Channeling is a process by which an individual becomes a ‘vessel’, ‘receptor’ or ‘channel’ for information from a non-corporeal source or alternate dimension of reality.
Examples of this phenomenon have existed for millennia in the spiritual traditions of every culture. Indigenous shamans, ancient oracles, religious mystics, mediums and ‘New Age’ channelers are all practitioners of such extra-sensory perception. Hallucinatory drugs, hypnotic trance, regression, and meditation are some methods used to induce altered states. The Spiritualist movement, popularized In the nineteenth century, introduced seekers in England, Europe and the US to table rapping seances and ‘talking’ spirit boards.
Channeled information, due to its ephemeral nature it is not provable by empirical science. Its validity, however, is supported by the new scientific paradigm. Quantum theory, introduced by physicists in the early 20th century, expanded our understanding of the nature of reality, and with it the efficacy of non-physical phenomenon. Time and space exist in a continuum. The Universe is a web of conscious energy; consciousness is the foundation all of creation.
Ground-breaking Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung advanced his revolutionary theory of the collective unconscious. Einstein reported dreaming his most influential discoveries into existence. Anyone experiencing a ‘flash’ of inspiration is tapping into a vast reservoir of non-local consciousness. At the deepest level we are all connected.
Channeling entered the popular culture in the 1980s, due in part to its promotion by actress Shirley MacLaine. A spate of books and audio tapes appeared in New Age bookstores. J.Z. Knight channeled an entity called Ramtha, and Jane Roberts brought us Seth Speaks. An explosion of other-worldly wisdom from angelic beings and ascended masters professed to offer guidance in navigating life’s challenges and assisting the evolution of the human species. Skepticism and ridicule abounded, some justified, as not every disembodied spirit is a worthy messenger.
A scandal erupted in the ‘90s, when First Lady, Hillary Clinton, was accused of ‘channeling’ Eleanor Roosevelt on the roof of the White House. Spiritual teacher Jean Houston had suggested she engage in a role-playing exercise. The term ‘channeling’ has more recently become embedded in the popular lexicon and employed frequently by TV pundits.
Artistic inspiration, from the root word ‘in-spire’, to draw spirit into one’s consciousness, is a form of channeling.
Artists, actors, dancers, musicians, writers, etc. report creative inspiration flowing from mystical sources, referred to as muses. Athletes describe ‘being in the zone’. Movie audiences witnessed Selma Hayek channeling Frida Kahlo in Frida and Rami Malek incarnating the soul of Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody. The word and the process have broad implications. Each of us experiences moments when our conscious mind moves out of the way…driving, swimming, washing dishes, or in the twilight stage before or after sleeping. In this fertile half-awake limbo, much of this book was birthed.