I often receive “guidances” in unusual places from unusual sources. This blog is a result of one of them.
During a heavy downpour, I was in the waiting room at a dentist’s office when a man dashed in from outside, dripping water, and sat across from me. He had the appearance of a homeless person.
I commented it was a lot drier inside than outside, and we began chatting. He was a veteran trying to be a personal trainer, but it wasn’t working out. He asked what I did, and I said I was a teacher. He shifted in the chair, looked upward, and stiffened. Leaning toward me, he stared directly into my eyes and said in a commanding voice, “You have a lot to offer. You need to be out there.” I explained I had been in the public before and had really withdrawn from that life. He began to speak louder saying, “You need to be out there. God is telling me you need to reach more people. You need to be out there.” Then he slumped in his chair and was quiet. (See the blog on Brain States: he went from Beta to Alpha to Theta).
I can still mentally see and hear him speaking to me, and the message is embedded in my mind. So now I’m “out there”. I’m blogging, and you’re reading it.
Listening to “oracles” is hardly new. In ancient times, there were temples / shrines dedicated to a God / Goddess with a resident priest or priestess who would provide guidance. They underwent a ritual preparation to enter an altered state to speak to “God” through a divination process. These processes are documented in ancient Greece, Tibet, and the Bible.
REFLECT:
What is your opinion of oracles? psychics? prophecy? channeling? How do you “receive” messages / guidances?
The most documented oracles were in ancient Greece – the Oracles of Delphi. In a very specific ritual, a priestess (1) bathed, (2) was led into the temple, (3) had a wool strip wound around her forehead, (4) had a crown of laurel placed on her head, (5) went into the inner room and drank waters from the stream Cassotis, (6) chewed bay laurel leaves, (7) burned laurel leaves and perfumes together, (7) inhaled the smoke, and (8) sat on a three legged stool in a trance state (deep Alpha / Theta Brain State). Then they presented “God’s” answers. (This is often called channeling today).
Dignitaries asked her questions ranging from personal issues to matters of politics, war, worship, and philosophy. The questions were written down and the responses recorded, so centuries later, we know what they were.
Oracles were wary of speaking bad news, because when a messenger brought an unwelcome message to a king, the messenger was bathed, feasted and killed. (This is the origin of the modern organizational term, “Don’t kill the messenger”. It’s interesting that centuries later, truth tellers /
whistle blowers are still shunned, persecuted, prosecuted…) So Oracles became masters of ambiguous answers and riddles so the listener could interpret to suit their beliefs and desires.
For instance, when Croesus, King of Lydia (550 BC), asked the Oracle of Delphi
- Should I attack Persia?
- Should I find an ally?
- Will I have a long reign?
The Oracle responded:
- After crossing the Halys (a river), Croesus will destroy a great empire. 2. Ally yourself with the most powerful of the Greek states. 3. You should flee when a mule becomes the king of Medea.
Assured in his mind theses answers meant victory, King Croesus aligned with Sparta and crossed the Halys to attack Persia. However, he was defeated by King Cyrus of Medea, a ruler of mixed parentage (Mede and Persian), making him a “mule”. Thus Croesus destroyed an empire after crossing the river – his own – because he did not flee from the mule king of Medea.
In the 20th century, research on psychic phenomenon, including channeling, went mainstream. Dr. Helane Wahbeh, Director of Research at IONS (Institute of Noetic Sciences) studies:
Mental Mediumship – communicating with a deceased person: hearing / seeing information and translating it to a related / interested person.
Channeling – accessing information and energy from beyond our conventional notions of time and space. Information can come in visions, voices, intuitive hunches, precognitive dreams, etc.
Trance Channeling – allowing the physical body to be used as a vehicle for a non-physical being to communicate through.
Research shows:
* this is almost always consensual,
* the depth of trance varies – from the person in trance being absent / asleep and unaware of the message, to being aware of stepping aside and being able to witness the event.
Wahbeh’s most surprising finding so far is:
* 80% or the US population have had an experience that fits the broad definition of channeling, but few discuss it because of taboos.
REFLECT:
By these definitions, have you personally experienced channeling? Do you have someone you can discuss it with?
The most intriguing unanswered question in all areas is:
What is the source of channeling?
It appears the source can be different depending on the activity. Ie mediums are believed to connect with deceased persons, while channels are believed to connect with a higher source.
Note: It continues to amaze me that few researchers include EEG Brain States! Receiving information requires being in deep Alpha, Theta, and Delta. (see the blogs on Intuition, Prayer, and Servant Leadership – As Many As The Stars).
REFLECT:
Identify a time you received information that could be considered channeling – from your own process or from another person.
How did you feel about it?
If you felt fear, why did it scare you?
APPLY:
Keep in mind Interpretation is everything.
Croesus allowed his ego to interpret the Oracle’s riddle and perished. When reviewing messages, ask “What could this mean”? and identify at least three different ways to interpret the message.
Interpretation is Everything!
When I was newly married, friends took me on an adventure – to a card reading with a psychic. She said my husband’s heart would stop in eight years. I assured her we were healthy and hearty, but I did study heart disease (“Trust in God, but tie your camel anyway”). There was no financial, emotional, physical, or environmental stress: he had an income so we didn’t have to work: we were compatible and harmonious: we were “gentry farmers” with homegrown food and ample outdoor time and exercise. No cause for heart trouble. Clearly, she was mistaken.
Eight years later, I chose to leave the marriage because I was on a search for more. And it was a decade later before I realized this was the meaning of the card reading: my husband’s heart stopped eight years after her reading – when I left. Interpretation is everything!
The Science of Channeling: Why You Should Trust Your Intuition and Embrace the Force That Connects Us All, Heleane Wahbeh, Eban Alexander.
