One of the senses that I think that has been suppressed since the introduction of western thinking is intuition. Intuition in all it’s forms, including tapping into loved ones far away.
Growing up clairsentience (gut feeling), claircognizance (knowing) and precognition (foreseeing future) were part of common conversation. They still exist but it is not as common in conversation, with the introduced western thinking expectation there is nothing beyond the physical world.
Inuit are deeply spiritual. We are sensitive to our surroundings and energies, so many are easily spooked. Look where we live: expansive quiet spaces, so much space shared with other humans or animals, it is wide open to be able to see long distances, to bring awareness to our size compared to the universe. It makes one more aware of our body and spirit, and how that relates to other being and our surroundings. Our cold makes us feel our breath and breathing, our life. It is an environment for intuitive making. All of nature is really, we’ve just largely disconnected with it.
Still now Inuit rely heavily on social intuition, the ability to understand body language, cues and emotions. Many of us do not mind silence among company. We are sensitive to sighs, hyperness and sudden movements. Much of our socializing is not small talk (in fact many of us can’t stand small talk) but enjoy having silence too, as we can read emotional cues. We have grown unaccostumed to long silence though. Much of our ‘communication’ is through reading people and giving cues. There is comfort in just sharing calm energy.
I remember a story of someone visiting an Elder – I think it was my late ittuq Aariaq who did not say much like my grandfather – having tea, sitting a while, not saying anything and leaving with no words exchanged.
There is also shared intuition where someone will sense something is off and ask others who confirm they sense the same thing. Usually a prediction in a death or bad incident but not always.
Observant intuition is our super power as Inuit (Indigenous people) attuned to their environment, especially avid hunters who are out on the land frequently. They will notice subtle cues and patterns in their surroundings and make judgements accordingly. This is why it is important hunters are given opportunity to be out as frequently as they can, because being attuned to the environment is so important and tapping into that subconscious observation and intuitiveness which allows good judgment in our arctic environment which can lead to danger quickly. It provides safety.
The last few years there have been incidences of me tapping into people at an intuitive state. I have shared this with a friend not wanting it to be too out there. It happened again yesterday while on a conference call hence this post, I’ll get back to this.
The one that touched my heart so deeply a few years back was when I was reading the book From the Ashes by Jessie Thistle. Normally I cannot read books that speak about addictions as it is triggering having lived as a teen with the chaos and unpredictability of a parent with trauma and addictions. For some reason I could read Jessie Thistle’s book and it gave me such deep sympathy for the sources of addictions. What ended up happening was, in the second last chapter I started to predict what he will say next. It was the clearest and longest intuitive tapping into someone I’ve ever experienced.
So yesterday I’m on a conference call with amazing people doing amazing work. Including with someone whose work and thinking I deeply respect – I have so many intellectual heroes and am so lucky I get to work with so many of them.
As the call develops we started to have a really good conversation, and being of one mind. After a while when I thought of something one of two people I felt connected to on the call (and know in person) would speak my thoughts aloud. Then I started to predict what one of them would say next. All I thought was ‘oh nice’.
I really felt in that moment that when we allow space to be ourselves as Inuit, doing work to make our society flourish all our senses including our inuition can guide our spirit for good judgment. However that comes through.
I was a bit hesitant to share this, as part of my Inuit spiritual belief is that over sharing can dissolve intent or energy. But felt it important to have conversation about working from a deeper intuitive level. As we have now been taught to distrust anything outside the physical world. So many of our efforts ‘at work’ are surface and can in fact be disempowering. Imagine, doing affirming work and tapping deep into ourselves and connecting with others there too. What power that is!