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Featured Article

An Integral Channeling Overview
By Paul M. Helfrich, Ph.D.

I have studied the channeling phenomenon for the past ten years. The main thing I have learned is that channeling is not a phenomenon in the singular sense, but rather an umbrella of related phenomena that have been with us for thousands of years. As such, to better understand what channeling is we need to explore the wide range of human abilities involved.

Let’s begin with a little history. There is a premodern tradition known by many different names that dates back to the earliest written records, as far back as the fourteenth century BCE, according to transpersonal psychologist Arthur Hastings:

[The] term channeling …is current, but the process has been called prophecy, oracle, revelation, spiritual communication, possession, and the inspiration of the muses. The Biblical tradition in Judaism and Christianity says that the prophets received and spoke the words of God. Today, there are many individuals who speak words that are said to come from disembodied teachers on other levels of reality. The process, though not necessarily the content, appears to be the same. [1]

This tradition is still with us today. According to anthropologist Michael Brown even though modern, “Euro-American culture is unusual in its unwillingness to grant dissociation [channeling] an honored place in the human experience,” [2] it has “moved from the gilded ashrams of the West Coast to the living rooms and offices of the American Heartland. On the way, it has shed some of its sensational qualities in favor of a more muted approach to personal insight. It is now a well-established form of religious exploration that is likely to be with us for a while.” [3] Transpersonal psychologist Jon Klimo concluded that, “Since 1986, channeling has reached into the grassroots. It has entered the popular vocabulary. Channeling now is part of current mainstream consensus reality.” [4]

Next, we need a working definition of channeling. How do these postmodern scholars define it? Brown defined channeling as “…the use of altered states of consciousness to contact spirits—or, as many of its practitioners say, to experience spiritual energy captured from other times and dimensions.” [5] Hastings defined it as “…a process in which a person transmits information or artistic expression that he or she receives mentally or physically and which appears to come from a personality source outside the conscious mind. The message is directed toward an audience and is purposeful.” [6] Klimo defined channeling as “…a process whereby someone appears to serve as a conduit for information, messages, and guidance, or for energy of a healing capacity or a spiritual quality, which appears to come from a non-ordinary source.” [7]

Our integral approach acknowledges that these are all “true but partial” perspectives, so we want to include them all. I should mention that some don’t like the term channeling, because they find it too narrow. However, until something better emerges, I’m going to stick with the term since it has found its way into popular culture as Klimo suggested. For instance, during the 2007 World Series, one of the color commentators said that a particular picture was channeling another pitcher (who was still alive)!

Seen in this light, is it possible that there is a natural, healthy, and dissociative “intelligence” that exists but has been forced underground for hundreds of years in the premodern and modern West? Given the postmodern advances in research methodology now available in Ken Wilber’s integral metatheory (that I call AQAL-5 [8]), a more comprehensive study of channeling may offer a radical new way to enhance human potentials, creativity, problem solving, and therapy.

In this context, I view channeling as its own intelligence in terms of how Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner defines it. Gardner is best known for his work on multiple intelligences first published in Frames of Mind (1983). His current definition of human intelligence is “…a biopsychological potential to process information that can be activated in a cultural setting to solve problems or create products that are of value in a culture.” [9] The key thing is the inclusion of the brain-mind connection in relation to a collective, cultural context that includes services such as problem solving, healing, therapy, invention, artistic expression, etc. as well as products such as books, music, movies, and so on.

The cool thing about Gardner’s work is that he developed his theories as a brain scientist, seeking the connection between what he calls “brain modules” that affect various functions like speech, emotions, language, mathematical skills, inter- and intra-personal skills, etc. So his research is not limited to psychological abilities, but also how the brain-body works in relationship to the mind. These are key relationships to factor in when studying channeling through an integral lens.

(Continued in the Library....)

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