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A Channel Explores Channeling and the Michael Teachings By Shepherd Hoodwin |
Channeling is a modern word for a means of accessing intelligence not in human form, something people have been doing in virtually every culture since perhaps the beginning of human civilization. In the past, such access was the domain of priestesses and priests, shamans, oracles, seers, and so on, who contacted "gods," "ancestors," or "spirits." Today, channels are from many walks of life and communicate with many different kinds of beings.
Michael is the name of a group or "entity" of one thousand fifty souls (also referred to as "essences" or "fragments" in the Michael teachings). For this reason, they refer to themselves as "we." The name Michael was chosen somewhat arbitrarily: the last soul in the entity to finish its cycle of physical plane lifetimes had the name Michael (or its equivalent) in its last lifetime, which, according to Michael through the channel known as Jessica Lansing, was about fifteen hundred years ago.
Michael's teachings provide a unique and fascinating vocabulary identifying the building blocks we use to create our lives. They offer a context for understanding what is occurring and why, helping us be more relaxed and accepting. They also offer tools for making positive changes.
With any teaching, it is easy for beginning students to oversimplify or jump to conclusions about it. If a teaching is substantial, it is worthy of in-depth study, with attention paid to nuances and distinctions. This book is dedicated to a serious study of the Michael teachings, as well as of channeling itself. These two subjects are complementary: in seeking answers to questions about the teachings, we come to understand more about how channeling works, and vice versa.
The Michael I work with is not the same as the archangel Michael, or other Michaels who are channeled. There are several people, however, who channel this particular Michael. The majority of them are in the San Francisco area. For the most part, they each draw on different members of the entity.
The first book on the Michael teachings was Messages from Michael by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. It chronicled the experiences of a small, anonymous group that developed around a woman who channeled Michael at a Ouija board. The channeling in Messages (and in Yarbro's subsequent Michael books) laid the foundation for later Michael channels and groups. For this reason, I frequently refer to the Yarbro books. I am not a member of the groups portrayed in the Yarbro books, although I have become friends with the first Michael channel and have spoken with others who have been involved. (See Appendix A, "Interview with Former Messages Group Member.") I also communicate with other Michael channels and refer to some of them throughout this book. In particular, JP Van Hulle and Aaron Christeaan, a married couple who both channel Michael, also channeled some fundamental concepts covered here, and I owe them a great debt. My own contributions to the basic Michael teachings are mostly limited to the concepts of cadre groups, greater cadre groups, and so forth, covered in Chapter Ten, "Cadres and Entities."
Shortly after I began channeling, I was invited to write a chapter for a book project on the Michael teachings. Because I wanted to better understand channeling itself, I decided to research and write about that. The book project never materialized, and the chapter became an article, "The Nature of Channeling," which was instead published in a now-defunct magazine called The Michael Connection.
I continued to write articles for the Connection. This book contains those and other articles, greatly revised and expanded. It also includes direct quotes from Michael channeling I have done over the years in both private and group sessions. These are italicized and indented; questions preceding them are also indented but not italicized. Double spacing between channeled passages indicates that they were channeled at different times. I did not channel specifically for this book, other than for the "Introduction by Michael," and to clarify material I already had.
This book is not intended to provide a comprehensive treatment of any aspect of the Michael teachings. It instead offers my personal and somewhat subjective introduction and supplement to what is provided so well by almost twenty books by other authors. A list of these books is in the Bibliography at the back. Other than to provide clarity and continuity, I have avoided repeating material available elsewhere. I have sought to make this book accessible to those without knowledge of the Michael teachings, and have provided an extensive glossary to aid beginning as well as more advanced students, but you might also find it enriching to do other reading.
I have allowed what I have to say to dictate the length of my treatment of specific subjects. Some aspects of the Michael teachings, such as quadrates and support circles (see Glossary), are not covered here, and others, such as monads and karma, are discussed only briefly. Each Michael channel has areas of emphasis based on what he has an affinity for and has found to be useful. What his clients ask about and what he is able to channel well also enter in. For instance, I am interested in "Michael math," whereas some channels aren't. On the other hand, some channels get a lot of information about configurations such as sextants, while, at least so far, they have rarely come up in my channeling. In the chapter "Roles," I have more to say about the roles of scholar (early in my practice, many of my clients were scholars) and sage (which is my role) than about the other roles.
There are some discussions in this book that will appeal to those who are passionate about the fine points of the Michael teachings, but may seem like hairsplitting to others. For example, you might not be interested in the discussion of how body types fit on the Michael axes, or whether chakras correlate with roles. I have separated much of this kind of material into individual subchapters, and you may wish to skim over some of it.
In my channeling practice, I frequently give what I call Michael Readings, in which I channel and explain charts of Michael information for a person. I refer to these readings throughout this book, noting some of the trends and oddities I've found in them. (A blank chart follows Chapter Six.)
Every channel, channeling practice, and location is unique, so other Michael channels and students may have had different experiences than I have. Also, they may not agree with some of my views, or may have received channeling that seems to disagree with what I present here. No doubt, my experiences and perceptions will continue to change over time, and perhaps some of what I present here will prove inaccurate. I discuss inaccuracies and discrepancies, apparent and real, at length throughout the book. For now, let it suffice to say that although no channel is one hundred percent accurate, often what seems wrong is just incomplete. There is sometimes what I call "bridge information" that explains how apparently opposing ideas can both be true, or at least mostly true.
When we work to find bridge information, which is largely a matter of asking the right questions, our knowledge is expanded in ways that are not possible when we stick with one source. I don't believe that any one source, channeled or otherwise, can bring forth the complete picture of reality--we each have a piece of the whole picture. So although some disagreement is inevitable, one of the values of there being several Michael channels is the wide range of material that can come through. Each channel has a unique "instrument" to offer. I present this material not as the "final word" on any subject but as starting points for thought and discussion. Michael constantly reminds us of the need to self-validate information, no matter what its source. In writing this book, I was reminded of the saying, "The more I know, the more I realize I do not know."
For me, self-validation means that I don't assume that new information I read or hear is true or not true; I "file" it under "possibly true." I may then play with it as part of one of my "working models" of reality, seeing how well it works. The process of letting ideas about reality prove themselves out one way or the other is ongoing. Models of reality are always imperfect, and I am constantly refining mine as I receive new and better information. In this spirit, I encourage you to enjoy and make use of the ideas on these pages without assuming them to be perfect renderings of reality. Maybe they are close, but whether they are or not, they are meaningless to you if you do not make them your own.
I welcome hearing from readers, especially regarding your experiences with channeling and other psychic work. I cannot promise to respond to letters, but if there is another edition of this book, I will certainly incorporate what I learn from your feedback. You can write to me in care of the publisher.
Even if the Michael teachings provide amazing and extremely helpful models of reality, as I think they do, models are not the same as reality. Reality is far more complex and simple than models, including the Michael teachings, could ever fully convey. If models are reasonable facsimiles of reality, they can promote understanding by putting reality in terms to which we can relate. Hopefully, that assists us to experience reality more fully. The point is reality, not the models.
It's important not to take models too seriously. Debating models might be interesting and useful, but there are ideas in the Michael models, as in most other models of reality, that we ultimately will never be able to prove conclusively. For example, one could probably not prove Michael's concept that the universe has seven planes of creation, even if the number seven makes sense in light of other teachings; what if there were six planes, or eight? Although it may be useful to have a sense of our larger context, what cannot be proven is probably not essential to a model's function in our lives. The measure of an idea's worth is the extent to which it expands us and helps us live more fully, which is to say, helps us experience greater reality.
In a sense, every Michael student is using at least a slightly different model, because every Michael student understands the teachings at least slightly differently even while using the same or similar terms. (This could be said of adherents to any body of thought.) The Michael teachings are malleable enough to lend themselves to somewhat different models without losing their integrity. There are some relatively minor differences between the way the Michael teachings are presented in the Yarbro books and by the various authors from what I call the "Orinda group," (which includes JP Van Hulle, Aaron Christeaan, and those who trained with them). These two "camps," along with various scattered individuals, could be considered the mainstream of Michael thought. When major differences from it arise, often they stem simply from misunderstanding; however, they are not necessarily invalid. If the model works for the person using it, that may be the most important thing, even when, strictly speaking, it is no longer Michael's model. (When communicating with someone who uses Michael's vocabulary in significantly different ways, the "shorthand" of a common vocabulary is somewhat lost, and a defining of terms can be called for: "What do you mean when you say…?")
I channel consciously. That means that I am awake and fully present during the process. Although the material does not originate with me, Michael makes use of the contents of my consciousness, and to some degree is limited by my limitations. Transmitting information that is too foreign to a channel is difficult. Channeling is a collaborative art as well as a science, involving translation through many levels of the channel. Although the material I channel is generally well beyond what I could produce on my own, in a real way it is mine, and I take full responsibility for it.
Some channeled passages needed little or no editing, while others required extensive revision, for various reasons. One is that much of it was originally spoken, and what is clear orally may not be clear when it is transcribed, because speaking and writing are different media. Some editing was necessary simply due to my imperfections as a channel and the difficulties inherent in extemporaneously translating complex concepts from the invisible to the visible. I felt guided through the writing and editing process, and I asked Michael for clarification as needed.
I am concerned about sexism in language, but constantly using "s/he," "he or she," or alternating "he" and "she" all seemed awkward, so I decided just to stick with "he" in most cases. The Elements of Style states that over time, "'he' has lost all suggestion of maleness in these circumstances." I hope that no one is offended by this choice.
I changed the names of all clients who are used as illustrations.
This is a book that can never be finished. I'm certain that even before it "rolls off the presses," I will have thought of numerous changes and additions. Nonetheless, here it is. I hope that the insights and information in it are not only interesting, but support you on the journey of your soul.
- Shepherd Hoodwin, New York City, New York, November 28, 1994
- Updated May 14, 1997, Laguna Beach, California
This book will be a helpful clarification, we feel, not only of many points in the Michael teachings, but also of fundamental truths of life. We appreciate the care that the author has taken to be specific so as to illuminate important distinctions, which tend to get lost when too much understanding is presumed. As we have overseen the preparation of this manuscript, we have not felt it to be warranted for us to intervene too much. The author has been engaged in his own process of discovery, asking questions that he might not have asked had we guided him with too strong a hand.
As you read, we expect that questions will also arise in you. Questions are the beginning of knowledge. It is a good idea to learn to be as content with questions as you are with answers. As the author states, nothing in this book is the final word on any subject. But we are confident that if you appreciate the Michael teachings, a lively interchange with this volume will lead you to a deeper and more productive knowledge of it. Your self-validation is your best ally in this.
We support our students in further establishing a direct connection with us, whether or not they channel. In reading a Michael book, your thoughts are naturally with us. Opening to an energetic connection through those thoughts can increase your intuitive ability to use this material in your life.
- Michael
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