Submitted by: Nancy R. Fenn Intuition means different things to different people. Some people actually get a physical reaction which warns them or encourages them forward.
Some ways they describe this kind of intuition or sensation are: a "gut feeling", "goose bumps", "butterflies in my stomach", "that made my skin crawl", "something in the room was different ... I knew someone had been there", "I could feel it in my bones", "there was suddenly something cold in the room", "my hair stood on end". In the latter case, what they are referring to is body hair, our residual pelt. Clearly this is the animal instinct in us speaking its own language.
Men are comfortable with this kind of intuition, whereas they have been in the habit of claiming that "women's intuition" was something entirely different, ephemeral, mysterious, etc.
This kind of intuition is found in firefighters, beat cops, Scuba divers and others in rescue and recovery work, emergency crews and detectives ... in other words, people whose safety depends on their being intimately in touch with the nuances of their physical environment.
Another kind of intuition is the kind meant by Myers-Briggs and Jung, for example. These people have hunches. They have a "knowing".
A very noteworthy thing about people with this type of intuition is that their timing is excellent. For example, they will intend to call you for a window of a week or two and will actually place the call just as you have cleared your desk, had a nice hot cup of tea, put your feet up, stared out the window and begun to think fondly of them and wonder why they haven't called you lately.
AWAKENING INTUITION Imagine for a moment what it is like the other way around. I have a client who invariably calls me just as the dog has knocked over my cup of tea or just as am stepping into the bath, starting dinner or answering the door. While this is no major deal with an astrologer or intuitive counselor, in the larger picture, know that this person is also calling the IRS, loan officer, school counselor, their husband or wife and boss at the least advantageous time possible. When we are placing an important call, we want the person on the other end of the line to give us their undivided attention. We want our intrusion into their life to be as seamless as possible. My clients are very consistent about this, either their timing is excellent or it is horrible.
My experience is that both types of intuition can be developed, though obviously people have tendencies toward one or the other. Body intuition is a residual from our earlier days in evolution ... hunter days. It doesn't need to be taught, because it is an autonomic response, like adrenaline, but we are far removed today from our ancestral wanderings in woods and forests. We need to get back in touch with these instincts. A person can be trained to recognize body response instincts clearly for what they are and to interpret them faithfully. This principle is actually well rendered as the little dog with the Fool in the Tarot deck.
The other kind of intuition is more of a gift in selected individuals, and perhaps something that will evolve in all people eventually, but it can be developed in anyone who is interested.
My experience is that intuitive children quickly learn to limit their reliance on intuition because it freaks out the adults in their environment so badly. In the uneducated portion of society, it is frequently linked with the devil. I've never been sure what the logic is here, but the phenomenon is consistent in rural pockets of America.
Intuition can be frightening or disturbing to those who don't have it and a parent's natural concern for their child leads to a horror that the child might rely on intuition for personal safety or decisions in life when this does not appear to be a reliable tool for someone who is logical, sensate or feeling. So for most of us there is some uncovering to do, even with the most gifted people, in order to recover the natural power in this gift.
Ways to develop your intuition are: meditation, coaching, group classes, experimentation and work with cross cultural symbols. It also helps to read the major intuitive writers, such as Karl Jung, Ralph Waldo Emerson and of course my guidebook.
