Category Archives: Chuck’s Blog

Welcome to Chuck’s Place! This is where Chuck Ketchel, LCSW-R, expresses his thoughts, insights, and experiences! Currently, Chuck posts an essay once a week, currently on Tuesdays, along the lines of inner work, psychotherapy, Jungian thought and analysis, shamanism, alchemy, politics, or any theme that makes itself known to him as the most important topic of the week. Many of the shamanic and psychological terms used in Chuck’s essays are defined in Tools & Definitions on our Psychotherapy page.

Chuck's Blog

Chuck’s Place: The Birth Of Humans Plus

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Birthing…
– Illustration © 2022 Jan Ketchel

The consummate, uniquely American shaman, Robert Monroe, launched his Hemi-Sync Human Plus series to give humanity the tools to actualize their latent, but rarely accessed, highest human potential.

His dear friend Elmer Green actually removed himself from the Monroe Institute’s Board of Advisors in reaction to Bob’s indiscriminate granting of access to advanced powers that he believed should not be available to those who might abuse them.

Carlos Castaneda, whom Elmer Green deeply appreciated, did exactly what Bob Monroe did: he unveiled all the knowledge he had gained from the shamanic world of don Juan Matus, teaching it to anyone who was interested.

For Carlos, the time of sequestering knowledge for a limited few initiates had passed. Like Bob Monroe, Carlos saw that human evolution required a critical mass of seekers with the necessary tools to advance consciousness to the energetic, or soul, level of our being.

As Elisabeth Kübler-Ross stated in a workshop, “… if all of you would put a curse on me with your psychic energy, which is very powerful, all your psychic energy in this room could not touch me as long as I have no fear of voodoo. Negativity can only feed on negativity.” (The Tunnel And The Light, p.75)

Bob Monroe, as did Carlos Castaneda, taught the tool of affirming one’s intent to be protected from the unwanted intrusions of negative thoughts and negative energies, from within and without, at the beginning of every spiritual exploration.

That those advanced powers of human potential could be exploited is a fact of human life, evident in the narcissistic ego’s use of hypnotic suggestion to assume control in this current time of great transformation.

Stanislav Grof, a contemporary of  Bob and Elmer’s, and an equally advanced traveler in non-ordinary states as Carlos Castaneda, has  delineated the most explicit cartography of the human psyche to date, shining the brightest of lights on its transpersonal dimensions, illuminating our evolutionary trajectory.

Grof has demonstrated, for over sixty years, his discovery of the perinatal gateway to the transpersonal dimension, which includes the collective unconscious, the phylogenetic history of our world, as well as our past lives. The perinatal gateway is nothing other than the death/rebirth path that every human being has traversed in being born into this world. This paradigm is extremely helpful to understand the happenings on planet Earth now, as she has entered her active labor in delivering us our own rebirth into human plus beings.

The death required for this rebirth is a spiritual process that parallels the dissolution of the symbiotic unit of fetus, umbilical cord, placenta and mother in human birth. At the spiritual level the fetus is the human ego, currently in its last stand of narcissistic fixation. The placenta and umbilical cord have been the ego’s attachment to material exploitation of Mother Earth’s bountiful body.

What needs to die is ego’s greed and self-serving decision making. What is in the process of being born is ego’s rebirth into heightened awareness and assumption of responsibility for its energetic interdependent connection to all that is.

The idyllic state of unconscious union with the resplendent material world, identical with the tranquillity of fulfilled life in the womb, has advanced now to the chaos of active labor, with its insistence upon death of the old, birth of the new. The cervix has yet to dilate, but the contractions have begun.  Like migrants seeking to escape unbearable conditions, the borders are closed. No exit, no escape. Humanity arms itself, steals the property and lands of others, as fears of apocalypse stir the surface of the collective consciousness.

The existential depression of meaninglessness currently abounds, as the future appears hopeless. Remember, every fetus  was confronted with this same right of passage during the labor pains of the mother, forced to be completely alone, in utter darkness, under intense pressure, as walls caved in and outcome was uncertain.

We are already experiencing the first hints of the volcanic contractions to come in this joint rebirthing process now underway. Our undergoing of the joint labor needed to stretch the cervix so we can arrive into the light of a new world is evident in the extremes of climate change and the great advances in spiritual movements, which are pressing us to break beyond the narrow borders of ego narcissism.

Our spiritual rebirth is bringing us to a new life of expanded consciousness that holds divine the interconnectedness and equanimous value of everything.

At this higher level of consciousness, the powers available at the energetic, transpersonal dimension of life will be exercised responsibly. The creative power of thought will generate harmonious physical coexistence. This is the light at the end of the tunnel.

May we all use this intuitive knowing as we ride Mother Earth’s rocky rollercoaster of contractions, eventuating in the spiritual rebirth of humans plus.

All aboard,
Chuck

Chuck's Blog

Chuck’s Place: Freedom From Inevitability

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Become your fuller self…
– Illustration © 2022 Jan Ketchel

Everything is possible, particularly if we become our fuller selves.

As in quantum physics, human beings are both particles and waves. As particles we are solid separate material objects, living in a material world. In our wave state we are energetic spirit beings, residents in a greater world of pure spirit energy. As Don Juan Matus put it, “Of course we are solid beings, but we are first energetic beings.”

The solid dimension of our being, the world of everyday life, is highly predictable. As physical beings, we exist in the Newtonian world of mechanical being, whose laws can predict our entire lives. Astrology charts, I Ching readings, and Human Design readings can predict, with a high degree of accuracy, who we are, how we will behave and, in effect, the course of our lives. However, they are not absolute. Consciousness enables transcending even the most basic programs, in an instant.

These readings tap into the programs, loaded into our subconscious minds, that run our physical being. Thus, for instance, one’s genetic history is given high ranking in the hierarchy of physical programs that determine one’s health. Thus, a history of heart disease or cancer in one’s ancestry may predispose one to an encounter with these diseases. This automatic unfolding of genetic programs may determine one’s physical life.

At the energetic level of one’s being, thought creates reality. Thus, as with placebo, if one doesn’t believe they will have a problem, they can potentially override the automatic unfolding of a powerful genetic program of disease. This Spirit directive then changes physical manifestation.

Similarly, if one’s ancestral history is replete with failed relationships, these inherited programs may influence one’s ability to engage in successful intimate relationships. If one is able to resolve or detach from these ancestral dramas, at the energetic level of their being, they are then able to suggest to their subconscious mind new programs that free their ability to experience relational love.

The energetic level of one’s being is the transpersonal dimension. At this level we carry our phylogenetic history (including animal and cellular), our past lives (in human and nonhuman form), and our relationships with energetic beings in infinity. The transpersonal dimension is also the true home of the mind, which connects to the physical brain that enacts its spirit intentions in daily life.

The transpersonal dimension is also the dimension that houses our greater Spirit self, of which the ego is a subset that manages the affairs of daily life. When we access our Spirit self we also gain access to the wisdom gained through an eternity of lives. Those lives are members of our soul group, which include all our past lives, and are interconnected in the hologram of all life.

We access this transpersonal dimension in dream life, as well as through other methods that allow the ego to connect with its greater Spirit in non-ordinary states of reality. These non-ordinary states are accessed through shamanic journeys, like recapitulation, through the utilization of brainwave entrainment practices such as Hemi-Sync, through yoga practices, visions, trauma, prayer, through the use of substances or psychedelic medicines (requiring proper clinical supervision), and through intent (by directly instructing the subconscious mind).

When we integrate our solid physical selves within our greater energetic Spirit we open to freedom from inevitability. At this level we can override—through resolution—all the programs that determine the course of our present lives. This is a formidable challenge, but it is possible.

Our world now is banking on us collectively reaching the energetic dimension of being where we can freely choose our destiny. Nothing is truly absolutely determined.

The deepest truth is that the future cannot be fully known, especially if we awaken to the power of choice beyond what every day seems increasingly inevitable. But for that to happen we must wake up to the fullness of who we really are!

Begin with the self. You alone can have tremendous impact upon the  collective consciousness of our time.

Seeking freedom,
Chuck

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Chuck’s Place: The Thoughtform Of Being

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Keep what comes and goes on the positive side…
– Illustration © 2022 Jan Ketchel

Placebo is the physical creation of a belief. Based on the thoughtform of belief, a sugar pill can cure anything. Thought is the true creator of physical reality.

The most brilliant psychologists of the early 20th century created the advertising industry to control the behavior of consumers through suggestion. Suggestion is a thoughtform that mobilizes the creative potential of the subconscious mind to manifest its instructions: Drink Coke: “Things go better with Coke.”  “It’s the real thing!”

Marketing psychologists discovered the power of hypnotism, the intentional use of the thoughtform of suggestion to change people’s behavior. Radio hosts like Alex Jones have demonstrated, definitively, the power of suggested conspiracy theories to impact people’s behavior.

Our current world is saturated with an unending flood of targeted messages competing for the critical mass of subscribers needed to generate a consensus reality. This translates to the current political rivalries that amass ‘war chests’, the money needed to reach the subconscious minds of the electorate, through advertising thoughtforms designed to control voting behaviors.

Every aspect of our mental and physical body is created and driven by thoughtforms. Thoughtforms are encoded in our DNA, the programs of our species and our ancestral memory. Thoughtforms are encoded in the archetypes that convert sensory input into form and meaning. These thoughtforms, as well as the internalized beliefs from our outer world socialization, are stored in the vast warehouse and factory of the subconscious mind. The conscious mind actually has the power to override even our DNA and our personal physical conditions.

Everyone has access to their subconscious minds. Our human potential can be maximized through gaining control of the thoughtforms that determine our being. One of the main blocks to accessing our greater potential is inertia. The current operating system of our being, however unpleasant or dysfunctional, runs automatically and allows us to coast through life with a minimum of effort.

Change requires energy and persistence. Programs like EST and The Forum seek to break through the ego’s inertia through group pressure, avoidance of shame, and heavily loaded homework assignments that preclude sleep. Once removed from these pressured environments, most people slip back to the default setting of inertia and business as usual.

The shamans of ancient Mexico introduced the power of Unbending Intent to assume full control of the state of their being. This is accomplished with an unwavering perseverance of presenting thoughtforms to the subconscious mind. Most important is the absolute certainty that what is sought will happen.

Besides the limiting impact of instinctive inertia upon change, the rational mind casts a powerfully constrictive web of doubt and blocking beliefs over the potential effectiveness of intent. My suggestion is to suspend judgment and perseveringly remind the self that your intent will be realized. Be patient, see what happens.

Start small. When someone tells me they never remember their dreams, I point out the impactful nature of that suggestion to the subconscious mind, to “Never remember dreams.” Reframe it before sleep: “Tonight I remember my dreams.” Everyone who perseveres with this statement of intent will at some point start to remember their dreams.

Once one discovers the power of unbending intent in small ways, they will begin to gain confidence in its true power to manifest. Wishing and hoping are replaced with knowing the true power of intent. Perseverance and patience is all it takes. As true as this is, the journey toward realizing intent activates complexes that must first be neutralized to clear the path to realization of the desired intent.

Complexes are most often traumatic experiences that are buried in the personal unconscious layer of the psyche and the physical body. Though they exist out of consciousness, they often exert a powerfully constrictive influence on one’s basic sense of security and worthiness.

They are the powerful programs in the subconscious that resist change, insisting on maintaining powerful defenses to avoid the emotions, sensations, and thoughts inherent in trauma. A thorough recapitulation that neutralizes these activated complexes clears the path to the new life of one’s coveted intent.

Another concern is the fact that intent can be exercised in hurtful and destructive ways, such as has been demonstrated in the thoughtforms expressed by Alex Jones, as regards the Sandy Hook massacre, for instance. We must have deep respect for the power of intent and exercise it responsibly, for the greater good of all.

Even at the level of our own thoughts (which are telepathically transmitted to a world of potentially receptive minds), we are broadcasting out intentions that impact the world, and ourselves. If our thoughts are constantly negative we draw only negativity to us. We suffer and the world suffers as well.

Let genuine compassion be the guiding thoughtform of our being, for our personal intents, in our thoughts of others, and for the world at large.

“Compassion Now.”

With loving compassion,

Chuck

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Chuck’s Place: I Am More Than My Ego Identity

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Time for transformation…
– Illustration © 2022 Jan Ketchel

In a dream, my son is my friend. I have no memory of him as my son. Upon awakening I am fascinated at this absolute lapse in memory of such a prominent waking life relationship. This is a glimpse of life beyond the veil.

“What veil?” you might ask. The veil of ego identity. Ego is the part of our soul identified with waking life in the physical body. Ego is the main player in the waking life drama we are fully engaged in. The ego’s veil is its narcissism, though not necessarily pathologically so. It simply only knows itself as all that it is.

The ego is also quite prejudiced with material bias. The physical world is its oyster and all that really exists. This in-body perspective has been critical to keep the focus on the intent, the fated karma of this current life adventure. However, as is more than evident in current world events, Mother Earth is in labor. Her water has broken and full-on contractions have begun.

Birthing is our first rite of passage in this life. The journey into life is a solo voyage fraught with breathlessness, volcanic eruption, violent collision and claustrophobic containment. Arriving into our separateness, at birth, requires surviving the perils of these initiation challenges as we push out into new life. Currently, Earth’s initiation challenge requires us to navigate her violent changes as, once again, we find our way to new life.

New life on this planet is the discovery and integration of life beyond the confines of ego identity, life beyond the veil. Our materialistic focus, with its land-grab mentality, has saturated Mother’s nurturing capacity. She requires now a greater soulful human presence, a maturity beyond the childish dependency locked within the ego’s veil. To achieve this we must expand our knowing of all that we are. To achieve this we must venture into the transpersonal dimension of our being.

My amnesia of my son, as my son, was such a transpersonal journey. The more we cling solely to our relationships of familial association, as our definition of who we are and how we should live, the more we remain separated from the overall needs of the greater whole world. We are birthing into a consciousness that extends family to all, with equanimity.

To experience my son as friend, with no proprietary rights, breaks the illusion of special connection. Yes, of course there is special connection in the drama of this life. That can’t be erased. But to wake up to the greater reality, that all that is is part of that same whole, extends love to all; we are all simply inseparable. With this knowing, we are fully poised to grow beyond the limits of ego narcissism.

This journey to our transcendent selves, as we navigate the violent contractions of now, does require that we suffer the full knowing of our suppressed and repressed selves, what Jung called the shadow of the personal unconscious. This is the work of recapitulation, fully exploring the triggers of daily life, which bring forth our inconvenient truths.

We are aided in this journey by guides and by our Higher Soul, which resides in the transpersonal dimension of our being. Our ego soul becomes our left brain navigator on our voyage of recovery and discovery. Though still engaged in material life, our needs become more soulful and refined. The spirit of a gift outweighs the material gift.

Bob Monroe left us with a set of tools to discover that, yes, “I am more than my physical body.” As we traverse that non-physical reality, the ego discovers that it is part of its greater Soul. Indeed, that I am more than my ego identity. And with that we are truly birthing into new life.

I am more than my ego identity,

Chuck

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Chuck’s Place: Honing Conscious Suggestion

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Locking down & opening up…
– Illustration © 2022 Jan Ketchel

I place my awareness on my calf muscle.  “My left calf muscle is warm,” I state. I notice that a faint warming sensation appears in my left calf muscle.

My thinking mind remains passive; it simply observes. My subconscious mind, however, takes my suggestion as its command and orchestrates the body activity needed to create the sensation of warmth in my calf muscle.

My conscious mind has no clue as to how to create warmth in my calf muscle. Active thinking is limited to abstract thought and reason. In contrast, my subconscious mind holds the keys to the kingdom and can manifest, in some material form, any suggestion presented to it.

For instance, if I actively think the thought, “I can’t hula hoop,” my hips will rigidify and the hoop will hit the floor. In this case, the negative  suggestion to the subconscious is manifested by the body.

Of course, one might protest, quite accurately, that without practice one will be unable to successfully hula hoop. This is true, but once the ability has been achieved, through diligent practice, a trial performance will most likely fail if one negatively thinks, “I can’t do it.”

What we tell ourselves is what we become. What we listen to we become. If I incessantly listen to negative thoughts broadcast from a television station, I will become a negative person. In this case, the thoughts and beliefs I hear expressed become the command to my subconscious mind to generate the emotional body state that creates the negativity of anger, vigilance, and discontent.

Beliefs are highly insulated thoughts. Thus, if we state a suggestion that opposes an ingrained belief we confuse the subconscious mind with opposing commands. In this case, the more exercised and repeated belief is likely the suggestion the subconscious will follow.

For instance, if one holds a deep belief that they are inadequate, the command to the subconscious that “I am competent” may actually manifest as self-doubt and defeat, felt as anxiety and depression. In this case, it is best to acknowledge the underlying belief and perhaps first process experiences that have contributed to that belief, in an effort to neutralize it.

Bob Monroe suggested using an imaginary heavily-lidded box to place one’s negative beliefs in before giving a new suggestion to the subconscious, to allow for an unfettered experiment of exploration. This is akin to a scientist that may not believe something is possible but suspends judgment and submits to legitimate experimental conditions to see what happens.

Thus, for example, one might not believe they can experience their energy body. By placing their doubting mind in their imaginary storage locker, they are free to suggest to the subconscious that they experience the vibratory state connected to their energy body. In this case, with doubt suspended, one becomes open to a new possibility.

So what is the subconscious mind? The subconscious is the mind that used to completely direct the human animal, prior to the birth of human consciousness. When the subconscious ruled, it responded to the world instinctively. All stimuli to the senses evoked evolutionary programs that were automatically selected to respond to a need or challenge. No thinking was involved, simply stimulus and preprogrammed response.

Animals, for instance, know instinctively how to give birth. With the birth of consciousness, humans lost this connection to immediate, direct knowledge, as they added doctors to the birthing experience to attempt to improve on nature’s instinctive programs.

Though our connection to the subconscious is less direct than in the animal world, we are nonetheless afforded the opportunity to volitionally suggest directly to the subconscious in a way not possible for other animals. This is both a blessing and a curse.

The blessing is, we can manifest a world that functions more efficiently than our evolutionary programming. The curse is that we can manifest a world based on narcissism, which is unsustainable. This, in fact, is the crossroads that we, and our world, currently find ourselves at.

If one aligns one’s suggestions with the truth of one’s heart, one is sure to manifest a world that cares for all beings and is deeply sustainable.

Process limiting beliefs, or put them in the box, while you experiment with the subconscious mind. This is where one might truly experience a world where all things are possible.

Suggesting love,

Chuck