Abouts Books

By Henry Reed

Most people believe that while they may be intuitive in a natural kind of way, when they try to do it intentionally, they get in their own way. This is the principal challenge to training them to use intuition. It becomes almost a Zen art to train a person to "just act natural on purpose."

The thorny question that arises from seeking intuition intentionally is the trust question: "How can I tell if it's really an intuition and not my hopes or fears?" At the Edgar Cayce Institute for Intuitive Studies, where spirituality is the foundation for all training, the answer to this question is along the lines of having "integrity." Since intuition arises, in the perspective of a spiritual worldview, from an inherent harmony in the universe, when you seek intuition out of a sincere intention of increasing your harmony with the universe, rather than trying to "get ahead," you can trust what you get as worthy of investigation. Here trust is placed in the process of receiving guidance from a higher perspective. From a technological point of view, on the other hand, there may be certain techniques for distinguishing expectations, for example, from intuition, such as by noting certain qualities of one's imagery.

The advantage of letting your intuition be natural, and unconscious, is that you don't have to think about such things. But when you begin to practice intentional intuition, trust becomes an issue. And however you resolve it, whether spiritually, technologically, or a combination of both, what it finally boils down to is learning to trust yourself and your oneness with the universe. Intuition training then becomes an elaborate way of teaching self-knowledge and right relationship, while clothing these ancient teachings with many different exercises in evoking imagery, honoring subtle feelings, interpreting dreams, or seeing out of the corner of your eye, to name a few.

It's not easy to balance providing specific techniques that show people that they can be intentionally intuitive, yet give an overall perspective on the spiritual growth involved in "doing" intuition. A new book that attempts this balance, and does so in a fresh and creative way, is Marcia Emery's PowerHunch: Living an Intuitive Life (Beyond Words Publishing). I've written here about Dr. Emery's earlier book, The Intuitive Healer: Accessing Your Inner Physician (archived at www.creativespirit.net/henryreed/ bookreviews/4book9404.htm) and am glad to note the author's progression to a book that tackles how to leverage specific intuition exercises into a general lifestyle that runs on intuition. She offers "tools," which are specific techniques for evoking intuition, and then "workshops," which are guides to integrating the techniques into daily life.

One of her principles is not to make an enemy between intuition and the intellect. Intuition can set a direction for thinking and thinking can work out the details to make an intuition come true. Intuition is no substitute for experience, but thrives on it and can add creative wisdom wisdom to experience by discovering new patterns within it.

Another principle is that of timing. I've noticed that as a result of working with intuition, I am more likely to make a phone call at just the right time. It may have something to do with "being in the right place at the right time." Emery offers a specific tool for evaluating the timing of a proposed action, but she also notes that intuitive timing goes beyond any technique and has a lot to do with wanting to be in harmony with other people and the flow of events. The universe itself seems to be an intuitive enterprise, expressing itself naturally since the Big Bang. The development of conscious intuition in humans seems to be a matter of finding a way back into the Garden of Eden by learning how to become in harmony with its nature without disrupting it.

Would you be willing to learn to be totally intuitive if it meant never being aware of any intuitive insights? The question is like a Zen koan and Emery expresses its wisdom when discussing intuition from dreams. As many others have also, Emery advises that when we go to bed, we ask for intuitive guidance from dreams regarding some matter we will confront the next day. Unlike others, however, she instructs the reader to go ahead the next day and do one's best in confronting that matter, whether a dream is remembered or not, understood or not, trusting that during the night we have received the necessary intuitive guidance to help us deal with that situation in the best way possible. Rather than waiting for the proverbial light bulb to illuminate the way before they act, those living the intuitive life often feel their way in the dark and create their own light by the sparks generated from bumping into things. As the highly intuitive Thomas Edison remarked, he learned a thousand ways how not to make a light bulb before he lit up the city!

Henry Reed, Ph.D., is on staff at Atlantic University He has been the prime designer of A.R.E.'s psychic development program, in its various aspects, for the past twenty some years. He is one of the trainers of A.R.E.'s most successful, and long running, psychic training conference, "The Edgar Cayce Legacy: Be Your Own Psychic." He developed A.R.E.'s program of evaluating psychics. He has published scientific articles on his research into intuition and psychic functioning. He is the author of Edgar Cayce on Awakening Your Psychic Powers, Edgar Cayce on Channeling Your Higher Self, and Your Intuitive Heart.