Tip to Strengthen Your Intuition: Use Your Imagination

This episode is a discussion on some methods for strengthening intuition and magick, emphasizing the importance of imagination and joy. We look into the power of story, myth, and imagination as a way to strengthen intuition, while also acknowledging the need for surrender and trust into the unknown.

Sacred play, joy, story, and dream allow us to build the form and image of something in our minds and hearts, which we then can use when deciphering our intuitive voices. Finally, we discuss the role between spirit and ego, the fear of being wrong, and reflecting without judgment, or toxic positivity.

I am not the only one who is speaking to this topic. Check out:
Lindasy Mack: Tarot for the Wild Soul podcast (She goes into this narrative in her typical gorgeous fashion on multiple episodes)
Making Magick: Weaving Together the Everyday and the Extradordinary by Brianna Saussy

Links to my platform:
My Links

Transcript

Ashlie McDiarmid: 0:00

Hello, dear spirit. Thank you so much for tuning in and listening to the Tea and Tombstones podcast. Tea and tombstones is a platform dedicated to helping you root into nourishment through the haunted darkness and claim your hallowed ground through tarot education, spell crafting, spiritual coaching, and nature-based services. My name is Ashlie, the creator and wolf child of Tea and Tombstones, and I welcome you here. In today's episode, I want to discuss one of the methods that I use to strengthen my intuition and my magick. I mentioned in the previous episode that I have been feeling really into my inner dragon energy. Lately, I've been reading the Inheritance series by Christopher Paolini. I finished the third book yesterday, and oh my gosh, it was... the most one of the most beautiful endings I think I've ever read. It was gorgeous. I've been working with my dragon decks, and I, I just really wanted to take this episode to kind of bring all of that dragon energy together, because it does have a purpose for me personally. All of this dragon energy is helping me tap into the realm of the fantastical, the mythical, and the imaginative. I am filling my being with joy and wonder, and that is what strengthens me. That is what strengthens and enhances and supports my intuitive and magickal nature. So grab your tea, or whatever you are sipping on, and let's get started. I am keeping it simple today with some Earl Gray. Before I begin discussing the themes of fantastical creatures, magick, mythological folklore, and stories in using imagination to strengthen intuition, I would first like to state that everybody is intuitive, and there are many different ways to enhance, support, and nourish your intuitive practice, your magikal practice, your spiritual practice. This is only one of my methods. I fully believe that this practice of combining support and enhancement and nourishment for my intuition, my magick, my being, my spiritual self, this is really a layering of the physical and the supernatural, or the natural and the supernatural. It's really about combining many different methods and layering those methods so that the whole encompassing spectrum and space that is held within is supportive, enhancing and nourishing to the many different faculties within. In a later episode, I would like to discuss some more of these methods that I mentioned, things like self-love, being in nature, crystals, herbs. All of these things are part of that layering process that I mentione, but I would just like to state that this is just one of my methods, and if this is a method that you know doesn't work for you, or after you hear this podcast and you try it and it doesn't sit within you the way that it sits within me, that's totally okay. There is no one way to strengthen intuition, I guess is what I'm trying to say, and because there is no one method for strengthening intuition, it is going to be a process that requires trial and reflection, and more importantly, and this is where I tend to struggle, again something I would like to talk about in a later podcast episode is leaning into the space of seemingly positive or supportive practices that actually bring up a lot of shadow work and bring up a lot of triggers within and for me, that is the theme of surrender and trust. When talking about intuition, we need to be willing to surrender and trust our intuition because if we are doubting our intuition, if we are not surrendering to it and fighting it every step of the way, it's not going to be a beneficial practice, because, as I said, it's going to bring up a lot of triggers. It's going to bring up a lot of distrust and a lot of shadowwork. If you feel that way in your intuitive or spiritual practice, please know that you are not alone. I fully believe that many people perhaps feel this way. I know that I certainly feel this way. I am not a very trusting person by nature. I just tend to be pretty guarded. I keep things pretty close to the chest. I do wear my heart on my sleeve, I shouldn't say that I'm guarded like that. I do try to live in a way that is authentic, and I do wear my heart on my sleeve, but I just don't tend to be someone that invites a bunch of people or a bunch of energies into my space on a regular basis, and even with myself, there are times where I struggle trusting myself in this process, and I struggle trusting that the energies within and the energies without have my best interest at heart and that things are going to work out and things are going to be okay. I have a hard time surrendering. As I said, I'm a pretty guarded person, so when I'm being asked to surrender, I immediately feel defensive when it comes to intuition. If you feel this way, it's taken me a lot of energy to really get into a space that I can lean into those themes of surrender and trust more. I'm not perfect, obviously, and there are days that are better than others, but intuition really is about trial and reflection, seeing what works for you, and reflecting on what sensations occurred in the body and in the spirit within that trial and also surrendering to the process, letting things sit and be still and have inaction and trust be an active action, having co-creation be something that is encouraging, and part of that nourishing intuition is not"Oh" ...it's not like you step into it once, and then you're good to go. It is a lifelong process. Like I said, if you are feeling sometimes that stepping into your intuition is triggering, it brings up a lot of doubt, a lot of distrust, or you feel your defensive coping mechanisms start to build those walls around you, you are not alone. I hope that through this podcast and later episodes that it helps to create a little bit more of a reflective narrative so that you can find what works for you, whether it is this theme of using imagination and play and fantastical creatures and mythological folklore and stories or any other method, I hope that this series of intuition helps open the narrative for you to find ways to be reflective, to surrender and trust into the process.,One theme that will be consistent throughout this episode and future episodes in relation to enhancing, supporting and nourishing your intuitive, magickal, spiritual, or physical practice is the theme of turning into and leaning into what fills you with joy, what fills your space with levity, with wonder, with play, with peace, with tending, with nurturing. All of these themes I find are to be the most helpful for me in relation to moving away from distrust and doubt and shadow, not to say that we should be bypassing those themes because it is vital that we get away from the theme of positivity all the time, that's a very toxic narrative, but I have found that by leaning into things that fill me with joy, that fill me with play and with wonder and with levity, that I'm able to step into my intuitive practice and into my intuitive processing within in a way that is much more about love and tending than about doubt and distrust. What allows you to deepen yourself as... as a.... as a person, as a spiritual being, what allows you to deepen your spaces, internally and externally, and why? Because those things are already part of the supportive process. They are already kind of baked into the cake, if you will, of nurturing and tending to ourselves in a way that uplifts us and soothes us through the hard work and through the hard times. By deepening our space, by soothing ourselves, by giving ourselves and offering to ourselves, we are therefore offering out into the world that which we are taking in. We're giving out to the world through intuition, through magick, through our spiritual practice, joy, levity, peace, wonder, tending, nurturing, soothing. These are all themes that are going to support and nourish us, which allows us to then give and offer that out to the world, to others, to community, to the earth in a way that is again supportive and nourishing, which is really where I find intuition to be, at the crossroads, how intuition is part of what is taken in and received and then offered back out. It's this processing cycle of interconnection and webbing ourselves into the framework of what is within us and around us at all times. That is what allows us to be intuitive, is that we are taking in the subtle, subconscious information and the subtle, unseen energies that are around us at all times. By providing ourselves with activities and methods that support and nourish play and joy and love and nurturing, we are filling the energy around us, and therefore the intuitive processing to take that in and then to give it back out in a way that is of deeper knowing, of internal and external truth, is of wisdom and is of guidance, so that we can be interconnected into the process itself. When we allow ourselves to be interconnected into the process of receiving in, taking in information and allowing that information to alter us, to move us, to shift us into deeper knowing and into deeper truth, this is where the heart of intuition and magic come together because it is your spirit. It is your core essence speaking to you. This is why I use imagination, fantasy, and mythological folk tales, and folklore, and stories as a method for deepening, supporting, and nourishing my intuitive processing and my magickal practices. These fill me with, as I mentioned before, a sense of joy and levity. This joy and this levity is what allows me to encourage and tap into that which may seem otherworldly or beyond. When I am reading stories like Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, His Dark Materials, the Inheritance Cycle, the Unicorn Chronicles, when I'm reading these kinds of stories and I'm being filled with joy and levity in the connection of these fantastical worlds and all of the beings and creatures that are in these fantastical worlds, and by initiating and engaging into the process of the, the arc of the story, by moving through all of the trials and the bliss and the blessings and the grief and the trauma, I am connecting to what is already within me. These otherworldly themes, these otherworldly focuses, become part of what makes this space here and now magickal, beautiful, and full of magic, full of blessing, full of prospect and possibility. It also allows me to not feel that I have to work to connect to something that is otherworldly. I don't have to work to connect what is beyond the realm of the here and now and the strictly physical. By reading stories like, like the ones that I mentioned, I'm allowing the space to hold these otherworldly narratives, and that, in turn, allows me to create the shape, and the outline, and the sustenance of these stories through my imagination. I have to fill out the narrative with images, with my own imagination, with my own internal pictures and movement. And that's exactly what's needed for intuition. We are not always fully aware of that which stimulates or signals our intuition to speak to us, to present itself, to make itself known. Sometimes, it is almost like a reflex, where we just immediately have this download from beyond, and we don't know what triggered it, what signaled it to to speak up, to speak through the other chatter and the other noise within, but it comes through, and it comes in for us, and by allowing us to create shapes and outlines and structures and sustenance from seemingly out of nowhere and from what is beyond, what is not fully recognizable in the here and now in the physical, that is exactly what our intuition needs. On the flip side of that when we are in active participation with our intuition, when we are intentionally stepping into the space of welcoming and inviting our intuition in more deeply, we are connecting to the beyond and to the otherworldly again, or I should say, we are connecting to the multitude of layers of energies that are here and present, but escape conscious reasoning. When we step into a place of initiating our intuition to come in, we are embracing that layering of energies that escape us in our ego brain. We are escaping the need to have linear structure define things Again, this is where imagination comes back in because it requires our active participation to make it real. It requires us to, to lean into these stories with a sense of belief, with a sense of connection. All stories are like that, but with imagination what at least, what fills me so much with this endearing continuing investment and seeking of these kinds of stories, these kinds of tales and energies and themes and focuses is that this otherworldly transcends me into a place that is beyond the here and now. It allows me to be expansive and embracing of magick in a way that my linear ego brain wants to have full definition of, full control over, and my imagination and the play that is within me doesn't need that, it just embraces and accepts it as it is. That's the same with intuition. Through active participation and initiating our intuition to speak more deeply to us in more subtle ways, we are engaging ourself to be expansive and embracing of the deeper knowledge of this layering of energies that our ego wants to have full control over, to have a say over this linear narrative and confine it into a space that makes, excuse the people upstairs. Um, the ego wants to have a way to explain these imaginative, playful, intuitive forms in linear fashion, and intuition doesn't work like that. It doesn't need to work like that, and to limit intuition and imagination to just strictly linear, conscientious understanding is to dampen it and force it into conformity, which intuition and imagination wholeheartedly reject. otherworldlOne key theme with both imagination and intuition, which is why I use my imagination as a way to deepen my intuition is that there is this sense of belonging with both themes. When I am reading these kinds of stories, when I'm allowing these narratives to take up space within me, there's a sense of belonging that comes with these stories, that I belong in this world, that I belong to, that I belong to these energies, that I am a part of these other worldly, fantastical places, and that I can map myself into, into the geography of these places, because I belong there. I am not settling for what is only here and now in the physical world that I can, can form to, and touch with my ego brain. I belong to the space that is beyond. I belong to the space that is magickal, that is fantastical, that is mythical. It's the same with intuition. When I am in a space of active participation with my intuition, I belong. I belong to this world, and I belong to the deepening energies that this world has to offer that is rejected by ego brain. In short, I guess what I'm trying to say is that I belong to this deeper core essence of myself, which is to say that I belong to the deeper core essence of this space within me, around me, which means that I belong to the deeper energies of this world that houses me, that mothers me, that allows me to thrive and survive and be in all places that I can exist in at all times. So, this active participation, this ability to create a sense of belonging in the transcendence, in the otherworldly, in the imaginative conjuring of what is not here and now allows us to forge and follow our intuition with more trust now, as I mentioned at the beginning, that surrender and trust is important with intuition, but it's also very hard, because our ego brain constantly wants to step in and take control and to define and confine the narrative into linear form and linear thought. It wants to make sense of things in a way that is comfortable and appeasing to our sensory insights and into our surroundings. When we use these methods and when we forge this sense of belonging, it can help to forge that sense of trust that if we can call in the images and the visuals of a story like the Inheritance Cycle that has dragons and magicians and elves, we can transfer that sense of belonging and that visual imagery into our intuitive practice, into our magical practice, into our spiritual practice, because we can trust that even though we may not be able to see the effects immediately, even though we may not be able to define how we have gained this deeper wisdom, or how we conjure a spell or craft our in... our intuition or our intention to bring us back that which we seek, we can trust that, even if it's not immediate, or even if it's not immediate or apparent that it is there. It allows us to embrace that which is not immediate here-and-now in a way that deepens the connection of ourself to our surroundings, or of ourselves to our intention, when we reject intuition, when our spirit is trying to speak into us and shift our core essence into more intention, into more force of will, but we don't have that sense of belonging. And so therefore we reject the narrative. We reject the process that doesn't diminish our intuition. Our intuition is there with us at all times, but it can diminish the connection and the sense of trust that we have. This is why it is a hard process at times, and why I encourage you, if you're struggling in any way with your intuition, your intuitive practice, your intuitive processing and to decipher if it's fear or intuition, or if it's ego or intuition, speaking to you to step into a method that brings a sense of joy and a sense of levity that allows you to create a sense of belonging within yourself, start within and allow that crafting and that Conjuring of belonging to deepen the connection through trust and through surrender to the intuitive processing because that will stimulate your intuition to grow stronger, at least it has for me. As I said, you may have other methods, and I encourage you to find and to use all the other methods that you have. For me, this has been one of the strongest though, when I can create a sense of belonging with a narrative like The Hobbit, I can create a sense of trust that when I am in a space of spell crafting or intuitive processing, that I can trust that my spirit is moving to where it is being directed to go. That it is shifting, and that core essence is moving into a space that is expansive and beyond but still within the narrative of belonging, even if it's not immediate or apparent, even if it's not comfortable. Sometimes intuition and deepening that processing requires that we sit in some discomfort, but if we create a sense of belonging to coincide with us through these processes, we can lean into that sense of belonging that discomfort is part of the process, and therefore discomfort belongs as well because it is its own teacher. Through the active participation of co-creating this sense of belonging with the different methods that we use, the different practices that we use to deepen support and nourish our intuition is really all about co-creating that space that our spirit thrives on co-creation, because when we invite in the intuition, the intuitive processing, to forge a better sense of belonging, or a deeper sense of belonging, and to allow this deeper internal truth within to hold itself even when it cannot be immediately defined or deciphered, we are allowing the spirit to thrive and to then forge our being in a space that moves from a more rooted space. We move from a space of more reflective narratives. We move from a space of more continuous cycling, we can see what cycles are within us. We're not necessarily reacting to something, but responding to something, because we're coming from a more rooted space. This is hard because the ego also thrives on co-creation, and this is where sometimes it can be hard to decipher, is this my ego brain talking to me, or is this my spirit talking to me? Is this my core essence trying to shift me into aligning with this sense of belonging? The ego can thrive on co-creation, but it thrives on that co-creation through, as I mentioned, that linear narrative that defining, deciphering, compartmentalizing and confining things into this linear one foot in front of the other, this kind of straight and narrow path that at times can seem helpful, and at times it is. Sometimes we do just need to put our blinders on, so to speak, and not let distraction sweep up, sweep us away from that which we're trying to do, but ego wants the spaces to be convenient. It wants there to be this overt, immediate clarity because that's what creates this understanding that the ego can co-create with when we understand something immediately or apparently, the ego is in its comfort zone. The spirit is also seeking convenience, but its convenience more about alignment and belonging. It's more about starting within instead of creating the external environment to feed the internal environment. Spirit is more about creating a sense of belonging within that radically shifts and alters the external environment to be part of that co-creative process. My goodness, excuse me. I'm so sorry. So as I was saying so, I hope that makes sense. I and I want this to be a narrative that is easy to understand, but sometimes it's a little hard to put these into words. So I really, I really hope that that made sense for you. Intuition comes from a place of imagination because it allows our spirit to, to step away from practical or probable. This is huge between ego and spirit. Ego wants things to be practical, wants things to be probable because when things are probable, we have a better when things are probable, we have a better space to hold that we have a more clear space to hold that which is probable. We have a more direct line to that which is probable or to that which we can use to get to the probable. Spirit is not about probability or practicality. It is about belonging. It is about alignment. It is about intention, sometimes our... sometimes our intention and our intuition and our sense of belonging doesn't feel practical or probable in the space of the here and now. This is exactly why I turned into from a very, very young age, I turned to books, into mythology, and to folklore, and to stories, because I felt like I didn't belong with many of my peers. I felt like I didn't belong in the world around me because I was different, because I didn't see or perceive things the way that some of my peers did, or even my family did. This theme, I'm sure is one that is resonating for a lot of you. I know that I'm probably speaking to the choir for many of you, but the sense of belonging and this, or the sense of disbelonging within the environment around me, within the practical and the probable around me, is what led me to find these stories that made me feel like I belong, that made me feel like there was something greater and bigger out there that I belong to, that there was something magickal and fantastical, that that space was open for me and inviting me in. This invitation into the fantastical, into the magical, into the intuitive and into the spiritual is what has allowed me to deepen my intuition as an adult, and it is... it is also what allows me to see and to know that what is in my intuition, within my spirit, and within my magick is not meant to be practical or probable, because if it was practical or probable, it would not be the journey that it is. The journey that it is within to deepen the connection to myself, to allow my core essence to speak to me and move me and guide me through this, through this revelation of knowing, through this processing of awareness and this deepening of self is a journey, and it's so, it's so beautiful. It is such a beautiful journey. At times, it's really, really hard. At times I want things to be clear. I want things to be probable. I want to know that it is my intuition speaking to me, and not fear or ego and and I want to know that I am protected and provided for, even in the times that I feel like I not, and other times I just feel so blessed into the gratitude of each moment that my intuition helps to deepen. So it's it's a journey. It's a process, and by stepping into my imagination and into this, into this field of play, where I can conjure and move the improbable to the probable, where I can move the fantastical into a space of practical. That is what truly helps me deepen that core essence shift. That is what allows me to deepen this deeper rooted seat of self, so that I can be in all spaces that I'm in. I can be in the cycle and be in the spiral that I'm in and trust and know that even if I don't immediately know I know that I will know. I know that what I put out is coming back to me. Sometimes that's not for the good as I said, we're all humans. We all make mistakes. And so sometimes, when I have something come back to me that is not of my higher or better interest, that's not part of with an internal truth, I can reflect on that and say, "Yeah, that trial didn't, that trial didn't go the way I wanted it to, because I wanted it to do this, and I didn't, and I allowed fear to shift me here, or I allowed this person to influence the choice that I made, or I reacted instead of responded." The point that I want to end on is that intuition is a journey. It's a journey into deeper, more expansive knowing of the self and of the self, into acting on that sense of knowing and that seat of self from a rooted place that is in alignment with your belonging, that is in alignment with all that is inviting you in, and asking you to sit within the space and have presence and to have a place. I think that is where I wish to end it today, partially because the workers above me are being quiet, and I want to get this out today, so I want to make sure that I'm ending when they're silent and not ending on a bunch of banging. I would like to just state, though, that some other information that you can look to, I am not the only narrative, I am not the only one putting out this kind of narrative. I highly, highly recommend you listen to Lindsay Mack's Tarot for the wild soul podcast. Her podcast and just her teachings have really helped deepen my intuitive practice as well. The way that she speaks to things is obviously gorgeous. I've mentioned her podcast multiple times, and that's because it has been of great help to me. I am also reading a book called Making Magic by Brianna Saussy. I think that's how you say her last name. This book has really been helpful, because it's all about making magick in a space that is calling in imagination, is calling in memory, is calling in story and truth. So, I definitely recommend looking to those two narratives. There are more narratives out there. I would like to thank you to my Spooks patrons, Lisa Zimmerman, Bobbie McDiarmid, you can hear my kitty in the background.(laughing) This is why I have to end this podcast. Thank you to my spooks patrons, Lisa Zimmerman, Bobbie McDiarmid and Deb Guy, your continued support for Tea and Tombstones is so humbling, and it allows me to continue to grow in so many different ways. So my cat says, thank you too. If you liked this podcast, please consider leaving honest review or an honest rating. Please subscribe to the podcast and share with a friend or with someone you know that might find this podcast to be of benefit that really helps get the narrative of Tea and Tombstones out to more people. If you would like to work with me, I do offer tarot readings. I offer spiritual guidance and wellness coaching. So, if you would like to inquire about my services and my offerings, please head to teaandtombstones.com where you can see the all the services that I offer, as well as the physical products that are up on the store currently, if you would like to reach out to me before inquiring. Or if you would like to inquire about my services and reach out to me beforehand to make sure that you and I are a good fit, or if just have any questions or comments beforehand, please email me at tantombstones@gmail.com Take care. Thank you so much, and I will connect with you on the next episode of tea and tombstones. Bye, bye.