J. E. Ketchel bares her soul as she takes us on a rare and intimate journey down the river of life, through the murky waters as well as the calm in Volume 3 of the Recapitulation Diaries. Along the way we are privy to fascinating experiences that shift our perceptions of reality and question our spiritual readiness. This is not your usual story of childhood sexual abuse, but a whirlwind journey into the experiential, the transcendental, and the transpersonal realms of which we are all a part. Into the Vast Nothingness invites us into the vastness of the river of self-discovery that Ms. Ketchel traveled down as she explored the possibility that we are all here for a reason, that every moment of our lives is deeply meaningful, and that all we need to achieve loving-wholeness lies within. Ms. Ketchel writes eloquently and with utter honesty about her search for wholeness. As she discovered, the river of life takes us where we need to go, challenging us every day of our lives, asking us to consciously and fully participate in our journey. Based on diaries she kept during her three-year-long recapitulation journey, Ms. Ketchel's work offers hope for those who feel overwhelmed by the vicissitudes of life yet are desperate to find meaning, healing, and wholeness too. As J. E. Ketchel writes in Into the Vast Nothingness: "...I've kept myself sequestered behind a coat of armor for a lifetime, a covering as thick as glacial ice, as cold as steel, as hard as stone. Its impenetrable surface warns to stay away, keeps the intruders out, but the reality is that now the glacier is beginning to melt. Now, each day, I feel the slow drip, drip, drip of change." In The Recapitulation Diaries, the ancient shamanic practice of recapitulation is presented for its value as a means of healing from Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), as well as a process offering profound spiritual exploration and transformation. It was introduced to Ms. Ketchel by a psychotherapist and practitioner of Carlos Castaneda's Tensegrity, who recognized the benefits that recapitulation could have in a clinical setting. During her three-year-long recapitulation, Ms. Ketchel proved his hunch to be more than true. Recapitulation provided Ms. Ketchel with unique tools to face the challenges of an ever-deepening psychological journey into the deeper unconscious, a journey that few have dared to take. As her story unfolds the reader is offered a rare and intimate glimpse into the evolution of a human being willing to go the distance to fully heal from the deepest of traumas. Exquisitely written and deeply stirring, The Recapitulation Diaries are rewarding reading for anyone, but especially for those wishing to understand the unconscious and how it works, for those seeking a shamanic perspective for life's deepest issues, for those in search of healing and meaning, as well as for the professional at a loss for how to help those who suffer. Like many other ancient healing practices, handed down through generations of practitioners, recapitulation is imbued with the intent of the ancients. It is a powerful process, a pathway to a changed perception of the self and the world. As J. E. Ketchel discovers, the greatest achievement of a lifetime is the work of the self, the journey within. Into the Vast Nothingness is Volume 3 in The Recapitulation Diaries series. Books in the series (4 out of 5 published so far): The Man in the Woods The Edge of the Abyss Into the Vast Nothingness Place of No Pity
About the Author: J. E. Ketchel is an artist, writer, and psychic. In 2001 she began a healing journey, which she shares in the intimate and revealing Recapitulation Diaries. She lives in New York State with her husband Chuck with whom she has written The Book of Us.