Truth About Intuition
By Jo Lynne Valerie

Recently, a magazine local to Western New York published an editorial titled "Intuition."   Having been intuitive all my life, I was naturally very interested and eagerly began to read the article.  However, not more than a few sentences into the editorial, just past the reference to a new health paradigm and somewhere near the banter regarding public education, I found myself exclaiming, "What is this article talking about?!"  Though likely well intended, this particular editorial did not begin to address what intuition actually is, how it occurs, how it can benefit and enhance one's life and how we can all cultivate it.

Having been psychic my entire life and having taught and fostered intuitive ability in a myriad of friends, students, clientele and my own children, allow me to share what I know about intuition.

Is it, as this particular editorial stated, true that all material found in books has been at some time intuited, or received through intuition?  Partially.  Is it true, as the editorial stated, that our intuition is harvested or accessed from a cosmic storehouse of information?  Sometimes.

I realize I'm drawing complete contrasts here to what was stated in the editorial I've mentioned - but again, please remember that having been psychic and intuitive my entire life, I feel uniquely qualified to make these statements.  What's more, I've spoken with numerous friends, family members, professional intuitives, mediums and psychics who all agree with me.  And, I'll state clearly: this opinion is not my own.  Rather, it is the direct understanding and base of knowledge that I have gained from and by working closely with Spirit, Angels and Spirit Guides.

So here it is, the clarification.  Information received by intuition can be found in some books and writings that have been created throughout the ages.  This is because we are often "tuned in" to a stream of thought, archetypal energy or universal teaching that has been channeled by someone, or received intuitively before.  In addition, often times we can and do tap into the cosmic library so to speak, of all that has ever occurred, been developed, been thought about, or happened.

But that is only a very, very finite part of what intuition truly is.  As I have experienced and understood intuition all my life, it is a gift that each of us has been endowed with.  Each of us houses a tiny gray clump called a pineal gland; and this pineal gland, situated behind our forehead and in front of our brain, the area that many mystics refer to as the "third eye," is the clearing-house, or receiver, for mystical, intuitive and spiritual information. 

Intuition gives us "vibes," hunches, gut feelings and moments of ah-ha!  Intuition provides the way for spirit beings and spiritual energies to communicate with us. 

My intuition has told me far more than what someone has written about it in a book, and it has served a far greater purpose than accessing cosmic knowledge (although those functions are wonderful and a benefit of a well-trained intuitive!)  I have been blessed to be able to warn family members, friends, clients and yes, even strangers - of upcoming trouble, sometimes disasters.

I have been privileged and honored to assist many in identifying their true gifts, talents and purpose in this life so that they may live their true destiny!  I have also sat with more clients than I can number, in private psychic reading sessions, and been a channel for messages from loved ones who had passed away.  It has been my most sublime honor to convey messages from Angels and Spirit Guides as well.

Once, my husband and I sat in a cafe eating lunch.  It was a rare work-day treat, as we are both self-employed and most often spend our time "hustling," often working through the lunch hour in order to support ourselves and our three children.  So there we sat and as I ate my food, I couldn't help but notice a  young man who walked in.  He was making a plate of food at the buffet and was accompanied by another young man.  But this young man, the first one, struck me.  I guess I was staring with that look on my face because my husband said, "Jo?"

I looked up and I guess I still had that look on my face because my husband, a conservative businessman who has had to adjust to being married to a holistic-living-obsessed-psychic woman (permission for readers to grin, here) said, "Are you getting something on him?"

Indeed I was.  Our young man, dressed in Goth-clothing and with dyed black hair, had walked past me and when he did, I had caught a whiff of his last suicide attempt.  Needless to say, it wasn't pretty.  But what was more overwhelming, were the feelings of complete self disdain and lack of any self love, that he emitted.  Complicating matters was the fact that a spirit, someone I perceived as one of his guides, began to speak to me and conveyed the fact that this young man, though lacking any confidence or joy now, would go on later in life, if he could hold on that long, to become a social worker who would specialize in working with troubled youth.  He would be well known in his field for his high success ratio and popularity he'd gain with the kids, and his approach would all be based on the fact that he had "been there" himself.

Readers, that's what intuition is, and what it can do for you.  So what did I do?  To my husband's utter surprise (though later he admitted he was proud), I quickly began scribbling on a napkin.  I wrote something like: I realize you don't know me.  Do not throw this napkin away.  Keep it because I think it will give you information and strength in the times to come.  I am a psychic.  I have been told by an Angel that is with you, that you have lost all value for your life, and this is due to a broken heart and spirit.  Please don't give up!  You are meant to go on to do great things with your life.  One day, you will help many others who are right where you are now. 

Later, my husband and I discussed the possibilities.  Would this young man heed the message on the napkin?  Or pass it off as some corny lady's rantings?  Would he go on to help others because I had suggested that he do so, or was this really his destiny all along?  I have complete faith that this particular young man will heed the message; otherwise I would not have been inspired - so strongly - to deliver it.  Furthermore, does it really matter how or why he manifests his destiny to help others, because it was so all along, or because I suggested it?  For if it manifests, whatever the means, he will have fulfilled his destiny.

Another time, I was doing a telephone reading for a woman in Nevada.  As we spoke about the possibility of her changing jobs (she was working then as a day care teacher; I saw her clearly as owning and managing a flower shop!), I suddenly received a vision of her standing on a diving board - up very high! 

Readers, this is when you have to simply trust your intuition.  You have to trust that the information, the images or the message coming through is correct.  So I said, "I am receiving an image of you on a diving board.   You're up very high and behind you, someone who has a first name beginning with the letter L, is saying Just go for it, like you used to!  Well, the woman began to laugh and cry at the same time; her Uncle Larry had recently passed away and when she was in high school, he'd been the one to always come see her as she participated in competitive diving meets, as Uncle Larry used to be in the Navy and always loved the water.  The message we received that day, was that she should go for it - the flower shop would be successful, and soon her day care job would be behind her!

One more example ( I could go on all day!).  Once as I sat in my reading room doing an intuitive reading for a client who had travelled from Connecticut for our appointment, though we were discussing her career and love life, I received a strong intuitive flash that contained images of several folders being shuffled, with dollar signs all around them.  There was also, in this intuitive vision, a pair of male hands doing the folder shuffling.

I asked if her finances were in order.  They were not.  I asked if she had her retirement plans organized.  She did not.  Further, these were issues that were weighing increasingly on her mind.  Last, I asked her if someone was currently managing her financial affairs.  Yes, there was someone.  Was it a man?  Yes, it was.  Did she trust him?  No, she did not.  Later we learned that the commissions he was taking were far above what financial managers routinely take in her area.  Since then, she has found a new, reputable and fair financial manager, and she is getting her finances in order.  With these changes in place, her initial concerns over her career and future retirement are lessened; now her financial future seems more secure.

That is how intuitive ability can serve us.  I cannot tell you the number of times my intuition has helped or enhanced my life and the lives of my husband and children.  It is a bonus, and will be a highlight as I look back on my life, that it has helped to guide and enhance the lives of many others as well. 

Truly, intuition is aside from, and above and beyond a "New Health Paradigm".  Heaven knows every holistic professional in town will likely telephone me on this one but --- folks, I daresay I know some truly powerful and gifted psychics and intuitives who do not live holistically or with the health of their mind and body at the forefront of their lives.  One of my own family members smoked and drank black coffee (not I!  It's herbal tea and incense, for me, thank you!)  Yet she remains one of the most gifted mediums and intuitives I have ever met. 

Intuition is spiritual.  Now - is it beneficial to cleanse and purify your physical and energetic body in order to enhance your intuition?  Absolutely.  Since becoming vegetarian, I can report that my own intuition has clarified and intensified immensely.  But during my college years, when I was a chicken-wing eating and hamburger-grilling young 'un, those dreams, flashes and messages kept on a' comin'.  So spirituality is at the height of intuition.  Never forget it.  Yet having said that, cleansing and balancing ourselves mind, body and spirit, absolutely 100% enhances it.  Never forget that.

Intuition can enhance one's life in ways that cannot fully be understood until you've got it "running" and you see, for yourself, how it works and how it makes your entire life simply more vibrant.  It is a gift that allows us to be true to our nature, true to ourselves and help others.  For honoring the fact that we are hard-wired for intuition, in essence, is honoring the glorious way in which the Creator saw fit to design us.  Paying heed to those gut feelings and hunches that our intuition gives us, allows us to be true to ourselves.  And as for helping others, I believe I've given you a few examples. 

Finally, I'll share this: as I said at the outset, intuition is something that each of us have.  We are all born with this gift.  I like to say we are "hard-wired" for it.  And with this hard-wiring in place, it is possible to to cultivate and develop your intuitive ability.  When properly recognized and nurtured, intuition can grow.  And the more we focus on being in balance, on walking in harmony and in peace, the stronger it gets.

Together, we can learn to live our most balanced, healthy and spiritual lives - vibrant with harmony and intuition!

May you embrace your journey this Autumn-time.  As the seasons change and all of nature changes with it during this time of transformation, now it is time to invite introspection and transformation into our own lives as well.  Until we meet again, when it is the time of the snows...

Jo Lynne