Have you ever said: “I’m not psychic, but sometimes I can be quite intuitive!” I have heard that statement many times. It must be a common feeling. There is a difference in the connotations of these two terms. People tend to describe intuition as natural, while references to the psychic often imply supernatural references.
In her book, Natural-Born Intuition: How to Awaken and Develop Your Inner Wisdom, Lauren Thibodeau describes the psychic as a process of reaching outside of ourselves, while describing intuition as a process of going within. Her distinction reminds me of the difference between facts (which come from outside) and wisdom (which comes from within).
Edgar Cayce sometimes distinguished intuition from psychic events and sometimes referred to it as a psychic ability, such as when he said that intuition is the highest form of psychic ability. In some of his readings, he seemed to have to add something to his psychic impressions to get the insight he needed. Cayce could hear the thoughts of someone he was looking for, but he indicated that it took a little longer for him to know if the person was dead or alive. He gave the impression that intuition is a more evolved attribute than psychic senses.
It is common to link intuition with a way of knowing and the psychic with the senses. Mediums often speak as if they are seeing or hearing spirits, but not always understanding what their psychic senses are telling them. Intuition may be involved in the process of understanding or interpreting sensations. It can also operate in the absence of sensation, with direct knowledge “out of the blue”. Brain research shows that the brain interprets sensory data before registering it, implying that a great deal of “thinking” occurs in the act of “seeing.” Intuition can involve both.
Karlis Osis once performed a fascinating experiment with Ingo Swann (the artist who invented “remote viewing”) that demonstrated the difference between “knowing” and “seeing.” Dr. Osis created a puzzle for Swann to explore when he was in his out-of-body psychic state. The puzzle consisted of a closed box with objects inside. He arranged these objects so that when viewed through a small peephole, one could see an optical illusion and not realize the true nature of the objects. If it were a question of knowing what is in the box, the real objects would come to mind and the optical illusion would not be relevant. When Ingo awoke from his out-of-body experience, he described seeing the illusion, but did not report knowing the nature of the objects.
As another example, suppose we wanted to find an inspirational quote in the Library of Congress about how dinosaurs felt when they realized they were going extinct. If we used “remote viewing”, a psychic form of data acquisition, we would start by scanning all the words in all the books to find sentences that included “dinosaur”. From these, we would search for sentences containing “extinction”, and so on. Such a process would take a long time and leaves some doubt as to how this skill could decide on the “best” quote. On the other hand, we can randomly walk through the library and accidentally discover a perfect quote that just falls into our hands. Intuitive people talk about such synchronicities all the time. Clearly, the task of finding a suitable citation in a large amount of information requires more sophisticated mental abilities than simply being able to read the words in a book without opening it. Intuition can include psychic ability in addition to some other qualities.
There is another way in which the Thibodeau distinction makes a lot of sense. Many people with psychic sensitivities report that they are often disturbed by their impressions. Being bombarded with unwanted information can be overwhelming. On the other hand, people who claim to live intuitively seem to be in harmony with themselves. It is this blessing that Dr. Thibodeau hopes the reader will gain through insight.
His techniques for developing intuition are intertwined with accessing inner wisdom, almost as if they were the same thing. This conjunction reminds me of Cayce’s suggestive comments indirectly attributing our intuitive nature to our guardian angel. Research confirms a relationship between being intuitive and following the directive of the soul. Investigating people’s moods at random times reveals that when people are in moments of intuitive flow, they are also very likely to report that they are doing what they feel they should be doing at the moment, as if it were serving part of their purpose. in the life. Trusting one’s intuition can bring a sense of peace, which psychic ability alone cannot achieve. Intuition is psychic, but she’s wise enough to keep her own advice on the road to Heaven.