When we enter into our intuitive mode of being and pose questions to this aspect of ourselves, a response is always forthcoming. As inner teacher, the intuitive self assumes her role with great commitment, responsibility, and presence. If we find that the question is not answered, it is not because our inner teacher is not on the job, it is because we have not adjusted our inner antennae sufficiently to hear, see, feel, or otherwise perceive the response she has given.
It can be extremely helpful to imagine the intuitive self as a being, a being with a purpose and with the means to realize that purpose. Even though, in reality, your intuitive aspect is actually you, your true being, imagining your intuitive self with a particular face, body, and voice will help you to enter into contact and communicate more easily.
The means through which intuitive self will realize her purpose is your body/mind, your physical vehicle in this world. Thanks to the physical body, your soul can gather the experience it needs to evolve and develop to its full capacity. Thanks to the interrelation between your soul and your conscious and subconscious mind (and their relation to your physical body), your intuition can communicate its perceptions through your inner senses. The body can then provide the intuition with criteria for evaluation through your physical senses and their contact with your external environment.
We must always remember that the body and soul, intuition and mind, are in fact one unit, functioning as a whole, as a global operation. It is for this reason that we are somewhat prone to commit errors of perception, even when we utilize the function of our intuition. It is difficult to isolate the many different parts of ourselves, defining exactly which part does what, in which sequence, in relation to which other function. For learning purposes, we isolate and identify the different aspects of the intuitive sequence so that our functioning can be understood more clearly. However, it is imperative to retain the essential sense of ourselves as a whole being, a synthesis of physical/spiritual, intuitive/rational, body/mind, and personality/soul.
A well-developed intuition that functions in a manner disassociated from the context of its application, is not a terribly useful intuition, as it lacks a coherent link with the existing reality. Therefore, it cannot be very beneficial in a practical sense, in either the short or long term. Intuition functions beyond the linear rational-mind concepts of space/time and of mental logic. For this reason, intuitive messages are most often perceived through dreamlike transmissions, received in “awake dream” trance states of meditational awareness. A personal work of inner preparation is an essential prerequisite before we can begin to receive clear information, answers to our questions, and unsolicited guidance.
Once we begin to receive transmissions from our intuitive self, we will need to be able to interpret the messages received—to decipher the meaning contained within the symbolic response to the question that has been posed. Interpretation is an art in itself, an apprenticeship demanding time, patience, lucidity, and lots of margin for error, especially in the beginning. Because of the potential traps of power, manipulation, and illusion that are always present when we utilize our intuition, intermediary methods relying strongly on intuitive capacity, such as astrology, tarot, pendulum, I Ching, and numerology, have found a considerable place in the world of esoteric and spiritual counseling. In these techniques, the planets, the cards, and the numbers are the principal symbolic tools with which the practitioner works. The symbols are interpreted in relation to themselves and their interrelationship with each other.
Protected by the familiarity of a known symbolic structure through which to work, the practitioner is less “personally” involved, therefore less prone (theoretically) to project, manipulate, and interpret incorrectly. With pure intuitive work, there are no cards, planets, or numbers. The tool with which we work is ourselves; our intuitive self. Because of this fact, it is not realistic to imagine we can be totally objective. Our very perception of reality is subjective and always will be, even when we are centered, detached from our personality, and securely installed in intuitive mode. The intuitive self is a seeker of truth and it is this essential search for truth that helps us go beyond our subjective interpretation of the nature of reality and arrive at a relatively objective perception of the truths existing in front of us. In searching for the truth of ourselves, we discover who we are and also deliver ourselves from the illusions of who we are not. Even though we have a remarkable capacity for self-deception and self-delusion, our innate capacity to seek and sense the truth is an ability that takes predominance if we allow and encourage it to do so.
It is virtually impossible to provide absolute rules for interpreting the symbolism found through the function of the intuition. Not only would it be too simplistic, too rigid, and inadequate, it would also be unethical. There are two major factors involved in this reasoning. In the world of intuitive function, no truth is absolute. Truth is truth, but truth is always relative—relative to the person, the situation, the moment, and the context of the question/problem/preoccupation that we are exploring. Similarly, intuition exists beyond space and time. Therefore, what is true in one moment, may or may not be true in the next moment. We must always stay open to a spontaneous understanding of the significance of a symbolic transmission, without the interference of the rational mind attempting to classify and compartmentalize the symbol according to information received in another moment.
What we discover when we go beyond rational and moral frameworks of preconceived ideas pertaining to the nature of reality is that existence is in constant movement and human beings are (or can be if they allow it) in a constant process of change and evolution. We can perceive that every human being has a movement and this movement is appropriate for them, is, in fact, the reflection of the truth of their being, the truth of their soul. In a moral sense, there is no right or wrong, there is simply the movement—the movement toward creation, toward destruction, toward life, death, and rebirth. Nobody is wrong. Everybody is right. Everybody always has a reason for each of their actions. Every soul is in the process of learning something, through each and every one of their actions, whether they know that consciously or not.
For this reason, interpretation is a delicate subject, complicated to learn, because of the necessary lack of absolute rules, and complicated to teach for the same reason. What I may call interpretation could easily be experienced by another as judgment and by another as truth.
To function beyond the limiting nature of judgment, we are obliged to put social and moral beliefs aside, just as we put our rational mind aside when we prepare ourselves to enter into intuitive mode.
There are, however, guidelines which can help us to interpret the symbolism of the intuition as it functions through the body/mind. A symbol is usually something we see—an image. An image is composed of shapes and colors which combine to give the image a form that we can describe with words. Within the form, we find an atmosphere, a feeling. Feeling leads us to emotion, and emotion leads us to our bodies, to the world of sensation, texture, and physical touch.
It is through following this progression—images, words, feeling, sensations—that we can interpret symbolic information received by the intuition.
Because of the subtle nature of intuition, it is a function more naturally aligned to the medium of images, which are also subtle and fine in nature. Intuition begins, in a sense, in the head, in an awareness of the consciousness. From there, it journeys toward the world of physical matter through the media of words, feelings, and sensations.
If we begin with an image, we intuitively “step into” the image with our consciousness, describing what we see with words and feelings, touching the atmosphere within the image with our inner senses. Through this intuitive interaction with the image, in which we are engaged with all our senses, we perceive the meaning of the image in relation to the question/problem with which we are working.
Ultimately, it is just as possible to proceed in the other direction—i.e., sensation, feeling, words, image. In body-centered psychotherapies, this approach is widely used to guide people toward intuitive insights and healing integrations. We locate a sensation in the body and become more and more aware of it, “going inside” and exploring the shape and texture of the sensation until we feel the atmosphere. The atmosphere puts us in touch with the associated emotion. Very often, once we begin to express the emotion (with sounds and words), we begin to experience images connected to the original sensation. The images may be connected to our past or present life. Once the images are explored, expressed, and integrated, we find ourselves more in touch, more connected, to the truth of who we are. Returning to the original sensation, we find it has transformed and we are more at ease in that part of our body than when we began the exercise.
In the work of intuitive perception, it can be more difficult to begin at the level of sensation and progress toward the level of images, as this is the most “dense” level of perception, as well as the most “personal,” the most physical. For most of us it is easier to enter an image with our awareness than it is to penetrate into a physical sensation, especially if the sensation is an unpleasurable one.
The advantage of images is that we have some distance to begin with—“I am here and the image is there. I can go toward the image with my consciousness.” With sensations, we have greater difficulty keeping our sense of distance. To feel a sensation we must go into it and, once we are absorbed into the realm of sensation, it can be difficult to differentiate between self, the other, and the sensation itself.
As we become more advanced in intuitive practice, we become more adept at working in and around the perimeters of sensation/image. We develop intuitive flexibility, learning to move our awareness with fluidity through the worlds of image, feeling, and sensation, seeking information and receiving verification from several sources, so that we can be more certain of the truth of the interpretations we give to the information received.
In the beginning, this process of seeking, investigating, and verifying information seems very complicated and sophisticated and well beyond our capacities. With practice we begin to grasp the technique and slowly develop a capacity of intuitive flexibility that permits us to travel with our awareness beyond space/time/matter limits, into the inner world of our being and the world of others with whom we practice and work.
When you ask a question of your intuition, you receive an answer, given either as an image, words, feeling, sensation, or as a combination of all these. It is imperative that, when you go into trance and before you begin asking questions, you take stock of yourself and of your own physical, emotional, and inner state. Knowing how you are before beginning a session gives you a frame of reference within which to work. It is especially useful to observe all physical sensations—“butterflies” in the belly, pain in the solar plexus, headache, pain behind the shoulder blades—as well as the emotional state—nervous, afraid, a bit depressed. It is very possible that, during the session, your own personal state will transform completely. Very often, it will transform for the better, though occasionally you will feel worse after a session. This is because the movement of entering into yourself more deeply propels you more deeply into the experience of your problems before it delivers you from them through the movement of transformation and healing.
Once you have taken stock of your actual state, you are ready to begin asking questions and receiving information and responses. When you ask a question of your intuition, you must be willing to wait patiently for the response, which will come in its own time. At times, it comes very quickly, but sometimes you may have to repeat the demand, clarifying your request or perhaps stating it in a different way. You must let your intuition know what it is you want. If you are vague about what you want, you will have the tendency to receive vague information. Using your intuition is like being a detective—you ask questions, more questions, and even more questions, until you have the answers that satisfy you; answers that give you the feeling you have, at last, discovered the truth.
In the beginning of a session, as you are still entering into your deep trance state, you may have the impression of receiving lots of seemingly disassociated images which can be vague, cloudy, even strange. In this case, take your time and wait until you feel really ready to begin before actually starting. If, once you feel well centered, you ask a question and receive an image that seems disassociated in some way from the question, simply ask the image to disappear and start again. In this case, if the image was disassociated from the question, it will not come back. If the image is the correct image, given to you by your intuition, it will reappear and this will be a sign for you to proceed with this image as your departure point for the work you are doing. An image given to you by your intuition will not require an effort on your part to maintain. An image created by your mind, by your imagination, will demand an inner effort to maintain. If you feel yourself engaged in an inner effort to “create and tell the story,” let go of the effort, stop, and begin again quietly, waiting patiently for your intuition to begin to do its work.
Once you have an image that you feel is appropriate, you can begin to explore it in more depth. Essentially, the process of interpretation of a symbolic image requires that you ask of your intuitive self internally “What do you mean?”; “What does that mean?”; “What does this mean?” Ask until you feel you understand the meaning for yourself in a tangible sense, so you can move on to the next question and image.
It is essential to trust the information and impressions you receive during the session. If you are working with an image and suddenly begin to feel sleepy, anxious, joyful, nauseous, tense, or sad, you can be sure that these feelings and sensations are connected to the image and are therefore important pieces of information coming to you from your intuition. These experiences help you to interpret the symbolic image, but you must allow yourself to make the connection. Do not preoccupy yourself with reflections about the possibility of projections. Simply go ahead and trust.
When you receive a symbolic image, begin by describing the image in as much detail as possible. “Zoom in” on the image and describe it with your internal voice and/or your spoken voice. Explore and describe the image and slowly allow yourself to open more and more to the image; begin to feel the atmosphere of your perception. Each time you perceive something, ask your intuition to tell you the meaning, the significance, of what you are perceiving. Pay attention to the aspects of the image to which you feel particularly drawn, the aspects that capture your attention and seem to reach out to you. Be aware that the image is a symbolic message but that this message has a relationship to concrete reality. The real art of interpretation lies in the ability to take a relatively abstract image and/or feeling and associate it in a lucid and concrete fashion to daily life. If you can translate the symbolic images in this manner, the transmissions you receive from your intuition will take on a tangible meaning and have a concrete impact within your daily life.
Let's take an example to demonstrate more clearly the steps of interpretation.
• Case Study •
I ask my intuition to give me the image of a tree that represents my actual state of being.
I see a tree in a glade in the forest. A tall, slender, graceful tree with silver bark, lots of leaves, small and very green. The tree is next to a brook, in a meadow full of spring flowers. There is a breeze blowing gently—the grass and flowers are swaying, insects are buzzing, birds are singing. It's a summer scene. The water is flowing, bubbling along. Everything is alive, full of color. Next to this tree is another tree, a sturdy pine, solid, strong, healthy, with lots of presence. It is very close to “my” tree, providing support, companionship, and sharing the water and light of nature. It is, however, crowding the space a little. The first tree wants to move, to dance, to sway, and cannot, simply because the other tree is a little too close.
Entering into the image, to feel the atmosphere, I am aware of the beauty of the scene—it is tranquil and alive and at the same time, peaceful and joyful, with a feeling of communication, interrelation, and sharing. I feel the comfort of the two trees sharing the space, of how my tree loves to have the other close by but how, at the same time, it is a little crowded … as though the two trees had grown a lot, and now there is a problem of space. I see the second tree leaning toward the first and reaching for the light, reaching for the water. I feel that the trees need more space, more freedom, more independence but at the same time, they need to maintain their unique connection.
I imagine I create more space so the first tree can breathe, sway, dance … and as soon as I imagine that, I feel different in my body. I feel more present in my legs, more free in my arms; I feel movement in my belly. I imagine I ask the other tree to move back a little bit, to connect to its own light source, so my tree can receive the Sun more directly. The second tree moves willingly, allowing the Sun to bathe my tree in its warmth. I feel recharged. I feel joyful. The other tree is beside me, sharing, and we both have more space, more breathing space.
The interpretation I give to this image I have received:
Overall, I am well. My environment suits me, I have my place, but I lack movement, I feel inhibited, I cannot express the fullness of my inner dimension because I need more space, more light. (This information was received in the month of January, during the European winter and I remember very well how I felt the need to breathe, to be outside and reconnect to the Sun and my own inner movement. I was also needing to move my body and circulate my energy.)
• • •
When you receive an image and begin to describe it, the image very often takes on a life of its own and becomes a moving image, like an unfolding film scenario. You ask objects within the image to speak to you and, on an intuitive level, they answer your questions and explain their significance in relation to the question/problem.
If you receive information from your intuition and you find you do not understand the sense of it, even though you may have questioned and received further clarification, simply stop trying to understand for the moment and just stay aware of the information. Very often, we need time to integrate and eventually understand messages from our intuition. It is not always necessary to interpret, or even to understand consciously, the images we have been given. It is enough to have the image and to allow the image to go to work within us on a more subconscious level.
The art of interpretation is a subtle art, demanding communication between the intuition and the rational mind, as well as imagination and diplomacy. The marriage between mind and intuition is a sacred movement of reconciliation between body and soul, between the masculine and feminine aspects of ourselves. A sacred movement of this type takes time and demands patience and awareness. Every time you use your intuition, you are working toward this reconciliation within yourself.