While we are not demonizing the mind in this book, sometimes it’s important to be able to set aside thinking in order to allow something else to flow through us. In this section, I am going to talk about a whole spectrum of experiences that includes artistic creativity, channeling, mediumship, trance, and possession. I think of all of these phenomena as variations on the common theme of “emptying the vessel.” That is to say, they are all examples of what happens when you are able to set aside your thinking mind and allow the unimpeded flow of imaginal energies to emerge, flow through your being, and emanate out into the world.
Here’s Jeff again, talking about how tapping into these energies has become a central part of his creative process as an artist. This is from his blog on Feb. 27, 2012 (as always, extracted and slightly edited by me):
For some artists, engaging in the practice of art making leads them to an exploration of subconscious and unconscious territories of the psyche. When this happens one finds that the unconscious — that which, by definition, was unavailable to conscious attention — is far richer and deeper and wider than was anticipated. This is certainly true of the personal unconscious,… but there is another realm of the psyche that can become available to creative exploration — the elusive, sometimes mysterious, sometimes scary, always surprising transpersonal unconscious.
It’s here that creativity starts tapping into energies never imagined and rarely understood. From far below the region of the personal unconscious, the deep unconscious reveals species instincts and urges that are so raw and formless they can barely be contained in cultural symbols, yet manage to find creative form in myth and ritual that is often shimmering in numinosity…..
It’s infinite, unlimited, endless, awe inspiring. This is where the artist in his/her creative practice finally stops seeking and begins to be guided. This is where the artist steps through doors never before recognized into territories never before intuited. This is where the artist steps back from the work, looks at it and wonders, “Who the hell did that?”
This is where I am. And how I got here is mostly a mystery to me, though in looking back I see a long and battered journey that was somehow fueled and inspired by a crazy intuition, a pull from far off, dimly perceived but undeniable.
An artist engaging with “the transpersonal unconscious” — by which I think Jeff means the Below — must find a way to take their everyday Middle-world ego-selves (their “little jeffies”) out of driver’s seat. They must instead embrace not knowing, trust in the process that is spontaneously unfolding, and allow surprising new things to emerge out of the mystery. That is precisely the same thing that the medium does when channeling. Whereas the artist allows the mystery to manifest through the media of pencil, paint, clay — or in Jeff’s case, string — the channeler’s raw materials are words. The medium empties themselves out and allows words to autonomously come to life and to flow through them.
Again, where you think those words are coming from doesn’t matter. Whatever you think the source is — the “transpersonal unconscious,” spirits, deities, the Akashic Record, etc. — the thing you must do is the same: you must find a way to empty yourself out and allow the information that is emerging to move through unimpeded.
Here’s Jack talking about his experience with emptying out his vessel:
I was preparing to come to England to give these talks and lead my first day-long retreat. And in my mind, I was thinking, “I need to prepare for this. I need to have things written down. I need to know what I’m doing.” And the dragons came in and they were like, “No, no, do not do that. You need to do this spontaneously. It needs to come straight from your heart. And you need to learn that you can trust yourself and trust life enough to step into this.”
And then what happened was my flights got canceled at the last minute, and it created a lot of stress. I was totally busy with all of that, and I didn’t have time to even think about what I was going to do. And then I arrived at the venue right before I was supposed to go on. I arrived, got introduced, and then it was like, “Okay, Jack, the next hour and 45 minutes are yours. Off you go!”
And, I did it. You know, I trusted it. I just said what was coming through my heart at the moment. I channeled the beings when they came through. And we did small rituals at times, but everything came through spontaneously.
What’s necessary is stepping away from the mind and trusting. I go into a trance state, and I trust in the beings that I’m connected to, because I’ve built a relationship with them over time, and they’ve proven themselves trustworthy. And then my consciousness is in the background. My humanity is in the background, and I let them be in the foreground.
Are there specific instructions on how to empty your vessel and let the energies flow? In Jeff’s case, we already know that he has a microcosmic altar in his studio and a daily ritual that helps him to plug into his full self before he begins work. In my case, I often do not need to do anything other than step into the right context and the flow starts happening spontaneously. But, often, it helps to give a little nudge in the desired direction. For example, if you want to channel words, just start writing or speaking a bit in a spontaneous way; if you want to bring in creative inspiration, just start putting the pencil to the page or the paint onto the canvas.
In writing this book, for example, I have felt that every word has been channeled. All I have needed to do is to open up the laptop, start typing a sentence, and then something takes over. My fingers start flying over the keyboard and the words just come to life of their own accord. While the channeled information is pouring out of me, I am totally plugged in and almost oblivious to my surroundings. And, yet, it is totally effortless: I’m looking at the display on my screen right now telling me I have written nearly 10,000 words in the last two days. Tomorrow, I’ll spend some time going back and reading what I’ve written here, and it will seem to me like I had little if anything to do with this creation. (As Jeff said, “Who the hell did that?”)
Misha has a more concrete and intentional technique she uses to empty her vessel:
The first thing that comes to mind for me is putting the body in an open receptive posture. Lying on my back, neutral posture, symmetrical position, palms up, open and allowing. And then internally, do the same thing with the mind and the attitude, so that’s also open and receptive. And then, allowing — and maybe even sometimes inviting — whatever wants to come forward in experience. I’m intuitively sensing into that which wants to come forward, but not in a directive way where I’m trying to find something specific. And then, paying attention. When something starts showing up, allowing it to continue, mainly by just resting the attention on what’s happening in the physical sensations and energy fields. Occasionally there’s an inner prompting to more actively encourage a process to emerge. So, very highly attentive and attuned to what’s showing up in this moment as it’s emerging.
Don’t try to compare it against anything. Don’t try to make meaning out of it. Don’t try to analyze it. Notice in a very fluid in-the-moment way, like a seismographic sensor as the page of experience is going underneath it, noticing experiences flowing by.
And once there’s an energy moving, if it’s sufficiently present, if it’s becoming more stable in its expression, then sometimes, there’s an intuitive sense to accentuate something. Like, maybe there’s an arching of the neck and maybe letting a deep growl out to accentuate it. And that can really help it to come forward and more fully express. There could be more body movements and vocalizations. Even, you know, gnashing of teeth and stuff like that. There can also be some vocalizations that express feelings, like, “Oh, this is yummy,” or, “Yay, relaxation!” And there are other energies that also are more vulnerable with vocalizations more like whimpering. When that’s going on, it can be the full body that’s being moved. And I’m not deciding anything. The energy is moving the body and causing the vocalizations.
While Misha’s tools are entirely internal, in my experience, there are also external aids that can significantly enhance the emptying of the vessel. For me, I discovered that putting on a shamanic drum track and allowing my body to move spontaneously in my darkened practice space can sometimes nudge me into a full trance state where my body deva or some other protector or guide will take control of my body.
In these kinds of situations, do we want to give over complete control or remain partially present? I think the answer to this question is individual. If you don’t feel that you are drawn to full possession naturally, then there’s no reason to think that kind of experience is a required feature of Awakening from Below. However, if you do find yourself wanting to vacate your vessel spontaneously, you can welcome that as part of your process. With your eyes wide open about the potential risks and rewards, and making sure you’re not opening yourself up to random influences, go ahead and open your sensory channels even wider than you did previously and invite your guides and protectors to “take the steering wheel.”
In all cases, in order to empty your vessel, you need to suspend your judgment, interpretation, and other critical faculties, and just let things flow. If nothing happens, or it’s not a very deep trance, keep at it and experiment with different aspects of the set and setting. I think you’ll find that this is a skill that anyone can cultivate. What happens when you do — creativity, channeling, mediumship, trance, possession, or something else altogether — you won’t necessarily be able to predict or control. As with everything else in the Below, just surrender to what is happening and allow it to unfold naturally.