Clarity: The Game of Alchemy
by Debbie Unterman & Wendie Webber
Greater Prosperity
Robert wanted to discover the blocks to his prosperity. While he had made plenty of money in his life, he habitually lost more than he made. In playing The Game of Clarity Robert discovered that only one thing was blocking him from gaining a tremendous amount of money and it clearly indicated that it could be traced back to his childhood and his relationship with his father. The results of his game led Robert to seek the origin of his self-sabotaging financial pattern through an Alchemical Hypnotherapy session
There, he discovered some major incidents growing up where he witnessed his father get the same frustrating results. His father had become very well off as a result of hard work as a mechanic, but he never learned how to protect his wealth. In an eerily parallel way, his dad ended up losing it all, both to bad business decisions as well as lack of foresight. Robert had never realized that he was repeating this pattern in his own life.
Like his father, Robert never learned to protect himself and went through a series of incidents resulting in losing his wealth, including being ripped off by a former business partner to the tune of six figures. During his Alchemy session Robert got clear on how he was repeating his father’s pattern and vowed to take steps to protect himself and his assets. Determined that this tendency would not be passed on to the next generation, Robert went home and had a serious talk with his eleven-year-old daughter that very evening, teaching her tips to protect herself.
In this case, The Game of Clarity, opened the door to releasing Robert’s blocks to living prosperously. The clarity he received during a relaxing fun evening with his wife of playing this enlightening game also opened him up to the idea of utilizing the technology of an Alchemy session to dig deeper into clearing the major source of pain and shame in his life. Since the session, his financial dealings have become much more productive.
Bingeing
Cher, a workaholic and professional psychic, was battling a blind spot with respect to money and an addiction to sugar. Cher’s attempts to analyze and “work” on herself only increased her feelings of frustration. The Game of Clarity made it possible for Cher to relax and go beyond the limitations of her analytical mind by placing the emphasis on fun and discovery. While playing The Game of Clarity, Cher repeatedly received the message that she had “lost her self-esteem from being judged” and was “blamed unjustly.”
This reminded her of a family gathering two years earlier where members of her own family had judged her on her physical appearance and financial success. As often is the case, these family members happen to be overweight themselves and not as materially well off as Cher. While she had worked very hard to forgive her family and thought she had put the event behind her, The Game of Clarity brought Cher new insight and let her see the entire picture in perspective. The big Aha! she received was that both the bingeing and financial downslide, it seems, began shortly after that family reunion.
This realization led to greater awareness in which Cher decided, right then, to take back her power. As if to acknowledge this shift in attitude, the game’s messages immediately began to affirm personal achievement and financial gains. In the course of two hours, Cher had successfully resolved what, at first, upon sitting down and discussing the situation had seemed like a hopeless dilemma. And she had a lot of fun in the process, which tied in perfectly with an Alchemy session she had a few months before, where her Inner Child told her she would stop making her so tired if she would play with her more!
Aha!’s
People who play The Game of Clarity tend to agree that the insights they gain while playing are similar to those received through therapy. Another comment that comes up frequently is that the game corroborates what they already intuited, and gives them that extra nudge they needed to feel certain they are heading in the right direction. Because The Game of Clarity is designed to provide instant feedback through the synchronicity of rolling dice and pulling cards, it can be a very powerful experience when messages ring true.
People are generally used to realizing things intellectually, but one of the goals of Clarity is to provide a fully integrated mind/body/spiritual/emotional experience. It’s incredible to witness how the whole energy of the game will inevitably shift, as indicated by the rolls of the dice and the messages of the spaces on the board, in accordance with the insights the players receive.
Accessing the Unconscious
Every Alchemy student learns the very first day of their training that people naturally move in and out of a light state of trance throughout the day. An example of this is that day-dreamy state we have all experienced while driving. Also called ‘highway hypnosis,’ the process of driving the car sometimes becomes automatic as the unconscious mind takes over allowing the conscious mind to focus on other matters. Other examples include watching TV, singing, dancing, daydreaming, and meditating.
The slower brainwave levels that occur naturally in this alpha state are the most conducive way to create change in a person. Hypnotherapists are taught to induce the alpha state with their voice because suggestions are more readily accepted in this relaxed mental state than in the beta brainwave pattern associated with normal conversational states.
By the second week of the Alchemy Training students are shown how Psychodrama can also be a powerful way to do work with clients in a ‘waking trance.’ Another natural bridge to the unconscious is playing games when people’s attention is diverted by the enjoyment of the moment. It’s easy to watch people get into a trance-like state while playing computer games.
Alchemical Guidance
Back in 1988, during my early days as an Alchemy Trainer my own inner guidance spoke to me during an Alchemy Intensive to create a therapeutic tool that would look, for all intents and purposes, like a board game. It would actually be a sophisticated system, based on my understanding of the intricacies of Alchemy, which would allow people to gain clarity into their issues while immersed in the excitement of simply playing.
After nearly two decades of navigating through the subconscious minds of thousands of clients, I received the vision and inspiration I had been waiting for in November of 2000. I envisioned The Game of Clarity, with all its intricacies and landing spaces, in its entirety in a flash. People would be afforded the opportunity to see the blocks in their lives due to their emotional complexes, their own judgments, and also by the things that they do that blow up in their faces. Players would be able to learn how to make healthy choices in their lives through watching the consequences of the choices they make on the game board. It would also reflect how well they do at following their own heart and intuition. ‘Guides’ of the game would provide special powers during play.
A major part of the game would be the intimacy and communication that occur around the table among players, and they get to see how they need each other in an interdependent way for forgiveness and other gifts the game allows them to share. It would even have a space to actually stop play and have everyone get up and dance, to let people truly feel their body/mind connection.
Looking at The Game of Clarity in its completed state, at first glance the board appears as a beautiful butterfly, but on closer inspection one discovers that the wings of the butterfly are divided into four primary areas of life. The wings are labeled: Childhood, Spirituality, Money and The World and are connected at the center by a heart. Encircling this butterfly is a path around the perimeter of the board representing the all-too-familiar ‘daily grind’, or ‘Rat Race’, where people spend so much of their time, and at the four corners are the emotional sidetracks that can trap people.
Professional Tool
Alchemical Hypnotherapists and other professionals in the counseling field can use the Game of Clarity as an assessment tool. I, myself, have been using The Game of Clarity with my own clients for nearly the past six years. I find that it quickly bypasses much of the resistance commonly encountered in therapy, allowing clients to examine perplexing issues in their lives and play through them. The insights gained through this unique ‘play therapy’ are similar to those experienced during an Alchemy session. Additionally, the game often provides the focus for a future Alchemy session. This is especially useful with clients who are nebulous about their issue, or who may not otherwise book a session, such as Robert.
Individuals who have played it say it aids them in getting answers concerning how to proceed in any area of their life. More importantly, they’re able to use the advice they get to make positive changes.
One woman reports that since playing The Game of Clarity over six months ago she now refuses to let anyone push her around. Another player began to hold her tongue before expressing judgments after the game indicated she was too judgmental. Yet another player put a check on her own self-judgment when she clearly saw how it was sabotaged her in her game.
Learn How to Play!
It may not be necessary to only ‘work hard’ on yourself in order to grow spiritually and emotionally. I’m convinced there is a time for digging into the subconscious mind and doing deep work and a time for people to lighten up and learn how to play. The Game of Clarity has shown me how easy positive personal change can be. Many people who have played Clarity report they haven’t played like this since they were little! Back in the 1980’s John Bradshaw was saying, “It’s never too late to have a happy childhood.” Now Alchemy has brought everyone a new way to learn how. Play Clarity!
More about The Game of Clarity can be found on the web site: http://www.PlayClarity.com
You may contact Debbie Unterman at dunterman@aol.com, or call 1-866-337-9471 or 404-297-5705.
We also highly recommend Debbie Unterman's new (2009) book, Talking to My Selves: Learning to Love the Voices in Your Head.