Seth - Still Speaking - 2007

As a universal channel, I've had the great pleasure of channeling a number of angelic beings, deities, and teachers of new thought. I am extremely fond of one in particular, someone familiar to many lightworkers - the entity Seth, inner author of SETH SPEAKS and other works channeled by Jane Roberts.

Seth first entered my field when I was at a get-acquainted party in San Marcos, Texas a number of years ago. Someone, on hearing that I was a channel, asked if I'd ever channeled Seth. "No," I said. The next moment, on feeling a very large energy merging with me, I said, "Who's this? It sure is big."
The folks around me laughed delightedly, and one of them said, "Jane Roberts always did say Seth was big."

Seth worked with me over time to get me to relax and not worry so much about giving over control of a number of my faculties to him. He is a very kind and gracious being, and never took me over without permission, always working through me only to the level of trance which was comfortable for me. There was one memorable day when he merged with me as I was sitting in a rocking chair, and gently played with me, taking me into another trance level, by suggesting I rock and rock, and pay attention to the space between the swings of the chair. Gradually Seth assisted me in deepening my surrender.


After a while I was out of Texas and back to my little co-housing community in Portland, Oregon - Mir Cabaaning. I'd been busy with readjusting to our little group and learning to work with my computer, and had not heard from Seth - nor did I mention him. One day Sid and Marilyn and I had our usual shared lunch break combined with watching reruns of Northern Exposure. After a while I woke up. We never fell asleep at that time - we shared food and jokes and enjoyment of the show----but this time we had all three dozed off in our chairs. I saw that the TV screen was sporting an odd zigzag pattern, and I had the sense that "someone" was with us. At that point Sid and Marilyn came back to awareness and noticed the screen, too. I tuned-in to see who it was, and it was Seth. He politely asked if I would channel him there in Portland, for our little community, on a regular basis.
Sid and Marilyn were delighted. They were tremendously enthusiastic. Both of them had lived in L.A. before, and had heard Jane Roberts channel Seth on the radio in the early days. They had read Seth's books, and loved the personality.


It was in Portland that I began to channel Seth from a much deeper trance, though not one that would allow full movement takeover of my body. The routine went like this: first the group of participants would gather and settle into a circle in the living room. Then I would feel Seth coming into me, and I would honor his presence with a little sip of brandy, which he loves. Then I would become unable to move legs or arms or head at will. My eyes would close and remain closed. Seth would move my neck and head, and occasionally bow my body forward in my chair. I could hear the words he would speak through me before they came from my lips - but I could not "talk back" to Seth or ask him questions - I was too far out of body to be able to do that. On occasion, what he was about to say would just not connect with anything in my mind. If I had been a completely unconscious trance channel, that wouldn't have presented a problem. But since I retained enough consciousness to "overhear" the messages, I had the ability to not speak Seth's words. Very rarely, this would happen. Then Seth would speak through me, saying, "Carolion is unfamiliar with the basis of this concept and would like connecting information," or something like that. Then he would proceed to give the whole group that information.


My experience of Seth is one of trustworthiness, as well as a wonderfully subtle sense of humor - I have often been the butt of his little jokes. Seth loves cats. He had a profound effect on Sid and Marilyn's cat Marble, the orange-and-white philosopher-cat, whom he used to give mind-expanding teachings about spiritual connections between cats, grapes, spiritual initiation, and the cosmos.

It is my great pleasure to quiet my mind, relax my body, and allow Seth to enter this place.

SETH: My greetings to one and all! I come very specifically to give cheer, with an emphasis on the "heer" of that word - indeed, the hearing of it. Let your ears perk up and rejoice, and then add your voice to the general melee of congratulations. What, you may well inquire, are the congratulations for? Indeed - they are for the planet. The planet you so love, this Earth, has given birth to a new species of human. I will speak more to this point, and more on this topic, at a later date. At present, I simply come to give you my heartiest good wishes, and the finest sorts of encouraging enticements I can provide, for those who are ready to enter the new zone of understanding available here.

For those who know me already, expect regular baths of light in the form of new thought. For those just getting acquainted, my sympathies! You may be exposed to my cosmic humor at any time, so prepare yourselves.

As Carolion well knows, in terms of utmost scientific accuracy, I prefer the the terminology "Great Guffaw!" to "Big Bang." The first implies, of course, the creative impulse. The second implies an unfortunate combination of male sexual and military fantasy. In parting, allow me, then, to suggest that we all contemplate the possibilities inherent in the "Great Guffaw" theory, and allow it to influence the interval we spend apart.

My best and most sincere good wishes for all, and a hearty dose of holiday cheer!

Seth

Not An Ordinary Cat: BJ - 1981-2000

In 1981 my son Ben brought home a tiny grey kitten which he and his girlfriend, Jenny, had chosen out of a litter of giveaways in a cardboard box in front of the village grocery store. He told me they had named her BJ, for Ben-Jenny; and he promised he would take care of her. Yes, he did take care of her for a couple of days. Soon he and Jenny broke up - but BJ was our family cat, and that was that.
BJ had to be an outdoor kitty, with a cozy spot in the garage for sleeping, because of my husband's allergies. She was definitely one of us, though. She was a natural cat, but never a wild cat. When my youngest started kindergarten, BJ would run out to the front yard to wait with her for the little school bus. Each morning BJ would climb up the ash tree, go out on its lowest limb, and hop onto Corrie's shoulder to sit and purr until the bus arrived. When Corrie boarded the bus, BJ's "people job" was done, and she went off doing her growing-up-kitty jobs of stalking and climbing and pouncing and bathing and....And at a certain point, she got pregnant. We had intended to get her spayed, but the pregnancy and kittens came first.
Our family arrived home from an outing one afternoon and the children spotted BJ's head sticking out of an open drawer in a desk that was stored in the garage. They ran to see - and sure enough, BJ had had her babies and was washing everyone down. The kids counted, and came running out saying, "BJ had six kittens and a head!" Oh, dear. The head. We had to explain that when a kitten is born dead, the mother cat eats it up. Ah, life!
BJ and her kittens were a joy to watch. I remember working in my front flowerbed as the kittens were playing in the sunlight in front of the garage, pouncing and tumbling around together. One of the kittens stalked up to its mother, pouncing on BJ's relaxed belly. That did it! BJ pulled her baby to her firmly and licked its fur backwards until it squalled. Then she calmly groomed it the right way, purring the whole time, and settling it down.
Sadly, we discovered BJ to be a carrier of distemper. Three of her beautiful kittens developed the disease - so confusing and painful for their devoted mother, and for their human family, too. After BJ's three remaining kittens were weaned and all settled happily with their new human families, we did get BJ spayed.
Life went on - kids going through their growing times, parents going through theirs. By the time BJ was twelve, the two oldest children were off at college, and my husband and I were divorced. I was renting out rooms to make ends meet. One of my renters made a plea for BJ to be allowed to become a house cat. So BJ became an indoor-outdoor cat, and that's when her amazing abilities began to make themselves apparent.
I would be sitting at the piano composing music, and BJ would walk past - and I would notice that I had energy for some new song, a song that seemed to have cats in it. I would follow up on the energy, writing the song and singing it. This interested BJ no end. She would then climb up on my lap and purr; and sometimes, if the song was really right-on, she would hook her claws gently into my shirt right over my heart, put her mouth to my mouth, and sing along with me!
It was right around that time that I was accepted into a workshop at Esalen Institute: advanced shamanic training with Michael Harner and Sandra Ingerman. On opening night, as we all introduced ourselves, I listened with intense interest as Penelope Smith told us that she was an animal communicator. She said, "You people - you shamans - all communicate with your Power Animals. Don't you know you can communicate with your own pets?"
As the week went on I made a point of sitting with Penelope at lunch one day. I said, "You're probably going to think I'm crazy, but I think my cat is giving me ideas for songs," and I told her what was happening with BJ.
Penelope responded, "You're not crazy! My husband writes songs with our cockatiel."
After watching Penelope do a mini-session with a dog for our group, I was deeply motivated to open the ability to communicate with animals for myself. I prayed and asked for this, and I practiced with every animal I met. When I got home, BJ was waiting for me at the top of the stairs. I said out loud to her, "BJ, I think you might need a soul retrieval."
BJ looked straight into my eyes, and sent me these words: "You finally got it!"
After that, the next day, in fact, BJ joined me in my healing practice. She was, it turned out, what some people call a familiar. She worked with me and my clients for years, living to be nearly twenty. She was a master! I often felt myself to be her pupil. She was the only one of my companion animals whom I allowed free access to my human sessions. She came when Spirit moved her, and she pointed out things I would have missed. She occasionally said things which brought tears to my client - in which case, BJ would hop onto that person's lap to purr and be comforting. When that was done, BJ would leave the room.
When Corrie went off to college, Spirit moved me to Portland, Oregon. I drove from Ohio to Oregon with two dogs and three cats. During that first year there I was completely overwhelmed with the Sacred - God was talking with me, all these saints and avatars, buddhas, the works - were teaching me and giving me empowerments day and night. At the end of that time, Spirit told me that I would have to sell my house, and that my animals would find new homes. I was allowed to keep BJ. It all happened miraculously. The house was sold, the dogs and two of the cats willingly went to their next home, in a school for at-risk teens; and BJ and I moved into a little trailer in the backyard garden of a house and mom-pop printing business in the Rose City area of Portland.
There we found we were in a community of kindred spirits - and soon enough we formed an intentional community. BJ and Marble, the orange-and-white cat belonging to Sid and Marilyn Francis, owners of the property, became good friends. Marble was a philosopher, BJ was a healer, and both were a vital part of the mostly human community.
At a certain point I was called by Spirit to move to Texas. A friend offered to take BJ in, since she was too old to move a long distance again, and I didn't know how many more moves Spirit would require of me. (A lot, it turned out!). Eventually I was called back to Portland, and reunited with BJ, and also with Sid and Marilyn and Marble and the little trailer-home. By then, BJ was deaf. Once when a friend's dog came on BJ by surprise, something that never would have happened had she been able to hear, she was terrified and dashed for the trailer and would not come back out. The dog was actually really gentle, and had no intention of harming BJ; but Marble strode up to it, glared into its eyes and slapped its face. I "heard" Marble say, "You should know better than that! You were an old cat in your last life, and you were terrified of dogs!"
We had another intentional community going by then. We called ourselves Mir Cabaaning, from a word that had been given me in a dream. Our core community group was Sid, Marilyn, BJ, Marble, and I. We had many folks who came in for teachings and feasts and events. It was a beautiful spiritual growth cooperative. At each gathering, the cats were welcome and important. Marble turned out to be a philosophical comedian, with a sense of humor similar to the entity Seth (SETH SPEAKS, by Jane Roberts). BJ sometimes gaves teachings and spiritual healings.
BJ was growing old, so old. She was on arthritis medication. She had told me that she would not need a veterinarian's help in dying, as so many pets do nowadays. Although I was experienced with euthanasia, since people called on me to spiritually assist their pets as the veterinarian euthanized them, it was a relief to know that BJ would die on her own. I realized that time was near when she began refusing any food to which I had added the arthritis medication. Three days before she died, I was surrounded by a group of spirits - my relatives - who told me that they would assist BJ in crossing over when she died.
Three nights later, we were having a community meeting. BJ was lying next to the woodstove on a towel. She dragged herself out into the center of the meeting, and everyone was quiet. She looked deep into my eyes, letting me know she had something to tell the group through me. She/I spoke. One woman burst into tears - and BJ dragged herself over to a basket full of prayer cards, and pointed with her nose to the one I should give to the woman. The meeting went on, and I lost track of BJ. Then I heard a loud "Meow!" from the kitchen. It was BJ, asking me to take her back out to our trailer. Then I knew her time was near.
That night I was wakened by a loud "thump!" and turned on the light to see BJ on the floor where she had fallen, taking her last breath. I burst into tears. Then I thought - "Wait! I have to see - all these relatives - I have to see them helping her." I tuned-in clairvoyantly, and there was BJ's spirit, surrounded by all these human spirits - she was being carried by my adopted children's Korean grandpa. I was in awe, watching them start moving up a road of Light. Then a spirit squirrel scurried across in front of them and BJ's spirit leaped out of Grandpa's arms and gave chase! The squirrel led her to a place where she reconnected with my other pets who had crossed over. Then she went on, to her beloved lion-headed Egyptian goddess, Sekhmet.
That morning was a Portland winter morning - pouring down rain. Sid and Marilyn and I buried BJ with loving ceremony out under the great old apple tree, which was a sort of mother-spirit for our community. Oh, it is so sad to bury a loved one in the cold, wet ground, in the pouring rain.
I wrote a letter about BJ's life and passing, and delivered it to all who had helped her during her last years, as a thank-you, as well as mailing it out to family, and to colleagues who had benefited from BJ's teachings. BJ let me know she would be coming back into physical incarnation, to be my cat on earth again, in twelve years' time. In the meantime, her spirit occasionally shows up when I'm doing a healing, to point out something I've missed, or to give a teaching. You know, I still miss her, though. I still miss her. She was, as she told me once, not an ordinary cat.

Kagyu Changchub Chuling: Taking Refuge - 2000

A few years ago I was living in a small garden community in Portland, Oregon's Rose City area: Mir Cabaaning. Sid and Marilyn, who owned the property, were printers. One of their clients was Sanje Elliott, former head of the Art Department at Naropa University, and a master thangka painter. When I met Sanje I was also undergoing a profound visionary period during which I was having encounters with various deities of all religions. I was spending hours with Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, receiving teachings and empowerments. When I found out that Sanje was about to start teaching a beginning thangka painting class, I was thrilled. I signed up.

There were four of us students. Sanje's routine was to begin with a little song in Tibetan, really a prayer - which we'd say in English as well:

So nam, di yi tam chezig pah nye top ne nyeh pay dranam pah jene kye ga na chi ba lap truk pay yi si pay tso le dro wa drol war sho

By this virtue may we become enlightened, and, having vanquished all negativie influences, liberate all beings from the ocean of existence, which is turbid with the waves of birth, old age, sickness, and death. Tuji che.

We went down to the basement to watch an hour of slides of Buddhas rendered in paintings and sculptures from all over the world. Then we would go back upstairs to our thigses (basic proportioned grids/drawings), drawings, and finally, paintings. We received the previous week's drawing with Sanje's comments. We then corrected our work, and moved on to our next level. Sanje always made us chai with a little vibhuti (sacred ash) from Sai Baba in it, and there was always good sacred chanting on the CD player, and we could talk.

One morning Sanje asked if any of had ever had the experience of suddenly bursting into tears when encountering some form of Buddhism - perhaps music, movies, art.....And several of us raised our hands. I was amazed and relieved to see that others had been through this, too! For me, every time I had seen a movie about Buddhism, such as The Little Buddha, or Seven Years In Tibet, or Kundun, at some point in the movie I had burst into tears. Now Sanje was telling us that this was a typical response for those who had had a number of previous lives as Buddhists - we were being "called home."
Ah.
This made the deepest kind of sense to me, especially since I was still experiencing communication - hours of it at a time - from deities arriving in my space on huge lotuses. Through my shamanic training I'd become used to communicating with all sorts of beings in this way; but these encounters with Buddhas and Bodhisattvas were really pushing me hard. I began to think that perhaps if I were to ground myself in formal Buddhism - take refuge in a sangha in this life - that this pressure might ease.

I finally called Lama Michael Conklin of Kagyu Changchub Chuling. I had to call three times before he answered. Later I realized that it was important for me to "knock three times" before receiving an answer - an ancient spiritual tradition. I began attending sangha, and finally I had the opportunity to take refuge. There were a number of us who went through the ritual that day. We each made three full prostrations before entering the meditation room. Lama Michael gave us instructions, and then cut a lock of each person's hair. The whole sangha was enjoying the ritual, and members were lightheartedly teasing initiates about the hair-cutting. Though I'm not shy, I was glad to be only one in a group of newbies this day. After the hair-cutting, Lama Michael gave us our Tibetan refuge names.

Something did change for me, energetically. It did happen that the Deities on the lotuses began to allow me more "normal" time after I took refuge. That was an immense relief. I sometimes joke, nowadays, that other people take refuge with the Buddha - but I took refuge from the Buddha(s).