By Sandra Keifer
I usually take comfort when the High Priestess shows up in the answer to one of my inquiries. Her gaze is that of a cool co-conspirator: “You know what will happen. I know, too. It can be our little secret.” Unfortunately, if the question makes me feel particularly anxious, I may playfully pull the priestess closer and say, “Do you want to tell me, just in case? I’m not sure.” Fear gets in the way.
I’ve always believed in my sense of intuition, particularly after a number of confirming incidents in my youth: the last day at my grandmother’s house, patiently walking through and mentally recording every room (she died unexpectedly a year later, when I lived several states away); a moment as a young mother, in the middle of the night, when I realized that this moment, with my babies and dogs and husband around me, might represent the last of my youthful inexperience with the surprising cruelties of life; a day when I sensed my three-year-old son knew my thoughts (he subsequently spoke them aloud, questioning, because they were beyond his understanding); and a feeling that one day I would go back to California to buy my grandmother’s house. The last one never came true.
Of course, there is still time. I’m only 48. But I’ve also mistakenly believed that I wouldn’t live past the age of 35, and that I would lose all of my teeth before I was 40. Yes, my teeth are still hanging on by a thread.
Time may show us that our gut feelings are not always pure. If our thoughts are motivated by fear, they may be likely to do us more harm than good. Similarly, gut feelings that have logic behind them are polluted, and we should call them by their proper name: educated guesses.
As a woman who been alive nearly half a century, I know, via an educated guess that is facilitated by experience and love of life, that the purest gut feelings are the only ones that stand a chance of being right. These are the missives that may or may not make sense, the ones that hit you between the eyes at unexpected moments and do not elicit feelings of fear or even ecstasy.
You may hear a message in words or feel it like a touch, without the certainty of language. The latter may be the most reliable; if you find yourself putting the feeling into words, avoid the risk of mistranslation by keeping your emotions flat during your language process. Don’t invest your heart until everything is on the table.
The required absence of emotion may mean that you can’t sense your health or your child’s health. You might not be able to see if you’re going to buy your dream house, or if you’ll get “the job.”
I have a friend who does tarot readings for me, but she often has trouble remembering the accepted meanings of certain cards. She stumbles through readings, pushing away her feelings of inadequacy to tell me what she sees. Unemotional, she speaks clearly and plainly. My faith (far from blind, because it is based on my experience with her striking predictions) gives her the strength to speak about what she sees, and ultimately, her reading is more of an exercise in intuition than card-reading skill. Conversely, I’ve met with psychics who demonstrated great skill with the mechanics of astrology and tarot readings, but failed miserably in the intuition department.
If, during a reading, the psychic tells you something that you immediately know is true, your intuition may be confirming her statements. Confirmation may be recognized by the initial absence of emotion as the truth is recognized, and then, as you digest it, you may feel positive or negative emotions. For example, when I asked my intuitive friend about my sister—I wondered whether I would need to help her in some way, and whether her children might eventually live with me because of her circumstances—my friend read the cards and said yes and no. In the wake of a life-changing event, my sister would reach out to me for help from 1200 miles away. She would ask me for career-related help, but nothing further would transpire. When this information was delivered, my intuition responded automatically. Emotion came later. So far, the prediction has not materialized, but it could happen any time in the next ten years.
If you are open to this knowledge—and that’s what it should be—flat knowledge without excessive emotion attached to it—you may be able to experience a useful revelation from that quiet part of yourself that knows what’s around the corner.
Try forgetting your intuition. Don’t call it when you are worried, because it won’t answer. Instead, your fear or some other proxy may masquerade as your sense of the future. If you really want to hear your intuition, just leave the door open a crack, and wait.
High Priestess images used in this article are from (top to bottom order): Zerner-Farber Tarot by Amy Zerner and Monte Farber, Hanson-Roberts Tarot by Mary Hanson-Roberts, The Rider Tarot Deck (1970) published by U.S. Games Systems, Inc.