Ep 58 - Channeling vs. Psychic Abilities: What's Actually Different

Most people lump channeling in with tarot, astrology, mediumship, and energy healing. But the mechanics are genuinely different, and understanding that difference changes how you approach your practice.

In this episode, Kim Charlson breaks down what sets channeling apart from other intuitive arts, why the "vessel" model requires a different kind of preparation, and what those mechanics mean for your energy and identity. Plus, spirit guide Monty shares their perspective on the difference between receiving guidance and going out to seek it.

Whether you're exploring channeling for the first time or deepening an existing practice, this episode gives you a clear framework for understanding what channeling actually asks of you.

Topics covered:

• How channeling differs from mediumship, astrology, and energy healing
• The concept of the vessel and why tending it matters
• Surrender vs. submission in channeling practice
• Why discernment stays yours even when you receive guidance

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Transcript

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Hello and welcome to the Vessel in Voice Podcast. I'm your host, Kim Charlson. And in today's episode, we're going to be talking about channeling versus other intuitive and psychic skills and arts and tools that we can use and why channeling is a little bit different and what benefits it gives to us. So let's get into it. A few weeks ago, I had a channeling session with a new client. And one of the things that I thought was very curious that came up was her mediumship abilities. When she would tune into mediumship, she had someone explain to her that she was often sitting in her own energy and allowing the being that she was connecting with to come to her. Now, I will completely say I don't know a lot about mediumship. I've tried it a few times and I know it's not really a practice that I should be doing. It's way too emotionally heavy for me and sends me into just an absolute crying fit because the energy is just not compatible with my energetic system. But one of the things that really keyed in for me in talking about her mediumship abilities is that channeling is the act of creating that vessel and allowing that energy, that being to arrive into it, to allow yourself to receive that guidance by allowing it to come to you. And I'd had a discussion, not just a few days before, with one of my friends who is an astrocartographer about the differences between intuitive arts like astrology or tarot or energy readings or healings and channeling. The basis of channeling is that we create a vessel for guidance to arrive in. It is very focused on the mechanics of our energy of preparing the vessel and caring for it. When we step into the identity as an oracle, especially when we get into the act of doing blended channeling or voice channeling where we're allowing a being to come into our body, solidifying that vessel and that identity as an oracle is a big part of that work. And that's something that I guide my one-to-one coaching clients through. And really understanding how we can work with and tune and take care of our vessels is a big ask. It's a big part of the job of being a channeler. We want our consciousness as we get deeper and deeper into channeling and deeper into being an oracle to be removed so that way the vessel has that space for the guidance to arrive in or for the being to arrive in. We still have separate identities, though. So that's where the identity work comes into it. However, I have always found, and this may be something that I feel myself, but I have seen it in a lot of students that when we use our psychic skills or we're using a tool like astrology or tarot, we are using our psychic abilities to go out and inspect, to go out and make sense of something, to get a reading off of it. So we're sending our consciousness rather than being focused on preparing the vessel, we're focused on using the mechanics of our energy to allow our consciousness to go out, find out information, and then harvest it and bring it back to ourselves. But our consciousness is really the mechanism through which that's happening. So if we think about, for example, that we're tuning into someone for an energy healing, for example, or for astrology, we're using our psychic senses to go out, do some inspection of the energy maybe that we're sensing within their energetic body, or looking at the energy of the planets and making sense of it, then taking that information and bringing it back to be acted on for us to do something with it. And it's a little less obvious with the tools like astrology or human design or tarot, or even when you're using a pendulum, but it is the behavior of looking at external information and then mapping it on to maybe your internal state personally or the person that you're doing the reading for, and then using that to take action. It is that external going that is really the difference that I've found within the difference between channeling and things like mediumship. Mediumship can be a little bit different, and that's where it starts to get maybe a little bit more blended with channeling. But often mediumship and mediums correct me if this is an incorrect understanding. You sit in your power and then you go out to the being that you're connecting with to get the evidence and then bring that evidence back through you to verify it. So it again is going, getting external information, bringing it back, and then allowing that to be the evidence. With channeling, it is slightly different, especially when we're in the beginning stages. It can feel like we're sending our intuition and our psychic skills outward to connect with that being to then harvest the information and come back. And that is often where we start as beginners. That even in the free meditation that I offer to meet your spirit guides, it's bringing them close and then asking you to really recognize them, make sense of them, and use your discernment. That is the beginning steps. As we get deeper into channeling, what we're focused on is the mechanics of our energy, the mechanics of our vessel to create that space to receive. It's not an act of surrender in that we're allowing our vessel to be taken over. It's rather that we're intentionally creating the space for the guidance to arrive, whether it's something that we're receiving that's being sent by our spirit guide that's arriving in our vessel, or that we're creating the vessel to do something like blended channeling or voice channeling. So it's a kind of subtle nuance, but understanding that nuance has helped me to really explain why certain people's energy may be more prone to channeling being easier for them versus maybe some other modalities and as well the benefits of what channeling helps us do. So let's hear from Monty, and then I'll talk about at the end of the episode what we can start to see as the benefits of channeling and what difference it makes in our energy. And why we specifically speak about that humans have developed these other modalities over time is that they have come through great effort, many systemizations, optimizations, observations of humanity, of trying to allow themselves to make sense of the things that don't make sense. For example, the art of astrology. It stems from millennia of observation, closely watching energies and how they interact with humanity to allow themselves to come into a deeper awareness of how energy affects human life, as well as human societies, as well as all of physicality. The way that this has occurred is through very much of observing, watching, waiting. There is also the intuitive aspect of astrology, of which we would like to speak about, that there is also the same pattern within the intuitive aspects of astrology. And this is often the point of how psychic skills work in general. It is a watching an external observation, it is looking at the energies outside of yourself through the skills of watching things unfold, external energies and how they are collaborating and interacting with things outside of you. There can also be the aspect of many of these psychic arts of looking inside and saying, ah, I can see in myself how this external energy is affecting me. I can inspect this, make sense of it, reason with it, notice it. And for many of these different intuitive arts, whether it is astrology or working with different energies of healing, different ways of doing divination, many of these arts, in fact, the vast majority of them, are the act of observing, looking at energies externally, making sense of them, seeing how those energies apply to you, how they are working with your energy. But it is often the act of going out externally, of allowing your psychic skills, your psychic abilities to go outward into external reality. To be able to interact, observe, change, transform outside of you. It is a very often externally focused mechanism. And this often includes things such as shadow work as well. It is often looking inside to see how those external energies have come to manifest inside of you, of how the external has become internal, of how you have taken those external energies and allowed them to dictate your state of being, of how you function in the world. Many of the things that are in spirituality are very externally focused. And in this way, this is how channeling is different. Channeling, in its essence, is removing those external energies. It is saying, I see how I am affected by these. I am taking these energies and I am setting them to the side. I am not becoming involved with them right now, in this moment where I am doing this practice, I am going deeper to the soul level of my energy to allow myself to come into that natural state of my own energy. And from this position inside of my vessel, from this place of my most extraordinary opportunity, my most extraordinary power, I will stay within this space and I will open up this space so that way energies can come to me. Energies can help guide me, bring me information, allow me to come more into the energy of myself. Now, this seems very at odds with what you may have perceived about channeling in the beginning, of that in the act, especially when it comes to embodied channeling, like we do with our channel, that our channel is also setting aside her own energy, that she is creating an empty space for us to come into. But it is more nuanced than that. It is that she is connecting very deeply with her own energy. The act of tending to that vessel of energy and form is her most important job because that vessel then holds our energy and how it is compatible with hers. That within her vessel is where the collaboration begins, where the transformation occurs, where the realizations occur. It is always an internal process rather than one that is external. And with this internalization, it is not taking external energies and making them her own. It is rather opening the space to hold these energies for the collaboration to occur. It is very important to acknowledge that this is the goal of channeling. It is a collaborative effort, not one of taking the energies and making them her state of being. She is not being us right now. She is merely the container for this energetic collaboration to occur. And in tending to that vessel, she is more intimately accessing her own soul energies, coming into that essence of who she truly is to be able to hold the space for us to arrive. It is the depth of that space that creates this opportunity, but also asks those external energies that have become internalized that are not her to be removed, to not be within that vessel of space. What is most important to understand about the act of channeling and why it is different is that it is the act of self-empowerment rooted in connecting with your own soul energies, with asking for the things that are aligned with you to come and be present with you, to collaborate with you, and to create a relationship of trust, a relationship of knowing intimately those shared goals, intentions, and energies. The act of channeling is very focused on understanding the mechanics of the vessel, but also tending to the vessel, so that way the vessel is solid within its own identity, within its own separation. That while a blending of energies may occur, it is still very clear what is the vessel and what is the information or energy that is coming in, that they are existing in collaboration, but not blending in identity. This coming in of the energy is quite different than the other intuitive arts that are more external, of going out to get information. The information is arriving within. Now we understand that this is a very subtle difference, but a key difference to understand the process of channeling and how it works. That even if you are doing the more external style channeling, where the source of guidance is outside of you, it is knowing what you are and being connected with your essence in order to know what is not you, where the guidance is separate from you, and where it is arriving from to you. Because it is the act of receiving, of surrender, but not submission. They must exist separately in their wholeness. We hope that this clarifies more on the differences between channeling and other intuitive arts and the benefits of each. It is to be clear that they each serve a different purpose. Neither is better than the other. They both have a different role within your own spiritual development. And very often it starts with one and then goes to the other. It is more difficult for most individuals to hold that firm vessel. Because for much of what you are doing in your spiritual work, you are learning the ways that you have taken external energies and made them yourself, where that blending, that submission has occurred. The psychic arts of going out and seeking information, of observing and finding answers is beautiful and allows you to understand that separation, how you are different, and yet how you are also the same. But by doing that, it develops that identity first that through comparison you come into the knowing of who you truly are. We thank you for your experimentation of this thought process. We send you great love. That is all. Monty has shared some very insightful information about what it means to be a channeler in the same way as what I shared before we went to Monty about it's really the tending of the vessel, the opening of the vessel to receive versus the going out to get information. And I love that Monty really clarified neither is better than the other. They serve different purposes. Certainly for me, when I first started my journey of figuring out where I fit within the kind of spiritual service providers, I tried doing energy healing and found that for me, when I was sending my energy to someone else's field to kind of inspect it, my energy very naturally starts to take it in, which is not really the most productive way of doing energy healing. To the point that sometimes when I'm tuning into someone else's energy, I feel it in my own physical body. That if they have energetic gunk in their hip that's making their hip feel bad, I feel it in my hip. It is not a pleasant experience. And it's because that is how my energy kind of naturally works and is why I am more apt to channeling and why caring for my vessel is so much more important for me than really using other intuitive skills to go out and find information. But the more I care for my vessel and learn the mechanics of working with my own energy is really enabled me to be able to receive guidance, to have that clarity of my energy and my identity. Within channeling, so even if your energy works differently than mine does, there are benefits to it that we don't get from the other intuitive skills of whatever they are, whether it's making sense of different information and allowing us to interpret it and act on it in whatever way that we are, that is allowing us to really go out and seek information when we need it. The act of channeling, because it's focused on our vessel so much, it's focused on our energetic state, our physical nervous system state, our thinking mind, allows us to learn how to work with those aspects of our body, of our energy a lot more actively. And because that energy is arriving to us, it also allows us to really learn the act of surrender. Because while we're receiving this energy, we have to also be in a bit of a surrendered state of knowing that we don't know the information and we're surrendering to that information arriving from another source to us. Now, that is not the same thing as submission that we want to clarify here, that it's not giving over our discernment and our choice. So that's another aspect of word channeling really helps us develop, is that it helps us step into that identity of who we are and what's different about us much more strongly, as well as what our preferences are, where our discernment comes into, whether or not we're going to act on the guidance. Because just because we receive guidance does not mean that you should or can always take action on it, that sometimes it's just not compatible. And that's that process of really understanding your own energy, what's right for you. And channeling helps us do that. Because even though I've received some advice from Monty, I don't always act on it. And then I'll say, Monty, you know, this doesn't really fit me right now with something else we could do instead. And that's really, you know, coming into my own energy of understanding through the act of working with channeling and that skill to understand what works for me and what doesn't. Now I totally understand that for many of you, you may be thinking, oh, well, I go out all the time to seek information. I don't think that I'm capable of allowing it to come to me. The difference is that vessel preparation is the mechanics of it are quite different. That instead of sending your energy out, you're allowing your energy to really be focused on you and the preparatory state. And that's something that comes with learning over time. It is something that came a little bit more naturally to me because of the work that I was doing at the time without really being conscious of it. And Monty and I, as well. As learning from lots of different teachers and books and different resources have developed the really logistical mechanics of how to care for your vessel and how to really begin to work with it so that way guidance can arrive, as well as that identity and discernment element so that way you know when to act on guidance. So we're really excited to bring this to you in a new group program that we're launching that the cart opens for on April 15th. We're really excited to open registration for our new six-week live experience where we're going to be teaching our students, Monty and I, together the mechanics of how we can get our vessel into that state so we can receive guidance to develop that identity and that discernment and relationship with our spirit guide that we'll be working with as part of this class to really allow ourselves to receive the benefits of channeling. If you're interested in learning how to channel and to start receiving the benefits of channeling, you can find the link below for the Conscious Vessel program. If you catch this episode before enrollment opens, you can also join the wait list to receive a one-on-one channeling assessment with me where we can troubleshoot any areas that you're struggling with and help you get the resourcing that you need to be able to really step into your channeling practice. As well, the first people who register for the class, whether you're on the wait list or not, will also get a special bonus of a one-question channeling from Monty, where you can ask whatever question you would like and get a recorded channeled answer from Monty, especially for you. If you're earlier on in your journey and you're not sure if this class is right for you, you can join us on April 15th. So tomorrow evening from when this podcast is published for a free event where I'll be guiding you through how to connect with your spirit guides and the basics of the mechanics that we teach in the class. And if you're listening after enrollment has opened and after the event, don't worry. There's another one on April 29th. If you want to join us that evening instead, we would be delighted to have you no matter where you are in your journey, whether this course is right for you or not. We're really excited to help you connect with your own channeling practice and start developing a relationship with your spirit guides. Thank you so much for joining. If you have any questions, please get in touch, as always, and we will see you in the next episode.