Exploring the Unconscious World of Dreams
The Power of Dreams
Personal Dream Interpretation/Group Presentations

What Is An Intuitive Psyche?
by Jerry Gifford: Interpreter of Dreams
Intuition is a person's capacity to obtain or have direct knowledge and/or immediate insight

The Intuitive Mind

Have you ever had a moment where you felt as though something wasn't right? Perhaps stepping into a parking lot late at night, or feeling negative around someone without knowing why? This is called 'intuition' {from Pychology Today}.

Intuition is the ability to acquire knowledge without inference and/or the use of reason. The word 'intuition' comes from the Latin word 'intueri' which is usually translated as 'to look inside' or 'to contemplate'. Intuition provides us with a 'knowledge' that we cannot justify through normal human experience . Intuition is frequently called a hunch, a gut feeling, a burst of genius, a instant response without a way of conscious knowing. It is a function of the right hemisphere of the brain involving extra-sensory perception {ESP}. There may be physical sensations, such as tingling of the skin or a feeling of leaden weights in the stomach; clairaudient or inner voices; seemingly explicable attractions or aversions to newly met people; inspirational solutions to problems; feelings of closeness to the Divine Force; mental imagery; or clue from the environment that alter personal plans.
Everyone possess intuition, though some are more highly developed than others. In Western cultures women have been conditioned to use it more than men. Intuition can be developed once a person recognizes it within him or herself and strives to improve it. The individual does this by paying closer attention to whole-body responses to information, people, and situations; by relaxing both the body and mind through diet, exercise, yoga, meditation, and prayer; by working with dreams; and by becoming attuned to spiritual forces. Intuition also develops in close relationships. Studies have shown that physical environment can enhance or inhibit intuition. An ideal intuition enhancing room is painted light green, aqua, or chartreuse; lit with natural sunlight that keeps the temperature between 70 and 73 degrees Fahrenheit with the humidity between 60 and 70 percent. Music also stimulates intuition by putting an individual in a relaxed state to produce pleasant memories, which causes the right and left hemispheres of the brain to work in greater unity. The presence of plants cleanses the air of pollutants. Although intuition is a natural aspect of the human psyche, higher intuitive 'knowing' for most must be developed.

For a person with a developed intuitive mind it is an invaluable asset. It is an instant 'knowing', not only from a physical observation of a person or thing but also of 'energies' projected through 'inference' or recognition of patterns of language, including the symbolic language in dreams. These energies are 'psyche', different from psychic which denotes faculties or phenomena that is inexplicable by natural laws, involving telepathy or clairvoyance {most who claim to have 'psychic' abilities are frauds}. Psyche energies are 'of natural law' existing in all of people. Early man depended on these instincts to survive. Because we do not need these naturally given tools we have lost contact with them. They become dormant, lost.

Whereas true psychics who are born with this higher ability and are endowed with special characteristics beyond normal human abilities, higher intuitive 'knowing' in a normal person must be and can be developed. There are those who do have true abilities such as Edgar Cayce {although his 'powers' were as much psyche as they were psychic}. Cayce, who lived in a constant flow of intuition, said that one must "know thyself," be close to the Maker, and trust what comes from within. Cayce stated that impressions that come from the physical/mental self, rather than the spiritual self, were not intuition.

Many people {like myself} use dream interpretation and/or dream work as a tool to develop intuitiveness. Dream interpretation is not purely analytical because most dream symbols possess a personal or intuitive meaning {symbolic language in dreams}; therefore the interpretation must be at least partly intuitive. Carl Jung put much emphasis upon the collective conscious, and often it forms a basis of dreams. Even though Jung said the dreams and messages derived from them are essentially personal to the dreamer, the contents, some or all of it, may have came from the collective unconscious. This is where the intuitive energies exist and to let oneself delve into the mysteries of the inner being the outer self benefits from what is 'collectively' known.

Intuitiveness and The Four Functions of Consciousness
Jung described humans as being oriented to the world (their environment) and classified them into four main functions of consciousness: sensation, feeling, thinking, and intuition. The intuition function provides information concerning both future possibilities based on unconscious knowledge {dreams compensate the conscious mind with what the already unconscious knows}, and the atmosphere surrounding all experiences. Archetypes are innate forms of intuition {Jung's theory of the collective unconscious}. He classify these into two main attitudes. They are the extraverted and the introverted. The extroverted are mostly materialistic; living their lives with little respect for law or custom or feelings of others; they squander their energies while living in the world of reality. The introverted tend to be artists, mystics, seers, and prophets, and live with the collective unconscious; they frequently appear strange to others. But because on is has an introverted personality {as I do} does not mean he/she can not access the intuitive mind. It does involve a regimented effort to create a balance of all the functions and probably the best path is through Jung's Individuation Process. I've spent the past twenty plus years in self analysis using this process. Without it I could never have learned to interpret dreams.
....more on Psychological Types

The Intuitive Jungian

Whereas intuition is a well known and accepted concept the term 'intuitive Jungian' is more involved and an often discussed concept. The term implies exactly what it is, an intuitive understanding of Jungian concepts, his theories of the deep unconscious. I use the term psyche instead of psychology because psychology implies an academic study of Jungian psychology at an accredited university. Such a person's intent is usually to become a Jungian psychologist, psychiatrist or clinician as a profession. An academic Jungian may possess an intuitive understanding of Jungian psyche but it is not necessary to be academician to possess the basic concepts of the psyche. Jungian psyche is more about accessing the concepts Jung developed that stemmed from the deep unconscious. Psyche is a term that not only encompasses the mind but the whole body as one entity, separate but united. Separate parts such as the mind, heart, lungs but working together to form one organism. Accessing the 'Jungian psyche' is possible when a person is able to understand and comprehend the innate energies within the unconscious that become conscious through intuitive insights. Those insights can be developed to a higher state of awareness and used in everyday life.There is an unconscious and intuitive recognition of the 'archetypes of the unconscious'. All humans possess these innate 'energies' because they are a product of evolutionary nature and are components of the collective unconscious that serve to organize, direct and inform human thought and behavior. Jung suggested that not only do the archetypal structures govern the behavior of all living organisms, but that they were contiguous with structures controlling the behavior of inorganic matter as well. Jung's recognition there was more to the psyche than individual experience possibly began in Jung's childhood as an intuitive realization from an early dream. Later in life his research on psychotic patients in Burgholzli Hospital and his own self-analysis later supported his early intuition about the existence of universal psychic structures that underlie all human experience and behavior. Jung first referred to these as "primordial images" a term he borrowed from Jacob Burckhardt. Later in 1917 Jung called them "dominants of the collective unconscious."

There is an instance where 'intuitive Jungian' was mentioned, although it was not from academic circles or even of normal Jungian forums. It was from an episode of Law & Order CI. It is not a program I often watch so my catching this particular show and the phrase is a bit of a synchronistic event. Perhaps the fact it involved a murdered female student studying psychology was what kept me from turning to my usual channels {History, Discovery, The Science Channel}. I do remember the statement being said by her professor about the young woman not having studied Jungian psychology for any great but her being an 'intuitive Jungian' and being able to grasp the often difficult theories and concepts of the master psychologist.

Law & Order CI Lost Children of the Blood
Reference to 'Intuitive Jungian' in this episode
This is one of those rare instances where I have to say that I hated an episode. Law & Order CI Lost Children of the Blood hit on just about everything that I dont like a story that is too dark and too ridiculous, lifeless acting from the leads, stiff dialog, and anything with vampires. When Zach Nichols (Jeff Goldblum) makes a reference to Carl Jung , saying that all disturbing thoughts should written down and filed away, I found myself laughing, thinking that is what the writers should have done with this episode filed it awayin the circular file.
from allthingslawandorder.blogspot    Law & Order CI Lost Children of the Blood Recap & Review

Accessing the Intuitive/Jungian Mind
It is no easy task to tap into the unconscious psyche and access these natural unconscious properties. There must be a deep desire, a great interest to do so. With a developed intuitive sense and an education into Jungian concepts and theory there exists an ability to access this part of the deep unconscious. I've spent more than 20 years of study, examining all aspects of the psyche, along with other sciences and philosophies. Like most endeavors to achieve greater heights in life it requires discipline. Not everyone is capable {or interested} in such things but most everyone has a recognition to some extent of Jungian 'thought', but may not be conscious of it. Anyone who has taken the Meyers Briggs personality test or has used the terms extrovert and/or introvert has utilized Jungian concepts. {Carl Jungs and Isabel Briggs Myers typological approach to personality is based on Jung's Psychological Types}. Moreover many Jungian concepts have been adopted by other fields of thought and experience. A 'business archetype' is an energy related to business that expresses in such a way as to become a pattern, or organizing principle, in how you see and relate to the world, make decisions and underlie your actions and behaviors. Business archetypes help people build strong brand identities based on the talents they love to use in a particular way. The term anima in Jungian psyche reflects archetypal ideals of conduct; the inner feminine part of the male personality. But it is a term also used as an, internationally published ten-volume manga {comic} series by Natsumi Mukai, a Danish animal rights organization similar in function as PETA, a English alternative rock band, among other uses. Anima Animus is the third album to be released by British duo The Creatures (aka singer Siouxsie Sioux and drummer Budgie). The title of the album was inspired by Carl Jung's concept of transgender (the woman inside the man, the man inside the woman). The album was released in 1999. Most all of these uses are from conscious intent. Still some develop creative styles not knowing they are from unconscious sources.

My path to a higher intuitive knowledge primarily is from my own 'individuation' journey to self discovery, the journey 'inward'. I have always had a sense of recognition of 'things' I could not explain but never gave thought to it until I discovered Joseph Campbell and Carl Jung at the age of 42 {1992}. From my dream work, using Jungian concepts, I have been to see patterns emerge in dreams that I was able to associate with other aspects in life. The study of mythology provide an understanding of the collective psyche, the myths being the collective patterns of mankind put into story and fable. And by studying the related sciences and learning the associations of one to another {Quantum Physics, Depth Psychology, and Beyond}. It is a bit difficult to explain since many people have doubts about intuition, just as some have doubts about the legitimacy of psychology. I can only point to my dream work as evidence to my skills and since I do have my Dream Forum that catalogs thousand of dreams, interpretations, follow up responses and comments I have gained a confidence in knowing my abilities to interpret dreams are real. Then I can look around and see others who also have these same abilities and see they too are knowledgeable in Jungian psyche. Possessing an objective mind {a result of overcoming the emotional self governing my life} I need to see concrete evidence before I am convinced of any concept, philosophy or idea. That includes my own abilities of interpreting dreams.

Life Experiences

There is one other aspect of my life that contributes to the intuitive mind I now possess. That is life experiences. I won't go into great detail about those, there is enough to write a book. But I do want to mention a couple of distinct aspects of these personal experiences since I do belief that have an impact on my intuitive abilities. I will break them down into two parts both of which has to do with personal relationships.

The first is my experience from working directly with the public, in a capacity of serving as well as authority. From late 1971 until early 1983 I was employed as a health codes inspector with the county health department in Nashville {my place of birth}. In that job I was in continuous contact with people, from the poorest to highest. My job was to enforce health codes and in doing that I had to learn to communicate with people. If there was a violation I often had to make contact to explain what needed to be done. Often I wrote citations to enforce the codes. If there was not co-operation I had to issue a summons to individual and defend my position in the general sessions courts. Most often when this was needed it was an ordinary citizen. Other times it involved people with great standing and/or wealthy types who owned rental property. You can imagine the experiences I had with people who were irate because they had to show up in court over a health codes violation. My job also included working with people in resolving health issues and codes violations. Those years working in this capacity was educational to the point I gained a great self confidence I did not have previously. It also provided me with great experience in working with all types of people. This was probably the beginning of developing a cursory sense of intuitive sensation, meeting different people of similar positions who fit into recognizable categories. It was something I gave thought to at the time but never to an extent to understand the intuitive patterns I was developing.

Another aspect in relationships where of the very personal kind. Marriage and 'amorous' relationships. These involved very 'emotional' experiences. I've never been coy in talking about my three failed marriages since it is from those experiences I have grown to realize the consequences. The underlying causation to why I was unable to stay in a relationship with three wonderful women is a part of my 'individuation'. My last marriage ended in 1992 {the same year I began my Jungian education}. In between marriages I was involved in several other 'emotional' relationships, the last 'strong' experience being in 2000. I think of myself as having been on both sides of hurt, having been hurt and caused hurt. In reflection I don't care for either position. Everybody loses and often there are 'residual' casualties, sons and daughters, and other people involved with the related parties. These were very strong learning experiences

These emotional experiences, like most other people who have had similar experiences, left a strong impression on my psyche. I have always tended to be a very sensitive person and as I have grwon older, and wiser, I am more so. Reflection is a part of the 'Individuation Process' and looking back at those experiences, and those I have hurt has had an impact. Having hurt others is very painful for me in reflection.

The positives of having had these experiences is the wisdom I gained from them. In meeting people today I find mos are controlled by their emotions instead of being able to control their emotions. Having 'been there and done that' more than my share of times, plus having reconciled the underlying causes to my past actions, I see myself in a position of knowing a little more than most people about solutions to problems. When you add personal experiences with the developed intuitive mind you gain a wisdom that is not available to the average person. Being in control of the emotions, being able to think objectively, is a position that brings about harmony and balance in life. Those who let emotions control their life are in constant flux, never knowing for sure what to expect from life and thus never being able to find that place where they feel comfortable with themselves. Experience is wisdom. But only if you are able to use experience as a path to change, and not continually repeat past emotional habits that never cease to bring you down. Pretty much a common sense thing that requires discipline.
I have found most people lack discipline.

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7-21-2013