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A ShortHistory Of Spirit-Channeling
Over time many kinds of labels have been used forthose who channel. Healers, medicine men, shamans, adepts, masters,oracles and prophets come to mind as people who often accessinformation from sources not acknowleged as real by many in todayssociety. Though this process can be found accross all cultural lines,recent channeling in the West is commonly attributed to the influenceof the Fox sisters in the 1800's and to the subsequent rise of theSpiritualist church. Even today some of the best development trainingto be had is through classes affiliated with this church. JoelBjorling has assembled the most useful material that describes thevarous movements and channels in this century. Over 2500 channeledworks are listed in his compilation. With the popularization ofchanneling that occurred in the mid-1980s came a huge number of booksfrom many new channels and contactees.
In the heyday of spiritualism in Eurupe an astuteand careful Paris attorney named Leon Rivail undertook a long studyof mediums which he published in the mid-1800s. That book is still inprint today and is still the most comprehensive record available ofthis phenomena. He investigated both the physical manifestations thatmight accompany mediumship and the process of communication itself.Many different processes are possible and in use depanding on theparticular mix of channel and spirit energy. At the most basic levelan image is presented to the human brain and that image is translatedinto words by the brain. During the development period of the channelwhich may last several years, the spirit is able to anticipate whichimages will result in a sentence structure and content that willproduce clear communication. Some psychics never get past the stageof seeing the raw image and have to guess how to interpret it. If theimage is like a video clip, this may not be such a hindrance,otherwise it can be a real problem. In any case the communication ofwords is to be regarded as subject to cautious interpretation notliteral acceptance.
As mentioned, the process of development for thehighest quality communications may take several years and if you findin questioning any denial of this reality, the source is suspect.Those mediums that are what is called a conscious channel have theopportunity to censor or shift the meaning of an answer if it is notpart of their world experience and this is one reason to look for atrance channel. In trance channeling subtle bodies of the channelleave the physical body temporarily to allow another energy to enterand engage in communicatiion. The longer into the session, thefarther away and less likely the personality of the human is toinfluence an answer. In the early stages of development, the humanpersonality may hover near for the whole session. Also the early partof a session is one in which the spirit energy is acclimating to thephysical body and so many spirits many speak a continuous set ofprepared remarks during this time rather that answering questionsimmediately.This kind of warm-up period is helpful for clarity. Afterhis passing paranormal investigator Frederic Myers wrote through onesource on the process of automatic writing: " The nearest simile Ican find to express the difficulties of sending a message--is that Iappear to be standing behind a sheet of frosted glass which blurssight and deadens sounds--dictating feebly to a reluctant andsomewhat obtuse secretary." Equally important is the framing of thequestions. If you ask fuzzy naive questions, you will get fuzzyanswers from a spirit that will become frustrated with yourvacancy.
There are billions of souls on this planet andbillions more in the spirit realm. Passing into the great beyond doesnot bring instant enlightenment. Just bcause you are "dead" doesn'tmean you are smart. If a channeled work sounds like somebody's redneck uncle Fred, then it is not likely to be any more valuable thanadvice from the blowhards and busybodies in this life who claim toknow what is best for everyone. Be aware, however, that there is somuch variety possible in life experience here that no one personcould possibly relate to the full scope of religious beliefs,educational, cultural and personality levels to whom channeledmaterial may be addressed. Each work has a purpose and an intendedaudience, but we may never know what that is. If you see that a workcomes from Saint Germain, El Morya or Kuthumi, expect it to soundlike a Theosophical writing.The intention of the channel inundertaking training is a key element in determining just what kindof spirit entity will manifest. If intentions are frivolous, do notexpect anything but meaningless, perhaps even dangerous answers from"playful" spirits. Use your common sense. A simple test is to askyourself if you could imagine a spiritual savior giving such advice.If a passage inspires fear instead of comfort, the source is lessthan it could be. Discernment is especially important in evaluatingchanneled works because fraud is common in psychic circles, both fromthe channel and from the alleged source. This is one of the hardestlessons learned by many who dabble in channeled material. In 1748Swedenborg cautioned us:
"When spirits begin to speak with man, he must beware lest he believe them in anything; for they say almost anything; things are fabricated by them, and they lie; for if they were permitted to relate what heaven is, and how things are in the heavens, they would tell so many lies, and indeed with solemn affirmation, that man would be astonished..."
Stainton Moses received manywarnings and insights about channeling asdid Kardecwho insists that spirit sources must be tested.
"Good spirits are never offended by such examination; on the contrary, they advise it, because they have nothing to fear from scrutiny. It is only bad spirits who take scrutiny amiss, and who try to dissuade us from making it, because they are sure to be losers by it; their dissuasion, therefore, proves their inferiority."
The other side of the coin is that many of theholy books of world's religions derive either directly fromchanneling or a similar inspirational process.
Leon Rivail also published The Spirits Bookwhich records the answers to an elaborate set of over 1000 questionshe asked of the "intelligences" as he called them. The answersrevolutionized his long held ideas and convictions.The result isessentially a textbook of Spiritualist Philosophy and is still a goodread to this day. The book is very instructive in evaluating whatkinds of answers you might anticipate from a channel today. Since hewas a Christian, the questions and answers come from Christianperspective. Spirit writings which are transcriptions of publicchanneling question and answer sessions will often have a moreeclectic source, as if a panel of spirit experts were on hand toanswer nearly any kind of question imaginable.More often than notchanneled works are philosophical in nature. Advice is given thatwill enhance personal growth and broaden one's world view. Perhapsten or fifteen percent will have some prophetic content. Contacteebooks are more likely to talk about the universe, the environment,alien cultures and coming shifts in consciousness.
In a recent interview, best selling author WhitleyStrieber tells us " The purpose of prophecy is to warn us againstnegative events that will transpire if we continue on the path thatwe're on at the time that the prophecy is made. The Visitors say thefuture is like water. The present is sort of a compressor that takesthe water of the future and turns it into the ice of the past, wherechange is much less possible." "Prophets are supposed to be wrong inthe ideal world. What's the use of prophesying something that'sinevitable? Why bother?" "...my book recognizes the use of prophecyas a tool, which is why it both warns against a number of futuresthat I have seen." "The reason these things are being prophesied nowis so that they can be avoided, not because they have to come true."These thoughts are echoed by many successful modern day prophets.Jean Dixon makes a further distinction that she has experienced. Shehas found that certain predictions that are given to her over aperiod of preparation of several days always come true and she callsthem revelations. This is not true of most of her predictions whichshe considers warnings that are subject to change. For example, shecites the assassination of JFK as a revelation and the assassinationof Robert Kennedy to have been avoidable. She predicted both well inadvance of the events.
Because of strong Biblical roots, prophecy iswidely respected in Christianity and many other religions. Thepractitioners of the Bahai faith have gone to great lengths todocument and present the many prophecies given over the ages by otherreligions because they see these predictions as a validation of theirown faith. The compilation they offer makes for very interestingreading regardless of your faith. Their compilation includesChristian, Islamic, Buddhist, Hindu, Zoroastrian, Native American andMormon prophecies The ancient HinduPuranas are unusually well detailed.Krishna lists the signs that tell us when the current age, the KalkiYuga, will end. The list is an uncanny description of the times inwhich we live.
Peter, under the inspiration of the Spirit, isquoted to have spoken these words by the prophet Joel: "And in thelast days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spiritupon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, andyour young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dreamdreams; yea, and on my menservants and my maidservants in those daysI will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy...." (Acts 2:16-18quoting Joel 2:28-29) Well there is certainly a profusion of prophecythese days and it runs in historical threads with all manner ofoffshoots. Primary to this page are the Catholic, Theosophical,Native American and contactee views of the coming changes. Thethreads complement each other in interesting ways and theTheosophical outlook has given birth to a simpler perspective basedon the outpourings of many modern channelers.
Prophetic revelations come in many forms. Some aresought out by some kind of channeling process or search for innerguidance. Sometimes an object called in the most general sense amantic device is thought to give psychological permission to open,e.g. crystal ball, tea leaves, palm, cards, or chart. Stillrevelations arise spontaneously through some kind of vision such asthose experienced and documented by the Catholic church.Unfortunately many of these are left out of church history becausethey do not fit the preconceptions and current teachings of thechurch at the time they are received. Prophecy is saidto be "one of the nine gifts of the Spiritdescribed in I Corinthians 12:7-10. It is an utterance that isinspired by God. While certain believers have a special gift ofprophecy, Paul encouraged everyone to prophesy (I Corinthians14:27-28)." Since channeling is frowned upon by the church,prophecies from this source are often ignored. Just how youdifferentiate between spontaneous channeling and the gift of prophecycan be a very tricky issue prone to hair splitting. As Dr. GordonMelton, an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church, tells us,"although most contempory Jews and Christians are loathe to think ofthe Biblical prophets as channelers, the term fits them perfectly."John, prophet of the Book of Revelation tells us, "I was in theSpirit on the Lord's Day and heard behind me a great voice."Christians may call the process the inward witness of the HolySpirit, Divine Voice or simply a personal revelation. Jeane Dixonauthored a special chapter entitled "A note to the clergy" in whichshe explores the resistance of the church to modern prophecy. In hisday, because of his modesty and disarming manner, Arthur Ford had abusy speaking schedule at orthodox churches and the number ofinvitations was far beyond his ability to reciprocate.
Many prophecies never come to pass and in the caseof catastrophisms, this is obviously a good thing. This simply meansthat the basis of the warning was heeded and thus the consequenceswere avoided. One major problem with prophecies is timing. Dates areoften very difficult to pin down even for a spirit entity unlesslinked to a key event that will foreshadow the main prediction.Because of this dates are frequently not given. Sometimes predictionsare purposely vague to avoid karmic involvement from the spirit sideor over influence in the daily affairs of man. In Wisdom ofRamala, Ramala tells us "There are many young souls on my side oflife, as indeed there are on the plane of Earth, who are only toohappy to give guidance out of a misguided feeling of self-importance,but be wary of such guidance." Also, "but those of us who are trulyaware of the responsibility of guidance, who know we are responsibleuntil the ending of time for everything that we say and foreverything that you as individuals do because of what we say, arebound to act with consciousness."
One thing is sure, no prophet is totally accuratein their preditions of the future unless their language is so vagueas be next to meaningless. Arthur Ford speaking through RuthMontgomery said "We see a much longer spectrum of time from this sideof the veil that do you, but by no means do we see from the beginningto the end of life. We are no more infallible here than there, exceptfor broader vision and deeper awareness of the purpose of God'splan." Another aspect to prophecy is that they might be better viewedas possible or probable futures. For example, there have been manyphophecies of a third world war in this century. And in fact duringthe Reagan administration there was an unpublicized event, describedby Helen Caldicott in her speeches, where we came with a minutes ofhaving a full blown nuclear exchange with the U.S.S.R. Such a nearmiss could have been seen by prophets as the event itself, one ofseveral possible outcomes. One big interpretation problem comes withthe passage of time. Has the predicted event already happened? Talkof major wars from prophets in previous centuries is hard to pindown. More modern prophets have an edge here over older seers likeNostradamus.
In his rules on mediumship Kardec tellsus:
"We may also recognize inferior spirits by their random predictions of future events, and their minute assertions in regard to pretended facts of which we know nothing. Good spirits sometimes give us a hint or a presentiment of future events, when some useful end is to be gained by so doing; but they never, or rarely, give minute details or fix dates; the announcement of some given event, as being destined to occur at a given period, is usually a hoax."
When prophecy does fail and the stakes are high,the almost universal response is that the prophecy really did happen,but that it was fulfilled on a subtle level invisible to our physicallevel of perception.
Seers have predicted nearly every imaginable kindof catastrophe for the coming millenium. Others have said that wehave acted in time and that most of the more horrible events will nothappen. The run of the mill predictions that fill a chapter in a moregeneral book are usually a vague repetition of things said by othersbefore them. The two most general kinds of predictions relate todeleterious earth changes and a striking shift for the better in thetemperment of mankind that will allow the "2000 years of peace"mentioned in the Bible. This upturn is usually bad news for those ofmilitant intent because they are the ones that are said to pass onduring the changes. In New Age literature the upturn is given a setof confusing names like fourth density, fifth dimension, ascension orphoton belt consciousness.
The first published contactee was George Adamski.He describes personal meetings he had with aliens that looked muchlike humans. They took him aboard their ship and he wrote a detailedaccount of his experiences. Things have changed quite a bit sincethat beginning in the early fifties. Many people tell us that theyhave telepathic communcation with off planet beings. They have oftenseen unusual craft, but they have not necessarily been taken aboardor met face to face. Nowadays someone like Adamski would probably becalled an experiencer or a participant if he went willingly and anabductee if he didn't. In Adamski's day the UFO community ofinvestigators largely ignored contactees. They were an embarrassment.The stories sounded crazy and the language they used sounded morelike a minister than a panic stricken basket case trying to cope witha new found reality. As fate would have it, several decades lateraround 1985 the abductee phenomena got so totally out of hand thatresearchers could no longer brush it under the rug.
What UFO researchers want is physical evidence andindependent confirmaable testimony. What contactees want is immutabletruth, sacred knowledge, a sense of the customs and laws of thecosmos in words and images our minds can understand. The earliesttelepathic contactees sounded a lot more like theosophists than spacecowboys and if you substituted the word chariot for space ship, youprobably wouldn't notice the difference. Early on there is a shiftfrom Saint Germain or Jesus beaming healing rays from their motherships to dire warnings about man's abuse of Planet Earth andprophecies of doom if we don't shape things up. Along with this kindof material we may also find detailed descriptions of alien cultures,goals and physiology.
One possible conclusion is that more than one kindof entity can funnel information into the minds of the psychiclysensitive individuals we usually call channels. Some of these peoplestart out as abductees and through some process like mental training,implants or a new sense of affinity they begin to take their contactas a moral obligation to speak out publicly. Another possibleconclusion is that extraterrestrials may communicate with us eachhaving different agendas and standards of truthfulness. There is noquestion in the minds of abduction researchers that the ETs lie toabductees, however, the kind and purpose of communicationsexperienced by abductee are rather different than that seen withcontactees. Contactees are told they are uniquely chosen by the ETsas messengers. Brad Steiger tells us they may be "barely heedful oftheir own personal welfare...and those closest to the contacteesreport that he (or she) has become literally a changed and differentperson." Bud Hopkins tells us a homely example. " Suppose you aresitting on a bus, calmly reading your newspaper, but your footextends a bit into the aisle. Suddenly there's an excruciating pain,you look up and see a 300-pound blind man standing on your foot. Itis clear that he did not intend to hurt you, but that doesn't helpthe pain or change the fact that you now have a broken toe. In 15years of abduction research I have encountered not a shred ofevidence that suggests UFO occupants are innately evil. But sadly, inthe meantime I've seen the equivalent of hundreds upon hundreds ofbroken toes."
Hand in glove with many of the newer descriptionsof the days to come is the concept of fourth density, sometimes alsoreferred to as ascension or a fourth or fifthdimensional shift. In this scenario, all those that survive theearth changes will go through a rapid spiritual advancement. Thisgrowth will be characterized by a new closeness to the creator, lossof ego, telepathic abilities, an increased vibrational rate and astrong desire for world peace. These terms and a more exoticexplanation for them via a "photon belt" came into being fromcommunications through early contactees. The concepts preceeded thisperiod and date back to Blavatsky's writings in the last century.Though the terms were bandied about early, it wasn't until a decadelater that they were described in detail in the sixties by Gildas.Different authors may use the terms in confusing ways. Others mayloosely be said to call this concept by names like the coming of theNew Age, the Golden Age, the Age of Light, the Christing of Earth,the Age of Aquarius, the Sixth World and from a more Christianperspective the Second Coming, the Tribulation, the Rapture orArmageddon.
The photon belt has been the butt of a good manyjokes because some predictions made in reference to it arequestionable at best and its description differs so much from onesource to another. Loosely speaking the concept parallels the threedays of darkness prophesied in the Bible. There is mention on the webthat the term orginated as a hoax in a UFO newsletter which was takenseriously and applied to the older Biblical concept by new agesources. In reality this is no laughing matter but it is hard not tobreak out laughing when reading some of the more recent material. Forthose without a grounding in the metaphysics of what is possible inthis world, the concepts can seem very strange. If you are aware ofthe kinds of miraculous events that occur in the daily life of anavatar like Sai Baba in India, they the predicted shift ofconsciousness does not sound so far fetched. The predictions aretwo-fold the physical events and the consciousness shift to fourthdensity which is described above.
