Messages from Jeanne

#472 Call Forth Your Inner Voice

Jeanne Marie Ketchel
Channeled by Jan Ketchel

Dear Jeanne,
Do you have guidance for us all today?

Remain steadily focused on your inner work, with compassion for the self, as you take your journey. Find your inner connection and the guidance that is available, following the guidelines laid out by your spirit self, who already knows the path you must take. This inner self provides and offers opportunity for growth at every turn, advancing you on your journey by each choice and each decision you make, showing you the options that may take you where you need to go.

In order to more fully connect with this knowing inner self must your inner work now become your main focus. Each morning, center your self upon your inner core, asking for guidance, and for your virtues of truth, clarity, and awareness to be present with you throughout your day. Your journey entails being open to what is presented, freeing your self of old judgments, as you encounter what is presented to you, so that you may learn to acquiesce to what is offered, rather than fight it.

If you continue to fight where life is pointing you, you will continue to stall in your perceptions and in your direction, your advancement will be thwarted, and your journey stagnated. In order to be open to the guidance being offered, a certain amount of blind trust is necessary. Only you can make this aspect of the journey available to your seeking spirit. You see, the outer self, the ego is the balancer, the opposition, so necessary, yet also so often the cause of much of the conflict, the problem, as the process of life unfolds. Often the ego self, the outer self, feels that it is so much brighter, so much more capable in the world, when actually the inner self is so much more able to guide you into a new world that the ego self refuses to admit is so readily available.

By noticing the ego self, as it takes each day as it comes, so are you being shown the blockages that the inner self is confronted with. This process of awareness of ego self in the world offers insight into the direction to be taken and the challenges to be met. Asking the inner self to now guide, asking it to refute the propositions of the ego self, and asking it to show you a different way, a new means of perception, a new direction, a new method of attack in the outer world, is what I propose. Taking control of your inner core self, allowing the inner guidelines to become clearer each day, as you allow the ego self to step aside, will allow the inner self to forge ahead, in spite of your doubts and your fears.

A new world, a new life, a new you, will only be achieved by constant work on allowing the inner self to voice its opinions, its clarity, and by listening to the truths that it speaks. The truths of the inner self lie in dreams, in spontaneous reactions, in underlying thoughts, beneath the normal patter so familiar to your mental process. As your thoughts appear today, your usual judgments, ideas, comments, push them aside and see what words lie beneath, spoken yet often unheard, for your ego voice has taken over, speaking so loudly its constant rant of discord and decay.

Ask your inner spirit voice to come forth today. Ask it to guide you throughout the energy of your day. Drop your old voice at every opportunity, pushing away your old familiar thoughts and judgments, and find out what your inner you has to say. You might be surprised to find that you have a hidden jewel inside you. Don’t you know that it is just waiting for you to sweep away the old debris, uncovering its clear voice, which offers something new? I guarantee that it is there, the other voice, the inner voice.

Reduce your need to look outside for guidance now, as you do your inner work. Uncover your own inner guide. It awaits you, the adventuresome spirit. Take some time to acquaint your self with this aspect of self, which is patiently waiting for your excavation of its crystal clear resonance. Its speech will be immediately familiar, its spoken truth undeniable, its identity recognizable, its guidance perfect.

Generate a new voice, a new inner voice, by allowing the quiet inner self to speak, by asking the ego voice to step aside and to depart from its leading role in your life. Now is the time for a new leader, the inner self is ready to take over.

Messages from Jeanne

#471 Keep Your Two Selves in Sync

Jeanne Marie Ketchel
Channeled by Jan Ketchel

Dear Jeanne,
Do you have a message of guidance as we begin a new week? What is happening with the outer energy now?

In calmness, continue your steady walk through life though the tail end of confusion and chaos may whip you in its whirlwind, as it fires past in a last blaze of energy. I do not mean to imply danger, just be aware that the outer energy will continue to ruffle a few feathers, rustling and stirring some aspects of life better left calm and untouched. There do occur such instances of energetic turmoil quite often. Sometimes you may be more acutely aware of them, as they may affect you personally or those around you, and other times may they appear to be nothing more than a small bump in the road, though to others may they appear as devastating winds of change.

I suggest, as always, a concentrated effort to center the self for the week ahead, staying in calmness, and adjusting the self to remaining steady upon your selected path, no matter what may appear to thwart your progress, to feed off your energy, or to find your weak points. It is not necessary to do more than set your self upon your feet each day, fully knowing that you are aware of the need to grow, to change, and to constantly remain connected to your inner core, your strong and knowing inner self.

Acknowledge your balanced, calm, seeking spirit self, as you prepare your body, your appearance, your clothing, and your mental state for your tasks ahead. Focus on your outer world preparation, but do not neglect your inner world preparations, for your inner self is equally present and necessary as you go about your day.

Even just a moment of calm breathing and meditation may be all you need as you say hello to your inner self, checking in every now and then to find out how things are going, or how things are feeling for your inner self. Ask your inner self to be present, to be aware, to help you relax, to remember that you are on this journey together. Ask your inner self how you are doing as you pay attention to stressors, or feelings of uncomfortability, for it is in these moments that your quiet self will speak most clearly to you.

It is a time of must energetic activity, though how you react to it, participate in it, use it, and learn from it are up to you. I suggest maintaining your balanced inner and outer work on the self, no matter what comes to greet you. Your inner self is as vital a player in the world as your outer self is, so keep this in mind as you go about your day.

Life awaits, growth awaits, your inner self awaits further notice and attention, even as your outer self is so eager to learn and evolve. Keep your two selves in sync today, and every day, as you walk your path.

Good Luck, as you stay in calmness, doing your heart-centered breathing, allowing the self to interpret the signs that come to you, from an inner perspective, for only in so doing will you truly discover what they mean as part of your evolving life. Retain your balance at all times. Speak only words of truth, or do not speak at all. Abide by the rules of evolutionary growth and ask, each day, for your journey to be well taken.

NOTE: In mentioning abiding by the rules of evolutionary growth, Jeanne appears to be referring to her own reflections on what it means to evolve, contained in the sidebar to the left on this channeling page under Guidance. Her Rules, Steps, and other suggestions for living and evolving from a heart-centered perspective are outlined there. -Jan

Chuck's Blog

#470 Chuck’s Place: Projection as Defense

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

My last article on the animus, or the masculine side of a woman, stirred considerable interest in the psychological dynamic of projection, which has fascinated me since I first encountered it nearly forty years ago. I would like to break this concept down in a tangible way, making it readily available as a tool for self-study and every day interactions. This is a broad topic that I will build upon in coming weeks. Today, I begin with the first identification of the phenomenon of projection as a psychological dynamic, as an ego defense. The core mechanisms of how projection operates defensively are critical to understanding the broader functioning of projection in the psyche that go way beyond defense, hence, it is necessary to begin with this more narrow application.

Freud was the first to identify projection as a major psychological defense. In a nutshell, he determined that the psyche had the defensive ability to unload parts of it self that were disturbing to its own balance by literally giving them away to someone else. It is as if there is a movie projectionist inside us that can take a part of our inner selves and project it out of and away from us, onto another person in the world who serves as a screen for an unwanted aspect of the self. This relieves us of the tension of housing a disturbing inner struggle. This action of projection on the part of the psyche is not a conscious process; it is quite automatic and functions outside of ordinary awareness. If we were conscious of a disturbing factor within our selves we would already own it, although we would certainly feel the tension and conflict of it because it remains inside us. For example, if I know that I lost my keys, it would be impossible to blame another. If I don’t know that it is I who lost my keys, my unconscious could protect my ego from such uncomfortable feelings and judgments, like anxiety, badness, failure, etc., by providing me with the strong suspicion that it was definitely someone else, perhaps my spouse, or child, who took or moved the keys. The anger that I might have felt toward my “inadequate” self could then be directed at someone else. My ego is thereby protected, as my psyche would have projected the disdainful “scatterbrain” self, that I might in fact be, onto someone else.

This type of defensive projection can also extend to social causes. Last night I watched the movie, Milk, which offers an excellent example of defensive projection. Here was depicted a social battle that still wages heavily today, of a vitriolic hatred toward a minority, in this case, homosexuals. There are many instances of latent homosexuality in individuals. In fact, Freud hypothesized that all humans are born polymorphous perverse. What he meant was that human sexual impulses are originally undifferentiated, they can attach to anything to derive pleasure. It is only through the process of socialization that these impulses are funneled into categories, such as heterosexuality. However, beneath the veneer of the conscious personality may reside latent sexual impulses interested in other categories of expression, such as homosexuality or bi-sexuality. In many instances, as a result of a powerful socialization process, an individual’s conscious personality or ego may be strongly attached to a firm heterosexual identity. The very idea that one might have a sexual impulse toward someone of the same sex would be utterly ridiculous and abhorrent to the conscious personality. Let’s say that, unconsciously, within one’s own psyche there are, in fact, latent homosexual impulses. This would indeed create a serious conflict for the psyche. One way to protect the ego from this intolerable adversity within the personality would be to unload, via projection, the homosexual aspect of the self onto an openly gay member or collective homosexual group in society.

Once the psyche is unburdened of this unwanted aspect of the self it becomes equally necessary to hate and reject the individual or group who houses the rejected self. This ensures the defense: the ego is still rejecting, it doesn’t have to get “in bed” with this unacceptable part of the personality, which is now safely disposed of outside the self. This emotional tie to the rejected, projected, object insures an inner psychic balance, as the rejected part of the self is still included in the psychic economy through an ongoing energetic attachment to itself via the projected object. In effect, the homosexual impulse within the self, though disowned, is actually unconsciously continuing to be owned via a compulsive interest in the individual or group who carries the projection of one’s inner self. In this case, the boundary of the self is actually extended to include the person upon whom the projection falls. The advantage to the conscious personality is that it can disown the hated part of the self, yet remain safely attached to it, achieving some form of psychic balance. In the case of Milk, this took the form of passionate attempts to remove the civil rights of homosexuals through intense moral and political movements. In this case, the passion suggests a defensive projective dynamic on the part of those attempting to rid themselves of unwanted aspects of their own psyches. Though I have narrowly suggested that the causal root of the projection onto the homosexual may be a disowned latent homosexual impulse, this may, in fact, not be the actual derivative of the projection. The homosexual, like any minority, may simply be the scapegoat for any aspect of a hated, uncomfortable part of the self, releasing the psyche from housing the tension of opposite tendencies.

The bottom line is, that to maintain psychic balance we must remain attentive to our outerly projected parts. Even if we hate them, that hatred is a form of involvement with them that keeps us connected to our hidden inner selves as we vicariously live these disowned parts through the lives of other people. Expanding our awareness or consciousness to our fuller selves requires that we allow ourselves to face uncomfortable truths or parts within our selves. In the case of a latent homosexual impulse, the challenge is to allow the ego to acknowledge its existence first, which requires bravery and openness. There can be great fear and anxiety with this, as we are confronted with the possibility that our understanding of who we are, is not really who we are. In some cases, the truth might be that we are, indeed, primarily bi-sexual or homosexual. Or it may mean that, though dominantly heterosexual, there is a part of us that enjoys homoerotic urges.

Once an individual can reconcile the truth within the self, the outer projection ceases. There is no longer a need to disown and dislodge a rejected part of the self onto another. We are freed to see the other as they are, without a knee-jerk or compulsive need to hate. Perhaps, our reaction might become compassionate or neutral, but no longer is there an intense emotion or compulsive tie, as we are owning, containing, and reconciling our disparate parts within our selves.

I suspect the commandment to love thy neighbor as thy self was an ancient instruction on how to resolve the defensive projection dilemma. For, in order to love thy neighbor as thy self, one must first remove any projections of disowned, rejected parts of the self from the projective screen of thy neighbor’s face. To achieve compassionate love requires an inner acceptance and ownership of all rejected parts of the self.

Next week, I will build upon this core definition of projection beyond its role as a psychological defense. In an ultimate sense, the notion of a solid world is a projection. But you have to start with the basics, and Freud does deserve his due.

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

Messages from Jeanne

#469 Energy of Chaos

Jeanne Marie Ketchel
Channeled by Jan Ketchel

Dear Jeanne,
Do you have advice to offer us for the coming weekend, for all of your Readers?

Be pragmatic, steady, and slow in your actions, and in your decision making. Weigh your options, anticipate your responses, and test your hypotheses before making a move. It is a time for deep reflection and contemplation without harsh or quick reactions. Allow your selves plenty of time for inner work because you will need it as your outer world revolves around much disturbance, and perhaps even chaos.

Of course, chaotic events and emotions are relative, and although the energy surely entices and proposes chaos and disturbance, so is it up to each of you to present a balanced, stable, and pragmatic presence, no matter what the energy proposes.

I speak now of adult maturity as it pertains to the self. Keep the self fit, and in good action. Keep the self calm and in inner quiet, so that your thinking and feeling process may flow gently and naturally. Containment of emotions, in general, and of anger, specifically, is called for during times of stress or of conflict.

It is best to be solidly prepared for whatever may arise to test you this weekend. What comes may come from your inner world, your inner process, showing you where you need to go next, as you accept your challenges, work through your issues, and find your way through life’s turmoils and daring propositions. Or your energetic interactions may also take place outside of you, in your outer world, yet you can be sure that they reflect your deepest inner issues of self.

Do not jump to conclusions, either inner or outer conclusions, as the energy comes bidding your attention. Find your steady calmness and your clearly defined maturity, preserving your self-motivation and your forward direction, focusing innerly before expressing your self outwardly. This is now a time of self-preservation, even while it is a time of interaction outwardly, both sporadically and intensely.

Chaos does not always result in calamity. The energy of chaos is shaking up energy, it is focusing energy, and it is shaping and pointing out energy, that shows the proper direction for misguided and misdirected energy. Use the outer chaotic energy to focus your self now. Use it to bring balance, sobriety, and purpose to your present situation. Begin your days in calmness and balance, maintaining such inner calm throughout your day, no matter what the energy proposes to you.

Your days with such energy are numbered and it will quickly turn to another energetic force before long, but the trick is to hold onto your mature and balanced self, while it proposes something quite different to you. You see? The energy is coming to challenge you, to invite you to participate. It is how you decide to participate that matters.

Good Luck! As you feel this energy approaching, remind your self that it will recede and be gone before you know it, but maintaining your steady balance will enable you to interact with it in a beneficial and enlightening manner.

Messages from Jeanne

#468 Keep Moving Forward!

Jeanne Marie Ketchel
Channeled by Jan Ketchel

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

Continually find your equilibrium, your balance, and although you may fall back into old habits or old interactions remain focused forward. Even as you may stop and chat along your path, so keep your step ready and waiting for the next forward move. In shifting always forward and away from that which seeks to bind you, may you find that your lessons in detachment become easier to accomplish and are more lightly maneuvered.

Your primary objective, at this moment in time, is to remain focused on fluidity of motion, ease of transition, and blanket and straightforward progress. In times of looking back, there is no need to look back for attachment in an old manner, for as you have moved onward and grown in your life, as you have allowed your self to evolve, so will you no longer find contentment in old places that once held you in their grasp. In looking back notice your distance, your new perspective, your wider outlook, and, most of all, notice your need and ability to continually move forward.

Keep moving forward, no matter what seeks to capture your attention and your energy. Do not hold fast to comments or criticisms of those who sit by the roadside, unmoving, yet full of judgment and sarcasm for those so full of spirit, lightly skipping past. Do not listen to what they say. Remind your self that as you also once sat alongside the road and made your own comments and judgments so did you also yearn to be moving forward. In your new delight at growth, and your ability to accept your challenge to move on, so find also your steady balance, your compassion for those who cannot find the strength to get up and make the journey, and your love for all who struggle, as well as all who lead.

In finding your equilibrium may you find your inner guide who does but ask you to hold steady to your potential, your purpose, and your direction. Look continually forward; even as you must also sometimes look backward for what you must learn, having once failed to notice what life was attempting to teach you. Now, however, look back not with sadness or pain, but with confidence, with attention to now, knowing that your life will not allow you to sit by the wayside again, for your spirit has awoken you to the fact that an unawakened life is a dire life indeed. Your challenges now are to remain focused on forward movement, inner calm balance, and learning healthy detachment, even while you proceed at your own pace, fulfilling your most promising dreams.

Life will not wait for those who decide to sit upon the rock-strewn shoulders of the roadway. Life but drapes a heavy cloak upon their backs and allows them to find what comforts they may. In contrast, life offers its bounty of change and of challenge, of energy and of delight, to those who plod always onward, whether with heavy tread or with light step. Life energy is a steady companion along such a path full of meaning, with gestures of encouragement for those who seek a path of change and of growth.

Remind your self often today that you are an evolving being, that every step forward is more meaningful than every turn to look back, that every path shows you where to go next, and that every step is meaningful. Do not harm or ostracize the self, or judge or inflict pain upon the self or others for the journey thus far taken. Each day offers a new opportunity, each moment asks you to notice its full potential, its possibilities to move you forward. Keep moving forward!

Chuck Ketchel, LCSWR