The Power of Intuition

detail - The Princess and the Pea - etching

I don't know about you, but I can't think of a time when I've followed my intuition and regretted it. On the contrary my major regrets have been when I have heard the nudging of intuition and not followed it. Caroline Myss describes this as an act of self-betrayal which can lead to deep suffering. 

I believe that as children we are often strongly connected to our intuitive voice, but a host of minor and major traumas, of teachers, parents and siblings telling us they know what we want better than we do, and our own squashing of our true self in order to gain acceptance and approval, all contribute to the distancing of intuition. Like the pea in the fairy tale the Princess and the Pea - the intuitive voice is still there, but it is hard to discern through the padding of all those mattresses.

This fairytale does not offer instruction on re-connecting to our intuition, it simply highlights that this is an essential skill one must have for the sacred conjunctio (from alchemy meaning the transformative union of unlike substances) or inner marriage to take place between our female and males aspects. The importance of this marriage can be found not only in the study of alchemy, but in the many, many fairytales that all focus on this same theme - finding the true princess/prince and being worthy of that partner. 

They are really not talking about one's husband or wife in the external world, they are talking about the internal marriage between the feminine element - the princess- who, clearly in touch with her intuition is able to hear soul guidance as to what must be done - and the masculine element who puts that guidance into action, who makes it manifest in the outer world. An excellent discussion of the sacred marriage and the roles of the inner female and male can be found in Clarissa Pinkola Este's book Women who run with the Wolves in the chapter called:Clear Water:Nourishing the Creative Life - The Man on the River. 

If the princess cannot hear her intuition, if she cannot feel the pea, then the instructions given to inner male are faulty, ill conceived, arising from some other source and not the true self and the realisation of these instructions will not bring about an internal sense of fulfillment. 

In the Princess and the Pea, the princess not only hears her intuition, she cannot avoid it, she is so sensitive to it - even through all those mattresses - she is kept awake and turned black and blue. It can take a lot of work to develop this degree of sensitivity to one's intuitive voice, but the resulting inner sense of empowerment and peace makes the work worth while. Re-connecting to our intuition is the essence of the journey of self-discovery.

The Princess and the Pea

The Princess and the Pea - etching

In many fairytales the king searches far and wide for a suitable girl to marry. In the Princess and the Pea, the Prince stays at home with mum, and it is she who tests each girl to discover whether she is a real princess and therefore fit to marry her son.

In an earlier post I talked about what fairytales had to teach us and suggested choosing your favourite tale and writing a short monologue from each character's point of view to discover why that story has resonance for you and what it guidance it can give.

Below are a few excerpts from my own exploration:

Rain - I am tears, I am sorrow, I am moistness. 

Mattresses - Come drift away on us sweet girl. Listen to our golden words singing your praises. Drift into dreams of glory. Float in luxurious comfort. Hide in the deep warmth and softness of our feathers.

Pea - I am  a niggle and a jiggle and an itch, a four in the morning irritation, a thought that won't go away. My job is to disturb your peace, get your attention, open a door into that closed mind of yours. I am the small voice of intuition and only a real princess could hear me through all those mattresses.

Mother - I may appear to be interfering in my son's affairs, but a wise mother knows what is essential and is fierce in her protection of her children. 

Prince - I am a young part of the psyche, not yet seasoned or wise. I might be distracted by a pretty face or soft words into marrying the wrong girl. It is right that the wise woman guide me in this.

Princess - Strange! I'm sure I remember knocking at this door before, perhaps many times, though I was younger and more carefree then. Now I am soaked to the bone and so weary I could weep.

All of these expressions are so rich especially if we consider, in the Jungian tradition,  that they are all aspects of the one psyche - but more of that in the next post. Have fun with your own fairytales.