To me, the word intuition has a beautiful and substantial meaning.
It is composed of two parts: “In” which points our attention inwards, and “Tuition” which means teaching or instruction. Therefore, “Intuition” is a voice of wisdom that arises within your being, that is your potential, your inner guide.
Intuition shows you that wisdom can never come through the borrowed knowledge of others, but through your own deep understanding.
A spiritual awakening and the discovery of Soul Ages comes through your intuition. It doesn’t begin as a logical conclusion to confirm that you’re an Old Soul, but rather, you intuitively feel a friction between your age and the way you perceive the world, and one day you come across a term that reasonably explains that feeling.
Our Intuition is the bridge to our higher potential, our higher selves, but nobody taught us how to listen to it. Although we can identify it as a “gut feeling”, “sixth sense” or “instinct”, many of us haven’t learnt how to trust it or how to use it.
The Three Inner Guides
The cynic will often ask, “Can intuition be explained?” No, it can’t.
To try and explain intuition using logic and words, is like trying to condense something infinitely vast into a finite medium of communication: it completely limits your understanding of it.
You could intellectually describe intuition as a small glimpse into the enormous magnitude of wisdom untapped in the unconscious mind, but that simply describes the neurological process, not what it is exactly.
The way I explain to our soulwork students how to listen to their intuition is by simply learning how to distinguish it from the other two Inner Guides, the inborn “In’s” that are within all of us: Instinct, Intellect and Intuition. These three inner guides are described in detail below.
Instinct
This is the most primitive of our Inner Guides, but necessary for our survival. It is responsible for both our instinctive reactions, and the general functioning of our bodies. Our breathing, our hunger, our thirst, our life threatening fears and our sexual drives are all automatically and unconsciously controlled by this Guide.
Intellect
Our minds, or intellects, are one step above animals instincts as they are an instrument which allows us to create structure and organization. The intellect is a practical tool and great for sciences, for mathematics, geometry, technology, architecture and so forth. But our Intellects are driven by the mind rather than the heart, and they can become blinded without wise council even to the extent of creating weapons of mass destruction, and fanatical segregationist beliefs, among many other things. Not only that, but somehow we have let our Intellects become the masters of our whole beings, and through fanatical ideologies, our Intellects have made us self-destructive, causing us to repress many of our natural and authentic inborn instincts.
Intuition
This is the highest Guide of all three. Intuition can be thought of as our collective unconscious, gut feeling, divine selves, or whatever you want to call it. This Guide comes from a spiritual level, from our souls, and brings us immense wisdom and insight if we listen to it carefully. While our Intellects are useful tools, those who know how to go beyond Intellect can use it to bridge their Instinctual levels with their Spiritual levels of Intuition. This process is what we can call true wisdom.
Most people get stuck in the middle; in a world of pure intellect, of dissecting logic and presumptuous reason that deprives us from wholeness, blinding us from the Divine.
The Wisdom of Old Souls
Some people will argue that being wise is the result of a high intelligence, but in my experience that is only one side of the equation. Rather, a wise person will intuitively know how to use his knowledge in order to make good decisions. On the other hand, a primarily intellectual person may have knowledge, but is usually unable to use it properly.
In other words, a wise person is someone who has learned to listen to his Inner Guide, and then use the knowledge they have to make a choice or decision.
It is through accumulations of conditioned knowledge that we create false selves, the result of all the beliefs and values imposed on us through our upbringings. False selves are created when we mentally believe that we are a certain way, and forget the authentic way we truly feel. When a person is wise, they learn to listen to their hearts, not their heads. They respect their bodies, they respect their minds, they respect their souls.
To be Intelligent is useful in a world that is structured around efficiency and organization. But allowing all of your energy to be sent from your Intuitive center, which is your heart, to your Mental center, which is your mind, creates an immense disharmony within you.
Connecting to Your Intuition
Relax. Getting in touch with the heart is easy when you do it in an active way. The world’s painters, poets, musicians, dancers and actors all know the secret of allowing Intuition to flow through them. Find an activity that allows you to be consumed, immersed and brings your thoughts to a halt. Examples could include juggling, playing a guitar, praying, dancing, writing, painting or singing.
It’s in these moments that the mind is quiet, that a space is opened for the subtle voice of your Intuition to emerge. Connecting with your Intuition doesn’t always have to be an artistic activity either; simple things like meditation, or playing with a bouncing ball (think of Hugh Laurie’s character in House), take away the tunnel vision tension of our minds, allowing our peripheral Intuitions to manifest themselves.
Intuition just suddenly appears – it isn’t a process of intellectual step-by-step deduction – but what we call “epiphanies” that appear out of nowhere.
Dream. Pay close attention to your dreams after you’ve been putting a lot of mental energy into trying to solve a problem. Madame Curie was known to have solved several mathematical problems through her dreams, as did Nobel Prize winner Albrecht Kossel when he dreamed the inner human cell structure, to name a few.
Your unconscious mind requires sleep to process all the accumulated pieces of information you’ve left floating around in your head during the day, and sometimes in that process you stumble across epiphanies. Even while you’re awake, there comes a point in the mind that after thinking so much, it grows exhausted with fatigue and gives up. It’s in that tired space that your intuition, your wisdom, connect dots that you intellectually wouldn’t associate.
Listen. Sometimes you can actually feel your Intuition: it’s a warmth, a flow, that comes from your navel upwards. That’s why it’s called a “gut feeling”. You’ll learn to distinguish your Intuitive Inner Guide from your mind, because your Intellect is centered in the head, on the surface, and that inner guidance will feel less profound.
Your Intellect is concerned with a destination, even before you make a decision. This is why many people go on repeating the same mistakes over and over again because they’re listening to their minds which repeat past assumptions, or sets of future expectations. Your Intuition, however, is more concerned with direction, with deeply understanding the present moment, the here and now, the environmental circumstances, as well as your authenticity, and based on that, it makes a wise decision.
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Your Intellectual Inner Guide splits the world into that which it knows, and that which it doesn’t know. Your Intuitive Inner Guide realizes there is something else, something beyond that which can be seen and Intellectually understood.
This feeling is what sends our minds on a Spiritual search, a journey to find this “unknowable” essence that intuitively we know is the Divinity already within us.
To be wise is to create a harmony between the heart, the head and the body, or your Intuition, your Intellect and your Instincts. In this harmony comes the revelation of the source of one’s life, the very center, the Soul.
That was beautiful. Thank you.
You truly are a man with an insightful and inspiring mind. Though I may not agree with all of your views on this site I must admit I always find myself in a sense of wonder and creativity after reading your work. This has quickly become my favorite website on the internet and I hope to one day hold a little battle of wits with you in the future. I’m curious how such an event would play out.
Hola Ezekiel,
Your words are truly humbling. Agreeing with my work without disagreeing with other aspects would simply make out of what I write a belief system which is meaningless unless it is your own experience as well.
The important thing is you’re open and receptive to reading others experiences and seeing how they relate to your own. That’s the curious observation that I have found, some people will not agree with you intellectually but yet somehow ‘intuitively’ still feel there is something valuable in what you say.
At some point I realized truth can never be encountered through our wits, but it does provide a structure/framework to direction our attention toward the truth. I look forward to it :)
Excellent read Sol. I have a tendency to jokingly say something without much thought then either whatever I said comes true sometime in the future or the person I’ve said this to will give me a shocked expression as if I’ve read their mind. Does this have something to do with intuition or is it just a coincidence?
Hola Lupe,
These experiences are associated with intuition, they are moments we aren’t applying rigid logical thought. When we use humor, we use our spontaneous abilities, knowledge that just flows out of us intuitively. :)
“Your Intellect is concerned with a destination. Your Intuition, however, is more concerned with direction.”
I couldn’t have said it better myself. When I’m stuck in “rational mode”, my mind tries to think several steps ahead, because it needs the comfort of certainty. But of course life rarely unfolds the way we want or expect, which causes great stress when the mind’s rigid plans are thrown off course. In western cultures, there is societal pressure to think rationally and have a plan for everything, but that stifles wisdom and creativity, both individually and collectively.
When I operate from the deeper knowing of intuition, it feels different – light, peaceful, quietly confident. Recently, I have decided to move from the city to the mountains and essentially start a new life up there. I don’t have any practical reasons for doing this, but in my heart I know it’s the right decision. I have no concrete plans for a house or job, but I know that my intuition will guide me in the right direction, and the right opportunities will present themselves as long as I keep my heart open. I can’t wait to see where this adventure takes me!
I agree completely, our society is to dependent on rationality and to afraid of trusting its more spiritual guides, it’s intuition.
One of the reasons I feel this is so is because once you start listening to your intuition, you realize that most of what you do, your job, your ambitions, your expectations from life are all against your true authenticity.
For a society that functions on the endless pursuit of happiness through consumerism, this isn’t a quality that should be encouraged or taught. Everyone would end up following their hearts, doing what you’re admirably doing, and dropping out of the rat race to pursue that which would make them happy, that which would turn them into artists and creative beings.
I look forward to hearing about your experience following your heart, and your interesting journey onto the mountains :)
Wow! Red your journey from the city to the mountains…sounds very exciting! I would love to know how you have progressed and how you are enjoying your new surroundings. I recently had to move from NJ to PA due to my extended unemployment (2 1/2 years). So I now live with my daughter and son-in-law in a small room (not ideal or comfortable per se). But I am thankful to have a safe place to live. I admire your personal choice to change and to just follow your heart…I look forward to the day when I can flow like that. I hope to hear back soon about your journey. I see this original article was posted 2 years ago now. I’m pretty new to LonerWolf and I’m reading the various articles, etc.
I’m so in love with this writing, Sol. you presented some ways for how to connect to my intuition. I don’t realize that i’ve done that. i used to listen my guts so often but not taking it seriously like when i’m stuck with my organization problems, when all of people keep trying to speak out what’s on their mind, i tend to leave that room, listen to music and try to be relax. and then some thoughts come into me but i’m not trust it (just like you said above, Sol).
I don’t know yet that i’m an Old soul. but someway when i want to talk, i talk something needed.
Thank you again for the article!! ☼
Hola Iqbal,
It’s a great feeling isn’t it? Intuitions are the highest form of creativity and yet we take it for granted so often.
When I’m teaching to small groups of people or even when I’m writing these articles; I have no idea what I’m going to say or write about but I find that the words flow out of my mouth without me thinking about them much and surprisingly I become consciously aware of things that were already hidden within my unconscious.
This experience of intuition does not solely focus on Old Souls, it works the same for everyone. But Old Souls have a slight advantage to pay closer attention to it, that’s all.
Thank you for commenting, I appreciate reading the effect our work has on our readers lives :)
Brazilian writer, Olavo de Carvalho explains: If you see your friend walking down the street and he looks sad and someone yells at you ‘Can you prove that he is sad?’ and you say ‘No, I just think he looks sad’.
One would reply ‘but then if you just “think” he is sad, you can’t say he really is sad.’ To which you might reply ‘well, he looks sad, and from what I know of him, he doesn’t usually fake his feelings.’
One then says ‘Well, tendency not to fake does not eliminate the possibility of faking, and outer looks does not necessarily reflect the inner state of someone. Therefore, you are wrong.’
The stranger walks away and you think to yourself ‘Well, I know my friend better than anyone and he does look like sad. I’m pretty sure he is sad.’ This certitude not verified by science and not explained by logic is called Intuition, and it’s a true valid form of knowledge.
This as well applies to how we feel and understand god. CG Jung said “I do not believe there is a god. I know it!”.
I am very glad to have read this here. I do not know how to explain or to express many things I know. I do not even know how to say that I know many things I know. My self-knowledge, however, is enough for me to know what I know.
Thank you.
Olavo de Carvalho’s words have significance in them, I’m thankful that you share that here.
I know it’s true from my own experience, none of us can know through logic with certitude anything at all. We can assume, we can deduce, but everything is a subjective perception of the world that only those who are in touch with their subjective intuitions can see through or rather, can feel.
Intuition is at the root of the foundations of any persons spiritual journey. The first experiences, the first glimpses, the awakenings all begin as feelings, not thoughts. From there we try to make those feelings tangible with words, sometimes ours, sometimes others.
What you express is exactly the difference between knowing and knowledge. Knowledgeable people can explain and express their thoughts, their ideas and information the “know”. But people who have experienced “knowing”, they aren’t necessarily capable of expressing it, but just the taste of it, the substance they feel from it, is sufficient.
I’m happy to see a familiar face from the OS group here Felipe, thank you for sharing your own wonderful experience.
Mateo,
Another beautifully articulated article. I have been struggling as of late with the passing of my mother which happened 2 years ago. When she passed I was enlisted in the Navy and for obvious reasons be search for peace and the full expression of grief wasn’t a real opinion. I was subsequently sent to the Middle East shortly after her passing and spent 6 months searching for a religion or teacher that could help explain my intuitive tendencies and my long history of helping people with life issues I have never experienced within this incarnation. To my blessing my mothers passing open the door for my awakening and my subsequent understanding of all you have outlined. I am so happy to be a reader of what you and Aletheia Luna are writing. I struggle here and there with my own spiritual path , but having people like you two who understand and continue to teach has been so helpful. Thank you again.
Namaste
Stephen
Hola Stephen,
I’m sorry to hear about your mother but at the same time, I’m not surprised something like that was responsible to sent you off on your spiritual journey.
Sometimes it takes immense friction within us to ignite the spark, to reevaluate our routine focused lives and search for something more fulfilling, something that makes us feel in touch with our higher selves.
I look forward to read more about your journey and thoughts in our little community of path trotters :)
Sol