The Power of Intuition

Adam White Brant, I've often heard you speak about the power of intuition, could you speak a little bit about the power of intuition and its central role in Huichol life.

Brant Secunda Intuition is such and important role in Huichol life because it involves going inside, looking inside your soul or inside you heart what the Huichols call IYARI and to look inside to find truth, to look inside to find strength. To look inside and find answers for your life which we're all looking for answers.

What do we do, how do we do it, when do we do it? So intuition for the Huichols is also seen as the animal, they give it a form. The animal, the deer is also seen as inside every person's heart of soul.

So they say each human being is part deer and as that we say that we are all part intuition. Everyone has intuition, so what does that mean? For the Huichols that means to develop intuition so that we can live a good life, that we can develop intuition so that we can be connected. To not only ourselves but our family, our community. We use intuition as a way to learn to feel the ancient ones. To feel our ancestors, to feel everything that is alive around us.

Adam White Do the Huichols have a specific process in their culture to help them cultivate intuition, do they visualize the deer in their heart that you are describing?

Brant Secunda The Huichols might use the process in their tradition of Shamanism to look inside of their heart to look for that magical deer, to feel the magical deer, just to live an intuitive life. We could also say that intuition is something like what we might call in English awareness.

Adam White So they are looking for the intuition to help guide them through life.

Brant Secunda Yes, intuition is used to help them find awareness and to help guide them through their everyday life but also their spiritual life as well.

Adam White The intuitive process or intuition then helps them connect to the powers of nature that is central in Huichol culture, I take it then, that somehow can help them feel a little more alive. How does that work in Huichol culture?

Brant Secunda They look inside of their hearts so that they are vibrant with intuition.

Adam White Brant, is there a way that people can hone their power of intuition in everyday life?

Brant Secunda There are different you might say games or skills that you can use do it. Like for instance when the phone rings tune into your inner self and your intuition before you look at screen of your cell phone.

Adam White On the caller ID?

Brant Secunda Right, on the caller ID, who's calling me and take a guess that's using your intuition.

Adam White And a way of testing our intuition.

Brant Secunda Yes, or when you're driving down the road think what color car is going to come next, tune in, tune in it's not out of the question to figure out what color of car. In this way little by little you can develop your intuition. These are two very simple ways to use your intuition to cultivate your intuition which allows you to look inside and feel connected at the same time.

Adam White How does intuition connect what's our hearts to the outside world around us?

Brant Secunda Intuition can be seen as an inner environment, our inner self, the part of us that knows everything already and that connects then as a natural progression with the world that we are living in. When you live let's say wherever in the city or in the country you are naturally connecting with the outer world and so it's like we say there's a doorway the Nierika which connects the inner heart, the soul you might say, with the outer world which is everything around us.

Adam White Excellent, well thank you for sharing a little bit about intuition and a central role in Huichol culture.

Brant Secunda You're welcome.