What is Channeling? - Mediumship and the Modern Age
The Usual Suspects - What Entities Can Be Channeled?
Behind the Veil - A Look at the Phenomenon of Channeling
Channelers Who Have Opened Up Their Chakras Start Channeling... Who?
In spirituality, channeling is the communication of information by or through a person (the channel or medium), from a deity, spirit or other paranormal entity outside the mind (or self) of the channel.
What is Channeling? - Mediumship and the Modern Age
According to the statistics my ISP keeps, this is one of the most consistently popular articles on my Web site. (There are others, two of which are Choosing a Psychic and The Usual Suspects: What Entities Can Be Channeled? I expect a third article, The Usual Suspects: The Entities I Channel, which I just completed, to likewise become popular.)
So, although this article is long, it apparently is considered to be worth reading.
I have made some improvements to the appearance, and have added some material, so it should be a more pleasurable experience, aesthetically speaking.
Mediums--Myth or Magic?
Associated with mediumship, or channeling as it is now more commonly called, are a number of myths and stereotypes, along with a number of outdated ideas.
In this article, I present a more modern view of the process, one that I hope will dispel many of the myths and will help readers understand what channeling is - and what it isn't.
Of course, in reading this article, it is important that you remember that it reflects my own perspective on the process; other people will almost certainly have a somewhat different take on the subject.
Much of what a person experiences as a channel (also called a channeler) or as someone who seeks out channelers for answers depends on who you are and what your background is; more on that later.
Essentially, most people who approach a channeler for answers or who are first learning to channel hold some or all of the following beliefs:
Belief: The channeler is a conduit through which the information comes. As such, he or she brings nothing to the party, so to speak, but instead can be thought of as a glorified spiritual radio tuning into the information being broadcast by the entities being channeled. NOT TRUE!
Belief: The entities being channeled, by virtue of either being dead (deceased, departed from physical life) or by virtue of never having been in a physical body, are perfected beings who have only the highest thoughts and intentions toward we lowly and inadequate human beings. NOT TRUE!
Belief: The information coming through is, therefore, always 100% accurate and always comes from a high and loving source. NOT TRUE!
Belief: Anything that comes through a channeler, therefore, is never to be questioned, but instead should be accepted and followed verbatim. NOT TRUE!
Belief: Trance channels or channels who are not conscious of their channeling are more accurate than conscious channels. NOT TRUE!
Unfortunately, many people continue to hold these beliefs even after consulting a channeler, or (worse yet) even after becoming a channeler themselves.
It is my belief that this is not a good thing.
What often results is that the person consulting a channeler suspends all judgment and rational thought along with their disbelief, often, then, ending up with more of a mess than they had before they consulted the channeler.
Another unfortunate effect of believing these things is that when, inevitably, the channeled material turns out to not have been so perfect, the ensuing disappointment can lead to completely giving up on consulting channelers or on reading channeled material.
Disgruntled, the disappointed person snorts in derision whenever anyone else mentions channelers and swears to never again look in that corner of the universe.
The mantra for all channelers should be, "I could be wrong."
The mantra for all people who consult channelers or other psychics should be, "They could be wrong."
Obviously, there must be some kind of middle ground between having so open a mind that all your marbles fall out and having a mind that is completely closed to the idea of channeling and to the information that can come through a good channeler.
There is, and this article attempts to address the beliefs that can cause disappointment and to introduce some new concepts and ideas with which to approach your next encounter with channelers or channeled material.
Mediums, or channelers as is now generally preferred (though I dislike both terms because there are so many misunderstandings associated with each) are neither mythical nor magical (well, most of us aren't, most of the time).
At least, not from our own point of view.
As always, the truth lies somewhere in between.
In this article, I introduce some definitions, then I talk about what kinds of entities can be channeled.
Then I talk about the different kinds of channelers there are, and end with a description of the channeling process.
In other articles, I provide a few guidelines for evaluating a channeler, and provide a discussion of how you might, if so inclined, become a channeler yourself.
Definitions and a little background information
Basically, channeling is the process of communicating with spirits who are not currently inhabiting bodies.
More specifically, the communication is based in either telepathic or direct spirit-to-body contact (or both). The two things are not, as I understand it, the same thing.
You can think of telepathy as a more refined and subtle form of verbal communication.
Spirit-to-body contact can and often does involve some amount of "taking over" of the channeler's body.
In extreme cases, this can become possession, either with conscious agreement from the channeler or not. Personally, I prefer the telepathic approach, and that is what I use, so that is my primary focus in this article.
Last century, when spiritualism took root in Western Europe and the United States, channelers were called mediums.
Before that, they might have been said to "hear voices" (such as with Joan of Arc) or to be prophets, such as with Muhammad, Jesus, and many of the other well-known Middle Eastern mystics.
The oracles at Delphi were almost undoubtedly channelers, as were many others in the service of a wide variety of deities throughout time and history.
Channeling has come to mean communicating with entities who have either inhabited a body but now don't or who claim to have never inhabited a body.
It is possible to channel someone who is currently inhabiting a body (and it does get done), though that isn't generally what people mean when they speak of channeling.
For completeness, though, do bear in mind that the definition includes this aspect.
Why more channeling now?
Channeling is therefore nothing new, though more people are doing it and in greater numbers than we know of in history.
I believe there are a number of reasons for this.
The human race as a whole is evolving toward greater capabilities and new definitions of who and what we are.
Part of the nature of all of life is to grow, evolve, become more complex and ever varied.
Fundamentally, what we "own" as spirits and human beings is who we are (what we've made of ourselves, and what we are constantly making of ourselves), and the relationships we've created with other true beings.
If the second reason above is true, then it follows that one of the fundamental and absolutely vital components of any kind of relationship, whether it is based in physical reality or in spirit or both, is communication.
Without communication, we can have no relationship.
This communication doesn't have to be in words, of course; body language is one form of non-verbal communication.
Communication can and often does involve spirit-to-spirit communication as well.
To evolve toward a greater expression of our own reality we must also evolve all aspects of ourselves.
Telepathy is one of the next evolutionary steps in communication.
What is telepathy?
Telepathy is the process of communicating from mind to mind (or spirit to spirit, to be more precise) without using a physical mechanism (such as voice, telephone, email, and what not).
Some might argue that there is some sort of physical mechanism in the brain that facilitates or makes possible the ability to communicate telepathically, and I suppose that is a possibility that this is so, but frankly, I am not interested in the physical side to it, if there is any.
My reasoning is that even if there is a physical mechanism, it still is based in our ultimate source, which is spiritual, and I prefer to look at the source (the spirit and spiritual reasons), or the cause, than to look at the results, or the effect.
There are many forms of telepathy. Generally, as I experience it, it is not as portrayed in the fictional works, where a person can hear every single word as broadcast by another, though telepathy can and does take that form at times. Telepathy is also not something that you need to put a lot of effort into, where you wrinkle your forehead and strain a lot; indeed, such straining can be counterproductive.
Instead, telepathy is what happens when you relax enough to open your inner self to communications that flow both ways on a more fragile and enduring medium than the air.
It also very often comes in the form of what I call a "thought ball," where concepts and thoughts and words and emotions and sensations and images are all rolled up into a complexly interrelated whole, somewhat like a large ball of string.
It is then the task of the receiver to unravel that ball into a linear communication.
Telepathy and translations
The unraveling process in telepathy is nearly identical to translating from one language into another.
You are taking a communication that came in one form in one language, and you are trying to convey that communication as clearly and as unaltered in meaning as possible in another language.
You can see, then, that if the translator is to do a good job, it is of great importance that the translator has a number of characteristics, such as being intelligent, well-balanced, open-minded, highly educated, unbiased as much as is possible, well-versed in many cultures, knowledgeable about many different languages, and so on.
You can also see that many people who aspire to being such translators don't meet up to these qualifications, and therefore their translations will similarly miss the mark to some degree.
The analogy is exact whether you are speaking of the kind of translation work that is done at the United Nations or the kind of translation work that a channeler must do every time s/he channels.
Dimensional difficulties
The main difference between translating between two human languages and translating from spirit communications into physical reality is that the latter kind of translation work is fraught with far more difficulties.
All human languages share many common constructs and concepts (for example, mother, father, birth, death; but also, built into them all, are the inherent recognition of our physical reality and certain commonly shared beliefs about that reality).
In the spirit world, there are what you might consider to be expanded versions of those same constructs, plus some.
Thinking of it in terms of dimensions is a very useful analogy.
For example, when you have two dimensions, you have only length and width, not depth.
Trying to imagine what depth would be like from the perspective of a two-dimensional world might be impossible, or, if possible, it might be possible only in a distorted way.
Once you add that third dimension, it seems obvious and a matter of course to you to see what depth is.
But try to explain it to your flatlander friends who are still in the second dimension....
Another analogy might be that of the senses.
Imagine trying to explain taste to someone who has never had the ability to taste anything.
Or smell, touch, sight, hearing, emotions - all of these would be hard to explain, describe, or discuss with someone who didn't have experience with these things.
A friend of mine who is now blind but wasn't at one time once told me of how she was in a discussion once with people who had been blind from birth.
The topic was one that probably all of us have played with at some time or another: If you had to give up one sense, which would it be?
In this case, the topic was modified somewhat to assume that the people had the choice of four of our five senses.
My friend said that those people who had been blind from birth said they would still choose to be blind rather than, say, deaf.
They couldn't imagine how sight could be useful - but take away their hearing and they would feel it!
Their main argument was, how could you tell you were approaching something if you couldn't hear the various small sounds that echoed from those items or that those items made?
My friend found that she could not explain how sight could perform many of the functions that hearing was performing for them, and they remained convinced that hearing was better than sight.
(I'm not taking a position here; I'd have a hard time choosing too, if I had to choose, because each sense contributes something uniquely beautiful to our three-dimensional life.)
The channeler experiences a similar difficulty in trying to translate the messages being received in that s/he is still within the world of three dimensions (or the five senses, if you will, ignoring, for now, the fact that there are of course far more dimensions, including time, the fourth dimension), yet s/he is trying to communicate concepts being conveyed from a being who is inhabiting at least one dimension up (the fifth dimension or greater), or whose existence is entirely within the spirit realm (I don't claim to have much knowledge of such; the more I learn, the more questions I have and the less I think I know) and therefore not dependent on physical reality as a reference point, though that greater reality encompasses ours.
Another way to look at it is to think of each dimension as a matrix that includes any "lower" dimension within it.
So, for example, the second dimension includes within it the first dimension; the third dimension includes the first and second; the fourth dimension includes the first, second, and third, and so on.
If you were a person stepping from dimension to dimension, you would continue to experience each previous dimension, yet from a different perspective.
In a sense, you are able to view the previous dimensions as something incorporated within your new dimension; you could almost say that you are viewing the previous dimensions from "outside" them.
So why bother channeling?
What's the point?
You may be thinking, "this is all very interesting, but so what? Why bother? What's the use in channeling anyway?"
Aside from the idea that much of the information coming through is pretty interesting, the tendency is to think that it is information we can live without, especially since there doesn't seem to be any way to test or confirm the information.
But what if that information is useful after all, perhaps in ways that aren't obvious?
Here's another analogy: Let's say that your bed is analogous to the first dimension, your bedroom is the second dimension, your house the third dimension, your neighborhood the fourth, and so on.
When you wake in the morning, you exist in the first dimension.
While you are there, you only know what is taking place in bed. (Pretending that you can't see your room--perhaps you have a canopy bed with curtains.)
As soon as you draw your bed curtains aside and step out of bed into the second dimension (your bedroom), you have a wider and different perspective on your bed (the first dimension).
The bed is still in your scope of experience, yet you are experiencing it from a different vantage point, and you now see the context within which it lies (the second dimension, aka your bedroom).
You can see, for example, that your bed rests upon a floor, of whose existence you had no clue.
This raises a large number of questions in itself.
What is a floor?
Who built it?
How is it holding your bed up?
And so on.
You can also see that your bed is contained within a greater reality, yet that reality has walls and a ceiling (as well as the floor).
More questions result.
Who made all of this?
Did anyone make it?
Is this all there is?
Is there something greater within which this room is contained, just as my bed is contained within this room?
What is a wall?
What is the nature of a wall?
Are there other walls?
Are all walls made the same?
And so on.
When you step out into the hallway and realize that your room is contained within an even greater context, you get some answers but more questions.
You now see that there are different kinds of walls, for example, and floors, too, yet the ceiling seems to be the same.
Is there only one kind of ceiling but many walls?
If there are many walls, how many are there?
When you get outside, your reality really opens up, and again you have more answers yet many more questions.
You will also have grown in ability in that you had to stretch yourself to reach into these greater realities, and you had to learn new skills in dealing with these new realities.
Although many of the skills are based in what you learned within your bed, you have also learned new skills as well.
For example, while lying in your bed, you didn't need to use your legs much, and when you did, it wasn't for walking.
You may even have wondered what legs were good for.
As soon as you stepped outside the bed's protective coverings, you quickly found out what legs were good for, yet you had had no conception of walking before.
And once you got outside and discovered, for instance, that legs are very useful for driving (though not essential), you found you were very far beyond what you had ever imagined you would be doing with your body.
Now imagine trying to talk with someone who is still sitting in their bed.
How would you explain what you are experiencing to them?
How do you tell them that you are walking, or what pleasure it brings to you to walk?
How do you describe the world you are in, to someone who has never been outside?
Generally, what you would try to do is use analogies, such as comparing the sky to the canopy over the bed, and the good green earth you are walking on to the bed's mattress.
Many times, however, you would find yourself unable to completely convey the reality of what you are experiencing, though if you are good at what you do, you may be able to convey enough that the person in his or her bed is willing to at least take a peek out into their room, and so start their own journey into a greater reality.
And ask yourself this: What apparent relevance would information about what a car is, let alone how to drive it, hold for someone who is still in that bed?
You may try to tell them that their legs will be used in ways they have never imagined, but the greater reality is still so far removed from the reality of existence in the bed that you find it impossible at times to convey even a taste of what the greater reality is like.
You know your friend in that bed is going to think that much, if not all, of what you are saying is irrelevant and possibly even crazy.
Yet you know from your greater perspective that when they come out into the greater, more expanded reality that you exist within, this information will be useful in many ways.
When in a world that has cars, you need to know how to avoid the dangers they pose as well as to take advantage of their benefits they offer.
If you come forth into the world that contains cars completely naive of any information on that topic, you will be at a disadvantage.
Granted, it is easier to come up to speed on cars than on, say, other things, but the analogy is a pretty good one.
The point here is that much of the information coming through in a channeling session (at least, in the kinds of channeling sessions I hold) has global significance and is preparing those who are present (or who get to read the transcripts) for a greater reality.
Not even I, the channeler, am always able to grasp the significance of what is coming through, and sometimes it seems that the information is arbitrarily simple or irrelevant.
Yet many times I have later gasped at the stunningly perfect complexity and interrelatedness of something I received while channeling, where a piece falls into place and what formerly seemed chaos is now a perfect design.
Other times I have had to continue to take information on faith, hoping that someday it will make sense.
Which I don't always do. I talk back to the entities I channel; I argue with them, I get stubborn and insist on getting something that is of apparent value today.
I always get what I ask for, though sometimes not in the form or in the time frame I asked to receive it within.
(The communication flow is easier from the channeler to the entity being channeled, because the entity is within a matrix that encompasses the matrix within which the channeler exists.
Someone who has already lived in that bed and has now moved on will understand the experiences of the person still living in the bed; the reverse is not necessarily true, unless the person living in the bed has actually returned to the bed from a greater reality and has retained that information to a greater degree than most of us have.
But that is getting way beyond the scope of this essay; I'll address it another time.)
So if you believe in a greater reality or even in a reality that makes sense, has meaning, has interrelatedness; if, (as Jung and his followers are fond of saying), you believe there is no such thing as a coincidence, then channeling can hold a lot of charm and value.
Myself, I have an immense amount of sheer curiosity, so even if the information isn't necessarily or obviously applicable in a practical way, I enjoy receiving it.
It also just plain feels good to channel and seems to do no harm but instead accomplishes much good in my life and in the lives of those I channel for, all of which seem as good reasons to do it as any of the others.
So, you're saying you talk with dead guys?
Since I believe it is impossible to destroy a spirit, it is a contradiction in terms to refer to those spirits as "dead guys," though I have been known to make such references both out of my own sense of humor and to make things easier for those around me. (Though I hasten to add that I did not come up with this term.
My dear and great friend Jeff Duntemann was the first to use this term with me, and I loved the irreverence of it so much that I made it mine. Thanks, Jeff!)
However, not all the entities I channel have inhabited bodies from which they could have died out of, so the term "dead guys" is loose at best.
But yes, in the loosest sense, a channeler speaks with dead guys.
(Year 2002 note: I wrote this article in 1996, quite some time before the movie Sixth Sense came out, which, if you haven't seen it, I highly recommend, if only for the spectacular jobs of acting by Bruce Willis and Haley Joel Osment, but also for the information in it.)
This isn't to say that those dead guys are any more enlightened or able to speak to the human condition than I am.
If you aren't careful, the "dead guy" you are channeling could be Fred, the Garage mechanic, who just died and is having you on for a lark.
Watch for those automotive analogies.
To be more specific about who you can speak with if you are a channeler, I'd have to say that the field is wide open - with some caveats.
From my own experiences and deductions and information from my own channeled sources (the "dead guys"), who you are, has a great deal to do with who you channel.
The Boy Scout rule
As my main spirit liaison once told someone,
"If you want to hang about in the pool hall of the souls with the riff-raff and the hustlers, you can. But you don't have to."
Another saying he is fond of is, "Like Light attracts like Light," which is tongue-twister way of saying that birds of a feather flock together.
This means that generally you will attract entities who are on the same wavelength as you are.
If, for example, you as a human being haven't spent a lot of time on things like living ethically, with self- and other-honesty, trust, good-heartedness, and so on, or if you have a lot of judgments about yourself and the world, and a lot of restrictive beliefs about how things work, then the entities you attract won't be trustworthy or particularly forthcoming with the truth, nor will they be trustworthy in other ways, and in general, when you channel them, you will get slimed, spiritually speaking.
Though you may enjoy it--life is odd that way.
Conversely, if you have been honest and true, and have held and followed higher standards of:
decency
honesty
justice
and, ultimately, love in a deep and universal sense, then you will attract the kind of entity who likewise holds those things to be important.
Can you be more specific? Exactly who can and who cannot be channeled, and why?
I know, I know - you'd like me to be more specific.
Unfortunately, to be as specific as I'd like to be would take up the space of at least one entire book--perhaps more.
But I can be a little more specific than I am being.
Here's a list of the kinds of entities that can be channeled, more or less in order of spiritual awareness and development:
Regular human beings, including yourself
Inhabitants of the elemental world
Aliens
Ascended and enlightened masters and angelic sorts of beings
The god and goddess of this area
The god/goddess who created our god and goddess
The rulers of the universe
Potentially more
The different flavors of channelers
This leads rather neatly into the topic of what different kinds of channelers there are.
Setting aside the moral levels and gradations, there are several different ways of channeling as well.
Basically, channeling in any form is a kind of altered state that falls on a spectrum rather than into discrete categories, here are four of the more distinct points on that spectrum:
Fully conscious channel
Altered-state "conscious" channel, where the feeling while channeling is that you are fully conscious, but afterward you realize that you were in a (either slightly or greatly) different focus than normal waking reality - a kind of superconscious state of awareness
Light trance channel (that is, channeling while in a light trance)
Full trance channel
Fully conscious
Briefly, a fully conscious channeler is in a "normal" awake and aware state, can move about, interrupt him or herself, stop, start, and so on, without a significant or noticeable interruption to the flow of the channeling.
This is what I used to think I was.
Altered state "conscious" channel
An altered-state conscious channel is a little off kilter from the normal waking focus.
This is the category I now place myself in. While channeling, I am as described in the previous paragraph, and I tend to think I am fully conscious.
But afterwards I realize I don't recall what I was channeling with the same clarity I do normal waking conscious experiences, and the concepts are not always as clear as when I was channeling.
So, I have come to call what I am in when channeling a "superconscious" state.
I can't say whether this holds true for many other channelers, though I know it does hold true for some.
(Before I am accused of having a poor memory to start with, or of not being all that smart, I present my credentials: My IQ is quite high (much closer to 200 than to 100) and I used to have an almost photographic memory.
Although it isn't nearly as photographic as it used to be, I have quite a remarkable memory still.
In fact, I believe that these two characteristics help me to be a pretty good channeler.
The wiring is there to help bring in clearer information.)
Trance channels, light to full
Trance channels are those who go into some kind of trance ranging from light to heavy in order to channel.
In a trance, the channeler goes off somewhere (far or near), while the entity either telepathically communicates the message, or comes into the channeler's body (or at least takes over the operation of that body), in order to convey the message.
Some channelers call this "full body" channeling.
The usual method versus the Marina™ method
In all types of channelings, what I have been told by other psychics is that the usual method for channeling is for the channeler to allow the entity being channeled to come into his or her energy space and to, to a greater or lesser degree, take over the body with the permission of the channeler.
One psychic I met (who is now a friend) told me when she first met me that I channel differently from any other person she had seen channel; that instead of allowing a being to take me over to any degree, I carry on a telepathic conversation with the entity and then translate the information and bring it forth through me.
Since this is my process, it is what I most know about and can talk about, and of course it seems like the most natural and obvious way to go about channeling.
But then, I am self-taught and taught by the entities I channel, so as usual I am a bit of a wild rose.
Which isn't to say that no one else does it that way.
The friend I just mentioned realized that she too had often channeled while doing psychic readings for others (and she is a whiz-bang psychic; one of the two best I have ever met); she just hadn't realized it because it wasn't like how anyone else did it--until she met me.
In any of these methods, the channeler is in close and constant communication with the channelees (the Sources), getting and translating the message, with the Sources monitoring the translation and doing their best to make sure the translation stays as accurate and on track as possible.
Which way is best?
First, let me say that I do not believe there is any, one "right" or best way.
Having said that, I will say that the best way for me is the way I do it, just as the best way for another is the way they do it.
As Virginia Satir reportedly once said,
"There are 265 different ways to wash dishes, and they all get the dishes clean."
Still, others are of differing opinions.
This is a sensitive area.
Some people like to claim that their way of channeling, however they channel, is the best or "purest" or least prone to mistakes and distortions, and I confess that I'm not immune to the syndrome myself.
For example, some full trance channels are fond of saying that, because they are in trance, the material they bring through is "purer" and less distorted than material brought through by "lesser" channels who are conscious or semi-conscious.
Their reasoning is that supposedly they can "get out of the way" of the message better, or "let the entity through" better; that is, they allow the entity to more fully possess their bodies, and that the conscious mind, with its filters and programming and beliefs, is safely out of the way, so that the entities can therefore to speak more directly.
This isn't necessarily so.
The fact is that whether you are a fully conscious channel or a full-blown out-like-a-light trance channel, you are still translating for the entity with the same set of tools you have available in any state of consciousness, and with the same beliefs, rationalizations, filters, biases, and so on. (Which go much deeper than the conscious mind.)
It is just easier, when you are in a trance, to pretend that you had nothing to do with the translation, and to therefore claim to yourself and others that the information is less fallible.
Any trance channel who claims this is denying his or her contribution to the message and is denying any responsibility for what comes through.
This can lead to an amusing circular verification process, which goes something like this:
Channel (speaking as her/himself): "My opinion is X."
Channel (in trance, speaking as entity): "Yes, X is true."
Channel (speaking as her/himself again): "Since the entity said X is true, it must be true and not just my opinion"
I try to be on the lookout for this kind of thing and am personally relieved when the entities disagree with me.
I am also always ready to admit that if they seem to be agreeing with me, it could be my own filters getting in the way of the message.
This rigorous self-policing is a necessary component of any psychic practice.
The quality of the message
The quality (high or low) of a channeled message will be the same for a given channel whatever form the channeling takes.
A good channel will produce good, clear messages whatever the channeling method, and a muddy channel will produce muddy messages.
I have heard one of the very best trance channelers alive today channel, and he occasionally brings through some (not a lot, but some, still) fear-based and judgmental material, just as he would if fully conscious.
It is, as far as I know, inescapable that the channeler imparts his or her own flavoring to the message. In a very real sense, the medium is the message.
Being a conscious channeler myself, I have a certain bias toward conscious channeling over trance channeling, though in the end I think that it is up to each of us to analyze the process and the results and decide for ourselves what we prefer.
Of course, any person claiming to be a channeler of any stripe may be a fraud, either partially or completely, consciously or unknowingly.
This is why it is imperative that those who consult channelers be fully aware of how it is possible for a channeler not to get all the information (if s/he gets any information at all), so that the consulters do not give away their power and self-determination to the consultants (the channelers).
If you keep in mind that the channeler is essentially someone you are consulting, then perhaps it will be easier to maintain your perspective and remember who is in charge of your life.
What I find unfortunate about those who claim that their style of channeling is inherently better and more accurate is that, as I mentioned earlier, people already tend to lend channeled material far more unthinking and unexamining credence than it warrants, and to be told by implication or omission that the material coming through a particular channel is even less open to critical examination is to encourage people to stop thinking for themselves (or continue to not think for themselves), and to not apply their discernment to whatever messages are coming through.
In either case, I would recommend that you either avoid such channelers or you take a very large bag of salt with you when you either read their materials or listen to them (in person or on video or cassette tapes).
Having said this, I will proceed to describing what the channeling process is like from my perspective.
The channeling process
So, this brings us to the actual process of channeling itself.
Since this isn't a text on how to channel but is instead a text on understanding what channeling is, I won't go into the step-by-step procedures (and there isn't just one set) of how to channel.
Instead, I'll explain the general sequence of events, and you can explore from there or read more later when I write something on how to channel.
One of the fundamental "rules" or "laws" in any endeavor involving spirits is that there can be no overriding of another entity's free will.
Period.
If on entity tries to override another, severe consequences will occur.
However, it is possible for one entity to give permission to another to override their will, and to give it on the spirit level where they may not be aware of the agreement consciously.
Although this sounds like overriding one's will, if the person being overridden has consented to it, it isn't really.
I consider this a kind of loophole, but I'm not sure I'd change it.
This rule applies in channeling as well.
An entity cannot be channeled unless the channeler agrees to bring the message through.
If you are already a channeler, or are interested in becoming one, and you hadn't heard this before, take note.
Every entity who is aware enough to try to bring a message through a channeler knows this rule.
If you don't like what's going on - that is, if you don't like how the entity's energy feels, or if you don't like the tone of the message or if you even don't like the look of the entity's eyes, you can ask that entity to leave, and s/he will have to.
I say this as an introduction to discussing the channeling process because the channeling process starts with an invitation: You, the channeler, invite the entity or entities you wish to channel.
You are not coerced or forced; instead, either an entity contacts you and asks to be channeled, or you invite an entity, either specifically or generically (for instance, you might ask for Jesus to speak through you, or you might ask for the "highest beings of light possible," meaning the highest beings you are capable of bringing through).
In either case, you have full say over whether whoever shows up will be allowed to stay and speak.
Once the invitation has been made, then the process of connecting takes place.
If the channeler is a trance channel, s/he goes into trance sometimes around here, and the entity then takes over some control of the channeler's faculties and allows the entity to speak.
If the channeler is a more conscious channel, then a more conscious arrangement is arrived at whereby the entity being channeled steps into the energy field of the channeler, but the channeler remains aware of his or her surroundings.
In some cases, as I mentioned, instead of a merging in that sense, the channeler makes a telepathic connection with the spirit.
At this point a communication link of some sort has been established and the message starts coming through.
If the channeler feels either at this point or at any point during the session that something isn't right with the connection--either the entities don't "feel" right or the connection itself isn't clear - the channeler may do any of the following:
mentally request help in clarifying the message from his or her "known" helpful entities
visualize a better connection
ask the invading entity (if there is such) to leave
There Can Be Only One?
The connection initially is not always smooth and deep.
In fact, what I have noticed for myself is that the initial connection is almost always a bit rocky.
I liken it to the confluence of two rivers: Initially, the water is turbulent and muddy (the information coming through is less clear and accurate), but after a while the waters settle into a more powerful channel and clear flow than was true for either river alone, and the information flows deeply, strongly, and clearly. (As clearly as I am capable of.)
This is a key point:
The information coming through is a collaboration between two entities.
As such, it is greater than either entity alone could bring about.
With some caveats, of course.
I am not claiming to be greater than Jesus, for example (who is one of the main entities I channel), or even to being anything close to him in this incarnation, yet I am able to channel him pretty clearly and to bring through from him messages that are unique because I am as much a part of the message as he is.
Others can also channel Jesus, but I am the only one who can channel him the way I channel him.
Which brings up a point: Some channels "bring through" information that says that they are the only ones who can channel entity So-and-So.
My interpretation of this is that they are indeed the only ones who can channel entity So-and-So in the unique way that they do, but others can channel that same entity. (Though beware of imitations, eh?)
In these cases, the channel is either consciously or unconsciously interpreting/translating the message from the entity that says, "the connection is unique" so that it comes through as "this connection is the only possible one."
I understand that in some cases of very public channelers who are making their living from channeling that entity (and there is nothing wrong with that--more of us should be able to!), there are concerns with having people muddy the waters by channeling the same entity in their own unique way.
As I've said before, not all channels are equally clear.
I have read some "Seth" channeling, for example, that is very muddy indeed and a discredit to the original material brought through by Jane Roberts (another one who claimed that she was the only one who could channel Seth).
However, I also think it is faintly ridiculous to try to claim that some non-incarnate entity who is capable of much is limited in that he or she is only capable of or interested in channeling through one being.
Yes, it is possible, but imagine someone trying to claim that God, for example, is only going to speak to humanity through a single intermediary, and never directly to any one human.
Except, of course, for the intermediaries.
Oh, wait.
That's been done, quite successfully, by many major religions.
It's almost as bad as the fundamentalists who told me that Jesus is dead and therefore can't talk to anybody and that God specifically does NOT talk to psychics.
Maybe I better use another example.
Imagine this: Every one of us has our own internal ability to communicate with the unseen.
This ability varies from person to person, but it is there.
And every entity likewise has the ability to communicate with us.
Think of it as internal telephones.
We all have them, and they all work with varying degrees of clarity.
Now imagine, if you will, that some entity decides that he or she is ONLY going to call one person, and likewise that that person is only going to call that one entity.
Yes, it is possible.
And certainly, for many channels, focusing on one entity is their path.
But for many entities, the more channels they can speak through, the more likely it is that their message is going to go out into the world.
Of course, if the channel becomes very famous, then yes, the entity can choose to concentrate on that one channel, but that doesn't mean the entity is only capable of "calling" that channel exclusively.
The distinction between "can't" and "won't" needs to be made here.
Remember, just because it was channeled, doesn't mean it is 100% accurate.
Back to the main flow of information.
The channeler's awareness
During the process of channeling, the channeler is either more-or-less fully aware of his or her surroundings or is off somewhere in a virtual room where the translation is taking place.
In a sense, you could think of that location as a translation booth, where the entity and the channeler are meeting to come up with the translation, and meanwhile the translation of the entity's message is being broadcast through a loudspeaker system based in that room.
The trance channel may later not recall what took place in that room, while the conscious channeler usually does, and there you have what I consider one of the strengths of conscious channeling: You can later review the channeled material (assuming it was recorded), and analyze it against your own awareness of when you felt you were translating more clearly, and when you thought you had lost the fine focus and were perhaps a bit muddier.
The trance channel doesn't usually have this resource available, and so has the tendency to think all the material is of equally high quality.
Which it almost never is for any channeler.
If others are present, the channeling is likewise affected.
According to channeled information I have received, those who are present affect the channeling and are almost as much a part of creating the message as the channeler.
The idea is that even though those who are present as an apparent audience only seem to be listening, in fact they are participating in creating the message on the spirit level.
Think about that next time you listen to a channeler in person and are tempted to wonder in awe how they can get that information.
Conclusion
Thank you for bearing with me through this long article.
I hope it has been of interest and value to you, if only to provide a few smiles along the way.
Though of course I hope to have provided more than that.
I hope it has given you some things to think about, perhaps a new awareness of or perspective on channeling and on psychics, and perhaps even on your own abilities and experiences.
The Usual Suspects - What Entities Can Be Channeled?
I give some background on the nature of channeling itself in What is channeling?
In that article, I discuss to some degree the vast variability of it all, such that it isn't possible without writing a book to convey the scope of what channeling is.
In the end, it can leave a non-psychic or non-channeler feeling a bit mystified.
It is, as I state elsewhere, somewhat like trying to describe colors to someone who has been blind all of their life.
However, I can be somewhat more specific when speaking of the kinds of entities that can be channeled.
Briefly, here's one list of the kinds of entities that can be channeled, more or less in order of spiritual awareness and development:
Regular human beings, including yourself
Inhabitants of the elemental world
Aliens
Ascended and enlightened masters and angelic sorts of beings
The god and goddess of this area
The god/goddess who created our god and goddess
Potentially more
Regular human beings
In this category we find regular human beings who have left their bodies (either through death or sleep).
Fred the Car Mechanic, for instance, or your Aunt Elsie, or Albert Einstein, Friedrich Nietzsche - if the beings was corporate on this planet, it can generally be channeled, though there must be a match of some sort between the channeler and the channelee for any message to get through, and the more filters a channeler might have, the more distorted the message will be.
Sometimes, even, a channeler will think they are channeling, say, Albert Einstein when in fact they have picked up some prankster spirit (if they are fortunate, it is only a prankster, and not someone with evil intent).
Much misinformation can get conveyed in this fashion.
You can also contact and channel yourself - usually a "future" version, though you could also contact yourself in the past and even in the lives that you are living in other times and places.
If you contact someone who is living, that is more in the realm of telepathy than channeling, though it is possible to channel a living human too.
Inhabitants of the elemental world
This category includes fairies, gnomes, elves, and the like.
Yes, they exist, in a slightly different dimension.
So does Santa Claus. (And I mean that in all sincerity.)
Some people experience these beings as what they call devas, though devas exist as a separate class of being: the conscious spirit inherent in plants, rocks, locales, and so on.
Devas and the inhabitants of the fairy realm exist more or less in the same dimension and so do know of and work with each other.
Normally, however, you won't experience your communications with any of these beings as channeling per se, though you might.
The basic nature of these beings is that they are very close to physical reality and as such are quite grounded in and in a very real sense a part of that reality.
Communications with them are more like the sort of telepathic exchanges that can take place between two humans who are in body, or between a human and an animal.
Aliens
Yes, I know, this makes me uncomfortable too, but I know these guys exist, so I won't ignore them in this list.
As far as I can tell, most, if not all, aliens exist in a different dimension.
They do have some technological superiority, but this doesn't mean they also have spiritual or moral superiority over us.
Remember this if any of them come along and try to screw with your head; in particular, beware of the "Space Brothers" coming to "claim their own."
There are some who are trying to program people into believing they should take off with aliens if and when the time comes.
Note: I wrote this section of this essay in 1996, long before the heaven's Gate fiasco, and that is exactly the kind of thing I was trying to warn people about.
The "Space Brothers" do not, for the most part, have our best interests at heart.
Some people consider contacting the Space Brothers to be a great privilege or at least a potentially interesting experience.
And it may be, for all I know.
I just object to the underhanded trickery being used; I figure if someone feels they have to trick you into wanting to join them, or to program you into wanting to go, instead of just being upfront about it, laying out the pros and cons, and letting you decide, that perhaps this wonderful place they are trying to lure you off to isn't perhaps quite the paradise it is being presented as.
Caveat emptor.
Anyway, the point is, you can communicate with these beings.
Since they aren't exactly in the same dimension, I think this qualifies as channeling under my rather loose definition.
Personally, I try to steer clear of the entire bunch.
Ascended and enlightened masters and angelic sorts of beings
Another category of entity that can be channeled includes those who are variously called the ascended masters, enlightened beings, and also, mixed in with them, the angels and such fairly well-known entities as Seth and Lazaris.
This category includes Jesus as well as a number of other beings who realized or remembered their greater reality while walking the earth, and who are interested in helping others come to the same kind of realization.
Not all of the beings being channeled who claim to be an ascended master are such.
For that matter, not all of the beings who claim to be Jesus or whoever are who they claim to be.
I'll repeat this many times because it is very important: Being able to discern at a very deep level the feeling and intent behind any entity's communication is a key skill to have while channeling any entity or while listening to someone else channel.
There is a tendency for people to swallow unthinkingly and without discrimination anything that is supposedly channeled.
They shouldn't, any more than they should accept and believe everything that is on the TV news.
Listen to your heart!
Most of the entities in this category have particular areas of interest and affinity.
For example, Seth likes to call himself a "Probability Master," and speaks often of probabilities and alternate possibilities. Jesus is very warmly concerned with the heart and with human relationships, though from such a high level that sometimes it can be hard to see the relationship between relationships and what he is saying.
He is warm-hearted and has a wonderful sense of humor.
Other entities have other areas of interest, and when a topic comes up when I am channeling that can be best addressed by a different entity, that entity will ask permission to move forward to speak on it.
The god and goddess of this area
As far as my understanding reaches at this moment, there is a god and a goddess (or a being who has masculine and feminine aspects) who are in charge of this region of space.
Whether that region is just earth or the entire solar system or perhaps even a larger area than that, I am not sure. I believe it is the solar system.
This god and goddess are in some way a part of or an extension of the god and goddess who created them.
It is useful and fun to contact this level of God and goddess.
You'll get planetary information, globally significant information, and sound, earth-grounded directions.
I have contacted an entity who calls himself Sol or Helios, and I think he is the god of this system.
If I have been in touch with the goddess who has co-dominion over this area with Sol, I am not currently aware of it.
The god/goddess who created our god and goddess
The god and goddess who created the local area's god and goddess are the beings that most of us think of as God.
At least, according to my understanding, which could easily (and undoubtedly will) change.
It took me a while to work up the courage to contact God.
Potentially more
There is always another way of organizing this information, which is one reason why I titled this section "Potentially more."
Another reason is that in addition to these levels of beings, there could be more.
Behind the Veil - A Look at the Phenomenon of Channeling
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View full-sizeDownload Interview with Lyssa Royal November 1998 This interview was conducted by Lyssa's Japanese interpreter, Ms. Kazumi Hoshina in Tokyo, Japan, July 3, 1995, from LyssaRoyal Website
Channeling is the process of receiving information or inspiration from realms beyond our physical reality.
There are many forms of channeling such as vocal trance channeling and divination (using tools such as tarot or runes).
Even the simplest form of creativity can be considered channeling such as music composition, dance and movement, and artistic endeavors.
The specific source of channeled inspiration is not nearly as significant as the essence of the gift brought through to this reality.
From where does channeling come?
Most people have heard of the process of channeling:
spirit guides
angels
extraterrestrials
and ascended masters.
But perhaps the most important aspect of channeling is each person's ability to connect with his or her own unique spiritual energy - that of the Higher Self.
Without that ability, the process of connecting with spirit guides may seem two-dimensional or shallow.
As we develop our relationship with our own Higher Selves (thus committing to the process of our personal growth) the universe comes alive with consciousness that helps us learn about the wonders of God's universe.
This article is taken from an interview with Lyssa Royal on the subject of channeling and its connection with the Higher Self.
Many subjects are discussed but an overall theme is explored - that the channeling process can only be as clear as the channel.
To achieve clarity a channel must commit herself to a journey of intense personal growth and discovery.
It is important to remember that each channel is unique. Just like musical styles, a channel and his/her guide learn to create a symphony of ideas and experiences for the listener.
Every channel has his or her own style.
If you are seeking a channel, it is suggested that you participate in several styles of channeling until you find one that inspires joy and awakening in your heart.
The following interview was conducted by Lyssa's Japanese interpreter, Ms. Kazumi Hoshina.
Q: How did you become a channel, and what kind of training did you go through?
Please be specific about your training.
It seems like the circumstances in my life guided me to learn the skills that I needed to learn to become a channel long before I even knew what channeling was.
In 1979 I had a UFO sighting with my family in New Hampshire.
Though I had been interested in psychic phenomenon before that experience, the UFO sighting really accelerated my interest in paranormal subjects.
I was in college at the time.
Shortly after that I was studying hypnosis in college and learned to place myself in an altered state of consciousness, mostly for stress management.
Those early situations (the UFO sighting and learning to put myself in an altered state of consciousness) helped to lay the foundation for what happened later.
In 1984 I began to see a channel named Darryl Anka who channels Bashar.
The channelings by Bashar had a very profound impact in my life.
During that time, I had a dream in which an entity materialized and touched all of my chakras.
The entity said to me, "You will be a channel."
That experience both scared and excited me.
I immediately went to Bashar and asked him what this was all about and what I could do to develop my channeling.
Bashar actually recommended a channeling class that he knew of in Los Angeles that was just beginning.
I called the teacher, and it turned out that there was only one opening left.
The class began a month or two after my initial phone call.
During the interim I felt like I wanted to continue to learn about channeling before the class began.
An exciting process began happening.
I began to feel the presence of other entities and a lot of energy around me. I would go into that self-hypnotic state that I had taught myself years before and the spirit guides began teaching me the early stages of channeling.
They would blend their energy with mine, move my hands and head, and they would exercise my vocal cords so I could feel what it was like to speak with a new energy in my vocal cords.
That really got me ready for the class.
Q: So, the channeling began even before you took the class?
That is true, yes.
I was channeling already before I began the class, but I felt that I needed some type of formal guidance.
It is a very frightening experience to be opening to something like channeling without assistance.
I entered the class in January 1985, and I studied with five other individuals once a week with the teacher for about 4-5 hours.
Then we met independently without the teacher once or twice per week for about 4 hours.
The class itself taught a wide range of approaches to channeling - all of which are very important aspects of the channeling experience.
One area that was stressed was the area of Personal Growth, which is what I focus on now when I teach channeling.
This aspect is important because it is what allows a channel to be clear.
If a channel processes his/her own fears, issues, and blockages, then they become clear as a person and thus will become clear as a channel.
(A channel who is not clear, loving, and nonjudgmental in life will not be a clear, loving, and nonjudgmental channel.)
We also did a lot of work having to do with the subconscious.
There were a lot of guided meditations that were for the purpose of releasing blocked energy that resides in the subconscious.
This energy is expressed through an archetypal language understood mostly by the subconscious and unconscious aspects of ourselves.
This includes the areas of:
fear
love
judgment
and the integration of polarity (whether it be male/female or dark/light).
There were many lessons having to do with the blending of spiritual energy with us in human form and the expression of that energy through speech, movement, or music (depending upon the individual channel's talents).
A lot of focus was placed on the Higher Self and how everything we need can be accessed within us without even having to work with entities outside of ourselves.
We also did basic work having to do with the development of our psychic abilities and the stimulation of our chakra (energy center) energy.
We worked on divination using tools such as tarot cards, runes, etc.
Our lessons were comprised of a whole mixture of teachings designed to shape us into flexible and clear channels.
Q: So, this was some serious study.
Yes. Even late in the year we accelerated our class time and spent even more time practicing.
We were very dedicated.
Q: Eventually you began to work with the entities Germane and Sasha.
Before they appeared, what other entities were guiding you?
Were they with you only to help you learn to channel?
The very first entities I began channeling (who came through before the class began) were a mixture.
The first one I remember was a Chinese philosopher named Kwan.
The entity Ra came through also.
There were quite a few.
I don't remember them all.
The first entity that stayed with me and helped me develop as a channel called herself Raydia.
I channeled her for three years.
She was the entity that my Los Angeles clientele knew the most.
I became known first for channeling Raydia.
The whole time I lived in Los Angeles, and I was channeling publicly, I was channeling Raydia, along with several others.
Q: What was Raydia like?
She is a female version of the guide I work with now named Germane.
Just before I left Los Angeles [in 1988] and moved to Arizona she did her last channeling.
She said to the group, "You will never see me in this form again."
I had no idea what that meant.
Eventually she integrated herself into Germane.
Like Germane, she was a collective consciousness, but had a strong affiliation with the star Arcturus.
Germane has many different aspects to him, but Raydia was very heart-centered and strongly affiliated with Arcturus.
I also channeled an entity called "the One" at that time, who had a strong connection to the energy being worshipped by Akhenaton in his attempt to introduce monotheism in Egypt.
Q: You mentioned an entity named "Ra".
Was that the same entity mentioned by the Egyptians?
It is not the same entity as the one discussed in the later dynasties of Egypt.
The original Ra evolved into something else later in the mind of the later Egyptians.
Ra was another collective.
Once I moved to Arizona, everything changed.
Surprisingly, I began to channel Merlin.
He was very enigmatic and kept telling us that he was just a temporary guide and that he was getting me prepared for a new frequency.
About six months later, Germane appeared.
He was very hard to channel at first and had a bothersome accent.
I begged him to work with me so that the accent could be dropped.
He said the accent had something to do with the way his energy interfaced with my speech centers.
It took a few years, but eventually the accent was lessened.
Now it is just slightly perceptible.
For people who have listened to my tapes since 1989, they will notice that the accent diminishes after about 4 years.
This is indeed a long process!
Q: Could you tell us how contemporary channeling developed in America?
In the late 1800s the spiritualist movement in both Europe and America increased.
The interest in mediumship strengthened.
Back then, it mostly focused on channeling the entities who had died - deceased spirits who return to give information.
In the 1950s there was a surge of channeling from supposed extraterrestrial sources.
One channel named George Van Tassel was a real pioneer in terms of ET channeling.
At that time, it was very simplistic channeling but quite profound for the listeners.
I would say that the main influence for many of today's contemporary channels would have to be Jane Roberts who channeled Seth.
She began channeling in the 1960s, but her material wasn't well known until the 70s and then it experienced another surge in the 1980s.
Her material is very intellectual and deals with the nature of reality as well as our connection with God, reincarnation, etc.
It comes from a very well-balanced and well-rounded perspective.
I feel she is the pioneer of modern-day channeling in America.
In the 1980s another channel influenced channeling called J.Z. Knight who channels Ramtha.
Unfortunately, her channeling style is very dramatic and there has been controversy around her.
So, when channeling became popular in the 1980s and the media got a hold of it, J.Z. Knight was the one everyone focused on.
The media portrayed her in a very bad light which influenced the way the world perceived channeling.
Shirley Maclaine wrote about her as well.
Channeling was distorted by the media immensely in the 1980s.
Even J.Z. Knight's material was distorted by the media.
Another channel that influenced us in the 1980s was Kevin Ryerson who was also popularized by Shirley Maclaine.
But he did not get as much negative press as J.Z. Knight.
Right now, everyone involved in metaphysics or self-help pretty much knows what channeling is (but their true understanding of it is most likely inaccurate).
Therapists are now using channeling in their practices.
However, I still find that unless someone has experienced channeling firsthand and have had a good experience, they still do not understand what it is and judge it from a place of being misinformed.
Q: Isn't Edgar Cayce well-known as well?
Is he considered a channel also?
I forgot to mention him!
I'm sorry about that.
Edgar Cayce influenced American channeling a bit, but he is extremely unique.
His material could be corroborated and often was validated, whether it was prophecy or medical remedies.
His channeling wasn't known necessarily for philosophy and spirituality as it was for practical, down-to-earth information.
He has done a wonderful service for channeling.
Q: Is there a hierarchy among the entities who are channeled?
You will get a different answer to this question depending upon who you ask.
I will preface this by saying that this is my opinion, but I do believe it is true.
For those of us in the physical plane, reality is linear.
We always need to put things in a hierarchy in order to understand them.
This is even reflected in our corporate structure.
From the spiritual realms, the entities tell me that there is no hierarchy.
The entities all view each other as equal, but perhaps with different areas of expertise.
So the most common labels for the different types of entities channeled in America would be the following:
Extraterrestrials
Angels
Ascended Masters
Spirit Guides who have lived lives on Earth and who have passed on
Collective Group Consciousness
Light Beings
Nature Spirits
etc...
I have found that channels who are very good and clear do not channel about the concept of hierarchy.
Some channels who are not as clear or developed might tend to focus on the idea of a hierarchy or on forms of separation.
Each entity has their area of expertise that is reflected in the type of information that they bring through.
Q: Channeling has existed for centuries but has taken on different styles.
Why do you think that the popularity of channeling has risen in conjunction with the growth of the New Age movement?
I think there are several reasons.
One has to do with species evolution.
If you look at human history there is always a resurgence of paranormal interest at the end of a millennium.
This is both positive and negative.
The negative is that there is a resurgence in apocalyptic prophecy.
The positive is that there is a spiritual revival in one way or another.
The boom of the New Age movement at the end of the 20th century falls in line with historical trends.
Also, we are living in an increasingly technological world that is leading us away from nature and our connection to the universe.
I think people are trying to fill a need to feel connected again.
Connection is our natural state of existence!
People are looking for any activity or philosophy that can make them feel that connection.
Channeling is providing a service, but it is certainly not the only way for people to make that connection.
Q: Do you think also that this resurgence in channeling is connected to the transition that many people feel we are now experiencing?
I think it is connected with the transition.
If what is being channeled is true - that the vibration or energy of the planet is accelerating and that we are transforming ourselves in response to this acceleration - then it seems only natural that we will make use of the brain's capacity more than we have in the past.
There is now some research about what happens in the brain to one who is channeling.
However, this research is not complete.
Channeling is indeed connected to this transformation because the transformation is causing us to want to reach out and expand our potential, especially in the areas of thought and consciousness.
Channeling is one way to do that.
Q: It is amazing that no one is doing serious research into channeling.
I think there has been some research done, especially at UCLA.
The research that I am familiar with was done by Ph.D.'s.
One doctor studied the psychological changes in those who are developing as channels.
She wrote a dissertation on her findings. [The late Dr. Margo Chandley.]
There are also brain wave studies in which channels have been hooked up to EEG machines.
[These are not released to the public yet.]
When channels go into the channeling state and begin channeling an entity, all the brain waves peak.
For instance, when we are awake in normal life, only the beta brain waves peak.
It seems that channeling uses more of the brain because all the brain waves peak.
The brain becomes more active.
This is exciting because it may confirm the idea that, in fact, channeling is expanding the human potential.
Does this mean that everyone needs to learn to channel to expand their brain capacity?
No, I don't think so.
If the theories about the morphogenetic field are correct, there will only need to be a certain number of channels to reach critical mass.
At critical mass, the brain evolution will be passed to the majority of the species, thus creating an evolutionary leap.
Q: From your experience as a channel since 1985, do you find any similarity in the messages that are being channeled?
There is definitely a similarity in the messages.
It seems like each channel has their own area of expertise, but the overall message is the same.
These basic messages include the following ideas:
We are all the creators of our own realities, and reality is created through our thoughts and emotions.
We are part of a galactic family of which we are not yet totally conscious. Beings of immense diversity have visited and continue to visit us whether in physical form (such as UFOs) or on the spiritual levels (such as angels).
There is a transformation happening that called different names by different teachers. This is a real, tangible event.
We all have our connection to God within us and need not worship something external to us. We are all a part of God and need no one outside of ourselves to serve as a "cosmic messenger" - no priest, no church, no guru, and certainly no trance channel!
Q: You often mention that channeling is a process of cooperation between the spirit guides and the channel.
What do you mean by that?
What determines the quality of a channel?
In old school mediumship, the mediums were just vehicles for the spirit's messages.
Often the medium would enter a sleep state and not be present for the relaying of the message.
When the entity would leave, the channel would collapse from exhaustion.
They would then have to recharge themselves.
It was a process of separation between a channel's life and their spiritual work.
In present day, channeling is much more a cooperative effort between the channels and the entities.
Ultimately, I think this is healthier and a lot better for the growth of the channel.
Most channels now enter a semiconscious state and don't surrender control to the entity.
The entity can't do anything that is against the moral code of the channel.
The channel enters a receptive state and allows the entity to do the work.
While the channeling happens, the channel benefits also.
They don't just go to sleep.
They benefit and grow, and the energy channeled through somehow also transforms the channel on very deep levels.
The channel is in partnership with the entity, so we as channels can say,
"Your energy is too strong.
Can you please give me less?"
The channel can make requests of the entity and the entity is more than willing to comply.
This is also extremely important because as we see ourselves as equals to the channeled entities and work in partnership with them, the idea of separation is decreased.
Now for the second part of your question.
The aspects that determine the quality of a channel might be surprising to some people.
One of the incorrect belief systems out there is that all "good" channels must be unconscious while channeling, so the mind does not get in the way.
However, I see far too many unconscious channels who are unclear, and their channeled information is judgmental and, in some ways, hateful.
What seems to determine the quality of a channel is how much personal processing they have done in their life.
Have they worked on their fear and resistance, and their fear of victimization?
Have they learned to relinquish judgment?
If they have done work to become self-empowered, can become humble, and are committed to their personal growth (even if they have to see parts of themselves that they don't want to see) then they can make very good, clear channels.
It doesn't matter whether a channel is unconscious, semiconscious, or conscious.
The state of the channel's:
heart
mind
emotions
is of utmost importance.
Q: So, a channeled entity must use the vocabulary of the channel and is limited by their humanness?
That is correct.
Whatever belief systems or discriminations that we as humans have, they are encoded in our very cells.
If a human leaves his/her body and lets the entity fully merge into this reality, the entity still has to use the channel's brain and use the coding that is in the channel's cells in order to speak and express.
It is a biochemical process as much as it is a spiritual one.
The coding can act like a distortion mechanism.
If you wear glasses that are coated red, then everything you see will be tinted red.
The coding within us always "tints" or distorts the energy coming from a spiritual source.
Unless we learn to lessen at distortion, it will always be distorted no matter whether we are conscious or unconscious as channels.
Q: So, that can only be cleansed through the personal work?
For the most part.
In the research I've done during the last decade the answer would have to be yes.
The channel must be willing to commit to their growth and work through their most challenging issues in order to become clear.
Q: Some people have the conception that once one learns to channel and can access wisdom from other dimensions, all of one's problems will be solved.
They won't have to do anything except listen to the advice.
This belief isn't really correct, is it?
No.
Believe it or not, many of my students have had that assumption!
Some have believed that if they became channels that they would never, ever have another problem in their lives!
The entities are not here to stop us from learning and growing.
They are actually here to stimulate our growth.
They will always tell a channel that they are here to be of service but that they are not here to take away our problems.
We must learn and grow, thus strengthening ourselves as humans.
These human challenges make us clearer channels.
If a student wishes to learn channeling because of that expectation, they will find the process very difficult indeed.
Q: As a very public channel since 1985, what do you feel are the biggest misconceptions about channeling?
There is a lot of discrimination that goes on regarding channeled material.
One of the biggest challenges has to do with general society.
Most of society understands what channeling is only through how it is portrayed in the media.
The media portrays it in an extremely distorted way.
Because the media likes to promote sensationalism and tabloid journalism, they focus on the dramatics rather than the actual information and the beautiful experiences that people have had.
The biggest distortion portrayed by the media is that channels are in it for the money.
I can tell you that I have not gotten rich off of this, and I could be making more money as a secretary, which is what I was doing before I was channeling!
Many people also believe that the people who channel are simply crazy or have personality imbalances.
The exact opposite is true!
I've been fortunate to have been very close to the research of a Ph.D. who studied channels and found that, for the most part, the healthy ones are very balanced people.
These people usually have higher education and are emotionally stable as well as having a good relationship with physical reality.
I would say that if people would just take the time to do the research about what channeling is before they make a judgment, they would come to understand that it is something very different from their preconceived notions.
Of course, there are some unhealthy channels out there which, unfortunately, makes it harder for other channels who are committed to their personal growth and clarity.
Q: How has channeling changed your life?
How has it enriched your life?
That is a difficult question because since 1984 channeling has been such an integral part of my life that I don't know what my life would be like without it.
I would say that when I started to channel, I began to feel more in control of my life.
I began to feel that I created my reality, and I had the power to create a positive reality that I preferred.
Any challenge that comes up, I have the power to walk through it and learn from it.
Channeling has encouraged me to always learn from everything that I experience, and it has made me a lot more optimistic -- probably more than I ever could have been in this life if I wasn't a channel.
Q: Do you get to benefit from channeling?
How do you ask the entities questions?
There are several different ways.
The easiest is for me to write the question down and have someone else ask while I am channeling.
The area that I would like to improve in my own channeling is in answering my own questions.
Sometimes I put the question out there to the universe and usually very shortly after that I get the answer either through inspiration or through a life circumstance that shows me the answer.
At other times, the guidance comes very clearly in the form of a "thought ball" that seems to drop into my consciousness.
Once I unravel this (like a ball of yarn) the answer presents itself.
I enjoy the process of learning the answer rather than being told.
Several times I have gotten answers to questions easily, but if I wasn't ready to hear the answer, it usually made no sense anyway.
When you learn for yourself (rather than being told), it is a lot more profound.
Q: Channels have often said that they made an agreement to work with their spirit guides before they incarnated in their current life.
Is this true for you?
I don't know if I've made an agreement to do it so publicly, but I do feel I've made an agreement to channel.
One of the entities that I work with now (Sasha) says she is a physical extraterrestrial from the Pleiadian star system.
When I was a child, my cousin and I used to make a lot of jokes about being ETs.
We used to say we were from both the Pleiades and Orion.
Even as a child I had this connection and fascination with the stars -- especially the Pleiades.
I had an experience when I first started to channel even before I joined the class.
I was in a sauna, and I was relaxing.
I heard communication that said to me,
"Are you ready?"
It startled me and I said, "Ready for what?"
The voice said, "Are you ready to do what you've agreed to do?"
I don't know who sent this communication.
It was very clear that they were "calling my number" and it was time for me to begin the work.
It was frightening because it put a lot of pressure on me!
So yes, I do think I made an agreement before I was born, but I don't know any of the specifics.
Q: Could you describe the UFO experience you had in 1979 that was your turning point?
My father's house was in a rural area of New Hampshire. It was the first snowfall of the season, and I looked outside to see how much snow had fallen.
It was dark and I saw a very large ball of light that looked like a miniature sun.
I would say it was about 500 yards away in the forest across the street.
Perhaps it was closer.
It was hovering.
Every once in a while, it would make some angular movements that no aircraft can make.
It was very overcast because it was snowing, so it had to be something very close.
When I called my family to the window, they witnessed it as well.
By the time they got to the window it began to release something that looked like a teardrop of fire from it.
It fell toward the ground.
When I opened the door, I heard a very unusual sound like a whine that started low in pitch and then went higher in pitch and intensity until it disappeared.
I was only 18 at the time and I desperately wanted to go out into the forest to see it.
I had no fear at all.
I was so excited.
My father would not let me go to investigate.
There was no noise that would even come close to a conventional aircraft.
The area in which I grew up, in New Hampshire, was known for its UFO activity.
This really left an impact on me.
Q: Do you have any advice for anyone who wishes to develop their channeling abilities?
The number one thing that channeling will do for you is accelerate your personal growth.
So, be prepared!
If you choose to develop yourself as a channel, you will be transformed and you will become a different person.
The best possible reason to choose to be a channel is to become a better person.
If you choose that goal and pursue it while using channeling as a tool, you will become a very clear and good channel.
I would not recommend that people choose channeling in order to become a professional or to solve all of life's problems, or for any other reason that is not one of humble service.
It must be a path of the heart.
The path becomes difficult for those whose main focus in not on their own growth.
This is because in order to become a good channel you must be willing to look into the mirror of your soul and embrace even the most horrific aspects of self.
Not everyone is willing to do this.
Finally, at the risk of sounding like a schoolteacher... if you are going to do it, you must practice, practice, practice!
That is the way you become clear.
When you practice, you will have periods of doubt.
Continue to practice during those periods of doubt because the doubt eventually fades.
But you have to have the will to get through those challenging periods.
Q: People also have a misconception that channeling is just a process of connection with entities and spirit guides.
You have emphasized often however that channeling spirit guides is actually a byproduct of learning to connect with the Higher Self, which is actually much more important.
Could you elaborate on this idea?
When you focus on your personal growth and clear your blockages the natural result is to make a connection with the Higher Self.
Once you make that connection with the Higher Self many doors will open.
The door to your creativity opens along with the door to many hidden talents that you might not know you had.
One of these talents might be the talent to channel spirit guides.
If you choose to learn to channel spirit guides and focus only on that and do not focus on your personal growth, it will be a difficult road.
If you choose the path of your Higher Self, then the door to the universe opens widely before you.
The Higher Self is, simply, the part of us that we all have that connects with God.
It is our own individual Christ/Buddha consciousness that we possess within us.
It also represents the pinnacle of human potential.
That Higher Self exists for all of us and is the higher point of view of life on Earth.
From the point of view of the Higher Self, our confusing world makes sense.
When you make your own intimate connection with the Higher Self, your life begins to make sense.
Q: What role does the Higher Self play when you channel other entities?
Higher Self is like a gatekeeper or a big cosmic switchboard.
The HS knows your path in any given life even when you don't know it consciously.
HS always guides and protects you and makes sure that you move in the direction you need to move for your own growth.
When you are channeling another entity, the HS will be the switchboard that brings in the entity or gives permission to the entity to come through and communicate.
Q: Is the Higher Self energy then blended with the spirit guide who is speaking through you?
Yes.
The entity's energy is funneled through the Higher Self.
I describe the process as follows:
I go into the altered state.
The personality I know of as Lyssa goes to sleep in the back sleep.
My HS is the driver of the car.
The entity is a passenger in the front seat.
The HS drives the car and guides the channeling experience.
The entity is the navigator.
It is a cooperative process between the Higher Self and the entity.
So, when the entity comes through, it is blending of both.
Q: What if two different channels channel the same energy?
Will the channeled entity have the same personality?
Yes, but there may be subtle differences.
I've channeled Bashar (who is primarily channeled by Darryl Anka).
The Bashar that comes through me and the Bashar that comes through Darryl are noticeably the same entity.
However, the subtle aspects of the entity are colored by either my Higher Self or Darryl's.
There have been interesting things that have happened.
Darryl and I have both channeled Bashar and channeled the same information within the span of a couple of days, not knowing what came through the other channel.
There is indeed a sense of continuity between us.
Q: Could you describe your unique form of channeling?
I do a form of channeling that I call semiconscious channeling.
This means that I do go into an altered state, but I do not leave my body.
It feels like I am asleep and dreaming.
My eyes are usually closed, and my speech patterns slightly change.
When I awaken, I may or may not remember what was said.
Sometimes I have my own experiences or teachings given to me while the guides are speaking to the audience.
I usually only remember about 50% of the material.
If I do not discuss it after the session, it fades from my memory much a like a dream would fade as we busy ourselves with our daily lives.
Before we close the interview, I would like to stress again that it doesn't matter whether a channel chooses to do:
conscious
semiconscious
unconscious
channeling.
All forms can produce clear and profound channelings.
The most important key is the quality of the channel as a person and as a vehicle.
In choosing a channel, you must ask yourself questions such as the following:
What is the channel's personal life like? Does the channel walk his talk?
How clear is the channel in his/her waking state? Does he/she create a lot of chaos in life or is the channel a relatively balanced individual?
Does the channel deal with the basics of 3D life on Earth easily or is he/she seeking to escape from this reality?
Is the channel or channeled entity subtly or blatantly telling you that he/she has the only truth and that you must follow it in order to be "saved"?
These questions and more will open a window into the quality of the channel and the channelings.
Do not be afraid to use discernment (rather than judgment) when looking for a channel who gives clear and useful information.
There are different styles for everyone.
Keep looking until you find the right channel for you.
If you approach channeling with an open heart and mind it can be amazingly rewarding.
Keep in mind that most channels are not providing this service to prove anything.
Since channeling cannot be "proven" it is ridiculous to try to use it as a method of validation.
Instead, it is meant to be a spiritual service that leads an individual back to the God within.
In our distant past, channeling in its many forms was a natural part of life practiced not only by shamans and spiritual teachers but by anyone with a sincere desire to connect with the greater part of themselves.
Today's western world has rigid and dogmatic scientific perspectives that leaves many people feeling the void of spirituality within them.
People in increasing numbers are turning to their inner selves for guidance.
This quest will serve to strengthen the individual as a spiritual being and, when practiced with humility and an open heart, will always lead the seeker back Home.
We have discussed channeling before, both in Level I and Level II, but we are going to take this subject quite a step further here in Level III, because some of these channeled entities play a major role in the Sirian Agenda.
So, I am not implying that all channeled material is bad, or the entities evil.
Much depends on the energies and vibration of the channeler; it's actually crucial!
You receive information in direct relation to what you are prepared to receive; no more, no less.
Also, the quality of the information from a specific channeler from a specific source may fluctuate in accordance with the channeler's mood or vibration at a certain occasion.
So, even if we feel that a channeled source may be trustworthy one day, the next the quality of the information may not be so great.
Therefore, we need to use discernment even with a source we normally trust.
This is not because the source is intentionally willing to give you disinformation or bend the truth; it's because when the channeler is not "with it" and tuned in, other entities who correspond with those vibrations may come in and interfere, pretending to be the original source.
When we feel that the source is giving us correct information, we say that the channel is "clear".
The opposite, when a channeled source is taken over by negative entities, is called "not clear" in the world of channeling.
Many make the mistake of abandoning a channeler when they notice dis- or misinformation embedded in the messages, when in fact the channeler may just have had a "bad day".
But it's also the channeler's job to be critical towards the messages he/she receives, or they will lose their credibility, and eventually their audience.
I have spent a lot of time listening to channelers lately and read channeled material from different sources; both those who are considered trustworthy and those who are not.
Then I have compared what I got to see differences and similarities between the sources in order to find some kind of pattern.
For example:
What do these channeled sources really want?
Why are they here?
Are they as benevolent and helpful as they say they are, or are they just faking it?
The ones I have listened to are not hoaxes, by the way.
All of them are genuine channels and not something the channeler is "making up".
Although there are such fake mediums as well out there, they have a tendency not to be long-lived these days when people are spoiled with the genuine stuff.
It's easy to distinguish between a human fabrication and a true channel, because the information we receive from a true source is way beyond the scope of knowledge of any human being, normally, and the questions are answered instantly, without any lags, which would be difficult, if not impossible, to fabricate by a human.
However, there are also channels that are not originating in the metaphysical universe, but are transmitted via satellites by Intelligence Agencies, in order to mislead people.
Those, I believe, are also relatively easy to distinguish from the real stuff, because the quality is not as high.
Still, it's harder to distinguish between the military/intelligence sources and the real material than it is between a human who is faking it and a real source.
But the messages transmitted from the Military Industrial Complex (MIC) is usually of such that sooner or later one will see through it, especially if we are used to listening to channeled material in general.
MIC: acronym for Military Industrial Complex.
Military and Industry working hand in hand in the weapon industry, building more and more destructive weapons for so-called 'defense purposes'.
The MIC is also responsible for hijacking free energy and other 'useful inventions' that can be used destructively.
Many sources come in all of a sudden in a person's life, sometimes as thoughts that the person feels is not their own.
Then they can start communicating with that source back and forth, and a channeled communication can take place.
It's important already in the early stage for the person to set limits and boundaries, and for example letting the source know that the channeler is only allowing uplifting communication that is for the benefit of him/her and/or the whole planet.
It's more common that whole collective of star beings are acting as sources in a common effort, than that the source is just one entity, from what I have noticed.
The energies of such non-physicals can be pretty intense, so it's crucial that the channeler is in good mental and physical shape, or the intense energies will eventually break down the body, like it has done with so many channelers who have been too open.
Carla Rueckert is only one example, during the period she channeled RA.
Others, in pure excitement, take on more than one source - they may be channeling 5-10 different sources - and that can be very dangerous to the body, first of all, and secondly, the channeler is so wide open that they let any entity in, and it's very easy to be deceived.
So, if you're going to channel, my advice is to feel out the source, say no to it if it doesn't meet the guidelines, and wait for the right source to come then.
Then stick to one source.
Normally, when we ask the source a question, they look in the memory bank of the vehicles (the channeler), which often go back thousands and thousands of years due to the genetic memories from previous life, and they look in the Akashic Records for an answer, in case they don't know it already.
Bashar (one of these sources) explains it pretty well when he says that the Akashic Records are not, like many think, some sort of "library in the sky" where you have to go to find the answer.
The Records are all around us in the ether; it's there to immediately pick up and use.
Then apparently, according to some sources (something I was not aware of), such as Harone (who is a Gray whom Lyssa Royale channels), these entities are using computer systems to gather their thoughts so that they become transmittable.
"Emotions on my end are not necessary to channel, though I am working with physical facilitators on my end [Bashar and Sasha] and the three of us are linked into a computer device that will synthesize our thoughts. They provide a balance for my thoughts so that the biological vehicle can receive them.
Bashar is of a Gray species as well, while Sasha is supposedly a Pleiadian.
In the above case the computer was apparently used in order to combine the thoughts of these three very different species (is that really necessary?) and make sense of it to humans, but if this is true, it makes me wonder how often channeled sources (called only "sources" from here on) use computers when answering questions that humans.
Also, I said earlier in this paper that it is fairly easy to recognize sources that come from the Military Industrial Complex, MIC, but if the MIC is using extremely advanced computer systems, built or given to them during TTPs, and connected to special satellites using ET technology, how easy isn't it to copycat even advanced real sources?
TTP: Technology Transfer Programs.
Since at least the early 1950s, but more than probably before that, human governments all over the world, but the U.S. government in particular, have been involved in technology transfer exchanges between humans and aliens.
I haven't had any trouble spotting MIC sources when I have plowed through these kinds of material, but who knows, maybe there is more sophisticated programs that can fool any of us and the lower quality MIC transmitters are only there to make us believe that this is the best they can do.
If this is the case, we can only go on intuition and connect the dots to our best abilities.
One must question the integrity and intentions of any channeled entity.
As we have seen in the past, some make false promises, such as mass landings or promises of NESARA coming to fruition.
While some channelers are simply embodying their own pure intentions, others may have been channeling into negative entities.
The following article explains how this may occur.
In New Age philosophy there is the belief in the evolution of the mind and our experience with the universe and the possibilities of other intelligences within it.
It is a belief that this evolution is in preparation of or allows for interaction with these other intelligences.
One such intelligence is a group consciousness channeled by a woman in 1981 who addresses itself as “Ra”.
This entity foretold the evolution of the mind of humanity in the form of unity by way of telepathic communication with others (known as 4th density) and this ability would become a real part of our reality in 2011.
Many believe 4th density evolution primarily is a spiritual evolution and not necessarily one of advanced mental abilities such as telepathy or remote viewing.
I am here to attest to the fact that this prediction has come true.
In November 2011, I was contacted by a group of California scientists who have developed these abilities by channeling a group consciousness known as “An” - the negative incarnation of “Ra”.
“An” implored them to seek out others who show a latent psychic ability and find a way to contact them to join their group.
I woke up one morning and these people were talking to me telepathically.
At first, I thought I was losing my mind, then I thought someone had wired the house for surveillance.
No explanation was forthcoming but over time I realized that what seemed like true telepathy was a strange mix of modern psychic ability and extraordinary technology used to simulate sight, sound, and bodily psychic contact.
Slowly, over time, this group has shown signs of some sort of schism.
Some of them have become increasingly irritable and prone to outburst of aggression and a need to hurt something or someone as in a state of temporary insanity or like something dark momentarily takes hold of them and they enact its rage.
Because this group refuses to break mental contact with me (for fear they will not be able to reestablish contact), these enraged individuals can step into the group contact and are able to take their rage out on me, an easy target.
I can only believe this is a side effect of the technology used to enhance their psychic abilities, or has the technology become an avenue of the unknown allowing various members of the group consciousness to enter this reality?
Jane Roberts, Robert F. Butts - Seth Speaks_ The Eternal Validity of the Soul-Amber-Allen Publ., New World Library (1994).pdf
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View full-sizeDownload “One of the most powerful of the Seth Books, this essential guide to conscious living clearly and powerfully articulates the furthest reaches of human potential, and the concept that we all create our own reality according to our individual beliefs. Having withstood the test of time, it is still considered one of the most dynamic and brilliant maps of inner reality available today.”
