Chuck’s Place: Recapitulation As A Rite of Initiation

March 23, 2012 Chuck Leave a comment

The purpose of initiation is to provide a viable bridge for crossing from one stage of self to another. The child, who must become an adult, must be released from a deep instinctual longing for symbiotic comfort and fully move forward into adult fulfillment.

Photo by Jan — The road ahead may be unclear as we stumble forward into adulthood...

If that deep instinctual longing is not transformed into adult aims, what ensues, as we move through the life cycle, is a splintering of self. That uninitiated, splintered self, with no clear bridge to cross, is left to deal with its fragments as best it can as it stumbles forward, unprepared, into adult life. Of necessity, a present self, an adult self of sorts, will be forged, charged with adapting to the flow and expectations of everyday life. Denied, splintered parts of the self will take up residence in the background of the psyche, separate selves with separate needs, islands of discontent and protest, creating disturbance in the great sea of the self.

Indigenous human ancestors performed initiation rites to safely transport youth into full-fledged adulthood, thus creating a definite bridge between childhood and adult life. These rites forced the initiate into ritual sacrifice that consisted of some form of wounding, be it circumcision, a solo journey, or other form of transformative encounter. Survivors of the ordeal were then welcomed back into the community, in adult roles now, never to return to their childhood homes. Through a deeply meaningful process, longing was transformed into love and protection of the greater community and finding a mate to create one’s own nuclear family.

Collective initiation rites have long since faded from the human landscape. Modern humans are largely left to their own devices to navigate through major life transitions. Recapitulation is such a device to successfully traverse life changes. Through recapitulation we gather up the multiplicity of our splintered selves, take a ritual solo journey, and launch a united self into life’s fulfillment.

Recapitulation, like all initiation rites, incorporates sacrifice. In recapitulation the present self enters the world of the younger self and bears witness to and personally experiences the feelings, physical sensations, needs and confusions of its splintered self.

The most important task of the recapitulation process is for the adult self to be fully present, to take the journey without judgment, as the truths of life lived are revealed in intimate detail. Sometimes the process unfolds slowly, in piecemeal recall; at other times in rapid-fire reliving, like a labor that can’t be stopped until the total experience is fully birthed.

The ability of the adult self to remain fully present with the younger self through the contractions of this birthing process allows the defensive structures that held back secrets and maintained separation to be dismantled once and for all—they are no longer necessary.

The deepest needs of the splintered self are met through the stable presence of the adult self. No matter what shape that adult self is in, it must remain firmly present, even though it must also face the same fear, shame, anger, hatred, etc. that the younger self encounters as it relives its experiences. As the adult self reencounters experiences alongside the younger self, it must constantly reassert its present state of knowing, maintaining balanced awareness of the two worlds it must navigate through. It must bring to bear tools and guidance that the younger self did not have available, constantly reasserting its mature knowledge of how the world and the psyche work.

As the younger self faces the past head on, the adult self aids the process as the journey unfolds, gradually growing in acceptance of and love for the younger self and the journey taken. Eventually, this integration process of acceptance and love extends to loving and caring for the present adult self as well. Thus, the energy and aims of the younger self are allowed to be born and integrated into the evolving whole of the present self, manifesting in real life changes of attitude, appearance, and behavior. This is change. This is transformation. We are then freed, a new present adult self fully ready to take up the task of living our unlived life. This is recapitulation launching us into individuation, wholeness, and fulfillment.

This ancient practice of recapitulation is fully available in modern times, but in contrast to the collective initiation rites of our ancestors, it can only be done on an individual basis. Who else could recapitulate my life but me?

Though others can facilitate and support, the process of becoming whole requires taking a journey of assimilation within the self. And that assimilation requires a mature present self willing to embrace and endure the full process, as the truth of the self is revealed.

In the recapitulating of past woundings the adult self goes through the necessary initiation to cross the bridge into fuller adulthood and fuller responsibility for life lived and life yet to unfold. This endurance of old woundings is the sacrifice necessary to free the stifled energy of splintered selves into finding real life in the evolving wholeness of the present self.

In taking the solo journey to assimilation we free ourselves to fully live in this lifetime, as caring, loving individuals, and we have no idea what that might mean until we are there, living it!

Chuck

Jan's Blog

A Day in a Life: Petty Tyrants & The Quiet One Within

March 21, 2012 Jan Leave a comment

Art and Photo by Jan — Petty tyrants come in many forms.

Petty Tyrants come in many forms and present us with many disturbing quandaries. I recently faced a petty tyrant, not a person I had perceived as such before, and it took me a few days to realize that I had been challenged very deeply. My petty tyrant ascertained that I must, of course, feel a certain way.

“No, actually, I don’t feel that way at all,” I responded. But almost immediately a small voice inside me posed a question. “Am I doing something wrong?” it wanted to know, and a feeling that I’m not doing life properly set in. I’m a disappointment. I’m bad. I don’t uphold certain conventions of family, of relationship, the structures of society that are often perceived as so proper and utterly necessary: this is how things are done and if you don’t uphold these standards then something is wrong with you. I was uncomfortable in that moment. A shadow descended and stayed with me for days before I finally realized that a petty tyrant had come into my midst.

A petty tyrant, according to the Seers of Ancient Mexico, is anyone or thing that makes us question ourselves, makes us angry, puts us on the defensive, affronts us or makes us feel foolish, diminished, unworthy. They come to fool with us, to challenge us, and to ask us to face our true selves. Unfathomed by boundaries they slip into our lives and wreak havoc, wrecking our staunch perceptions of the world. Judging, condescending, and selfish, they criticize us and pummel our egos.

In psychological terms, a petty tyrant bears our projections; our deepest issues and fears are placed on another, while we unconsciously ask them to carry them for us. In turn we may despise this other person, find fault with them, disagree with them, and overall find their company disturbing and uncomfortable.

We can stay attached to our petty tyrants for years. We begin our lives with them, in our parents, our teachers, our siblings, our childhood friends and foes. Often they follow us into adulthood, deeply embedded inside us. Along for the ride they find new residence in others we meet and interact with, in those we marry and have relationships with.

In my book, The Man in the Woods, book one of The Recapitulation Diaries, I write of my process of facing the petty tyrants that had haunted and controlled me far into adulthood. I confronted not only people but also ideas, thoughts, and beliefs that had been ingrained in the natural process of growing up in the family and society I encountered during childhood.

Later, in adulthood, with those conventions still active, I lived steeped in great inner conflict. Uncertain as to what was so wrong with me, I nonetheless knew that I was deeply wounded. However, I could not allow myself to attach much significance to that deep inner truth, for I had been taught that it was selfish to even think about the self in any way. Time and thoughts were meant to be utilized in the rational world, in being part of an external world that I found deeply disturbing.

It was not until I faced the disturbing world inside myself that I was finally able to release myself from that disturbing outer world that I just could not find a foothold in. Through recapitulating everything about myself, by allowing myself to be selfish enough to do deep inner exploration, I found my way through a myriad of false impressions and beliefs. Fully conscious, I faced and did battle with all manner of petty tyrants during my recapitulation. I reconnected with my inner spirit, the quiet one within, who had been calling to me for decades, asking me to find her again and live her life, a life of individuality and freedom, open to a far greater world than the conventional, rational, fearful one I had grown up in.

I think I did a pretty good job of recapitulating, so that when I recently found myself being challenged to react in an expected way, I immediately recoiled. “No, I don’t think that way at all!” But in the next second I found myself stumbling before this mighty view of reality. I faltered in the face of expectation that, of course, I would give the correct, pat answer, that I would agree, conventional boundaries upheld, the world as it should be, undisturbed.

In the second that I stumbled, I became inarticulate, and the inner child self immediately stepped in and asked that old question, “Oh dear, am I bad? Am I heartless, cold and unfeeling because I don’t think like that anymore?”

Now I see that I was set up to confront the decisions I make every day as I continue my journey. I have been offered such freedom as I have shed old world structures and ideas that I no longer believe in or care to uphold. No, I was being challenged to more firmly realize just how committed I am to my path.

For a short while my foot wavered as I lifted it, ready to take my next step. Where would I put it down? Would I let it fall back in an old world, simply for convention’s sake, to appease the petty tyrant? Or would I let it fall solidly on the path I have been on for so long now, committed to following my spirit, in spite of what others might think of me? Could I shed my ego in more ways than one, inflated ego and deflated ego alike, and stay true to my evolving spirit self?

As I put my foot firmly down on my spiritual path, solidly aligned with my recapitulating self, I also acknowledged the role of the petty tyrants in my life. Those petty tyrants do indeed still step out of the shadows and challenge me. Some of them I am used to. I meet them regularly enough and I am rarely thrown by them. But there are others, friends and strangers alike, who offer more abrupt and unexpected challenges. And then the question becomes, whom do I disappoint, them or my spirit? I choose the path of my spirit every time, even if it takes me a few days to realize that I have been wavering, confused, doggedly pursued by a petty tyrant.

Now, having recognized the situation for what it was, I am once again back on track, seeking balance in this world while simultaneously exploring the meaning and possibilities that lie ahead, in this world and all worlds.

As boundaries between worlds constantly dissolve, I find that we are all petty tyrants, to ourselves as well as to others. We challenge as much as we are challenged. Can we accept ourselves in such roles? In addition, I have discovered that my inner spirit is my own greatest petty tyrant, the quiet one within who constantly challenges me to keep questioning and keep questing. Who are your petty tyrants and how do they challenge you?

Recapitulating in everyday life is the way to keep changing and growing, to stay connected to the quiet one within, the inner spirit self who, we discover, knows all.

Much love to you all, as you take your journeys,

Jan

Messages from Jeanne

Readers of Infinity: Seek Goodness

March 19, 2012 Jan Leave a comment

Here is a message from Jeanne.

Be not afraid to speak the truth, to act truthfully, and to be true. At all times act from your hearts.

Even as I repeatedly suggest acting always from your heart, allowing it to guide you, so do I suggest that it become your most trusted guide. For heart-centered goodness must become the new norm.

In honest appraisal and in honest conversation will change that is truly good arise. In being honest with the self first will honest interaction be possible between partners and beings of acquaintance alike. Only in truthful and honest interaction will a world change be possible, as well as change in the lives of those closest to you.

It is time now for honesty with self regarding the deepest issues that plague you, My Dears. Whether they are simple and fairly inconsequential or quite profound and confusing, if you do not face them your progress will falter and you will struggle needlessly. Remind the self always that you carry within all the answers you need. Remind yourself also that you carry within all the problems you need too. Attend within and then carry without all the goodness you find there, for you will indeed find goodness within.

The way to goodness and light resides in your daily process of self-discovery, change, and growth. Set your intent to seek always the light within. Ask it to guide you to discover your heart, your goodness, and your truth. Light the way to your future with that light from within. Through your darkness it lies, always waiting for you, with open arms, full of love and light.

Look within and without for your answers. Seek balance. Seek your heart’s truth. Ask it to guide you so that you may find your way to happiness and a long life full of goodness. Yes, it does exist! For each of you!

Most humbly, and with love, channeled by Jan Ketchel.

Chuck's Blog

Chuck’s Place: Intent In A Dense World

March 16, 2012 Chuck Leave a comment

When we dream, our physically dense bodies lie dormant while our awareness takes flight in lighter energetic configurations, what the Shamans call our energy bodies. We learn, in dreaming, that movement is governed by intent. For instance, when we state the intents, “I fly now,” “clarity now,” “wake up now,” in our dreams, these intents immediately occur. They occur because we have called these intents. Commanding intent in dreaming controls the direction a dream will take.

In dreaming, we experience our awareness in an energy state of a higher vibration that is freed to move on the wings of intent. In contrast, the physical body and the physical world are energy states of much greater density, a lower vibrational world of solid objects. Our awareness, in the solid world, is weighed down by the denseness of objects and our physicality, and these are indeed spellbinding in their solidness. In the experience of this denseness, we forget that we are also energetic beings capable of creating our reality through intent.

Solid reality holds in check the imagination, a higher vibrational energy state that accesses intent. Solid reality prefers rationality and Newtonian physics to clearly define itself and its possibilities. Under its hegemony possibilities beyond the rational are deemed a waste of time, fanciful imaginings, or simply irrational meanderings of no value in a solid world.

However, the truth is that our solid world of objects is also a world of energy, however tightly compacted that energy may be in solid form. And in the world of energy, intent, not rationality, rules. In the world of energy, change happens through intent.

If you want to change your life, focus your intent very specifically on the changes you seek. The greatest obstacle to calling intent is not believing in its possibility; hence, arguing with oneself and others about the validity of doing it leads to interference with exercising intent. If it doesn’t seem rational we simply refuse to do it, or do it so halfheartedly that intent is given conflicting signals.

The Shamans suggest that we not engage in belief, but that we suspend judgment and act by stating our intent anyway. See what happens. That’s what I call a legitimate scientific experiment.

The second obstacle to calling intent is the expectation that it manifest immediately, as we intend it. My experience, in this dense world, is that intent may take a wiley, unexpected course as it works its way with the dense energy of this dimension. However, ultimately, the intent does manifest in this world of solid objects.

We can access intent more directly through the practices handed down by all spiritual traditions. Spirit traditions are practiced in the realm of the spirit—the higher vibrational energy states we visit in dreaming. When we pray—prayers from any tradition—we access intent. When we repeat ancient mantras, or newly created ones, we call intent. When we practice Magical Passes or martial art forms we access intent. As Jan points out, in her blog on Wednesday, The Miracle of Metaphysical Healing by Evelyn Monahan is filled with vehicles of intent and a process for achieving them.

State your intent, clearly, out loud. Repeat it, often. Don’t attach to the outcome. Suspend judgment. Just keep stating your intent, clearly and calmly, without attachment. See what happens.

Chuck

Jan's Blog

A Day in a Life: Positivity & New Life

March 14, 2012 Jan Leave a comment

This is the time of year when I am drawn to spend all day outside. The music of the birds calls to me in the mornings and throughout the day, the peepers in the wetlands at the back of our yard sing to me in the evening and into the night. I am drawn to watch the first green sprigs of new life as they burst from the soil, to taste the first wild greens that I look forward to all winter. Spring is here!

Each time I step out the door I notice how positive the energy of spring is, how vibrantly alive, how without hesitation new life springs forth. The intent of nature at this time of year is birth and it lets nothing stand in its way. These signs from nature challenge us all in the same way. Can we let ourselves be as unflinchingly alive, as positive and forthright as nature is? Can we let ourselves birth into new life totally uninhibited and freed of that which now controls us, including ideas and thoughts placed on us by circumstance and others?

Normally, I leave my journal lying on top of a row of books on the bookshelf next to my bed. One morning a few weeks ago, as I grabbed my journal to write down a dream a book tipped out from its perch on the shelf. I took note. “I should probably read that book,” I thought, “but I don’t have time right now.” I pushed it back into its spot and forgot about it. A few days later the same thing happened. The same book popped out of the shelf, but this time it stuck out so far that it seemed likely it would fall onto the floor. “Okay, I get it, I’m supposed to read that book.” And so I took it off the shelf, fully accepting that I was being guided.

That book, The Miracle of Metaphysical Healing by Evelyn M. Monahan, is exactly what I have been looking for lately. I had forgotten that I even owned it, though it sat in a prominent place on my shelf. Purchased quite a few years ago and briefly glanced at, my intention had always been to thoroughly read it and learn from it. It was not until the universe pointed it out to me that I knew I was finally ready to delve more deeply into what it offers.

Scan 5 — A Sign: A most interesting and helpful book

As I read and practice the steps of healing that Monahan offers in her book, I see signs of change, in myself and in the people around me. I use her methods of visualization and mediation daily now, supplementing my own meditations with hers, challenging myself to more deeply trust what I experience. I have always believed that we have everything we need inside us to heal, to change, and to evolve. As I set my intent, every day, to be open to the positive energy of life, I see my negative attitudes, judgments, and thoughts increasingly slip away. My ignorance and doubt about the truth of energetic change and healing slip away too, as I open up to letting change happen inside myself more deeply than ever, trusting that my high self, my energized mind, and my ultra mind, as Monahan calls our innate abilities, are truly present and all I have to do is tap into them. By my intent alone, I set myself on a path of change and when I experience those changes, deeply within myself and in the world outside of me as well, I know I am doing something right.

Using the innate powers of our own minds is nothing new. This is what the Buddhists encourage us to discover as we meditate and what the Shamans suggest we tap into as we do our Magical Passes and recapitulate. This is what Louise Hay and many others have used to cure themselves of cancer and other diseases, including deep emotional woundings. This is what Norman Vincent Peale wrote about in The Power of Positive Thinking and it’s at the basis of many other deeply personal spiritual processes.

I present a simple meditation offering a gentle means of tapping into the same kind of positive energy that nature now is imbued with. Based on a healing process from The Miracle of Metaphysical Healing, this offers access to the vital energy of springtime.

Sit in a quiet place where you will be undisturbed for five minutes.

Close your eyes and be conscious of your natural state of breathing. Make no attempts to change or alter it; simply observe your breathing for one minute. Notice relaxation beginning to flood your mind and body as you watch your breathing. Be aware that this form of relaxation is inside you, in limitless supply.

Take a deep breath, inhaling right into your stomach, feeling the energy of your breath as it circulates through your body, relaxing you ever deeper. As you exhale pull the energy of that breath into the middle of your head. Do this deep breath three times.

Then, mentally repeat the following words to yourself: As oxygen flows throughout my system the wisdom of my high self directs that each of my cells make ultimate use of the oxygen it carries to them. With the unlimited power of my energized mind, all my fatigue, whether mental or physical, is now banished. A limitless form of relaxed energy takes its rightful place in my body and mind. All the energy that I need is at my complete and continuous disposal.

Sit calmly and accept this energy as your own. Visualize yourself filled with, surrounded by, and putting forth a brilliant white light. Be aware of the fact that this light symbolizes the limitless relaxed energy now available to you at all times. Hold this mental image for at least 30 seconds.

Open your eyes, get up, and go about your day.

Do this three times a day for yourself or others, simply inserting the name of the person you wish to do it for. Experience this relaxed energy inside you at all times.

By being open to the positive energy of nature, without and within, and by being energetically positive ourselves, we can change our personal lives. In addition, a change in each of us naturally effects change in the world around us. As Evelyn Monahan states: “I am a magnificent creation and I share in the creative force which powers this universe.”

Try it and see what happens!

Energetically intending change. And, as always, I offer this most humbly and with love,

Jan

The Miracle of Metaphysical Healing by Evelyn M. Monahan is available for purchase through our Store under Spirituality.

Riverwalker Press

Chuck’s Place: Recapitulation As A Rite of Initiation

A Day in a Life: Petty Tyrants & The Quiet One Within

Readers of Infinity: Seek Goodness

Chuck’s Place: Intent In A Dense World

A Day in a Life: Positivity & New Life

Chuck Ketchel, LCSWR