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On today’s episode on “Healing from Within” your host Sheryl Glick, author of The Living Spirit Answers for Healing and Infinite Love welcomes Dr. Carl Greer author of Change Your Story Change Your Life. A clinical psychologist, philanthropist, Jungian analyst and shamanic practitioner, Carl Greer teaches at the Jung Institute in Chicago and is on the staff at the Lorene Replogle Counseling Center. He has trained with Peruvian shamans and has been on the staff with Dr. Alberto Villoldo at the Healing the Light Body School. Carl has worked with shamans in South America, the United States, Canada, Australia, Ethiopia, and Outer Mongolia.
Dr. Carl Greer shares his discoveries about several psychological and spiritual practices and how incorporating certain techniques and making changes can be the way to work in alignment with Universal Laws of Energy and also the physical world. We discuss archetypal energies, different states of consciousness and symbols or figures that are brought out of the unconscious mind into awareness. We each have a life story but there are ways we can change it, if necessary, for the better…personal transformation, happiness and health are the goals.
Carl tells of his earlier life and if there were people he was influenced by or experiences early on that may have predisposed him to the many interests and work he found himself involved in later on in life. Carl goes on to tell the story of a dream he had where there was a load of frozen bodies…decapitated bodies that were to be put together to compete in a judo tournament. Carl eventually realized that the dismembered body needed to be made whole again and that his shamanic path was one of remembering and coming back to unity- to stop being confused about events in life and access the wisdom that was lost when we become disassociated from uncomfortable memories. Shamanism is a spiritual practice that helped Carl get closer to Spirit to see into other realms or dimensions and to live life with new eyes.
Sheryl relates that many years ago she had a dream, at the time it was quite disturbing… She was in a box or sarcophagus on a boat which seemed to be Egyptian in decoration and her body was also in pieces…on the shore was her actual father standing in a white and gold robe. He seemed to be a religious healer. Shortly after that, at a Reiki healing conference, Sheryl heard the story of Isis, Osiris and Seth- a mythical story of Egyptian deities. Seth was jealous because Isis loved Osiris, so he had him dismembered and his body parts sent to all parts of the land. Isis loved Osiris so much, she was able to bring him back to life and they had a son, Horus. This was a mythological story of love, life and death, remembering, resurrection and rebirth…and as Sheryl developed her awareness of energy, soul life and using mediumship abilities to gather higher knowledge, she became eternally grateful to be functioning at a higher level of consciousness an awareness of the nature of life and to have discovered, as did Dr. Greer, to see with new eyes the truth of our eternal energy lives.
Carl’s motivation for writing Change Your Story Change Your Life was wanting to break the fears of change most of us deal with, and to encourage others to become a more self empowered and healthy, joyful person. Like all humans, we don’t have the power to determine every event in our life. Since most of us are afraid of change, as we may fear being shunned by society, family or friends, we only make choices based on external influences, sometimes disregarding our inner sense of knowing or wisdom. Becoming empowered and healthy requires letting go of the belief that possessions, power, or our sense of self-importance, habits, wounds and desires, protect us and keep us safe from any outside force. Sometimes we live in denial and resist reflection and self-examination. However, by making a decision to alter one’s behaviors (for example altering health habits, relationships, work and emotional habits) and becoming more confident and assertive…just by changing one part of your story, it can have an effect on many other parts.
As a therapist or healer, Carl and Sheryl have found that a therapist who guides a client or patient to heal themselves has a better outcome than those people who expect their health practitioner to heal them, assuming responsibility for the outcome of the work. Becoming independent is far more empowering than allowing others to do your healing or make changes for you. Health professionals who set the environment for patients to assume personal responsibility for their development and or healing perform a very wonderful part to the self-healing process for a patient.
Carl describes what “Jungian” psychology is and how it differs from traditional psychology. Jungian Psychology among other things, deals with complexes (insecurities) or stories and themes and characters that live within the Unconscious Mind and are hidden and charged with energy-ready to flare up like a fire when someone pushes your buttons. Your emotional reaction is intense because it is fueled by archetypal energies. Complexes form as a result of life experiences usually that occurred in childhood..these experiences often include trauma, neglect, abuse, lack of affection or love. Carl gives an example of a child with an authoritarian father who is affected later on in life when any bureaucrat makes him or her feel like a disrespected child again, unable to fight back against the injustice of any authority figure. While someone who has a kind and allowing father may have no complex about authority figures.
Carl tells us that Shamans believe that we each have a soul journey that encompasses our past lives and extends into the infinite future. This soul’s journey is a mythic one that incorporates themes carried over from previous lives…it might be helpful to think in terms of your life in terms of forces that organize the events you experience and the choices you make if you want to alter the events of the present and the future. We are living a story with aspects that mirror the ones our parents and grandparents lived, identifying themes that affect your beliefs and perceptions and ultimately affect your choices. Shamans co-create with Source but know that Source makes the ultimate decision…we are not separate from Source; in fact we come from it and share its essence or energy.
Shamans believe in the power and consciousness of nature, alternative realities and a space where things only exist in potential before they manifest. Shamans work with energy, and as healers correct imbalances in the body or mind. They also retrieve information and energy from the past and visit the realm of potentiality and possibility to explore other futures. Goals of Shamanism: knowing ourselves….Serving Others…Having a close connection with Source. Shamans believe we have a luminous energy body that surrounds and infuses the physical body.
Carl was the first Westerner to have the Q’ero elders of the Andean mountains bestow upon him. The Munay-ki rites- blessings passed from person to person that initiate them into a new way of walking softly on the planet and harmoniously with each other.
Carl says we have to work with archetypal energies. Archetypal energies are types of behaviors personified into types of human qualities…the hero, the trickster, and the sage are several examples. These energies are always affecting us and dreams or Freudian slips or strong feelings such as anger and shame that quickly arise, can be signs and so powerful that the conscious mind is limited in its ability to control them. Although archetypes affect us, other archetypes are constantly emerging and we should not overly identify with them. If someone feels like the sage, remember you are not that wise figure all the time..allow the fool or court jester to come into play and at times take life less seriously.
Carl has a section in Change Your Story Change Your Life where he describes Inner Feminine (Anima) and Inner Masculine (Animus) as every man and woman has a contra sexual opposite within…In The Living Spirit Sheryl shares thoughts and studies that suggest the chemical and hormonal and societal influences for male and female make us appear to be very different in our responses and perceptions for navigating the physical world and indeed we are. However, since both sexes have both male and female energies, learning to tap into what’s necessary in any given experience will utilize and balance each person and create better results. Therefore, we will experience the similarities and desires of both males and females for developing more respectful and connected relationships between the sexes.
Cark offers many exercises in Change Your Story Change Your Life to have the reader enter a different state of consciousness to encounter symbols or figures that are brought out of the unconscious mind and into awareness- a better realization of who you are.
Carl tells of a story of a health issue regarding his heart and what he discovered that night, how he felt, and what it meant to him. His heart was not working right due to atria fibrillation and while doing qigong to regulate it, Carl heard the words “Be still and know I am God.” He then realized that he was pushing himself too hard instead of trusting in Source and the words telling him to relax. Stop doing, just be and become more of the magnificent essence of life. Spirit is the path to peace and stillness.
Carl wrote a poem to express what more of us should be remembering in our lives. The poem reads as follows;
ALL THERE IS
Each moment only
breath in, breath out,
thoughts, feelings in
thoughts, feelings out
some sticking, some repeating
but always with the possibility
of creating a new world of
attitudes, thoughts, feelings actions
from the myriad possibilities of our is-ness.
Carl describes the 4 Perceptual Levels :
- Our physical body registers and processes information through our senses
- Our mind thinks and feels as we try to make sense of our experiences
- Our soul perceives our experiences
- When we perceive at an even higher level the level of pure energy, our ego dissolves..the boundary between our individual experience and that of all creation disappears ….we perceive everything as waves at various frequencies rather than matter and we feel no separation between us and Source and all of creation.
Carl shares an incident by a client who encountered a buck in the forest right after his father had died and though he was skeptical at first, the client felt the spiritual element and was in awe of the moment. Incidents like this remind us that we live in a world bigger than we can imagine-one that contains infinite information and lessons for us. At times, we perceive energies surrounding us or glimpse aspects of other dimensions. In Carl’s book, he describes certain practices such as journeys, rituals, or ceremonies that may help us understand these messages and bring greater clarity to all events.
In Sheryl’s new book The Living Spirit: Answers for Healing and Infinite Love, she shares an understanding of energy and the eternal life force we all share and how though Reiki Healing sessions and other energy work a client may allow their physical defenses to relax, freeing them from mind thoughts and helping them connect to their inner soul essence. In these moments of connection to Source, a greater awareness of their life plan may emerge. New possibilities for creating their future reality may surface. Also as a medium, Sheryl shares stories that seek to prove that as we are pure energy, Consciousness survives Physical death and shamans, mediums and sensitives do feel and receive information from the energy or life force of loved ones in Spirit.
In The Living Spirit, there is a section that is entitled “Taking Responsibility for Your Own Happiness”…too many people- out of fear anger or loss, blame others for any unhappiness or failure to achieve their immediate goals..they unfortunately fail to realize that changes in their own behavior, actions, or shifts in their thoughts are necessary to change their inner environment creating harmony, balance and a greater sense of Self-Love and compassion- the stimulus for change in others. It is not the outside world that brings us joy or happiness for that quality is generated from within by developing confidence trust and hope that you may be connected to others through participation and the acceptance of opportunities or challenges and also doing the best you can with whatever presents itself. It is not the outside world that determines our reality but our inside vision of ourselves… insecurities and fears must be relinquished for change to happen. Every person therefore is responsible to do their own inner work. Finding happiness and joy is the result of self-investigation and self-mastery of emotions. Perfection is not possible nor even desirable and should never be the goal…. simply accepting new opportunities and challenges and handling them to the best of our ability should be encouraged..
Carl and Sheryl have shared many of the really important ways to begin to look at our inner realities in hope of searching for what might make us a happier more fulfilled being who can love themselves, love others, love the world and love life. To find purpose in our actions and make any necessary changes to any undesirable behavior pattern which may reflect the complexities of our early training and indoctrination into the laws of society is an essential way to release unimportant minutia from the restrictions of the physical world. We have shared our hopes that by opening our minds and hearts to the possibilities of creating through new inner awareness and reviewed past experiences which may allow us the latitude to really develop and know a deep and true connection to life to love and to change. Change, which is not only inevitable, but valuable in bringing us past the fears and complexes, neurosis or pains of our worldly exposure to lower thinking and into the deepest recesses of our innocent and pure soul eternal energies for finding we may continuously embrace change without judgment or guilt and find our way to Enlightenment.
Carl writes “The song that emerged reminded me of the futility of waiting for someone else to make my life worthwhile, of regretting things I missed in my upbringing and of reflecting on existential angst but doing nothing about it. The new way forward was glimpsed to be an inner place that connected me to infinity. Once I tasted infinity my life has never been the same, but I am reminded that accessing the inner place requires an ongoing practice of intention….the song has been a powerful symbol in a sequence of symbols that have emerged from time to time to aid me on my journey….The place that transcends time and space is the shaman’s place of beyond the known.”
Carl and Sheryl would hope our listeners seek the song of their inner energy and the symbols of change to understand that the life you co-create with Source is most beautifully a life of love, service and purpose and the only way to find happiness.
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