ART OF INTUITION reviewed on Spirituality & Practice

From Spirituality & Practice
Book Review
By Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

The Art of Intuition: Cultivating Your Inner Wisdom
By Sophy Burnham
Tarcher/Penguin 02/11 Hardcover $24.95
ISBN: 9781585428496

Sophy Burnham is the author of 12 books including The Path of Prayer and The Ecstatic Journey. She begins this expansive exploration of intuition with a list of some of the words usually associated with it: a hunch, a gut feeling, an inspiration, a premonition, precognition, clairvoyance, and second sight. The root of the word in Latin is tueri, which means “to guard, to protect.” Whereas 60% of adult Americans believe in intuition, clairvoyance, and ESP, 96% of scientists from the National Academy of Sciences claim to be skeptics, though 10% of them think that parapsychological research should be encouraged. That gulf is why Burnham is right in saying that “intuition is some kind of swift intelligence that operates differently from reason and has nothing to do with smarts.” Studies and polls have also shown that women are more intuitive than men.

In a series of illuminating probes, Burnham examines the links between intuition and creativity, communication with animals, ESP, auras, mind-sight (a kind of spiritual sense), dreams, near-death-experiences, sensitives and psychics. The author includes vignettes from the experiences of people who have made the most of intuition whether deciding not to fly on 9/11 or creating an inspired work of art.

She also presents five wonderful sections on cultivating your inner wisdom. Among them are becoming comfortable with solitude and silence, practicing deep listening, trying automatic writing, and cultivating compassionate observation. The Art of Intuition opens up many new doors for us to understand and appreciate this important life skill.

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Watch Guideposts’s video with author Sophy Burnham