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Looking into the Ether

Opening your inner eye to the wonders of the Universe

By Lisa VanGalenPublished 3 years ago 8 min read
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Looking into the Ether
Photo by Viva Luna Studios on Unsplash

The answer is not always in the cards, or in the stars. Intuition is an integral part of each of us, whether we listen to our inner voice or not. The simplest decisions often rely on our innate ability to see beyond ourselves and the current circumstance to make a choice that benefits us. Don't believe me? Try this out.

The next time you are planning a trip, ask yourself if there is a better route to take. We can become so accustomed to travelling the same routes; to the grocery store, to work, to visit friends and family; that we drive the roads without clear and conscious thought. What if you tuned into your inner knowing and asked this question before each crossroad or interchange: should I stay on this road or take the alternate? Or: should I go left or right? This one often trips me up as I am navigationally challenged.

The first few times, you may not notice any difference, but as you continue to ask and accept the answers you receive, the intensity of the responses will become clearer. The opposite is also true. Asking for guidance and then ignoring it will decrease the volume, as you have proven that you are not ready to listen to forces beyond your own ego.

But if you are willing to try it, make a note of obstructions that you are able to avoid by listening to that little voice: an accident, construction, detours, anything that you would not have been consciously aware of.

This same little voice is the one that warns you about impending danger or if someone in the room is less than trustworthy. We have all had moments where our 'gut' told us one thing, and we did the other, often with disastrous results. Building trust in your intuition is really as simple as paying attention to it. For many modern humans, their inner voice has been silenced by years of distractions. Early man relied on it for survival. Back then, not listening to the warning signs could mean you were the hunted instead of the hunter.

Now, the biggest challenge most of us face in our day is what to eat for dinner. So ask? Instead of grabbing the quickest thing in the fridge, ask yourself if there is a food or nutrient it needs. Maybe you are low on iron or should have broccoli rather than beans. Or your sugar level is higher than normal so carbs are out today. The same principle can be used for exercise choices, what show to watch, when to go to bed. Ask the question, 'listen' for the answer, and give your intuition control.

It may be the 'listening' part that confuses people. Listening is not restricted to the noise you take in through your ears. It is more a matter of being in tune with the energy you are receiving. The answers can be subtle, like a gentle push one way or the other. There are exercises you can do to strengthen your body's response to questions, creating an internal pendulum of sorts.

Here's how one of them works:

Stand with your body strong planted, your feet stable and your shoulders straight. When you are firmly in place, ask yourself “Is my name (fill in your actual name)?”. Your body should move on its own, usually leaning forward slightly before returning to centre. Now use a fictitious name and see what happens.

Essentially you are programming your body to respond to 'yes' or 'no' questions. Keep going, asking things you know to be true and ones you know to be false. Anchor that knowing into your body so you understand how and why it reacts. This can be helpful if you find yourself in a situation where you need guidance and want to be subtle about it.

Picture your next staff meeting: There is a plate of cookies on the table. Do you need one? Ask your body. Should you take one? Ask again. Now go deeper with it. Is this the best job for you right now? There is a new posting on the board. Should you apply? More fundamental ones might be whether or not to accept a date request.

Still building your intuition? Begin your day by using your body to choose the colour of your clothes or lipstick. Even your nail polish choice can be questioned and answered. It sounds silly, doesn't it? But the purpose is to create a stronger bond with your inner voice, to let it know it is being heard and accepted. And in the end, that is what we all want on all levels.

Now that you have a grasp of the practical (and impractical) ways to tune your intuition, there are other ways to visually see the answers. A favourite of mine is to run my index finger in a circle on the palm of the opposite hand and program the energy centre there, one hand for 'yes', the other for 'no'. In my own practice, I use my left hand as the 'yes' response. Why would I do this? Because I feel self-conscious standing in the grocery store swaying in front of the shelves while I try to decide between tuna and salmon.

Have you ever been to a baby shower and had someone pull out a needle on a thread, or a ring on a chain, to determine the gender of the baby? Maybe that is no longer done, but 'back in the day' this was considered a party game. In reality, the participants had created a pendulum that showed their energetic response to the question: “Is it a boy? Is it a girl?” Curious? Try it for yourself. Take anything with a bit of weight that can hang straight down and swing freely, like a necklace. Hold the chain/string/lanyard loosely between your index finger and your thumb. Ask your 'pendulum' to show you how it relays the answer “yes” and how it tells you “no”. This will be specific for each person, I can only tell you that pendulums turn in a circle for me when they mean “yes” and switch to a straight line for “no”. In the case of asking about gender, you would need to program the pendulum to show you which motion is for male and which for female.

(A more advanced question session will show you how many children a person can expect to have in this lifetime. Use this with caution as the pendulum will show you each pregnancy and gender, regardless of the length of term and viability of the child.)

Using your intuition should feel natural and flow easily in your body. The more you pay attention, the more you will notice the small hints that appear in your everyday life.

Another favourite method of 'listening' is to ask a question of myself and then flip through a book until my body tells me to stop. Next, I scan the page with my fingertips and read what is shown as my message. This also works with music on the radio, or inside your personal library. Just pull up your playlist, think of your question, then hit shuffle three times and see what comes up. Don't dismiss the message if you 'think' it is wrong. Write it down and come back to it later in the day. You will be surprised at how accurate the lyrics become when you remove expectation from them. For those that love details, this is known, oddly enough, as 'shufflemancy'.

And it doesn't need to be deliberate. Have you ever gone to bed worrying about something and woken up in the morning with a song in your head? Before rushing into your day, listen, actually listen to the lyrics. The message you are seeking will often be there. This invisible method can be used anywhere.

And if these methods are not visual enough for you, there are always Tarot and Oracle cards of all kinds. Cartomancy has a long tradition going back to 14th century Europe and possibly earlier. History has hints about its use as early as 1000 A.D. in one form or another. Humanity has always had questions and sought ways to divulge the answers. Using cards can open your insight, rather than your mind, and help you to understand the signs your mind has missed. And man has not always used cards with pretty colours and graphics. The original deck of 52 cards, the simple four-suit deck we use to play poker? Once used by everyday people for divination and party games.

The system is elegantly designed, with each number and suit representing a particular trait or problem. The face cards? They represent people and their archetypes. The strong silent king or the playful page (the jacks), each has a role in the deck and provided a way for royalty to foretell the future. In the early years, before the invention of the printing press, card creation was a time-consuming process and very expensive. This meant the cards were only for the elite class. Once the marked slivers of wood found their way to the masses, their use in the art of prophecy was shunned by the church, a misconception that endures to this day. Ask any modern-day psychic or card reader about their early years as a divination specialist. You will find that they are just like you and me, intrigued by the possibilities and battling against the stereotypes of our upbringing.

So take some time to enjoy the little messages that the Universe brings. It might be the cardinal that sings in your tree. Or the penny found on the sidewalk. Not everything is a message, but in time, you will instinctively know which ones are. Let the wonder you experienced as a child come back. Lean into the 'what if'. Explore the seen and unseen world with eyes uncluttered by expectation. What glorious things you can experience if you leave your brain in neutral.

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About the Creator

Lisa VanGalen

I am a panster by nature, discovering my characters as they reveal themselves. To date, my novel writing has involved the paranormal or magick within a more familiar setting, blending it with mysteries, police procedurals, or thrillers.

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