What Does Your Gut Say?
“Here are my last words, Beloved, said the mother. Should you lose your way or be in need of help, ask this doll what to do. You will be assisted. Keep the doll with you always. Do not tell anyone about her. Feed her when she is hungry. This is my mother’s promise to you, my blessing on you, dear daughter.”
Clarissa Pinkola Estes (Women Who Run With the Wolves)
In the Russian fairy tale, Vasalisa the Wise, the old witch, Baba Yaga, gave Vasalisa many impossible tasks to do before she would provide her with fire to rekindle the hearth at home. Impossible tasks are the meat and potatoes of women’s fairy tales all around the world. Lucky for Vasalisa, she carried the doll in her pocket given her by her dead mother. The doll, which conveyed the good mother’s magic, always managed to complete the tasks while Vasalisa slept, just as the elves and good fairies did in tales like Rumplestilskin and The Cobblers Shoes. The doll in this fairy tale represents woman’s intuition, “the treasure of a woman’s psyche” according to Estes.
Most of us discount our intuitive information as a lot of hooey, but in my experience, intuition, which comes from deep in the brain and not from the cerebral cortex (centers of thought), is reliably precise. It is older, more primitive, and non-verbal to be sure, but accurate all the same. Intuition is different from the ESP parlor games we play where we try to guess the card held by another player, or what color they are thinking. Intuition is that sense that something is not right, that the person standing before you has an ulterior motive, or that all is not as it appears to be. It is also the sense that tells you that this is going to be a good day, or this person can be trusted, or that you are making the right choice.
Sometimes we just have a ‘gut feeling’ that we should do something, call someone or make a connection. Sometimes a particular person keeps coming to mind that we haven’t seen for a while and then they call or we run into them unexpectedly. Some people would call those events unrelated, but I would not. Our intuition often knows things before our thinking brain does, and gives us a nudge in the right direction. As with first impressions, which are usually lasting, our brain picks up on small details, body language, iris dilation, possibly even pheromones that transmit instantaneously to the old brain. We are left with an imprint rather than words, but the imprint is usually spot-on.
The next time you are weighing a decision, check in with your “gut”. Assess whether there are reservations there, or if your internal barometer is telling you to go for it. The ability to listen to both knowledge and intuition is the basis of wisdom. Think of it as the magical doll in your pocket.
Blessings,
Jane
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