My views regarding intuition

First of all, let me state this: what I wrote below is by no means a final summary of all my ideas regarding intuition. First, because I still do not have scientific knowledge enough to be sure of anything I am saying, you could say that it all came from my own "intuition". Second, I reserve the right to change my mind, as I gain more knowledge, experience and wisdom. ;-)

So this is, at best, a sketch of my thoughts, right in this moment of my journey. I do believe intuition exists, I have seen it work and I have experienced it myself. The difference in my approach lies in its origin. Differently from some I do not think it's a 'psychic' ability, nor that it comes from any divine source. I believe intuition is one of the greatest evolutionary gifts nature - and our ancestors - have given us.

 

~*~

For me, intuition is an optimised form of knowledge. It's something so ingrained in your mind that you no longer need to consciously access this knowledge - it simply comes to you, when you need it. That's why it appears to be sudden, to bypass all conscious reasoning, simply because you cannot perceive the process behind it - it's so fast! But it comes from somewhere, yes - from you. From your mind, your thoughts, your memories, your knowledge.

That's why everyone has intuition, there's nothing psychic about it, in my opinion. When a doctor looks at a patient and somehow already knows what he has, without any further examination - that's intuition. When an engineer looks at a building and just by looking sees that something isn't right about it's structure - that's intuition. When a card reader lays the cards in front of him and immediately perceives the atmosphere of that reading, and makes connections between the cards without having to remember their meanings - that's intuition.

When you learn something and it becomes easy, it becomes 'intuitive'. But you need to learn it first.

What do I mean by all this? That to me, before you can use your intuition, you need to have some solid knowledge of what you are doing. Or maybe just the basics, if you are specially talented. I do not mean to make intuition and imagination slaves of knowledge and reason - not at all. I think they all function better when working together, not separately.

What I am trying to oppose here is that common notion that intuition and imagination are opposed to reasoning and knowledge.

It does not make sense to me the idea of a "divided mind". Intellect vs. Intuition. It's not how it works for me, I believe that knowledge and imagination work together... actually, the best they work together, the stronger they are. You never met a creative genius like Da Vinci or Einstein or Newton who were a complete idiots. They had imagination and intuition, but they also had a hell-load of knowledge. They literally stood on the shoulders of giants, but used their own intuition and imagination to fly, to go beyond.

Knowledge, all by itself, without any imagination to make it grow or any intuition to make it flow... is just a bunch of stuff. Like old dusty book on a shelf. Intuition, all by itself with no intellectual knowledge, is just emotional-guessing.

What does it have to do with divination? Well, I've been playing and analysing some 'intuitive tools', like the Oracle-X lately, and I realised it's very hard for me to use intuition right out of the box. Perhaps some fellow cartomancers will find this preposterous, after all, intuition seems to be the main tool of any card-reader. But... not for me. Sorry folks.

For me, a deck only becomes intuitive when I know it very well. To know it very well, I must first study it and use it. That is my process - I embrace the tool logically first, and when my logic is comfortable with it, then my intuition comes into play. I cannot get something from nowhere, and for me knowledge and intuition walk hand-in-hand. Hence my belief:"Intuition needs knowledge to function. Knowledge needs intuition to flow."

So a good divination method is one that has a special balance. It gives you a logic, solid method to work with, and at the same time, allows you to grow from there and make the oracle yours.

PCO: Should I stay or should I go?

I don't often ask my cards "should" or "shouldn't" questions, because I don't like idea of relying on cards to make my choices for me. But I was talking to a Canadian friend, who is a fellow card reader, about going on a trip to Canada in May, and told him that sometimes I felt unsure about it. With a big smirk, he told me to "ask the cards if you should", even though he usually doesn't do this kind of reading himself.

So I gave in and drew four cards asking the question: "Should I go to Canada?"

These were my cards. 

"Ha!", said my friend. "Three reds and one black - that means you should come here!".


I agreed. I am going, and would still go even if the cards said otherwise. But I was rather amused by the amount of Diamonds in this reading. It's either telling I'm going to spend a lot of money there, or that the trip is going to be rather fiery.

The predominance of high numbers also tells me this is going to be an important trip.

 

The J♦ (Dango) is particularly interesting, because this card seems to be pushing the others forward. The 9♦ (Gawain) with the 9♠ (Throne of Spiders) seem to be the 'cautious' part of the spread. Gawain shows the highest intensity of energy before it begins to decrease, and the Throne of Spiders is pretty much the bottom of the bucket when it comes to energy. Together, they also indicate too much dedication to something that is beginning to drain you. Regarding to my trip, they are warning me that it'll be a tiring trip, and that it may ask more from me than I expect. I also think it'll be physically exhausting for some reason.

I actually had planned to stay in Canada for 2 weeks, and the spending one week at home to "recover" before going back to work. I think my decision was wise then, because if the trip will be tiring (I never went on a long trip that wasn't, anyway), I'll need time to rest.

But Dango, the very energetic and optimistic Jack of Diamonds, pushes me on. He's a bold guy, and his advice is "dare!".

The last card, Ace♦ (Ignita) promises a renewal of energy after the two exhausting cards that precede it. And being it the soul of  Fire, it promises a transformation. Something will change - they say we never come back from a trip the same, and I agree. I imagine the 9♦ and the 9♠ as heavy influences, and the Ace as "things becoming simpler". For good or for bad, this trip will purify me somehow.

And there is Dango, saying "go! go! go!".

And I answer, "yes!".