Bi-Weekly Tarot Reading:  2-9-14 through 2-22-14

AND

Blog #10:  Intuition and How to Use It

LEGACY OF THE DIVINE TAROT

8 OF WANDS:  Things are feeling more harmonious, and good things are happening as the Wands energy helps you move forward.  Set your intention that this will be a productive period for you, and expect that everything is happening for your highest and best good.

9 OF COINS: You are feeling at home in your environment and feeling good about yourself. You have been working hard and now is a time of enjoying the harvest of what you are achieving.

ACE OF COINS:  A new beginning is in store for you related to something in the physical, material world (job, career, finances, home, health, sense of stability).  Look for something new to come your way, for success is in the air.

BI-WEEKLY THEME:  These two weeks will be a time of harmony, success, and a new beginning.  Look forward to good things happening, and stay in this positive frame of mind as you progress.

BLOG #10:  INTUITION AND HOW TO USE IT

Retrieved from www.umsonline.org

In her book Practical Intuition, Laura Day defines intuition as:  “…a non-linear, non-empirical process of gaining and interpreting information in response to questions.” (p. 83)  It is a way for us to gather information without relying on our five senses to get data.  We do, however, have to use our senses,memory, experiences, feelings, and thought processes to interpret this information.  The goal is to use our intuition more effectively by bringing the unconscious information it gathers to a place where our conscious mind can interpret it.

So:
Ø  Intuition does not proceed in logical steps, and it does not need to reason. It instantly knows. We receive symbols that we then interpret.
Ø  The intuitive impressions we receive must be interpreted to be useful.
Ø  Intuition responds to questions. The question allows us to focus our intuition on what is asked, and this tells us what we need to pay attention to.

Another definition:  Intuition is a mechanism of instinctive knowing which does not require nor use logical thought processes.

Why is intuition important?

In our technology-laden society, we have increasingly become detached from the world around us. We often ignore the information we are picking up because it is too overwhelming.  We must become tuned in to what we are sensing, thus allowing our mind to consciously retreat into the background so we can gather intuitive information.

Once we learn how to use our intuition, we can rely on it to give us information over and above what we perceive with our five senses. This helps us to move through life more easily.  The key is to trust that what we are getting is real, and the way to do this is through practice.

According to Carl Jung, intuition is a major function of the human mind, in addition to sensations, thinking, and feeling.  Balancing all four functions helps us reach our full potential as humans.

Important concepts

Ø  Intuition is more likely to express itself through symbols rather than a logical progression of  ideas.
Ø  Intuition is how the subconscious mind communicates with the conscious mind.
Ø  Intuition perceives the world in fragments of wholes rather than parts that must be analyzed.
Ø  We all start out as young children quite intuitive, but as we get older we learn to distrust it because our society tells us it’s not real. We shut down this channel of information and doubt our intuitive voice.
Ø  We don’t recognize intuition because of the way we receive it—through symbols and fragments. If it doesn’t make sense to us, we dismiss it as our imagination.
Ø  “Everything you perceive—everything you sense, or remember, or feel, or dream, or intuit, in short, everything you notice—has meaning. Everything.” (Day, p. 58)
Ø  Intuition is a natural ability we all have.  It is not limited to just a few gifted people.

The two steps of intuition

(1)  We receive intuitive data in response to a question, and it usually presents itself in symbols. This information cannot be logically analyzed.

(2)  We interpret the symbols and put them together. We use our logical mind to fill in the gaps so the symbols make sense.

Benefits of developing your intuition

Ø  Helps to reduce stress by dealing with problems more effectively.
Ø  Puts us in contact with our subconscious, which helps us uncover truths about ourselves and situations.
Ø  Integrates left and right brain functions, which gives us a fuller perspective on issues.
Ø  Helps us make better, more integrated decisions.

A summary of the process

“The intuitive state is simply one in which you gather information without relying on your senses or mental processes.  Instead of blindly relying on this intuitive information, you must then assemble, verify, and interpret it in a rigorous fashion. In that sense intuition is a two-step process, not unlike that of first having dreams and then waking up to interpret them.” (Day, p. 98)

Notes about the symbols we receive

Ø  Intuitive information does not always come to us as a yes/no answer. We receive the symbols which have to be interpreted by our rational mind.
Ø  The same symbol can have completely different meanings for two different people. Our interpretation depends on several things, such as our experiences and the context in relation to the question.
Ø  The impressions and symbols we receive don’t have to make sense.
Ø  Since intuition is natural, we don’t have to try to receive impressions.  We must just allow ourselves to report what we are getting in response to a question.

If you are interested in developing your own intuition, a good place to start is Laura Day’s Practical Intuition.

Sources

Day, Laura (1996).  Practical Intuition.  New York:  Villard Books, Random House, Inc.

http://www.essentiallifeskills.net/develop-your-intuition.html

http://www.beliefnet.com/Health/2008/01/Six-Ways-To-Strengthen-Your-Intuition.aspx