Customer Reviews

Intuitive Power: Your Natural Resource

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According to author and lecturer Caroline Myss, intuition is the ability to take multiple systems of knowledge and make sense of them. Courage is a fundamental part to becoming intuitive-that is, taking action based on the guidance that's received. In fact, Myss says that the intuitive journey is actually the journey to self-esteem.

Intuitive Power - Your Natural Resource is a live Caroline Myss workshop on 4 CD's. The theme of this workshop is the role of intuition, the nature of intuitive blocks, the importance of personal power and self-esteem in hearing and following intuitive guidance, and the interior spiritual life.

CD 1

In CD 1, Myss discusses intuition "American style" which includes the myth that we deserved to have our life "settled"-that the Mystery of who we are is something to be "solved" rather than lived. She also discusses the propensity of many American spiritual seekers to elevate roles like "healers", believing they are of utmost importance to the Divine-and how they sneer at "blue collar intuition" and grounded occupations (like accountant, for example) believing they're "just jobs" that don't require intuition. She goes on to dispel the myth that intuitive skill and the spiritual life are one in the same, as well as the idea that intuition is a "gift"-only bestowed on those who are "good" or "light enough candles". Survival intuition, that of the first three chakras, is *not* spiritual guidance or higher revelation; in fact, this type of intuition has a private agenda built into it.

CD 2

Funny stories are peppered throughout this workshop, and Myss begins Disc 2 telling the story of a Puella Eternis who was in her 30's and still lived with her Dad. Myss was discussing how God can "wipe you out" in an instant-with or without a prayer of surrender-and mentioned that as she was teaching this concept at another workshop, especially as it related to finances, this Puella called out "God can't take my money because my Dad put it in a Trust Fund." The audience roars with laughter at this story. Myss also goes on to admit that she has changed positions of a lot of things as she read and learned more, including the concept that illness is caused by negativity. Stating that she "doesn't buy it anymore" and that it's a "cruel thought", she acknowledges that while negativity can enhance illness, it doesn't cause it. Myss also says that she will teach, until the day she disincarnates, that the great skill or power in the human experience is not love, but self-esteem.

CD 3

Myss explains how our physical body is the "caboose" on the intuitive train-it is not the engine. She explains how we are always doing "energetic readings" by scanning people-an unconscious process that lights up all 7 of the chakras. As she has taught in other workshops, Myss talks about how meeting new people is often an exercise in gathering energetic data-starting with 1st chakra questions like "Where are you from?", and working upwards to the other chakras. For example, a 2nd chakra question would be "Are you married? Do you have any kids?" Unfortunately, as often happens in her workshops, Myss doesn't go beyond the first three chakras so we can see how questions from the upper chakras would be posed to others, and what exactly we're assessing from chakras 4-7.

Myss explains why some people and situations "gut" us, how to call our power back and how to keep energetically "contained"-which is the object of health. She goes on to tell a story about reaming out a guy when she was on safari in South Africa, despite "knowing better". She begins taking questions from audience members and someone asks Myss if she felt it was her place to do so. "No, I wanted it to be my place", she answers.

CD 4

Myss continues to take questions from the audience about her safari experience. She is asked: "Is it better to do that (chew someone out) then hold it in?" She answers: "You know, what I did is never the better path. He didn't come there to be attacked by me." Myss admonishes the audience on the importance of being hard-core honest with themselves and ask "What is the real reason I want to do what I'm about to do? What's the real reason I want to say _____?" Myss also talks about the back-lash of the new age, saying we've become "hyper-responsible" about illness and the concept of creating your own reality. She argues that we influence our reality, but we don't create it.

She is then asked about archetypes and if they are actual entities. She replies that they are, in fact, actual entities and that a person can be "possessed" by an archetype by identifying so strongly with an archetypal patterns that the pattern becomes more real than they are. According to Myss, comments like "That's just the way I am" are important clues to your archetypal patterns, and she correlates Julie Andrews' real life nun archetype and Andrew's role in The Sound of Music.

In Conclusion

Myss spends a good amount of time hitting home the importance of self-esteem and the containment of our personal power in this audio workshop. I have the Myss CD workshop series on Self Esteem, but haven't listened to it yet, so I don't know how much of this information from this series is covered in that workshop. If you're unfamiliar with chakras, you'd likely be lost, so I'd recommend reading Anatomy of the Spirit by Myss first. For hard-core Myss fans, there's really not a whole lot new here in my opinion, but as is always the case with her workshops, there are many nuggets wisdom that bear repeating and will help you on your journey towards becoming more conscious.

Janet Boyer, author of The Back in Time Tarot Book: Picture the Past, Experience the Cards, Understand the Present (coming Fall 2008 from Hampton Roads Publishing)

If you already have an extensive Caroline Myss library, no need to purchase this-it's nothing you haven't heard before. I was hoping that it would draw in some new insights into harnessing intuitive powers but it was more of a lecture on "getting over yourself" and a loose interpretation on recognizing your wake-up calls. Although you got to love Caroline Myss-she really de-mystifies mystical journeys and grounds you squarely back into our real world with our real dramas. Do I feel more intuitive as a result of listening to the workshop?-Good question, can't really answer that. The results aren't in yet.

On these CDs, Caroline shares some of her insights related to intuitive power. She states that what prevents people from becoming more aware of their intuitive impulses is fear and suggests that the more self-esteem and the more courage you have the greater intuitive power will you have. She has tossed love out the window, perhaps because to her love represents loss of power, and insists that intuitive power doesn't come from love, it comes from self-esteem.

To me and to just about anyone else I've ever come across who teaches how to access intuition, intuitive power does come from love (for that matter even self-esteem comes out of love), but then again perhaps the rest of us view love through a different lens than Caroline. For me, love is a unifying power, that which removes barriers and opens doors, that which dissolves fear and that which says "The Infinite Spirit in me honors the (same) Infinite Spirit in you". Through love we see our holiness (wholeness which arises out of one Spirit expressing through everyone and everything) reflected in another. Love is that which recognizes the omnipresence of that which is divine, immortal, and infinite. For me, love has nothing to do with fulfilling the whims of another or losing power, instead, it has everything to do with expressing your true spiritual nature - allowing the Spiritual Self to shine through you.

Caroline further suggests that you can increase your intuitive awareness by paying attention to the energy within you and all around you. This is a good point and at the same time, if you are already familiar with exercising your intuitive awareness, this may not be new to you.

While I do appreciate some of Caroline's insights, I find her language and attitude off-putting at time, and personally find authors like Sonia Choquette, Judith Orloff, Penney Pierce, Laura Alden Kamm, John Holland, and others, more palatable.

Comparing and Contrasting two Audio CDs: "Why People Don't Heal," 1994 and "Intuitive Power: Your Natural Resource," 2004.

Each audio CD is not a reading from that book, but a talk given by Myss to an audience that ranges over the major points, with her spontaneous ideas. The version of "Why People Don't Heal" that I received included 2 CDs, the first one is a lecture of her main points, and the second is her replies to written questions the audience has submitted. "Intuitive Power: Your Natural Resource," was four CDs, which actually say little about archetypes but allow her time to describe what she has discovered since retiring from being a medical intuitive and moving full time into educating medical intuitives.

About the sarcasm: In both audiobooks, Myss' voice has a sarcastic tone. Why People Don't Heal was recorded about ten years earlier than "Intuitive Power: Your Natural Resource"__ and to me her tone sounds even more sarcastic in the later recording. Her sarcasm is toward her readers/listeners, which I will describe later in my review. Sarcasm doesn't bother me too much, and I must say, her sense of comic timing has greatly improved from the earlier recording. In "Intuitive Power: Your Natural Resource"_, the audience actually laughs when she makes fun of them, and I found myself laughing out loud a few times myself. Laughing about oneself can be healing... however, by the end of both audio books, I felt heavy and tired from the nonstop barrage of criticism.

Sarcasm Not Present in her Books:
My wife and I have both read Caroline Myss' books and we did not sense sarcasm in the written books. We were both surprised to discover the degree of sarcasm in her recorded voice. I did not tell my wife about the sarcasm before I gave her the CDs. After she listened she shyly told me that she had to turn off the CDs because the sarcasm became too much for her. She too, said she was surprised to hear the sarcasm because she had not noticed any sarcasm while reading the books. Perhaps she has good editors?

Career Shift:
In "Why People Don't Heal," Caroline Myss describes herself as a Medical Intuitive. During this phase of her life, apparently her experience is in working with individuals, often by phone, to see into their bodies and diagnosing the causes of their disease. In "Intuitive Power: Your Natural Resource", she had retired from working with individuals and now worked with groups teaching them how to be medically intuitive.

Her main points:
"Why we don't heal," The reason people don't heal is that they invest too much of their personal energy in past issues that they refuse to release. For example, if a person holds a grudge upon someone from their past, they must continually re-invest their personal energy in that grudge, daily, hourly. That energy that is going into a past event diverts valuable energy that could be here now helping them heal. The person sends away the very healing energy that could be healing them. There are many ways that people send their energy away, and the generalization for all of these is "attachments." There is plenty of healing energy within each person to heal them, if only they weren't sending this energy out of themselves on non-productive missions. One reason that people hold on to attachments is that it gives them an excuse to avoid challenges in their life, she says. The cure for all attachments, according to Myss, is Forgiveness, and Calling Back Your Energy. This seems do-able.

In "Intuitive Power: Your Natural Resource" there seem to be two main points. The first is very similar to the message above, but now applied to students of intuition. The book title could have been, "Why Students of Intuition Don't Feel Intuitive," which would have tied it into her earlier book. Students of intuition don't feel intuitive because they fear what would happen if they were to be remarkably intuitive. Again people rob their own connections or awareness by blocking their own powers. But students of intuition are not worrying about the past, now their concern is the future. Students of intuition state that they fear how they will be received by others, but Myss says that is a ruse. What they really fear is that they will be far more aware of the issues in their own lives, and they will no longer be able to hide from their own games. Myss says the most common reason people want to be more intuitive is so that they may control their lives to have a perfect relationship, a healing career that always supplies them with adequate money, and comfort. She is very critical of these motives. Myss says being more intuitive has the opposite effect; it forces a person to deal with her own issues, exposes her to unforseen challenges, one of which is to commit to a life of serving by divine guidance. Myss mentions that Catholic Nuns must do the following exercise as preparation to entering the service: every day for ninety days, ask yourself, "What is more important to me than divine guidance?" On the fourth CD she also mentions that intuitive healers should be cautious about demons, that the Catholic practice of exorcsism and demonology was her graduate project in college. As the CD set progresses, Myss more and more hammers home her point that to be intuitive requires turning one's life inside out, committing to embracing the unknown and unconditionally submitting to divine guidance. I see her point, but I think it could be stated much differently. She seems to have grown annoyed by humans who do not progress as fast as she does. She seems to be "guilting" us into picking up the pace. I think there are many gradations of becoming more intuitive and any person can find their personal balance. You may become a little more intuitive by embracing a little more unknown or releasing a little bit of control, and then you may be at balance for you, for now. I think it is important to feel safe as you progress. Listening to this CD is scary and I think it would discourage more people than it encourages. The main point I disagree with is that Myss presents intuition as "all or nothing," but I see it more naturally embraced in safe, do-able steps, at a pace that feels right...as Obama says, "change we can life with." Myss seems to be impatient for more change now.

My recommendations:
I recommend "Why People Don't Heal" highest rating for both people with healing issues and for students of intuition. While some sarcasm is present, it is easier to dismiss. "Intuitive Power: Your Natural Resource" would work for a student of intuition who is fearless and unaffected by the teacher's impatience and sarcasm (or perhaps it stands as a historic study of how a teacher changes over time).

Whichever audio lecture you choose, keep in mind that the path to healing or to intuition, while challenging, is a lot more fun and more rewarding than these CDs reveal.

As always Caroline Myss is direct, to the point and informative. I have recommended this to friends and family and will continue to do so.