TO CHANNEL OR NOT TO CHANNEL,

THAT IS THE QUESTION!

Sylvia Shanti Vowless QSM

Channelling is probably one of the oldest recorded spiritual activites found in early cultures, in the Bible and continuing to the present time.  Indeed, right now there seems to be another upsurge of interest and activity in channelled information, learning to channel and in channels themselves.  So what you may well ask, is channelling for?  A good question and a vital one in your discernment process.  Far better to err on the side of scepticism than have blind acceptance.  This is because at best, channelling has the power to inspire, inform and empower us. 

At worst it can misguide, misinform or even interfere with our lives and wellbeing. 

In itself channelling is only a stepping stone along the path of evolution, and not even an essential one for most people.  You don't have to be able to channel to progress spiritually.  This is because we will all eventually be able to go beyond channelling to the purer and more direct mind-to-Divine Mind link often called 'telethought communication.'  But that’s a whole different subject.  Suffice to say that this requires an even greater level of purity and fine tuning of the inner faculties for a person to be able to make this connection.  However, the first step of vital preparation for this higher ability is to establish a clear communication with your Inner Voice and your Higher Self.  But in the meantime information and knowledge channelled from the energies of spiritually advanced entities can be of great help to us - providing it's pure!   All channelling has to be filtered through a person's own mind, beliefs and perceptions, and is thus open to distortion.

So what exactly is channelling?  Let's start with spoken or written channelling.  This is when a person allows him/herself to be used as a transmitter or vocal instrument for a non-physical entity or energy to communicate from its level of existence to ours.  And this is where the danger lies in that it's vital we determine exactly what level we’re connecting with.  This in turn is determined by our own level of vibration.  To use the analogy of electricity - any instrument we plug into an electrical socket must be of the same voltage to work without short-circuiting.  Similarly, we can only connect with the frequency level we as the instrument are compatible with. Two other very important considerations are whether the entity is who they say they are, and what their motive for communication really is.  This is why it's essential to question, question and question!  Question the entity, question the information, question the channel - even if it's yourself.  Only then can you know what you’re dealing with, which is why trance channelling is now highly undesirable.

Source levels begin with energies and beings connected with the earth plane such as devas, nature spirits and animals.  Their purpose for wanting us to communicate with them is to inform us how best to care for nature, for lower life-forms, and for our planet while helping us to realize the oneness and interconnectedness of all life.  Obviously being of a different level of consciousness they cannot provide us with higher spiritual knowledge beyond the human level of sentient consciousness.

Neither can discarnate entities still on the lowest levels known as the lower mental or astral planes.  Just because a person sheds their physical body doesn't mean that they suddenly become enlightened!  Their consciousness remains at the level it was while on earth until they choose to move on from the astral plane.  This means that on the astral plane are many 'con-artists' and tricksters just as we find on earth.  These astral entities still enjoy playing the game of deluding humans by claiming to be some wise, ancient, spiritual figure or Ascended Master, Angel, or galactic extraterrestrial.  They can drain your energy too if you maintain regular contact with them, so more about how to discern them later.  But just by an entity saying they're 'of the light' or from a 'higher level' certainly isn't any guarantee.  Every life-form is of the light no matter how dim it may be.  And every entity has to be of a higher level than some other form of life energy, it's all relative.  Even galactic or extraterrestrial entities are not necessarily spiritually evolved either, even though they may be technologically more advanced than us.  Nor are their motives necessarily benign or even helpful to humans for they may have their own agendas.

Most people want to connect with our highly evolved Elder Brothers and Sisters the Ascended Masters, or with Angelic Beings, and rightly so if you’re seeking real knowledge.  However, what is not always understood is that Ascended Masters or Angelic Beings choose to contact humans for impersonal reasons, meaning that their motivation for communicating is for the benefit of ALL humanity and not just for one person.  Therefore such authentic contact will be in the form of higher spiritual knowledge or understandings that will help everyone's spiritual evolution.  You only have to read information such as A Course in Miracles from Jesus, the I AM Discourses from St Germain and the like to see their purity and high level of origination.  Such direct communication is however rare.  For the vast majority of people any connection with such high vibrations is through greatly stepped-down energies or filtered consciousness.  Thus it's more correct to say that we channel the energies or consciousness of an advanced Being rather than suggest we're in direct personal contact.  It's rather like saying that our house is electrically plugged directly into the main national power-station!  Yet indirectly we are receiving power from it of course, though greatly stepped-down to make it safe to use.  Likewise with the vast energy fields of the Masters and Angels which have to be stepped-down because they are too powerful for most humans to handle directly.

There's also another confusion regarding the kind of information such advanced Beings give and our own personal inner guidance.  Ascended Masters or Angels are never anyone's personal guide.  Personal inner guidance is available to each and every one of us from our own inner voice which comes from our Higher Self. 

This inner voice is sometimes called the Holy Spirit, the Divine communicating presence.  To this we can turn for answers to all our personal questions, answers that are infallible if we truly learn to listen by moving beyond our inner self-talk.  The Masters with their focus of all humanity's well-being and progress aren't interested in our personal questions such as what job to take, which dress to buy!  This is our responsibility as we experience being human.  And remember we're not robots either, so questions as trivial as the latter one are surely not worth even asking of our Higher Self!

A word about Light Beings such as the Elohim, Archangels, Melchizedek and the like.  Again such vast energy forms as these are completely impersonal in their service.  Any information they may wish to communicate is to do with our spiritual evolution and the education of our soul, that immortal part of us which is a reflection of our Higher Self or I AM.  And because of their vastness which cannot be understood in human terms of a bodily form which of course they don't have, they most certainly do not make direct contact with us way down here in the lowest or third dimension.  It is impossible for any human to ‘channel’ them either, as anyone who knows even a little about the Spiritual Hierarchy would understand.   They too only make indirect contact with this earth plane through the consciousness of the Ascended Masters who work under them for the benefit of all humanity.

So to return to the question of how to discern the authenticity and level of any communication.  Assuming you're only interested in gaining genuine higher knowledge that's going to be of value to your life and spiritual progress, be it through something you're reading, someone else channelling or anything you yourself receive, here's a check-list of what to look out for and what questions to ask:

*  What is the purpose of the communication?  Does it provide information, teachings or knowledge that you couldn't get from any earthly source?  After all, what's the point of channelling if it doesn't make a difference to or add to your understanding of what life is all about or further your spiritual growth, and in a way that's not available from normal human sources.

*  Is the information credible?  Does it make sense?  Never, never leave your rational common sense outside the door just because something is said to be channelled!  What factual content has it got?  What real relevance has it got to living life on earth?  Is the channel open to questions?  Do they know about the various levels and sources, how and for what purpose do these sources connect with humans?  The Biblical truism "By their works shall ye know them" applies as much  to the content of the channelled material as to the channel!  Obviously we can’t expect channels to be perfect but there needs to be consistency between the spiritual principles they channel and whether they aspire to live their life by them.

*   Is the channelled information for the highest good and usefulness of all, recognizing that we're all one and part of God?  Or does it try to flatter or appeal to your ego?  This is one of the greatest pitfalls in practising discernment.  Channelling from authentic spiritual sources will never ever stroke your ego!  Suggesting that you or a particular group of people are special, further evolved, among the exclusive or 'chosen' ones, are privy to certain information not available to everyone can only come from lower level entities.  The same is true if it's suggested that this is 'the only way,' the only teacher, the only true communication or information.  Similarly, authentic higher spiritual sources will never give you promises of fame and fortune or acclaimed world travel, promises of amazing powers, experiences, and 'higher' knowledge.  Nor will they tell you that you have a high spiritual status like, for example, an Adept, Master, or High Priest of Melchizedek.  These are all ego related.  As recorded in the Bible, Jesus was of the level of "high priest after the order of Melchizedek" but He himself never said so, nor did He call Himself a Master.  His life demonstrated this.  To quote the Master Lao-Tsu,  "He who knows, tells it not;  he who tells knows it not."

*   Is the channelling loving and empowering?  Does it provide positive help or information that encourages you to become a better human being, to become spiritually independent rather than relying on or giving your power away to someone or something outside of yourself?  Is the information provable?  Is it relevant, practical and useful in your life?  Truth and wisdom cannot be taught, only experienced through applying knowledge to your everyday life.

*   Is it a kind of performance that entertains with dramatic and unusual hand or body movements, a strange altered voice or other such gimmicks?  Is it composed of platitudes and popular key words or cliches that actually tell you nothing new?  Is its presentation highly emotional?  Does it create a psychic or emotional 'high' in individuals or groups?  Authentic channelling from true spiritual sources does none of these things.  God doesn't require such human illusions and ‘glamour’ to get His message across!  A  good channel is simply the instrument, so the voice doesn't change from its normal sound although the choice and usage of words may sometimes be different from the person's usual speech patterns.

*  Finally, does the channelling leave you feeling at peace, calm, and with a sense of security in your innermost being?  If it leaves you with fear, anxiety, or urgency of any kind especially with regard to your physical wellbeing and safety then make for the nearest exit!  Where there is fear there cannot be love for they cannot co-exist.  And God is Love.  We can only be free of fear by learning to identify with our God-Self within, our only guarantee of security, wellbeing, happiness and peace of mind. 

Let the beautiful wisdom of the Buddha sum up this whole subject:

"Do not believe a thing because it is said by an authority, or because it is said to come from angels, or from gods, or from an inspired source.    Believe it only if you have explored it in your own heart and mind and body and found it to be true.  Work out your own path through this world with diligence."