Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Walk This Way

I have a tendency to make things harder than they really need to be. I don’t know why I do this, but I do. So, I’ve puzzled over what I’d like to have in this section of the newsletter for some time. I wrote my first article last week. That one was okay. But, this one, something to do with learning to channel, just had me stumped. And, a part of it was that I’d already talked so much about learning to channel that I just could not think of anything new to say.

That’s where I started making a simple thing difficult.

I realized this morning that people have themes that run through their lives. I might approach a project in the same manner that I did when I was 20. Sort of eating around the edges and then finally taking a big bite. Or, in other words, worrying the ding donged thing to death before I finally screw up my courage and just get it over with and do it, whatever it is.

So, I’ve been worrying about this section of the newsletter for over a week. And, this morning I thought of themes that course through a person’s life. And, I thought of how people who paint will be fascinated with one particular thing and paint that one single thing over and over again, with each time they paint pushing themselves farther and farther into the heart of whatever it is that fascinates them. I thought of writers who delight in telling love stories; this way, that way, another way. The same love theme but just another story.

And, I thought again of how very simple things can be if you allow them to be.

Channeling is sort of like that too. If I were to pick one particular “rule” to remember it would be that pretend is very important in opening the channel, in widening the street that exists between your conscious mind and what your guides have to say.

I know that we all want something to be true. We don’t go around deliberately deluding ourselves about things. We know that it’s not right to pretend that you’re rich when you’re not. We know that it’s not right to cheat on school papers. But, I ask you to remember back to when you were a child and you played house or firemen. You were in your pretend mode. That’s where I want you to go for a little bit.

Just pretend that you are channeling.

You don’t have to announce it to all and sundry. You don’t have to go telling your neighbor what you are doing. That’s a sure fire way of getting somebody to look at you incredulously and say, “For God’s sake, get a clue. You’re nuts.” Things along those lines. That will gum up the works in no time flat. So, just be private.

Sit there quietly. Put some headphones on and listen to some sort of soft, ambient music, bells, birds, waves, something soothing. My favorite is Dr. Jeffrey Thompson’s Brainwave Suite. Dip down, however you imagine it to be, into a meditative state. Quiet, not fighting the random thoughts that begin coursing through your head. Put a pad of paper and a pencil beside you and promise yourself that you’ll write down the real important things you don’t want to forget. Once written that particular thought will float away. Out of iceberg lettuce? Need to buy it the next time you go to the store? Thought won’t stop? Write down lettuce. Not a full sentence. Just the word, “lettuce”. See if you can’t dip again into that meditative state of mind.

I know that your mind, like mine, will frantically try to keep you on track and not in that peaceful space of meditation. I usually either want a cigarette or get really hungry. Go figure. But, my mind isn’t any different from anybody else’s and I have trouble getting into a meditative state of mind. But, I don’t stop trying.

When the thoughts you have sort of stop bamming against the inside of your head think of something, like a rose or a book or some object. It might help to have that object sitting on your desk in front of you. Open your eyes, look at it, close your eyes and try to picture what you just saw. Do that a couple of times.

Relax some more. Imagine that you are on a path. Doesn’t matter what path. A path. Paved with cobblestones, or gravel. Dirt path. A sidewalk. This is your path. Just be on the path.

Now, start walking. Sort of look around you with your eyes closed while you’re walking on this path and notice what’s going on next to it. Are there plants growing? Flowers? Grass? What’s going on right beside the path? Look a little ways away from the path. Do you notice anything else?

You might find your way blocked by something in your path. Try to get around it. Over it. Under it. I once found a huge boulder in my path. I walked around it. Sometimes people blast them up. That’s what I should have done. I think I wouldn’t weigh so much right now had I blown up my own personal boulder. But, that’s neither here nor there. Somehow, if you find an obstacle in your path get around it and continue walking.

Now, notice that your path sort of rises up. It’s on an incline and you’re going uphill.

Notice off in the distance that you’re making your way toward a place. It’s a big hill. It might even be a cave. There’s some sort of doorway or natural opening that you’re going towards. Keep walking.

You might find yourself magically right there. Get to the doorway or gate or whatever it is in your mind’s eye.

It might be closed. Push on it. Knock on it. Look over the gate if that is what it is. On the other side there are some guides. They are gathered around a fire. They are talking amongst themselves. They notice you. They turn around and notice you. One of them leaves the group and comes toward you. This is your guide.

Say hey. Or, smile. Or wait for him or her to say something to you. This is where you get to put a face to your guide, so that as you learn to channel you will know what your guide looks like. My guide smiled at me when I met him. Somehow it made the rest of the process of learning how to channel go a little bit quicker.

"Bon Chance" is what one of the guides just said. I think that must mean good luck.

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Doodling Toward Spirit

My mind is on ruts and ways to extricate myself from them these days. I am especially interested in thinking ruts. This is where my whole world seems sort of blah or tense and where I am not especially enjoying myself. I also regret not being as “psychic” as I might be.

Writers write. Psychics are psychic. A writer can still write in their head when all is otherwise not in a writing mode around them. Like you’re at the grocery store and your mind is not totally on the groceries you are purchasing or the dinner you plan on making that night. Your mind is on the people around you, the mother and son in the freezer isle arguing over something behind the glass. You wonder why there is a problem for them. This has nothing to do with your own purchases. These are people you are noticing. It could only be for writing. You’re not nosy, are you? No. So, then, by default it must be for the purpose of utilizing their disagreement for an interaction between characters. To show love where, seemingly, none is being demonstrated. But, care is there. Why else would a mother not acquiesce to her child’s request and yearning for some frozen food product unless there be a reason not to get it? That reason could be there is not enough money, or room in the freezer or it is not a healthy item to ingest. You would not even consider that the refusal stems from a perverse sense of meanness. But, it could, could it not? Yes, spite and meanness could be a reason not to honor a child’s yearning for a food.

Okay, this exercise today, this morning before the sun has even come up, is a demonstration where I move from one mode to another; where I move from where it is just me writing to where I am channeling. I felt it happen. I closed my eyes and relaxed, surrendered to what they were saying. I just gave over. And, I’ve been doing this long enough that I could feel it happen. I can also tell because the words the Folk in Spirit use with me are not what I would normally choose; words like, “ingest” and a turn of phrase like, “unless there be a reason”. I put the guidespeak part in the paragraph above in green.

Now, what you can do as the person wanting to learn how to channel is to deliberately say to yourself, “From this point forward I will consider my words to be coming from my guide.” Who cares if they sound like they are coming from you. This is the exercise and that is the condition. From this point forward is guide speak. You keep doing it over and over again and eventually it does actually begin to sound a little different.

It’s like using an affirmation. “I am slender.” Over and over again. Many times over and over again, until finally, your own perverse mind begins to accept that you are slender. And, slowly you begin to think of carrot sticks as an interesting thing to munch upon.

I wouldn’t go around blabbing to everybody that you are channeling. That’s the best way to mess up your progress. Just keep a notebook and record your thoughts. Or, speak into a microphone.

Here’s what I would do:

• Choose a quiet time where you will not be disturbed for awhile.
• Say, “I am going to channel and it will be my guide I will be talking to.”
• Put a pair of headphones on and listen to some quiet music, nice, smooth flowing music. Ocean sounds are good. My personal choice is Dr. Jeffrey Thompson’s Brainwave Suite.
• Know that you are safe. Know that you are in complete control of your body. Know that your guide will keep you safe. Know that you can break away and come back to the “present” anytime you want to.
• And, just give over.

With a notebook in front of you begin to doodle. Not necessarily words, just squiggles. Circles, lines, swooping up and over and down and around. Movement with your pen. Just play with it for a few minutes. Then, stop. That was the exercise.

Did anything get done? Did you channel? Well, you said you did. So, you must have. A guide helped you make a squiggle? How weird is that? Hey, you’re pretending. That was the exercise. To state plainly, whether you did out loud or not, that for the next 5 minutes you were going to channel.

Next time you do it, the same way, go a little deeper into a meditative and calm sort of mindset.

As your hand forms the circle on the paper close your eyes and move deeper into the music you are listening to. Try not to grip the pen you are holding as you would normally. Loosen your grip on it so that your hand feels very light, so loose that you think the pen could even just slip out easily if you weren’t careful. Doodle away. Maybe now just write something. You’ll use up a lot of paper. It’s helpful to use a felt tip that flows nicely.

The words you write might get written one over the other. You might not even be able to read them. Don’t worry about it. Next time you’ll have a little more control. The idea is to allow Spirit to flow, to find a channel in your willingness to open to them. These aren’t folks who are going to tell you how to live your life. These aren’t folks who are going to give you the secrets of the universe. This is like sitting in your garden enjoying nature around you, participating in life. This is adding another dimension to your life. This is Spirit.