Listen along on YOUTUBE THE LEMURIANS (around their council fire)–Joan Pancoe “Sometimes as we sit in council, we must laugh because, as we project our probabilities through the alignment of points through time, we can feel them rushing back towards us from the backs of our consciousness. “Where is the beginning, where is the final, and where is the midpoint on an infinite chain of connectedness? “Without losing our unique core tone, we can experience the dance between inner and outer realities as an exquisitely timeless balance in an eternal moment.” The Lemurians, a pre-Atlantean civilization (from a 1982 reading transcribed in full in Joan’s first book, OPENINGS Dear ONE, We’re all here on a journey of spiritual evolution that continues from lifetime to lifetime. The Lemurians were among the first groups of souls to explore 3D primarily as Light Bodies, just dipping their toes in, so to speak, before a fuller immersion became the norm. Since then, all of us have had some lives filled with more suffering than joy, more powerlessness than power, and more scarcity than abundance on all levels. But in other incarnations, the exact opposite appears to be true. Why is this so? In my metaphysical philosophy, it’s because our souls use the reincarnational cycles of the earth game as a laboratory and school to explore the fullest range of what is possible to be experienced as a human being in 3D. And, while the Lemurians may have been the earliest to utilize the density of the earth plane as a vehicle to learn how to become cocreators with All That Is, with linear space and time as training wheels, so to speak, here we all are continuing to explore the infinite array of possibilities within what my channels call “the experiment now in progress.” This means that our souls continuously choose lives without personal preferences, but rather a priority focus on which type of incarnation will best serve to round out our karmic development the most. Like actors on the great stage of Life, one of the purposes of our myriad sojourns here is to develop the fullest human emotional range through extremes of experience by playing as many different roles as possible. The scope of attributes evolves along a bell curve continuum, in no particular order, running the gamut of male/female, light/dark, awake/asleep, among countless other dualities, as well as all points in-between. In this way, over hundreds if not thousands of incarnations, our souls become whole, integrated and balanced within the most extensive human range of play, ultimately merging with Source, the Tao, the Divine or All That Is (aka home in the game) while still incarnate. Once we reach this state of enlightenment–even if we do occasionally return to lesser states as well–we get to assist others in awakening to their true nature. For, once we’ve reached home in the game, what else is there to do but pass it on:)? From this place of Unity consciousness or Oneness, not only do we get to experience the earth plane as a cornucopia of delight and despair, wonder and horror, but also, from the perspective of the Void or emptiness, we can finally appreciate that ALL that occurs here is a banquet of pure aliveness that transcends the duality of this relative plane as well as our preferences for this or that as all courses merge into One taste. In-between incarnations, our souls review which parts of our beings are least developed and where we have the most karma ripening to be healed. This information is then imputed into the Divine computer, and then, well . . . we get what we get. We get what we get because there is always a balancing act between free will, even on the soul level, and Divine will. And guess who wins? Another reason we get what we get is because the lines on the other side are extremely long to get into any human incarnation, much less an auspicious one (i.e., with more easily attainable opportunities for awakening). Consequently, since any human life is considered precious, as 3D is where all the action is, karmically speaking, we get to volunteer to go for the most healing and growth by expanding our range through jumping into the most challenging lives possible. On the soul-level, we really do want to courageously dive into the most intensely demanding lives so that we can burn as much karma as possible. Isn’t free will grand! This is because, when we’re in-between incarnations as Light bodies, we can only fly freely into higher frequency dimensions as the weight of our unresolved karmic baggage allows us to. Talk about overweight charges:). One of my favorite meditations is watching infinitely spinning soul wheels of light going round and round in a timeless multidimensional space like a giant amusement park ride, rounding out their development in many other dimensions as well. If it were up to us on the ego/little self/personality levels rather than the soul and Divine will, we would, for countless lives, choose to just keep continuously feeding those parts of us that are most developed and familiar, as it is always human nature to go for the lesser growing pain. This is true even though the themes we’ve played out the most can become so overdeveloped that they’ve become karmic ruts of identity that we cling to even though no more growth is possible, as they feel comfortable, strong and safer, rather than unknown, more vulnerable and riskier. Believe it or not, many of these karmic ruts of identity are wrapped around incarnations of much suffering and powerlessness. I’ve done readings for many souls who, on the personality levels, wouldn’t even recognize themselves unless they were suffering and feeling powerless all the time. This is true as an overall theme, or in specific areas such as romance, money or health. They become so attached to their karmic modus operandi, that they choose to activate this rut of identity (usually through birth and childhood circumstances), and then once more play it out and hopefully bottom out on it in this life, to be willing to change. For most of them, their soul assignment is one of cultivating self-love, self-worth, heart power and joy in Being. Now there’s a good stretch! Going forward into 2024 and beyond, as we continue to witness all the horror in the world with compassion, the most important thing to remember is that “there but for the grace of the goddess go I.” This is amplified by viscerally knowing that we’ve all already experienced massive suffering in past lives and/or will again in this or future ones. It’s the trip we’ve all signed up for it! This memory allows us not to waste our precious emotional energy with survivor’s guilt (the most useless sentiment), but rather to cultivate a cracked open heart as part of our greater identity of ONE BEING with billions of faces. All of us have chosen–at various times in specific lives and cycles of our soul development–to expand our human range of experience through participating in sometimes seemingly horrific events that no one on the ego/personality level would ever consciously choose. But on the soul level–ALL THE TIME. Without doubt, there is more potential for soul growth, karmic healing and spiritual evolution by courageously choosing to come into lives of the greatest challenge, rather than clinging to little self attachments to security, comfort and survival at any cost. So, while it is essential to cultivate compassion for all suffering, personally and en mass, the next level of awakening allows us to also acknowledge–for those of us in the midst of it now–our courageous choices as volunteers on the soul-level, but never victims. In fact, when I do past-life regression therapy, the lives that burn through the most karmic baggage are exactly those in which there were incredible amounts of suffering, powerlessness and scarcity, whose function was to crack the heart wide open with compassion. It’s certainly a 180-degree different perspective to look at these lives as being pricelessly fruitful on the soul-level, rather than one based on ego desires of what an externally successful life looks like through the lens of the mass consciousness, always the lowest common denominator. Most of my ongoing psychic therapy clients, at some point in their process of awakening ask the same two questions: 1.“What’s the point of it all?” And my answer, in part is: “One of the overall purposes of the Earth Game is to become visceral cocreators with All That Is. Another is to send as much pleasure, joy and bliss as we’re capable of back home in our roles as the Divine’s little hand puppets, if you will. For, it is only through our physical senses and human emotional range (that only exist in the physical plane-duh) that the whole (aka Source) can viscerally experience solely through the sum of each of its parts. For more: On Pleasure, Joy and Bliss 2. “How could I have ever forgotten this?” This is most commonly asked after coming out of a past-life regression session. This forgetting and then remembering is a hallmark of the cosmic hide-and-seek component of Divine play. For more: LEELA We need to do more than honoring those that are suffering the most by sending them heart energies for solace and support, as well as offering resources or acts of service if we feel called to do so. For, if we really want to make the best use of this incarnation for ourselves and all others in the ripple effect, we need to reject the uselessness of survivors’ guilt and welcome joy and abundance into our lives. It’s time for us to witness the grace and nobility of spirit that suffering brings–sooner or later–sometimes seemingly more than we can bear–that forces, encourages and teaches us how to surrender it all in the Flow to All That Is. Ram Dass has always been an inspirational spiritual teacher for me because, not only is his metaphysical world view one that I share a great affinity with, but also his unique cosmic sense of humor never fails to make me laugh out loud. His teachings became an even deeper resource for opening my heart when, in the final stage of his life from 1997 to 2019 he was wheelchair-bound, and constantly dealing with physical pain, MRSA infections, and all sorts of complications from his stroke. He learned to love everything, including his pain. He called having the stroke as his final allotted karmic lesson: “Fierce grace.” As I’m now entering my eighth decade in this incarnation, I’ve found through his example, among others, that my journey continues to be one of shifting from any preference for this or that and more towards an appreciation of what is . . . just the way it is. I’ve found true inner freedom from living from the soul perspective and letting go of ego attachments to timing or outcomes, but with absolute faith in the Flow. And, when I do momentarily resist the growing pains of karmic tests, the suffering that arises instantaneously becomes a tool for deeper awakening. I choose to view the left brain/ego as a translucent tool that the soul uses to function in the earth plane rather than as my true identity which is beginningless and endless. I only turn the switch of my left brain “on” as needed for analytical functions and then I turn it off. This has released me from holding any view of relative reality as the be all and end all, and opened me up to living more and more in what I call “unrelenting spaciousness.” I define this as a level of a more absolute reality where every being, every place and every time—horizontally and vertically thru all dimensions—is occurring simultaneously in an infinite loop that can be perceived as a hologram in which each part reflects all others. These days, since I’m outside of linear space and time more than ever before, I can assure you that you’re in for the adventure trip of this or any lifetime as your new identity becomes one of a multidimensional Light Being while simultaneously being fully embodied in human form. If all of the above feels a bit too far out or mystical, please enjoy listening along to the following song, which may take you to the same place: The Windmills of Your Mind Round like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel Never ending or beginning on an ever spinning reel Like a snowball down a mountain, or a carnival balloon Like a carousel that’s turning running rings around the moon Like a clock whose hands are sweeping past the minutes of its face And the world is like an apple whirling silently in space Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind Like a tunnel that you follow to a tunnel of its own Down a hollow to a cavern where the sun has never shone Like a door that keeps revolving in a half forgotten dream Or the ripples from a pebble someone tosses in a stream Like a clock whose hands are sweeping past the minutes of its face And the world is like an apple whirling silently in space Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind Keys that jingle in your pocket, words that jangle in your head Why did summer go so quickly, was it something that you said? Lovers walking along a shore and leave their footprints in the sand Is the sound of distant drumming just the fingers of your hand? Pictures hanging in a hallway and the fragment of a song Half remembered names and faces, but to whom do they belong? When you knew that it was over you were suddenly aware That the autumn leaves were turning to the color of her hair! Like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel Never ending or beginning on an ever spinning reel As the images unwind, like the circles that you find In the windmills of your mind One of my favorite synthesizers of Zen, Taoism and more, Alan Watts, says it all: “Psychedelic experience is only a glimpse of genuine mystical insight, but a glimpse which can be matured and deepened by the various ways of meditation in which drugs are no longer necessary or useful. If you get the message, hang up the phone. For psychedelic drugs are simply instruments, like microscopes, telescopes, and telephones. The biologist does not sit with eye permanently glued to the microscope, he goes away and works on what he has seen. “What we see as death, empty space, or nothingness is only the trough between the crests of this endlessly waving ocean. It is all part of the illusion that there should seem to be something to be gained in the future, and that there is an urgent necessity to go on and on until we get it. Yet just as there is no time but the present, and no one except the all-and-everything, there is never anything to be gained—though the zest of the game is to pretend that there is. “Imagine a multidimensional spider’s web in the early morning covered with dew drops. And every dew drop contains the reflection of all the other dew drops. And, in each reflected dew drop, the reflections of all the other dew drops in that reflection. And so on, ad infinitum. That is the Buddhist conception of the universe in an image. “To go out of your mind once a day is tremendously important, because by going out of your mind you come to your senses. And if you stay in your mind all of the time, you are over rational, in other words you are like a very rigid bridge which because it has no give; no craziness in it, is going to be blown down by the first hurricane. “Time is a social institution and not a physical reality. There is no such thing as time in the natural world—the world of stars and waters, clouds, mountains and living organisms. There is such a thing as rhythm—rhythm of tides, rhythm of biological processes. There is rhythm and there is motion. Time is a way of measuring motion. “I’ll tell you what hermits realize. If you go off into a far, far forest and get very quiet, you’ll come to understand that you’re connected to everything.” “You have seen that the universe is at root a magical illusion and a fabulous game, and that there is no separate ‘you’ to get something out of it, as if life were a bank to be robbed. The only real ‘you’ are the one that comes and goes, manifests and withdraws itself eternally in and as every conscious being. For ‘you’ are the universe looking at itself from billions of points of view, points that come and go so that the vision is forever new.” In summation, here are some of my personal daily reminders: 1. APPRECIATION: The earth plane is always the best show in town and where all the karmic action is happening. How could it not be? 2. SPIRITUAL PRAGMATISM: In Taoist philosophy, crisis can be used as a time of opportunity. Why? Because we grow faster, stronger and more internally stable when life pushes against us. I call this spiritual resistance training. (Otherwise, we might all just lie around eating bon-bons :)) 3. EXPEDIENCY: The lines on “the other side” for souls waiting to incarnate into a precious human incarnation are veeery long—so we might as well make the most of the one we’re in. 4. DISCRIMINATING MIND: While we have our “yes” and “no” and are entitled to our preferences, from the perspective of the VOID, all that plays out in the earth plane is viewed as PURE ALIVENESS. 5. WITNESSING PERSPECTIVE: As we observe our desires, aversions and the full play of emotions arise, we can learn to say: “Oh look at that!” with a smile and not feel compelled to judge, act out, indulge or repress anything. Even science confirms that reactive emotions only last for 90 seconds, unless we feed them. 6. DESIRE FOR SERVICE: We can’t skip healing our allotted personal karma for this lifetime—with our self, family and loved ones—by entertaining delusional expectations that saving the world will bring us bliss. I call this the “Mother Teresa syndrome.” 7. RADICAL ACCEPTANCE: Everything which happens in our lives and the earth plane, just as it is, is always the perfect fuel for healing and soul growth. BREAKING THROUGH–Joan Pancoe It’s important to keep in mind that longing for other dimensions—for whatever reason—before it’s our time to dwell there is wasting the opportunities available for us in this life. We’re not here to distract ourselves by checking-out or leaving our bodies—but rather to work on opening ourselves up to experiencing these higher frequencies while being fully embodied. In other words, learning how to be in heaven all the time. For more: Aliens Are US Besides, we’ve got everything to gain and nothing to lose by raising our view to the timeless perspective of the Soul while in the Earth Game. As the rollercoaster ride of this life, no matter how circuitous and death-defying, ultimately lead to the same destination: We get to drop our bodies without losing our Higher Minds. And, not only is physical death absolutely safe, it’s also the only thing in life that’s absolutely certain. That being said, why waste precious time pining for what is not yet to be, i.e., being elsewhere, when we can fully savor each moment’s potential for expanding our awareness and finally grok that the grass is always greener right here and right now? Our 2024 coming attractions for achieving a baseline emotional tone of peace of mind and equanimity are contingent on our conscious choice to finally relinquish our ongoing wrestling match with samsara (i.e., endless cycles of birth, death and rebirth) once and for all by embracing the universal laws of karma (i.e., cause and effect) and the perfection of the Divine timetable in the Flow which govern the Earth Game. Once we stop fighting with what is, then we can claim our birthright of experiencing being in a precious human incarnation and simultaneously aware that we’re on all planes of consciousness. In other words, experiencing samsara and nirvana as one and the same. And how do we learn to access this state of consciousness which dissolves the space/time continuum? Well, while it is possible to have an ephemeral visceral taste of our true multi-dimensional Being with mood-altering substances, it is only sustainable if maintained through a daily spiritual practice. Have you found one yet that gives you a daily touchstone of inner stillness and pure Being? Here are some of mine: Taoist and Tantric Energy Arts Taoist Practices MP3s Perhaps equally important to mention is that, if we’ve had past lives of powerlessness and suffering (and who hasn’t), in which our deepest desire was to check out because being in a body wasn’t experienced as particularly pleasant or safe, then our default karmic reaction to circumstances NOW that feel unpleasant or insecure is “Help–get me outta here!” The good news, also known as a FGO (aka fuckin growth opportunity), is that, with taskmaster Saturn in escapist Pisces for the next few years, all of the above karmic memories of wanting to be elsewhere will be coming up to be healed. Here are some things to consider: 1. LETTING GO: Attachment, aversion or indifference to being fully embodied in a human incarnation keeps us firmly on the wheel of karma—which goes infinitely round and round. The only way out is through. 2. BEING FULLY PRESENT: Any regrets we carry when we drop the body of not allowing ourselves enough pleasure, joy and bliss during our lives keeps us firmly on the wheel of karma—which goes infinitely round and round. The only way out is through. 3. BE WARY OF NOSTALGIA: If we indulge in nostalgia for other planes of consciousness instead of being fully present here, rest assured that, once we drop our bodies, our longing will be in the form of sincere regret for not embracing the fullest range of our humanness while incarnate which–you guessed it–keeps us firmly on the wheel of karma—which goes infinitely round and round. The only way out is through! So, our Dharmic decision going forward into 2024 and beyond—is not a simple either/or—to be here or elsewhere–but rather AND and BOTH. Human beings tend to react in such black or white extremes! Ultimately, there is nowhere to go—if we’re fully present in the Eternal Now. Then the reality of no escape spontaneously arises again and again until we surrender into the spacious present. And with peace of mind and equanimity as our primary emotional tone, it naturally follows that pleasure, joy and bliss will continuously arise. YAY! One of the most important and positive astrological transits of 2024 is the Jupiter-Uranus conjunction on April 20, which occurs every 13 years, and will be of particular interest wherever we have 21° Taurus in our birth charts, or any planets or angles making aspects to this position. These planetary energies will bring significant changes in the arenas of accelerating spiritual evolution, new ideas spontaneously arising to aid in areas that need it most, and inner (if not outer) success personally and en masse. With abundance-ruling Jupiter and Trickster of Awakening Uranus setting the tone, we may, if we’re open to it, experience–without preference, attachment, desire, judgment or aversion–a pure appreciation of All That Is just the way it is. This allows us to experience arriving home–aka Source–in the game. And then the last dance is a timeless one on an infinite loop. In closing, we can choose to succumb to feeling disoriented, anxious or depressed in an unstable, ungrounded way by allowing the mass tone of consciousness (always the lowest vibrational common denominator) to affect our emotional tone. Or, we can choose to maintain peace in our inner kingdom by our daily spiritual and mind/body practices and allow this tone to affect our personal reality and, in the ripple effect, to affect the energies on planet earth as we choose to experience it. For more: Psychic Empowerment Practices Wishing us all a taste of pure enjoyment as we play in the fields of Leela (aka the cosmic dance) outside of the illusion of linear space and time and most positively out of our little minds. Here’s to enjoying the show! In Joy, J O A N Stretched to the Limit–Joan Pancoe “There’s horror and beauty in everything. I look at my hand, and it’s decaying. It’s beautiful and horrible at the same moment, and I just live with it. See the beauty and perfection of decay in the world around you and in yourself, and just allow it to be.” –RAM DASS *** These days, my most popular offering is a one-hour mini-soul reading combined with karmic astrology for the year. This Combo Session is available at my office in NYC or by phone. MP3 included. *** Please don’t hesitate to contact me, once you’ve checked out the services menu, to discuss how we can best customize a session for your specific needs at this time: SERVICES JoanPancoe@aol.com 212-982-6820 *** To get your chart for free: ASTRO.COM *** TO READ THE LATEST ENDORSEMENTS OF MY WORK: TESTIMONIALS *** Most pertinent writings to read now: If This Were Your Last Incarnation, What Would You Do? Spiritual Practices Reading List Becoming ONE with the Inner Guru… Or How to Make Saturn Your BFF ***SPECIAL NEWSFLASH*** The ever-savvy Jesse Kornbluth, of Vanity Fair and New York Magazine fame, posted about his personal experience with my work: “I’m no seer. But Joan Pancoe just might be.” For more, click here: SHORT TAKES *** Do you feel the need for some help in dealing with “the Quickening” of energies now? Then it’s time for a daily mind/body/spirit practice that feeds your Soul. If you’d like to learn what keeps me sane, serene, internally stable and grounded, please check out: Taoist Practices MP3s for $20 *** If you’re in the mood for some seriously delectable entertainment that will blow your mind wide open, please enjoy my erotic/psychic memoir: COSMIC SUGAR: The Amorous Adventures of a Modern Mystic “A Sweet and Tasty Cosmic Feast for the Body, Mind & Spirit!” Ruben Gabriel “Cosmic Sugar is a sumptuous book, like a meal you won’t forget. I haven’t read a better memoir—beautifully compassionate, utterly honest and seriously profound.” Matthew Newnham To check out more great reviews: CLICK HERE *** If you want to watch Joan performing past-life regression therapy, here’s a YOUTUBE Video of her A&E Channel TV Episode from The Unexplained. It’s only 22 minutes: The Weight of My Past Now available on HULU (woo-hoo:). *** For more of Joan’s art: GALLERY OF MULTIDIMENSIONAL DELIGHTS *** NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF THE RIPPLE EFFECT—PLEASE SHARE THIS WITH YOUR FRIENDS. |