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 Trickster King In Us All

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I recommend a viewing of Netflix’s The Crown. This modern exposition of the sacred transformation of the human being, anointed and born again as the divine queen in the cathedral, portrays the rich and basic archetypal substrate of the human psyche; the same archetypal substrate that has us project onto our president the ordering of the life of our nation, believing the presidency to be the design, for us, of the divine.

Who should wear the crown? - Photo by Jan Ketchel
Who should wear the crown?
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

America, of course, long shed itself of the silliness of the monarchy, but we could not erase our psychic predisposition to find sacred order and balance in our president. Our coronation at the cathedral is the ballot box, our king is our president, in whose presence we are equally predisposed to encounter the awe and the awful.

With President Obama, the earthy black shadow rose to kingship and he glowed with progressive intelligence. America, having apparently valued its shadow, appeared to be on the cusp of anointing the feminine to her goddess rank, just in time to rescue the ailing Earth. But alas, America was unexpectedly charmed by the Trickster King, Donald Trump.

What becomes evident is that America did not resolve its shadow by electing Obama. The shadow was stored beneath the surface and the trickster took full advantage of exposing it and tapping into its energy. We were not ready for the goddess. We hadn’t truly reckoned with the shadow.

The Trickster King is the full embodiment now of that shadow, and we must reconcile with it. In a nutshell, that shadow is the ultimate ego self who exalts itself in godly towers. This is the ego that truly only cares about itself, its needs, its wants, its security, its power. This is the ultimate individualistic ego that feels no responsibility for the safety and needs of the world, only insofar as it impacts its own interests. It’s alway only about “me and mine,” it says. In fact, “me” has become extremely narrow by definition, as the impetus now is on a “pure” America, where only those truly entitled to the Kingdom may reside.

As a psychotherapist, I have experienced marriages, families, friendships, business relationships, and relationships within the medical caregivers community experiencing major earthquakes as the fault lines of greater connection have been shattered and threatened by the divisiveness of this election. The grassroots impact of this election has indeed infiltrated even the sanctuary of the bedroom.

America is forced to face and reconcile with its huge shadow in all relationships in daily life in order to find its way to genuine connection where the ground will be properly prepared for the election of the feminine. We have a lot of work ahead of us.

We must face the truth, that though we have long espoused in our faiths and politics heart-centered compassion, the truth is, we mostly live at the level of self-centered survival. Apparently, it is necessary for this to be acted out and lived under our current kingship. Let us not make the mistake of an earlier generation that projected as a nation their divine center onto their divine king: “Adolf Hitler is Deutschland, Deutschland is Adolf Hitler.” *

It is not my intention to identify Trump as Hitler but to draw attention to the human tendency to invest leaders with the divine and follow them blindly.

We must thank and respect our trickster president-elect for mirroring our truth to us, but must individually, as true Americans, secede from the monarch, withdraw the projection from the Trickster King and face the truth of our own inner kingdoms. We must face our own ego king self, and ask: Who will rule the personality? The ego, or the  the divine Self within us?

Time to go into the tower and restore balance... - Photo by Jan Ketchel
Time to go into the tower and restore balance…
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

The Self is the divine spark within us all who rests in the truth of our heart center. Our ego’s task is to realign and truly embrace the rule of this heart center and in so doing release us from its own egocentric worldview.

As we succeed in this individual effort we become like the ancient Taoist rainmaker who in restoring balance within triggers the restoration of balance without. As the rains return, the crops are nourished and life thrives anew. Sometimes those rains must provide great floods for life to truly be renewed. Never lose sight of the ark of the heart. It’s near, dear, and a definite lifesaver.

Remaining heart centered,

Chuck

* Quote from C. G. Jung’s Visions Seminars Volume 2, p. 1332

Chuck's Blog

Chuck’s Place: Making Do

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The following guidance may not satisfy the anxiety, fears, and anger of the moment, but I am obliged to pass on what I received from my trusted guide of 45 years, the I Ching, when I asked the following question: What is the correct attitude in this coming time of darkness?

Out of the darkness the light will rise again... - Photo by Jan Ketchel
Out of the darkness the light will rise again…
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

The reading I received was hexagram #54, The Concubine, Making Do. Please be advised that though the hexagrams of the I Ching are archetypes, that is, configurations of energy that remain unchanging, the manifestations or actual representations of the archetypes change with succeeding generations. Thus, the anachronistic notion of a concubine in today’s world represents an unacceptable condition that one is forced to live with. Advice is offered in how best to survive it and have influence in a time of Making Do.

For better or worse, America married Donald Trump on November 8, 2016. The bride of Obama, the progressive populace, has been displaced and relegated to the lowly status of concubine. We all remain part of the same Union, but she/he, who until now enjoyed dominance in governance, must now come to know and be led by the other side. That other side has attained the legitimacy of the White House, and so it stands.

The I Ching does liken this national predicament to a family that houses both a legitimate wife and a concubine. Though both women live in the same home only one has legitimate power. We are at present a nation completely divided in half, but with only one half legitimately represented and in power. Hatred and blame will only further the divide. The overarching principle that is accentuated in hexagram #54 and is key to weathering through the divide is affection. As the I Ching states: “Affection as the essential principle of relatedness is of the greatest importance in all relationships in the world.” We must not forget this most important advice as we enter a new era where affection seems already greatly lacking.

The first moving line of hexagram #54, nine in the first place, offers special counsel stressing the correct decorum for one relegated to a lowly status while nonetheless finding a safe and meaningful place within the nation. The guidance is clear: withdraw modestly into the background, do not attempt to overstep bounds or usurp power that one is not entitled to.

In a second example offered by the I Ching, a man of lowly influence is friends with a prince and is taken into his confidence. This man remains tactfully in the background behind the ministers of state and though hampered by his status, as if he were lame, he is nonetheless able to accomplish something by quietly working behind the scenes.

The key to the guidance here is the checking of hubris, entitlement, and self-importance. If one can tactfully withdraw attention from oneself, one may indeed exert influence. In the shaman’s world this is the exercise of losing self-importance when under the dominance of a petty tyrant. By dropping self-importance, the ego, one is able to accomplish something that ultimately brings down the tyrant.

Nine in the fourth place of hexagram #54 offers additional special guidance, depicting a maiden who refuses an alternative arrangement to a legitimate marriage. Through her patient, virtuous waiting she is rewarded with a late but most fulfilling marriage. The guidance here is patience and containment. Remain inwardly true to your values and ideals though the tension of the time of waiting and the challenges presented over the next four years will be great. In patient acceptance of where things are, but inwardly remaining true to and keeping alit the true light in the heart, we will indeed be rewarded with a new dawn.

Finally, though the I Ching advises that for the present we must “make do” with a highly virulent and volatile predicament, in patience and containment, it stresses that the light will again be restored and reassert its guiding influence over the darkness that now descends upon us. Eventually, it teaches us, the right light will shine again, for the future of this hexagram is Spring: the return of the light.

The I Ching translates as, The Book of Changes, that is, all things must pass, nothing is forever.

Peace,

Chuck

 

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Chuck’s Place: Remain Calm

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Keep the flame alive... - Photo by Jan Ketchel
Keep the flame alive…
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

The ocean has many waves. A powerful wave will wash ashore, but alas, soon comes another—ceaselessly. All waves have something to contribute.

The Obama wave has been an unprecedented wave of change. The Hillary and Bernie waves followed in its wake, but clearly the undertow of these waves have given way to the Trump wave, a very powerful conservative counterpoint to the unprecedented changes of the past eight years.

This is the yin and yang of life. When the power of what rules the earth becomes so great that it swallows the light of the heavens, that light becomes sparks of light in the belly of the earth.

Those  sparks of light cannot be put out, but they must accept their humble position and keep the candlelight alive, shielded deep within the heart. That flame must be tended; it is the flame of the eternal and it resides within.

In a time of outer darkness, go inward and tend your inner flame, a flame which will never go out. Appreciate that the outer changes we are experiencing are part of nature too and must be respected and valued.

Those changes must happen, and in time the next wave will appear, and the flames tended now will coalesce into a collective light that will steady the course with unprecedented clarity.

No one is at fault here. We are all part of the same world. Sometimes consciousness takes the helm, sometimes nature’s imperative. We are finding our way to new balance. Hold loving kindness in your heart that we might hold together and embrace the wholeness of our mighty earth dream.

With loving kindness,

Chuck

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Chuck’s Place: Love In The Afternoon

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In the chakra system there is a division between the first three lower chakras and the four higher chakras located above the level of the solar plexus. The lower three chakras are associated with the human animal, which is controlled by the powerful instincts of human nature: survival, food, sex and power. The first half of life is generally dominated by the needs, demands, and passions associated with these lower chakras as we attempt to plant ourselves, find our way to survival, security, pleasure, and power in relation to ourselves, others, and the outer world at large.

In the golden stage of life... - Photo by Jan Ketchel
In the golden stage of life…
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

By midlife, time, the ultimate devourer of all life, awakens us to the fact that we are at least halfway through our life’s journey on earth. We become increasingly confronted with the transitoriness of all material things, as well as with human relations, as those we have loved begin to end their sojourns in this world.

Our questions about the meaning of life and of life beyond physical life become paramount. This is the stage in India where the old yogi would leave the home and life with family to begin the spiritual journey, unattached to former material life and human relations.

In chakra terms, the kundalini energy that once innervated the lower chakras becomes more subtle as it awakens the heart chakra, the birthplace of the spiritual Self. The lower chakras were all about the birth, refinement, and fulfillment of the ego self, but with midlife the values and attachments that once satisfied life lose their compulsive hold as the search for greater meaning is initiated.

The four upper chakras depict an increasingly subtle energy progression, which ultimately results in the separation of soul, or energy body, through the crown chakra at the time of death. Thus, the second half of life is often initiated by a great depression, where one is confronted with the meaninglessness and transitoriness of all that one previously clung to and was passionately motivated by, and instead must go inward to find and cultivate the often hidden ethereal self with a whole new set of rules and intentions.

Of course, many seek rebirths and the fountain of youth in a younger mate or new career at midlife, but often life energy and the lower chakras refuse to fund these quests. So what happens to relationship at midlife if we choose to stay in it versus retreat into the monastery?

For relationship to remain vibrant and meaningful in midlife, we must first surrender our attachment to the roles and expectations that may have neatly served the first half of life. Time to stop mothering and fathering each other. Time to become peers with children and family. All become seekers, equally responsible for their own spiritual journeys, which no one can take for oneself, except oneself: only I can leave my physical body in my energy body when I die; that is a solo journey.

Food and sex continue to have relevance after midlife, but all must conform to energetic limitation. The Shamans of Ancient Mexico were careful to guide that energy was the only criteria for spiritual and sexual life. If one is modest in the expenditure of energy and maintains a sufficient reserve, one could pursue sex and spirit to the end of earthly life.

The key to enjoying fulfilling sex after midlife is dropping the performance expectations of the first half of life. This begins with a deepening spiritual connection that is no longer controlled by the powers of nature and ego that once ruled the lower chakras. The focus of union at the level of the upper chakras is energetic union at a deeply subtle level, which invites the body and lower chakras into complete spiritual/physical union. This is total union in human form, the merger of subtle and physical energy into pure energetic oneness. This is conscious spiritual/physical union.

Kindling the energy... - Photo by Jan Ketchel
Kindling the spiritual…
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

Ironically, this kind of union may not ever require actual physical union with another, as union at subtle energy levels can happen and be experienced physically in a dream. Many dreamers have reported that their deepest sexual/spiritual experiences have occurred in dreams, as energy is freed to join at the most subtle level.

The sole criterion for true love in the afternoon of life is a shared quest for spiritual evolution between partners. And spiritual evolution requires that we detach from all the rules, roles, obligations, and demands of the lower chakra system that consumes the first half of life. And with that, we find ourselves free to love with abandon, an experience that transcends the ego’s ideal of love in the first half of life.

Love never ends, but physical life does. To refine love and take it forward, unattached, is a worthy journey for the second half of life, as it prepares us for our definitive journey in infinity. The maturing of love in the afternoon is one way to take the journey on the one-way journey we’re all taking together.

Refining and redefining love,

Chuck

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Chuck’s Place: Woman-in-Charge

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As the winds of change take a pregnant pause, we have a moment of reflective consciousness to assess what has happened, where we are now, and how to prepare for what is coming.

Hurricane Trump appears to now be downgraded to a mere tropical storm, still dangerous but no longer deadly. His catabolic action has truly served to usher in the breakdown of the ruling elite, the utter outing of the shadow of patriarchal rule. Decent folk of all political persuasion are turning away from the outright denigration of the feminine.

It appears that the gasbag inflatedness of the self-righteous masculine ego has been pricked and humbled. The collective conscience is settling on civility as the ruling principle. Curiously, it now becomes clear that Trump is actually the advance guard of the goddess, clearing the ground for the crowning of feminine rule. In every marriage, in every relationship, in the rule of the land, in the rule of the world, the feminine is truly set to take its leadership role.

This is truly momentous. When, in the history of the world, has a woman assumed the most powerful position of control over the entire world? We appear to be on the brink of this transition. My reading of the energy of this fateful transition has been consistent for the past several years. Ever since the towers crumbled, I knew that the world as it has been traded was coming to an end.

Our planet is sick, and human leadership, unfortunately, has been the culprit. Gaia initiated her healing crisis and we humans have become the pawns of her transformation process. Mother Nature is leading us now. She has delivered the healing potion, and yes, Donald Trump has been part of her brew, part of the clearing of the ground for her next move, the installation of the feminine in the place of power.

Why is it so vital that the feminine take the lead?

The feminine knows how to work with nature. Woman cannot escape direct confrontation with nature. While a man can duck out of his initiation rites, a woman will be initiated by nature into menstruation. She cannot escape it and it will revisit her monthly, prepared or not. When it’s time to deliver a child, nature takes over in the autonomous tumult of childbirth; this is not something woman can create or stop. Woman can only go along, acquiesce, humbly staying afloat as nature takes her course.

We, as a world, are faced with the crisis of planetary survival. The masculine attitude believes it can debate the validity of climate change. The masculine attitude still believes that it is superior to nature, can take its fill and not be concerned about its impact. The masculine attitude is searching for a new planet to inhabit, ducking off into outer space rather than taking care of the one we already have.

Well, thanks to Donald, women are coming out in droves, revealing the impact of unstoppable masculine energy in abuse to the earth of their own bodies, and an attitude of respect is emerging for the nature of woman. This should naturally be followed by a reinvigorated attitude of respect for the planet as well.

Nature must be respected, she insists upon it now, and she asks that a woman, her closest ally, rise with consciousness to partner in the healing of the planet. Gaia does not want a compliant female to lead her healing. She demands that reflective masculine consciousness and feminine wisdom merge to make the right decisions and acquiesce to the truth of badly needed change.

And so, I ponder the reflections I suggested at the beginning of this blog.

What has happened?

What has happened is that the evolution of consciousness, which started with the birth of the ego—the right to think and decide—that was made in the Garden of Nature, and cost us the harmony of living unconsciously with nature, has reached its climax. The inflated ego recreated nature into Frankenstein and has nearly destroyed the world in the process. This rise in consciousness took too much liberty, the towers had to come down.

Where are we now?

The dust is settling. Trump unwittingly performed his magic. The truth has been laid bare. We are being asked to acquiesce, to truly trust the coming to power of the mature feminine. Nature, the true condition of the world, of relationship, must be acknowledged. A necessary rebalancing must be accepted.

Don't let the flame of consciousness blow out! - Photo by Jan Ketchel
Don’t let the flame of consciousness blow out!
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

What is to come?

I believe we are averting a reinstallation of Hitler in the guise of Donald Trump. In 1933, Hurricane Hitler blew out the flame of consciousness in Germany. We appear to have survived the onslaught of a similar hurricane, this time around in our own country.

We will choose, with consciousness. This is a major advancement for consciousness, as it rises to the heart center, deciding on behalf of what is right and truly needed.

Of course, the future is never written in stone; it’s full of cataclysmic challenges. Elections are merely starting points. I foresee Gaia taking us far deeper into an environmental reshaping of our planet. What is critical now is that we all move forward consciously, with a respectful and reverent attitude toward feminine wisdom that knows how to prepare for and flow with the inevitable.

Of course, I also have to humble myself to the possibility that I might be trumped on the morning of November 9th! But the coming of the rule of feminine wisdom is inevitable, it’s already in play.

It’s the only attitude that can meet these times that are so a’changin’.

It’s inevitable,

Chuck