\u00a0(I do believe I warned the class that some of these things will probably end up in a blog post one day. This warning goes for pretty much any class or workshop I teach.)<\/em><\/p>\nI thought for a moment, antagonizing about how the answer was going to sound. But I said it anyway: \u201cYou should know the difference in your gut.\u201d I then added, \u201cIf you haven\u2019t learned to trust yourself enough yet, then take extra precautions to protect yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n
It sounds so simple and basic right? Trusting your \u201cgut\u201d and knowing how to interpret it correctly. It\u2019s so incredibly important, valuable, and essential to being an effective Witch. But I would wager that this skill is one of the hardest for modern Witches to develop.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s so many reasons for that, including:
We\u2019re often so hard on ourselves. \u00a0We read how other people do things, and instead of going, \u201cthat\u2019s a neat way of looking at it\u201d \u2013 we may wonder if our way is wrong. \u00a0Even if it\u2019s been working great with fantastic results. \u00a0But maybe there\u2019s something we don\u2019t know? \u00a0It can be incredibly hard to trust ourselves. To listen to our own bodies and thoughts, and consider them in turn.<\/p>\n
For example, let\u2019s consider the\u00a0original workshop question above. I pointed out that there\u2019s a difference between fear of change and fear of safety. \u00a0It comes down to reading your own body. \u00a0For example, when I know something will be good for me (like going out to spend time with friends), but the desire to stay home because it\u2019s dark and cold out \u2013 that has a distinct physical\/mental sensation. \u00a0It feels like an enormous sleeping bear that doesn\u2019t want to be moved. \u00a0It wants to be comfortable and take the easy way out, it doesn\u2019t want to experience any discomfort \u2013 but it CAN be moved.<\/p>\npainting by the author<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nFear of safety feels completely different. It\u2019s like knowing there\u2019s a moving, very awake bear out there that you can smell but you can\u2019t see. \u00a0It can also feel like there\u2019s been a wall placed in front of you that wasn\u2019t there earlier, or a big heavy gate. Or maybe an arm across your chest \u00a0\u2013 like Mom reaching out instinctively when she has to brake suddenly, despite the fact you\u2019re wearing a seatbelt. \u00a0Sure you can climb the wall, open the gate, or push past the arm, but you get the sense it may not be a good idea.<\/p>\n
All of these involve very real sensations and thought processes in the body. \u00a0You feel a subtle yet physical response. \u00a0It can be a sudden sense of excitement, like a light came on to point out a new way, or an overwhelming sense of calm\u00a0when considering one of two choices. \u00a0You may feel an adrenaline rush with heart racing or prickly armpits. \u00a0It could your stomach feeling like it dropped down to your knees. \u00a0These physical things tell us: be warned, be on guard, protect yourself, make this choice, go that way, stop, protect, push, fight, run. \u00a0When we connect these gut feelings with our critical\u00a0thinking and spiritual mind, it can amount to amazing outcomes in our work.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also not such a bad thing to name it \u201cgut instinct.\u201d \u00a0What does our digestive system do? \u00a0It takes in all of the liquids and solids we ingest, and changes them into things we can use to live, discarding what we don\u2019t need. \u00a0Your intuition does the same thing. \u00a0It takes in all of the information you\u2019re experiencing or have experienced: physical, metaphysical, spiritual, etc \u00a0\u2013 and processes it for the appropriate response.<\/p>\n
To foster your own intuition and strengthen gut instinct, I recommend taking a moment to check in with yourself when you\u2019re facing a decision (and you have more than a split second to do it). \u00a0How do you physically feel about it? \u00a0What are the pro\u2019s and con\u2019s? How urgent or strongly do you feel about the situation? What are the possible outcomes? If you removed the outside opinions\/other forces trying to influence with you, what do you feel is the best solution?<\/p>\n
You may want to keep a journal as well, documenting certain situations and answering the questions above. \u00a0You can also write about things that happened to you, and try to remember how you felt before you did or said a certain thing. \u00a0Did you get that warning sensation but did it anyway? What happened? \u00a0Or did you give in to outside pressure and regretted it? \u00a0This kind of consideration and journaling can help you gain more self-trust on your path as a Witch.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll leave you with the following quote\u00a0by Albert Einstein: \u00a0\u201cI believe in intuition and inspiration. Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution. It is, strictly speaking, a real factor in scientific research.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome to\u00a0part 3 in a series of posts exploring the essence of being a Witch, from a Modern Tradition perspective. \u00a0I\u2019ll be tackling some sticky yet interwoven topics that create\u00a0and define\u00a0the Witch \u2013 including solo vs. group work, examining religion and spirituality, commerce, morals and ethics, etc. \u00a0Read part 1 here and part 2 here. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2676,"featured_media":263,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,12,14],"tags":[147,146,145,26,42,7,4,94],"class_list":["post-262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-metaphysics","category-modernpractice","category-tradition","tag-gut","tag-instinct","tag-intuition","tag-pagan","tag-practice","tag-witch","tag-witchcraft","tag-witches"],"yoast_head":"\n
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