ABOUT TRANCE CHANNELING

By trance channel we mean a person who is able to set their conscious self aside in order to allow another being, a non-physical or spirit being, to speak through their body. The person who does this is the channel. The being who does the speaking is usually referred to as an entity by our group but others may call them spirit guides. The term medium could be used to describe a "channel". However, the term "medium" is usually associated with contacting recently departed persons with contact sought by relatives or friends. Channels as we use the term usually will allow more highly evolved beings and spirit teachers to come through and speak, although channels are capable of bringing through personalities who have recently died in the traditional sense of the term medium. So, the entities or spirit teachers who speak through channels are sought for the information and lessons they can give on the nature of reality and self growth rather than contact with lost loved ones. It is true that survival of physical death becomes rather apparent after a conversation with a channeled entity, and they can and will answer questions about life after death or about specific personalities who have passed on. More than likely they will try to help the interested party focus on issues that are important for their own self growth and development. When they answer questions they seem to always have this in mind. The entities will discuss any subject, be it general or personal. Some questions they may not answer and when this occurs they will explain their reasons.

Channeled entities by their nature are very psychically connected. The degree of their psychic skills is dependent upon their level of development and their particular interests. It has been the experience of this group that the more highly evolved entities do not usually engage in psychic demonstrations if they are for entertainment purposes only. They are much more interested in helping us learn and grow personally and as a people.

We say trance channeling because there are many kinds or degrees of channeling, trance channeling being one of them. Channeling ranges from relay channeling where the channel hears or sees messages and then relays them to the interested person or group. Conscious channeling and semi-conscious channeling involve some mixture of direct communication by the entity and the channel's personality. In conscious channeling, the channel's voice and mannerisms will usually appear unchanged although the material being given can be quiet profound and involve demonstrations of obvious psychic ability. With trance channeling, the channel more fully steps aside and allows the entity full and direct control over all speaking and physical movement. The voice used by the entity to speak through the channel is usually distinctly different from the channel's "normal" voice.

The facial movements and other physical mannerisms are also distinctly different in trance channeling. In many respects, when you speak to an entity who is being trance channeled, you are speaking directly to that entity without the channel's personality acting as an intermediary or translator. The experience is like having an interactive conversation with a very wise, very loving person. Each entity has its own distinctive personality. On balance, trance channeling allows for less distortion of information than other forms of channeling.

This is not to say that certain conscious or semi-conscious channels do not get extremely "clean" transmissions. Some do, especially if they have channeled the same entity many times or have a special relationship with an entity or a very special gift to remain conscious and still not "color" the information coming through. Trance channeling is also usually a good deal more dramatic a phenomenon than other forms of channeling. This fact has its pluses and minuses. It can be uncomfortable for the extremely faint of heart or for someone who holds a great deal of religiously based fear about things such as possession. On the other hand, the delivery format of trance channeling can help validate the experience for some because the changes in voice and body movements as well as personality can at times be quite dramatic. This may make it easier for some people to accept as real. Ultimately all channeled material should be judged upon its content and upon whether it feels right or "rings true" to the recipient.

Speaking with an entity who is a teacher or spirit guide in a trance channeling session either one-on-one or as part of a group is just like talking to a person in a normal conversation. It is completely interactive. A good way to approach it is to act as if you are having a conversation with a very wise, very old person. These entities usually have a good sense of humor and wit and are very intelligent. Now, this applies to an entity who has come through the channel before and has therefore had an opportunity to get use to operating the channel's body and vocal cords. The channel also has to get use to the entity's rate of vibration (the entity is essentially pure energy which vibrates much like electromagnetic waves as in radio or light waves). This "getting use to" process can take several minutes or several sessions and it progresses with each experience. Therefore, over time the entity gets more and more practiced at using the channel's body.

Some entities come through the first time with eyes open, some never open the channel's eyes. For people new to trance channeling the channel will usually bring through one of the "regular" spirit guides or teaching entities. That way everyone can jump right into a conversation. However, once a person has some experience with trance channeling sessions, the new entities, who are coming through for the very first time, often provide for fascinating visits and experiences. Some of these new entities are not spirit guides or teachers per se. They may just be explorers who saw the opportunity to experience and/or communicate through the channel and took it. There are many different kinds of non-physical or spirit entities that exist in addition to the spirit guides and teaching entities. The actual number of unique entities that exist and that can be channeled appears to be infinite.

You may or may not place value in the entity's perspective. But just what is their perspective likely to include? Well first of all it is very likely that they have lived and died on Earth many times and they can remember these experiences. If they have never incarnated physically on Earth then it is very likely that they are still quite knowledgeable about the "system" here.

What else? They exist in a non-physical dimension where there is no time as we know it. In your terms you may consider them to be "dead" but they are likely to tell you that they are as "alive" as you are. They have access either directly or through another entity to your "past lives", to your purposes for incarnating this time and to information concerning any other person who now lives or who has ever lived on this planet. They are well connected psychically to All That Is and in degrees depending on their level of evolvement and personal interests can respond to any question posed.

It is your questions that stimulate the conversation. Sometimes they will deliver a lesson or message without the need for you to ask a question. Often times they will ask you a question. Not because they want to know the answer, but because they want you to know and acknowledge to yourself the answer. Self honesty is sometimes difficult here (in physical life) and that difficulty can hinder our personal development in greater terms. Ultimately, the spirit guides and teaching entities are interested in helping you with your personal growth. They also learn and grow from the experience.

So, if you would be interested in having a conversation with such a being, then you would probably enjoy speaking to a spirit guide or teaching entity through a talented and experienced trance channel. If instead you are primarily interested in predictions, you may enjoy going to a psychic instead.

VARIOUS "TYPES" OF ENTITIES

As mentioned above, there are what appear to be an infinite number of unique spirit or non-physical entities that come through trance channels (and through relay, conscious, and semi-conscious channels as well). In addition to the many individual personalities of these spirit beings there are what could be referred to as many individual categories of spirit beings that exist and that can communicate through a trance channel. While the entities themselves do not necessarily care for the concept of being categorized or labeled it is helpful to us, considering the limitations of our language, to do so in a discussion such as this.

A description of the various "categories" of spirit entities that our group (we have a small group of trance channels) has encountered follows. The frequency of encountering one "category" of entity over the other probably varies depending upon the particular channel and the participants in the channeling session. Some channels channel the same entity every time while others channel many different entities and many different types of entities.

1) Entities Involved With Human Existence: Within this "category" of entities a hierarchy can be drawn with several different "levels" of development.

a) Entities who have completed all physical incarnations who return to teach those on "less evolved" physical and non-physical levels. These entities are sometimes referred to as Causal Plane entities or Combined entities. These entities are very highly evolved relative to us. They have likely mastered existence in many levels of reality beyond that which we are likely to experience after we physically "die" each time. These entities tend to be somewhat more removed from physical reality than are some of the other entities who we are including in the next category.

b) Entities who are still within the reincarnational cycle yet are quite evolved and aware. These entities often also function as teachers and spirit guides. They are skilled at maneuvering through various planes of existence, they are aware of all of their previous lives and they are fully aware of their situation. They "come and go" by their own free choice and they will generally have a much broader perspective than any individual still physically incarnated on this planet. Because these entities are closer to physical existence some people will relate to them easier than they do to Causal Plane entities. These entities will often have much more distinctive personalities than Causal Plane entities. Entities at this level can be very helpful and very interesting as sources of information and guidance.

c) Entities or "personalities" who are recently "dead". These entities are generally very much less aware than either of the two categories above. Often times they do not even realize that they are dead and are quite shocked when you tell them. It may be more correct to refer to these beings as personalities rather than entities because they usually will not have "joined" with their "whole self" yet. In other words, among other things, they may not be aware of their previous lives. These types of beings can be very interesting especially if you are interested in the death process. However, it is not recommended that newcomers to trance channeling seek out these beings unless they are with more experienced people. Sometimes recently "dead" personalities can be quite unhappy with their situation and quite confused. They may start pleading for help or get downright nasty. If this should occur, tell them to call for their guides and go towards the light. Again, once you become experienced with this type of encounter, they are no problem and are often quite interesting. The experience can be very helpful for the spirit being involved and at least one has returned to our group to thank us for the help.

d) Dreamers. It is possible to channel someone who is still alive while they are "dreaming". It may be more correct to say they are having an out-of-body experience while their body physically sleeps since many teaching entities use the term dream to mean a very specific type of activity which we will not go into here. These types of beings are individual personalities. Our group has only experienced one such being and she was quite charming and pleasant to visit with. She was generally aware of various metaphysical principals and was able to give us information in much the same way as the entities in the first two categories above though in a more limited manner.

e) Disoriented and/or unaware beings. There are some beings that for one reason or another are not quite "in the light". They may come across as disoriented or oriented towards nonsense or practical joking or looking for an emotional response. These types of beings are best left alone. If you run into one, ask them to leave. Then ask for the "highest" guide that can come through.

None of these beings can hurt you if you do not let them scare you or manipulate you. Many channels will not channel these types of beings in the first place because of the lower vibration rate of these beings. However, they can and do sometimes come through the Ouija Board if it is being "played" with by frivolous people who do not clearly intend to attract higher vibration entities.

2) Entities Outside of Human Experience: Here we have again several subsets of non-physical beings.

a) Highly evolved teachers. There are entities who have never incarnated physically as a Human who nevertheless are attracted to Earth to give their services as teachers. These entities are a pleasure and a privilege to meet.

b) Explorers. This is probably by far the most frequent kind of entity that our group comes across in this category and maybe the most frequent kind of entity who "stops by" for only a single visit. These entities vary so much in nature that it is difficult to describe them in general terms. Their personalities range from "machine like" to very personable. They may be quiet and completely uninterested in talking to the group (being more interested in simply experiencing physical reality and physical sensations such as touch, hearing, smell, breathing, or even exploring the house while using the channel's body) or they may be very talkative. They may know nothing about physical reality. In fact they may not even have been aware that something like a physical system exists. They may know nothing about such things as emotion, humor, fear, good, bad, fun, and pain or they may know a great deal about them.

One entity in this category that visited our group several times, normally exists in a reality with only two dimensions; height and width but no depth. This entity was delightful and loved music which it experienced for the first time while visiting our group. These types of entities can be fascinating both by what they tell us and by the kinds of questions they ask. Once you grasp the implications of what the existence of these types of entities means to the vastness of existence, it can be mind blowing.

c) Extraterrestrials. This is where I drew the line when I first got involved with trance channeling. Now, some years later, I find it humorous that I accepted the existence of all kinds of non-physical beings who could speak to us through channels but I found it hard to believe that beings living on other planets could communicate in the same way. Our group has only rarely communicated with these types of beings but their visits were convincing enough to me to validate their existence. Some of these beings have been human.

These beings are intelligent and if they will talk to you they can be extremely interesting. There is no doubt about a hierarchy of beings that fall within this general category. Some of them are surely much more highly evolved than others. Probably some care would be in order when channeling these beings. Either the channel and other participants should be very experienced or the session should be done with the assistance of one of the "regular" spirit guides. I inject this note of caution not out of any bad experience but out of a lack of experience channeling Extraterrestrials. Just because an entity is able to be channeled does not necessarily mean that it has everyone's highest good as a priority. ET's form a very, very small percentage of our channeling experiences. For other channels, ET's dominate the channeling time.

d) Animals Etc. Here is another category that may be hard for novices to swallow. Even those fairly experienced may not react well to this notion. Before we proceed you need to understand one basic truth. That is that everything is made up of consciousness. Many people may not relate to it but plants, animals, stones, storms, everything is made up of consciousness.

There is some kind of universal translator effect that allows channeled personalities who only know say, French, to communicate with us in English. The same thing holds true for entities who have never been human. You would not expect their native form of communication to be English! Well, the same translator effect allows a consciousness that is of an animal or plant to speak through certain channels. In our experience, we have spoken to an entity that identified itself as "cat energy" and to an entity that identified itself as the energy of "this place". At the time our group was having a channeling session out of doors in a park. We have heard of channels who channel the consciousness of plants and such things as crystals. Although we have not knowingly done this, we have no doubts that it is possible.

Even though the above is a fairly long description of our various categories of entities, it is, believe it or not, a major oversimplification. There are many subcategories within each category and there are entities who do not "fit" into any of these categories. In fact, if there is one thing that you find after lengthy experience with trance channeling, it is that labels and boundaries are artificial and somewhat arbitrary attempts to fit an infinite reality into a very finite language.   (Continue to page 2 -->>>)