Here’s an email I got today.

I would really like to learn how to channel, I am wondering if you can help me and how we would go about it.

(My Answer) Hello.  Sometimes it is a short learning curve and sometimes it takes years to learn how to channel. It just depends on how far the person has come on their own particular journey. All I can recommend is the way I learned how to do it. Get a copy of Opening to Channel and do the exercises as best as you can.

First, though, you need to be certain that you aren’t experiencing psychotic difficulties and actually need a psychotherapist instead. If you are under a doctor’s care or need to be, learning how to channel is not a good idea.  Everyone can benefit from psychotherapy.  You can compress the time you need to learn about something in your life from 12 years to 2 sometimes. 

Secondly, you need to be an adult. Preferably 35 years or older. I say this because I was such a ditz as a young adult myself. It helps to already be well grounded and sensible and not easily frightened. Weird stuff happens. And, if you are frightened of it then you don’t need to be channeling.  Or, you can do like I did and thrash around for years until it all settled into place.  This is all your decision and you will find the teachers you need in life when you need them.  Maybe I am one of them. 

Next you need to read. A lot. I mean read a lot. The Seth books, Findhorn books, Ramtha books, Emmanuel books, Bartholomew books. There are more. Go out and find them. Read them. Find out what it is like to channel. Everybody has their own experience with it and you need to be finding out just what the guides say to all these people and how they say it.

Next, you need to be meditating. Lots of books out there to learn how.

Next, you need to really want to do this. Because years might go by where nothing happens. Like with me. The need to channel, the desire to channel needs to always be there. If you give up nothing is going to happen. It’s almost like you have to prove to Spirit that you are worthy.

There aren’t too many teachers out there who will take on students for a pittance. The places I’ve seen charge an arm and a leg. You can get correspondence courses from the folks who wrote Opening to Channel. They do good stuff. Also, in Berkeley, California you could sign up for a five year course on learning how to channel at the Berkeley Psychic Institute. Doing it, of course, their way. That’s what bugged me about their way. It was too regimented. But, organizations are out there who will take you by the hand and lead the way. Me? I throw you in the water.

I would also start reading A Course in Miracles. It will take a year to plow through it and that’s just the student’s portion. But, that sort of stand you on your head before Spirit will talk to you situation is what might possibly work for you.

Also, if you aren’t already doing it start exercising. To move the energy. Also, painting, drawing, some sort of art work. At least make the effort. You need to move different portions of your brain.

Also, no drugs. Absolutely no drugs. If you’re taking medication for a medical reason, that’s different. But, no recreational drugs. That also means no abuse of alcohol. And, if you aren’t already they will eventually get you to stop smoking. It’s a boring, pristine life you will be living. Be careful what you are getting into. It’s like taking orders and becoming a nun. I wouldn’t have it any other way, but I’m basically no fun anymore at all.

Explore different spiritual paths. Start with the one you were exposed to as you grew up.

Loosen up. Don’t be so judgmental of others. Their truths are just as valid as your own.

Anyway, this is all work that you have to do on your own. Keep a personal journal so that you can sort things out as you move along.

Dream work. Important stuff. You’ll be doing much of the learning and meeting of Folks in Spirit in your dreams. Start remembering your dreams and writing them down. Learn how to dream lucidly. There are books out there and info on the internet to help you.

Learn a method of divination. Tarot is good. Allow Spirit to move through you for the readings you give yourself and eventually as you practice with others. The first time I dealt myself cards? I got the death card, the tower and the hanged man…none of them real happy cards. I was shocked. I gathered the cards up and dealt them again and got the same thing. I was almost hyperventilating and scooped them up to deal myself a third hand. Same 3 cards. That’s when I stopped and started reading what those cards represented. Big journey. Big changes. Big, big, big. And, then I learned to channel.

Go on some Shamanic Journeys. Books out there to help you do it. Excellent method for meeting and talking to Spirit Guides and Folk in Spirit.

So, those are my tips.

Go lightly with it. No need to be so serious. There isn’t a wrong way or a bad way to connect to Spirit though there will be people who have all sorts of opinions on it. Especially family members. It helps to have support from that quarter, though it is not always guaranteed. Mostly they will be alarmed that you’re doing something they consider to be odd or strange.  This is why doing all of this as an adult is easier.  If family is not on board in the beginning they might, because of their love and respect for you, come around at a later date.

And, once you’ve made that connection to Spirit? The ride ain’t over yet. That’s when the next stage of hard work starts because Spirit tends to push you to your absolute limits. The reason is that you don’t do this for yourself or any other reason that you’ve got in mind right now. You actually end up doing it for other people. And, the advice you’re going to be giving them needs to be sound. Which means you need to be as sound in mind and soul as you possibly can be.  Don’t get me wrong you will never be a finished, polished human being no matter what your role in life is.  On the other hand we are all perfect just as we are.  Just strive to be as good as you can be.  No one in life ever stops learning.

So, if you want to learn, learn. You’ve got some tips on what to do. It’s all self study unless you want to shell out the big bucks, which you might want to do as you move through the journey. I’ve spent oodles on music that helps me move into meditative states of mind. I’m stinky at meditating, so I always need help with it. Also, I use the music when I’m channeling at the computer. It just helps to move me into a place where I can concentrate and let go when I need to.

Mostly, you need to believe that you can do this. Because you can. What I was surprised to learn is that sometimes Spirit whispers too.

Write me as you move along if you want to. Your teachers will show up when you need to talk to somebody. They will all be different and all have different points of view, philosophy and techniques, but you can learn something important from each and every one of them.