"Blending & Redefining the Self"

From Kellan:

I've considered changing my name for many years. I know a number of people who have chosen a new name, usually for a combination of personal & spiritual reasons. For each person I know, it was a transformative experience. (The actress Portia di Rossi, who created her own name, once said that she was amazed more people don't do it, because it is such a powerful act!)

I have alway loved the name Christopher, and it has always felt like a perfect match with my energy. However, with a first name that long, it was inevitable that it would be shortened to "Chris" by many people. Now, I like the name Chris just fine on other people, but not for myself. I often said that it didn't go well with my family name: EID.

For most of my life, I didn't much like the name Eid (sorry Dad!), even though others often told me they loved it. Spiritually, I know that what we resist will persist, and that to run away from something will usually cause the issue to come back again in another guise. So, I chose to work on integrating and accepting my original birth name.


Exploring my roots
Eid is a Norwegian name... although I learned a long time ago that our family name (paternal) was OLSEN when they came from Norway. The story goes that there were too many Olsens here in the States, so my ancestor a few generations back adopted a shortened version of the town he came from: "Eidsvold." It appears changing one's name is actually a family tradition! (I found other examples of this on both sides of my family tree.)

In my quest to make peace with my family surname, I tried unsuccessfully to find a translation of the word "Eid" in Norwegian. However, after much online research, I eventually came across a definition of an old German form of the word, which meant "Oath, or truth-telling." This was finally the key I was looking for... it connected me to this name/idea that I had never resonated with before. (My parents just informed me this morning that Eid means "portage" or "bridge" in Norwegian, something they discovered recently.)

In that moment, just as in many spiritual processes, once I fully accepted & integrated this disowned part of myself, I freed myself to make a different choice... one that more fully reflects who I AM and who I am Becoming.


An ancient tradition
Adopting a new name for oneself is also an ancient spiritual tradition that some churches still carry on today, for priests, nuns, initiates, etc. Usually this new name is handed out by someone up in the "heirarchy," rather than chosen for oneself. I have actually followed that tradition in my own form, by listening within for several years, asking what my "soul name" is.

After several years of asking within, listening, writing and sounding it out, I eventually arrived at a place of certainty: Kellan Christopher. While "Kellan" might sound Irish, it is actually an abbreviated version of the much longer "soul name" that I discovered. (I initially wrote it as K'ellan). The full form of my soul name is something I consider sacred... to get the sounds right, I actually have to sing it! That name I mostly keep to myself; many ancient and native cultures believe that knowing someone's true name conveys a certain power.

What I love about KELLAN is that it captures the energy of my soul name, yet feels much more grounded than the longer musical form. Also, in my early "testing" with trusted friends, I received almost immediate and universal acceptance and support for the name of Kellan... especially when combined with Christopher.


Blending the Selves
What the combination of the two names represents to me are the integration of my personality self with my greater "soul presence", which has been making itself felt more and more recently. I'm teaching a lot these days about the "blending" between these diverse realms. I don't coach people to get rid of or deny the personality or ego self, but instead to allow these aspects to be infused with the energy of spirit, of Soul, of Source.

I believe this is exactly the process we are each going through here, as is the planet herself. In fact, some refer to the change that is happening now as the transformation from Earth to "Gaia" or "Terra."

One final interesting synchronicity... just as I began to announce the name change this past weekend, on the New Moon, I realized that at least three of my friends and family were also changing their names. My sister Rebekah was married a week ago in Chicago (on my parent's 50th Anniversary!), and two friends are also changing their last names, by choice.


An Invitation
No matter your relationship with your own name, I invite you to contemplate the resonance, meaning & power of what you call yourself. You might also consider in what ways you may feel that more "Soul" is blending into your daily life, perhaps in ways you may not yet have noticed.

For now,

I AM Kellan Christopher