some type of ascension is in order.
He goes on to say: Indications are that the only deliverance to be had will be what we provide for each other, which could lead to some amazing results if enough people accept that responsibility. *
That ascension, I believe, is in living life differently, as energetic beings, finally embracing and utilizing our greatest human potential. Energetic beings recognize that everything has life, that everything has equal value, and that everything is part of the same interdependent world of energy. From this place, the greed of selfhood über alles, the culprit behind our current cliff, is dismantled and we shift into balance.
The Shamans of Ancient Mexico exposed the pursuit of self-importance as the energetic fixation that has led us to the cliff. In today’s world, technology has delivered us Facebook, twitter, etc., and although their value in advancing the ability to communicate and share information rapidly is undeniable, their very deep shadow is self-importance and it is indeed leading us to a cliff.
Facebook is now the alternative abstract universe that the bulk of the world lives in, email now an ancient relic. Walk down any street, drive on any road—the majority of eyes are cast downward, checking the latest notifications so readily delivering their energetic charges. New York City last weekend was the quietest I’ve experienced it in decades. People quietly read and text. Even phone messages or direct dialogue are becoming obsolete as staying connected all the time monopolizes the bulk of human energy. The energetic fixation on feeling worthy, valued, loved, and connected through electronic means has absorbed the lion’s share of humanity’s attention. This brand of self-importance distracts us from our evolutionary potential and positions us on the cliff. This is not interdependence, this is codependence centered around the needs of the self.
I am an energetic being…and so are you!
Family, tribe, possession, accumulation, specialness—are these not the attachments at the heart of the Middle East crisis, bringing the entire world to teeter on the brink of yet another cliff? As energetic beings, everyone and everything is family. Everything is equally interconnected, equally valuable. As an energetic being there is no possession, no accumulation—how could there be? Everything is as it is, in its place, part of an interconnected whole. As an energetic being there is nothing to attach to, for everything is constantly changing, flowing—through you and me, and through everyone and everything else too.
Attachment freezes the true nature of reality, and this is what brings us to the cliff. This is what has wrecked our planet and brought us to the global warming cliff, the climate change cliff. As energetic beings, we all share equally; we are the same energy coursing through the same interconnected whole. Mutual interdependence focuses on maintaining the necessary energetic balances that keep our world safe from falling off the cliff.
The intent of the Shamans of Ancient Mexico has moved through me to completely revision PTSD. As Jan pointed out in her blog** this week: PTSD is completely curable through the shamanic practice of recapitulation. I take no personal credit for this discovery. I am simply a vessel of this ancient intent moving through time, finding relevance in what I do. I’ve been available to accept it into my life and work and so it flows through me. In addition to the healing potential of recapitulation, the evolutionary imperative of the shaman’s intent—that all beings discover and utilize their energetic potential—is revealed and given credence as it is experienced and trusted in the unfolding of the recapitulation process.
Also, as Jan pointed out, the two of us have completely allowed our practice and our weekly messages to spread and evolve on the wings of energetic intent. What we need appears; what needs us finds us. That is where we live now, on an energetic plane. To get here is not a leap of faith, but an energetic leap that has already been taken by many others. This is the leap our world must make now too, ascension to life on the energetic plane, always within our midst.
Ancient healing intent…
This is the road to taking true responsibility, leading to a new way of living that supports and balances the interdependent coalition of all beings. As we free the vast pool of energy currently fixated on self-importance we are able to step back from the cliff and take stock of who we truly are, energetic beings, one and all.
Chuck
* You can read Astrologer Len Wallick’s full article here.
