What is the difference between channeling and contact work? This question was asked during a recent channeling session in Tokyo. The question surprised me. It is such an obvious question, but no one has asked it before. On one hand, they are quite different. But on the other hand, the boundary between them can get a bit hazy, especially in my personal experience.

In classic or "traditional" contact work (if there is such a thing), neutral researchers try not to "taint" contact research with channeling, telepathic information, etc. However, as someone who has tried to adhere to that limited method of researching a phenomenon that doesn't conform to our definition of reality, I learned that we omit a huge chunk of experiences and understanding when we try to make an other-worldly phenomenon adapt to rigid views of how to validate what is real.

Early on in my contact research (in the early 90s), I finally gave up using a purely methodical, sterile mode of contact research. When I included in my research the skills that I had diligently trained to master (an ongoing process), both my channeling and contact research took on unfathomably deep new dimensions.

So, back to the question about the difference between channeling and contact work. I can only answer this based on my experience. The main difference lies with original intention -- and then those differences can take a sharp, unexpected turn when you least expect it! For example ...

In March 2015, I brought a group of my channeling students to a sacred site in Japan called Dogashima. It was their graduation weekend, so I had planned an array of channeling practice exercises, ceremonies, and time for Q & A for our last weekend together. But there is always room for flexibility, as I often receive alternate instructions from the unseen helpers who work with me.

After a long, relaxing group dinner, our group was hanging out in a big tatami room. One member asked me, "I feel such a connection to Andromeda energy. How can I explore it?" In that moment, I received a huge download. This often happens as a channel, and very often the downloads are so complex and multidimensional that it is nearly impossible to unwind it into linear communication. To answer her question, I was shown an exercise in two parts that we should do the next day. I then told her that we would explore that theme tomorrow.

When tomorrow arrived, I was told by my unseen friends to follow their instructions and to trust that the lesson the group needed would reveal itself. (As a channel, this process of trust is one that grows and grows if we continue to challenge ourselves and do our inner clearing work). It is not easy, and after 30 years I still often have moments of doubt! But I've learned that I must do it anyway. Then, the magic happens.

To start part 1 of the exercise, I was shown how to build a specific altar in the center of the room, using my Galactic Heritage Cards and a painting that represented Andromeda that was done by one of the students. I then channeled a guided meditation using the energy of the altar to bring in the Andromeda frequency, so that channeling students could practice connecting with the energy. The energy in the room was palpably changed, and a familiar high-pitched contact frequency infused the space.

While the students were connecting in silence, I was shown part 2 of the exercise. The next exercise was to invoke an energy that was quite different from this one -- the energy of the civilization of Essassani. (Note: For those not aware, simplistically put, the Essassani represent a hybrid species of human and Zeta. The channeled entity Bashar is the most well known Essassani being to humans). Many of my students were big fans of Bashar (channeled by my friend Darryl Anka), for Bashar is hugely popular in Japan due to the many Bashar books available in Japanese.

This exercise was a huge challenge for me. While I have channeled Bashar a handful of times in the last 25 years, this exercise was not about me channeling. It was about giving an opportunity to the channeling students to connect with this energy. What would happen? Could they channel it?

As before, I was shown how to build an altar using an "Essassani Contact Stone" brought by a student for the center. The stone was placed on top of card #96 - Association of Worlds (which has the theme of "Community") and the altar was outlined with other Essassani cards. I began to channel and invoke the energy. Things accelerated very quickly from there. Suddenly, the room's energy became very hot, electrical and viscous. Some students were breathing heavily, much like Darryl does before Bashar comes through. Then, I felt the telltale signs that energy wanted to come through me, too. I pushed it away because this was supposed to be an exercise for the students! But it wouldn't be dissuaded so easily. The energy burst forth in the boisterous and expressive style that many have come to know and love from Bashar.

The being said that he was an Essassani member of Sasha's contact team. (I had known there were Essassani members but hadn't met them except in dreams). He said he could be called Shakana*. (The significance of that name was explained to me later - see footnote at the end of this article). Then, he encouraged all the channels in the room to feel and embrace the Essassani energy and let the messages through. Students began crying. It got hotter. My interpreter, who has never worked with me in contact work before, was effortlessly channel-translating the energy into Japanese.

Suddenly, the energy burst into our reality. One student after another -- as if launched by a rocket of energy -- began loudly channeling messages from Essassani. Some were even in English! It was one of those magical experiences that I will never forget.

When it subsided, students were still crying, and a good many electronics had temporarily malfunctioned -- mostly iPhones, recorders, and clocks. (They didn't resume working normally until everyone returned to Tokyo).

So, the question now comes up ... was this channeling or contact work? Or both? It was obviously channeling, but the well known signs of contact were there as well - most specifically the electronic malfunctions and the telltale high-pitched frequency felt during contact work.

Our image of what contact work is supposed to be is very Hollywoodized. We want to clearly see the ship and the beings, and have a meeting with them that conforms to our views of reality. But what if that is an extremely limited expectation? What if contact work (being the first baby steps toward intergalactic relations) is through more unorthodox means? The longer I do this work (30 years now), the more I have come to embrace that this is true.

It is logical that first contact preparation would use biological channels before face-to-face meetings. And while there may be lots of unclear channelings clogging the airwaves out there, there are also a

good number of us channels who are consistently doing the inner work necessary to keep ourselves clear so that we can reduce the distortion of messages.

So, onward we go. What is the different between contact work and channeling? Intention may be one of the only major differences. In the end, the line will always remain fuzzy. If we try to separate them completely, it is truly a case of throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Contact researchers must begin including channeling, even in a small way, into their research paradigm if they are to move forward with a deeper understanding of the phenomenon. In the realm of contact work, we have to now start using all the resources available to us (including biological channels) to explore this illusive phenomenon.

This, however, is a double-edged sword. Biological channels have a huge responsibility to do the inner work to keep themselves clear enough to venture into this arena, but not all channels do this. So once again, we are back to square one: In the realm of contact work and channeling, our own gut instincts are paramount as we learn to trust the material that is channeled.

Anyone who is familiar with channeled material knows how to spot a good channel if they have a discerning eye. Are there repeated prophecies that aren't fulfilled? Is there tangible, useful material channeled or just fluff? Is there drama and/or dogma? Do the students who work with a channel continue to grow within themselves? And especially, in the arena of contact work, are there experiences in the field or with contact teams that synchronize with the channeled material?

This has been my personal goal in using channeling in contact work, and I am so grateful that we have had a high correlation between channeled material and experiences in the field. My channeled connections have been my "eyes" so to speak - they let me know what is happening in the field, and in the realms in which I am not yet able to see clearly. They also offer advice, protocols, and processes that help the groups move to new levels in contact. Do I wish the process would move more quickly? Yes! In the 25+ years I have been doing the contact work combined with channeling, our progress toward contact seems to move glacially slow even though there have been profound experiences that validate the process to me. Curious seekers have tried to speed up the process by asking my contacts for details about landings, and how to "force" a contact so to speak. (There is a prevailing belief that if we "press the right button" then we can magically make face-to-face contact happen. This is very far from the truth). But never have my contacts wavered from their trajectory and, according to them, their time- tested methods for opening contact on resistant planets. Thus, the glacier keeps moving ... slowly! I am grateful for my contacts' lack of drama and absence of false prophecy. To them, the importance is not the result (contact), but the process by which we arrive there.

So in short, without listing all the similarities and differences between contact work and channeling, the obvious point is that they are intricately connected and not easily separated. Anyone who tries to separate the phenomena will find that they lose a huge chunk of data and experiences that are in the overlapping zone. It is well past time to use both methods to explore our connections to otherworldly intelligence. I've seen major evolution in this field in 30 years. I am extremely optimistic that breakthroughs in understanding and in the paradigm itself are on the near horizon. Thus, we keep moving forward ...

by Lyssa Royal Holt

Lyssa Royal Holt April 2015 

PDF Here - Contact Work and the Channeling Process 

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