Intuitive Foundation-Laying for 2018
On this 11th day of 2018, I'm still deep in intuitive foundation-laying mode, which is new to me. Well, the intuitive part isn't new to me. It's the wicked intense and supremely practical foundation-laying that's new to me. My Google Calendar is getting a major workout, as is Excel (content spreadsheets) and all the various "arms" of my business.
Intuitive Foundation-Laying for 2018 ~ An epic, actionable seven-step process to support an epic, actionable 2018. ~ Intuitive Ellen
While most of that intuitive foundation-laying appears to be business related, when I look at my super-full Google Calendar tasks list, there are threads (etheric cords?) to my personal life, too.
Someone asked me, before the turn of the new year, if I might create something constructive - tangible and actionable - to fully step into 2018. It finally struck me today that intuitive foundation-laying is that something.
We're bringing in the intuitive senses and divination tools for this practice. They give the practice more depth, plus it exercises our intuitive muscles.
Tools you'll want to consider:
♥ journal/notebook and pen (necessity), plus
♥ pendulum and/or
♥ divining rods and/or
♥ oracle or Tarot cards and/or
♥ runes and/or
♥ crystal ball
Basically, whatever divination tools resonate with your intuitive "yes," bring to the table.
Intuitive senses we're working with: All of them.
Here we go.
Intuitive Foundation-Laying for 2018
For our intuitive foundation-laying, we'll be using an audit process. "Audit" sounds technical, right? Very left brain. Maybe even daunting. Here's the thing: Auditing, in this frame, is about holding a space of compassionate objectivity.
Say it out loud with me: compassionate objectivity.
This isn't about bashing yourself. This is about being honest and loving as you identify and look at what needs it. Following that, the focus is regaining balance through intuitive action.
Step 1: Audit Your Eating and Drinking
We're starting our intuitive foundation-laying with a bang. Like it or not, what we eat and drink affects how we "perform," at all levels. Being aware of what we're filling our plates and glasses and stomachs (oh, my!) with is huge.
It's one thing to mindlessly eat our way through a bag of Cheetos while binge-watching The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. It's another thing to write in your journal that you ate an entire bag of Cheetos on Saturday night. Awareness.
Using your journal, write what you've consumed - food and drink - for the past week. Be as specific as your memory allows. Please include how much water you drink.
Now comes the fun part. 😉
If you have a pendulum, you'll please make a wheel chart on a blank page in your journal that includes the following items:
vegetables
fruits
whole grains
fish
meat
dairy
water
Dangling your pendulum at the center of the wheel, ask, "What is the most important item I need more of in my diet?"
After you thank your pendulum (I always thank my pendulum), make note of the item your pendulum chooses.
Then ask, "What is the next most important item I need more of in my diet?"
Make note of that item. Keep doing this until your pendulum doesn't respond.
Now ask, "Is there anything on this chart I need to eliminate from my diet?"
If "yes," dangle your pendulum at the center of the wheel and ask, "What do I need to eliminate from my diet?" Make note of the response in your journal, and repeat the question until the pendulum no longer responds.
As you're asking these questions, pay close attention to your senses. Are you tasting food in your mouth you haven't eaten today? Are you smelling food when there's no food around you to be smelled? That intuitive tasting is clairgustance, and the intuitive smelling is clairalience. You're receiving information to guide you using those intuitive abilities.
I'm smelling cinnamon right now, which tells me either I need more cinnamon in my diet ("no") or someone reading this does ("yes"). That could be helpful, right? If you're wondering if you're the person who needs more cinnamon, ask your pendulum.
If you have divining rods instead of a pendulum, write the items in a straight line across the long side of a piece of paper. Leave a little space between each item for clarity.
Holding your rods steady at the middle of the paper, ask the same questions. After thanking your rods (I thank them, too), make note of the items your rods choose until they don't respond. (You might try using just one rod for this.)
Pro Tip: If you have neither a pendulum nor divining rods, source your jewelry for a pendant necklace. Make sure the pendant has some weight to it so it can swing easily. (In a pinch, during a house clearing when my pendulum broke, I used a rosary with a sizeable cross.) Program your necklace as a pendulum by permitting it to dangle from two or three fingers, and asking it to show you its "yes" response. Note how it moves for a "yes" and thank it. Now, ask it to show you its "no" response. Note how it moves for a "no" and thank it. Congratulations! You have a pendulum.
Now, you have a clear and divinely-guided sense of what foods will best serve your body, right now. Adjust your intake accordingly. (This, by rights, is best done seasonally.)
If you were shown a food or foods that you need to eliminate, do some journaling about that. Do some meditating about that. Maybe talk to your doctor or nutritionist about that.
For me, I need more water. It's something I'm aware of because my skin is Winter-dry. I'll start by drinking one more refill of my water bottle and go from there. The only reason I don't need more of anything else is because I returned to vegan eating as of January 2. It feels good to report "I'm good" right now on the eating part.
Notice there's no instruction to audit foods that aren't whole. That's because we know - oh, yes, we do - we're best-served keeping our intake of sugar, salt, processed foods, and adult beverages to a minimum. That said...
One thing I'll add, considering my mouth suddenly tastes as though I just took a swig of some form of alcohol (clairgustance): If you are an alcohol drinker, audit that, too, with - all together, now - compassionate objectivity. Our spirit guides want us to "get real" about this particular intake.
They aren't saying we need full-on sobriety (unless you really need full-on sobriety). They're saying we need to practice more balance. And I'm feeling a burning in my stomach area now (clairsentience). There's an important - hear "vital" (clairaudience) - message here for one or more of you reading this. Your alcohol intake is adversely affecting your stomach lining. Be aware.
Step 2: Audit Your Sleep
Are you surprised that sleep has its own step in our intuitive foundation-laying process? I admit that I was a wee bit surprised. Then again, sleep is so important for our well-being. How could it not be included?
Looking back over the past week, make note of your approximate bedtime and waking time. Be sure you aren't including time spent in bed with a book, smartphone, tablet or TV. We're looking at lights out to lights on.
Figure out your average sleep time. Take me, for example:
♦ Wednesday, January 3: 6 hours, approx.
♦ Thursday, January 4: 7 hours, approx.
♦ Friday, January 5: 6 hours, approx.
♦ Saturday, January 6: 7 hours, approx.
♦ Sunday, January 7: 4 hours, approx.
♦ Monday, January 8: 7 hours, approx.
♦ Tuesday, January 8: 7 hours, approx.
6 + 7 + 6 + 7 + 4 + 7 + 7 = 44 hours ~ 7 into 44 = 6.28-ish hours per night.
When I ask my pendulum, "Is 6.28-ish hours of sleep enough for me," the answer is "No."
I then ask, "Is seven hours of sleep enough for me?" Answer: "No."
I then ask, "Is eight hours of sleep enough for me?" Answer: "Yes."
Now I know my current ideal amount of sleep is around eight hours. Since I wake up right about 6:30 am, I'll ideally be sleeping by 10:30 pm.
So... Is your average hours of sleep enough for you? If "yes," continue to step three. If "no," forge ahead.
The next question is, "How can I support myself to be sleeping by 10:30 pm?" I'm shown a clock displaying 10:00 (clairvoyance). I can take that as a visual clue that being in bed with lights out around 10:00 will help.
Here's the thing about that: Once I get into bed, it's a rarity for me to settle down quickly. I have a lot of nocturnal energy-related activity in my bedroom, which I'm mostly used to, and yet it can sometimes be disruptive (see Sunday, January 7). Also, my ever-inquisitive mind seems to kick into overdrive once my head's on the pillow.
I need more information than a suggested time for light's-out. My go-to are divination cards, and Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom oracle cards* is the intuitive choice. My card draw is from the Nurturance/Self-Care category: Perfection vs. Imperfection.
Intuitive Foundation-Laying: Sleep inquiry response card from Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom oracle cards ~ Intuitive Ellen
While I might prefer something less ambiguous, I can work with this. What's striking me about the card is the dissolving aspect of what is the left side of the woman's head. "It's her left brain," I hear (clairaudience).
So, how can I support my left brain to "dissolve" so I can get to sleep? I hear a sort of white noise which may be ocean waves - perhaps with light music underscoring it (clairaudience). That tells me I will likely benefit from listening to something without words - something soothing - for "dissolving" my left brain.
Pro Tip: When you're interpreting cards, don't rely solely on any keywords they may feature. Also, please (oh, please!) don't rely solely on whatever the little white book tells you. In the instance above, the keywords on the card - "Perfection vs. Imperfection" - had nothing to do with the response to my question. The imagery, however, had everything to do with the response.
Whatever comes up for you, please note it in your journal. This is both a way of keeping track and of reminding yourself where you started as you create more balance.
Step 3: Audit Your Money
Deep breath. We're keeping this step in our intuitive foundation-laying painless. We're also making it empowering. (All of this process is meant for empowerment.)
Monthly Money
In your journal, make a list of your monthly bills. Some will be a set amount (like a cable or phone bill), and others will be an average (like gas, oil, or groceries).
Tally them up so you have a base idea of what's going out money-wise.
Now, note what your monthly income is, and then subtract your expenses to have a base idea of what's left each month.
Are you practicing compassionate objectivity? If not, do what you need to center yourself in that space.
Next, separate your expenses into needs and wants. Fuel, rent/mortgage, car payment, phone, Internet and groceries definitely count as needs. Student loans and credit card bills will fit best under needs, too, along with massages and haircuts (self-care!). TV, Netflix, Hulu, YouTube TV, subscription boxes, etc., belong in the wants category.
Reach for your pendulum. The question is, "Are all the items on my wants list best for me?" If the answer is "yes," move on to yearly expenses. If the answer is "no," create a wheel chart in your journal from your wants list.
Dangling your pendulum in the middle of the chart, ask, "Which of these items isn't best for me?" Make note of the response in your journal. Ask the question again until the pendulum doesn't respond. Thank you, pendulum.
It may be that of those two subscription boxes, one isn't for you anymore. It may be that between Netflix and Hulu, one is more on-point for you than the other. It may be that because of Netflix, Hulu and YouTube TV, you're no longer served by cable or dish TV.
It's decision time. Knowing what you now know, are there expenses you'll release yourself from?
Yearly Money
Finally, take a look at yearly expenses such as property tax, business tax (if you're an entrepreneur), magazine subscriptions, Amazon Prime, etc. Make note of those fees in your journal. Tally them up. Multiply your monthly income *after* your monthly expenses by 12. From that figure, subtract your yearly expenses.
Compassionate objectivity. Empowerment.
Focus on the yearly expenses that aren't needs, such as magazine subscriptions and Amazon Prime (unless you need it for your business, of course). Ask your pendulum, "Are all of these items best for me?" If the answer is "yes," move on to step four. If the answer is "no," create a wheel chart in your journal from those items.
Dangling your pendulum in the middle of the chart, ask, "Which of these items isn't best for me?" Make note of the response in your journal. Ask the question again until the pendulum doesn't respond.
Consider the items deemed not best for you. Will you release them?
Note: If you're an entrepreneur, you're invited to conduct this audit on your business expenses.
Once you're complete, check in with yourself. How are you feeling? If you're noticing some heaviness in your body, where is it located, specifically? Place a hand over that area and breathe into the heaviness. Invite it to show or tell you why it's there. Note any impressions or insights in your journal and notice what else may come up.
Place a hand over that area again and invite in the light. Invite it to saturate the heaviness and to lighten it - maybe even release it. Repeat this exercise with all areas of heaviness.
Step 4: Audit Your Social Media, Including TV
This step in our intuitive foundation-laying practice is nearly identical to the sleep practice. What we're seeking is your approximate daily social media + TV (Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, too) viewing time to gain an average daily viewing time.
Compassionate objectivity, dearies. Compassionate objectivity.
Once determining our average, we'll begin with our pendulum. "Am I spending too much time viewing social media and TV?"
If the answer is "no," high-five. Move along to step five.
If the answer is "yes," create another wheel chart featuring all the aspects of social media for you. For me, for example, the wheel chart would include:
♠ Facebook
♠ Instagram
♠ YouTube
♠ Netflix
♠ Prime Video
♠ "Regular" TV
The next question is, "Which of these outlets do I spend too much time on?" Make note of the response.
Then ask, "Which of these other outlets do I spend too much time on?" Make note of the response and repeat the question until the pendulum doesn't respond.
For grins, I'll share that my "too much" items are Instagram and "regular" TV. I totally know about Instagram. #workingonit I totally know about TV, too, and blame football season. 😉 (So many championship games and wild card games! And... Okay, okay. I admit it. I watched both seasons of Hollywood Medium over the course of about 12 weeks.)
Now, here's the part where we need to practice good old-fashioned discernment and practicality. Knowing what we now know, both in terms of average time spent and those outlets we're too "invested" in, how do we address it?
For me, I need to break my knee-jerk habit of picking up my phone and navigating to Instagram and scrolling endlessly. Since it's specific to my phone usage, that really means I need to reach for something other than my phone, in those instances. My Kindle, perhaps? A journal? ("Yes" to a journal. Noted.)
Also for me, I need to be more mindful of the hours I get sucked into watching TV. I don't need to watch college football, especially when I'm really only interested in NFL football. (New England Patriots!) I need to make a plan around what to do instead.
Immediately, I'm shown that plan involves creating. That may mean I pull out my paints or my Sculpey, or add another chapter to the rom-com I'm writing, or maybe make blends and creams with essential oils, or maybe cook something. I have choices that will feed me at multiple levels.
Making use of divination cards is a great method for revealing replacement activities. As you're shuffling your cards, hold the intention you'll be shown an activity ideally suited for you.
Pro Tip: Don't have divination cards? Use bibliomancy. Choose a book or a magazine and, holding the same intention as above, either fan the pages until you feel a stopping point, or simply open to a page. Are you drawn to the left page or the right page? Once determined, read or view what's there and interpret your message.
Make note of cards drawn, or of the words or imagery you were guided to, in your journal. Add your feelings and insights - and anything else that comes up around them - in your journal.
Step 5: Audit Your Surroundings
I'm shown the cover to Magickal Housekeeping: Simple Charms and Practical Tips for Creating a Harmonious Home* (clairvoyance). I bought that book when it first came out. Two years ago? Three? I still haven't read it. That will change, soon.
So... Our surroundings. All the things. This will mark a big chunk of our intuitive foundation-laying.
First thing's first. We need to clear the space we're auditing.
For this practice, we'll begin by clearing the room we're working in. Let's say we start with our bedroom (a very good place to start). Standing in as close to the middle of the room as possible, ask your pendulum to clear the room. Be patient while your pendulum does its thing. When it's complete, it will display its "yes" response clearly.
Here's a video I was guided to make, showing you an energy clearing with a pendulum:
Thank you, pendulum. (My pendulum's name, currently, is Patience. It changes its name periodically, based on the energy motivating it. What's your pendulum's name?)
Note: When your pendulum begins swinging widely, or wildly, or at a high velocity, it's almost impossible to keep your hand still. As long as you know you aren't manipulating it yourself, it's all good. (I invite you to replicate the movement of your pendulum. Notice how much hand and arm movement is required to get it started, especially. Also notice how quickly the pendulum loses momentum.)
Once the energy clearing is complete, look around you. Just look. What stands out sharply? What diminishes? Notice if you feel drawn to a certain area or item or piece of furniture. Why might that be? How does the area feel? What does the item tell you? What does the piece of furniture need?
Record what you notice in your journal, and as you're doing that, be curious about what else may come up. Feel like trying some channeled writing to get more information? Do that. Or maybe you'll want to spend some time with your crystal ball and see what there is to see there.
I'm drawn to the area behind my bedroom door, where my full-length mirror is. I'm careful with that mirror, because I'm aware it's a portal - one that must remain open. (There's another portal in the room that isn't attached to any physical structure and also must remain open.) And - lol - the mirror needs a cleaning. I can do that. I will do that. There's something about the act of cleaning (the mirror doesn't look dirty) that will support its energetic function.
The item drawing me is an amethyst point on the sill of the East window. It feels like it needs charging, which means it must have work to do. It also needs moving - back to my desk.
I can tell my bed needs to be moved again soon; soon meaning, I'm told, March, for the Spring Equinox. Right now, the head of the bed is against the East wall. It feels like it will move so the head is in the Northeast corner. And in case you're wondering why I'm specifying the various directions, it's because I'm seeing a compass overlaying my bedroom. (That's a big compass.) The directions, apparently, are important.
That initial stage is about getting a feel for the room and its energy, and the energy of everything in it. Once that's accomplished, it will be helpful to assess the contents of drawers and closets. I hear, "Make room." The assessment, then, is for the purpose of determining what's needing to stay and what's needing to go. It's a great time of year to do that.
If you come across an item that you're wishy-washy about, ask your pendulum to guide you. The one question to ask: "Am I meant to keep this [item]?" Trust the answer.
With your bedroom complete, move on to other rooms until you've cleared, assessed and made room in all rooms. When that's complete, stand somewhere close to the middle of your home and ask your pendulum to clear the entire dwelling. Allow your pendulum to cycle through the clearing until it confirms completion with a "yes" response. If you wish, follow up with a nice smudging.
Pro Tip: Use this audit in your workspace, too. Shifting energy can help create shifts in the physical realm. Imagine neutralizing disharmony. Imagine opening to inspiration. Imagine finally getting that promotion. (Anything's possible.) If you work for someone else, be sure to keep it to your own office or cubicle space. We don't work with others' energy without their permission.
Step Six: Audit Your Intuitive Tools
Now that the material bits of life are audited through our intuitive foundation-laying, and our homes (and maybe our workspaces) are all clear and clean, it's time to take a look at our intuitive tools.
Intuitive Tools, Part 1
Use your journal to create a wheel chart of the tools you have. For me, the chart will include:
♥ pendulum
♥ divining rods
♥ Tarot cards
♥ oracle cards
♥ crystal ball
♥ runes
♥ crystal grid
♥ crystals
What do we need to know about these tools? We need to know if they're still serving our soul needs. The question for our pendulum is, "Do all these tools serve my soul needs?"
If "yes," scroll down to part two of this intuitive tools query. If "no," dangle your pendulum in the middle of the wheel chart and ask, "Which of these tools no longer serves my soul needs?" Make note of the response in your journal. Ask the question and record the response again until the pendulum no longer responds.
For me, the "no" responses point to oracle cards and runes. The runes I'm unsurprised about. The oracle cards I'm sort of surprised about. I have 16 decks of oracle cards. This tells me I no longer need all 16 decks. The next step for this audit is to make two wheel charts (eight decks for one, eight decks for the other) and pinpoint which decks are no longer serving me. I'll either sell them or pass them on to whoever I'm guided to.
Intuitive Tools, Part Two
The next thing we need to know is if we're meant to work *more* with any of our tools. Considering the tools that serve your needs, ask if you're meant to work more with any of them at this time.
If "no," move on to the step seven. If "yes," make either a wheel chart or, if only two items, a single-line chart with plenty of space between the items. Dangle your pendulum in the middle of the wheel chart or about two inches below the line chart. Ask, "which of these items am I meant to work more with?" Make note of the response. Ask the question again until the pendulum doesn't respond.
I'm meant to work more with my divining rods and crystal grid, so I'll pull some cards to discover how I'm meant to do that. I'm hearing already that the divining rods are meant for "Earth energy alignment." That will be interesting. 😊 I anticipate learning more about that.
If you're meant to work more with any of your tools, either draw cards or use bibliomancy or channeled writing to determine how that will happen.
Step 7: Audit Your Intuitive Abilities
For this final step of our intuitive foundation-laying for 2018, we're auditing our intuitive abilities.
What are our intuitive abilities? I've highlighted a number of them throughout this mammoth post. They are:
♦ clairalience ~ clear smelling
♦ clairaudience ~ clear hearing
♦ claircognizance ~ clear knowing
♦ clairgustance ~ clear tasting
♦ clairsentience ~ clear feeling
♦ clairvoyance ~ clear seeing
Make a wheel chart in your journal using the six intuitive abilities as your spokes. The first question for your pendulum is, "Do I have more than one primary intuitive ability?"
If the answer is "no," ask once, "Which is my primary intuitive ability?" Make note of the response in your journal. If the answer is "yes," ask the question until your pendulum no longer responds. (Oftentimes, I've noticed people will have two or three primary abilities.)
Next, ask, "Do I have secondary intuitive abilities?" If the answer is "no," move on to the final question below. If the answer is "yes," ask your pendulum, "Which is my secondary intuitive ability?" Make note of the response. Repeat the question until the pendulum no longer responds.
The final question for your pendulum is, "Am I meant to work more with any of my intuitive abilities?"
If the answer is "no," you are complete. If the answer is "yes," dangle your pendulum over the wheel chart again and ask, "Which of these abilities am I meant to work more with?" Make note of the response. Repeat the question until the pendulum no longer responds.
If you're meant to work more with any of your tools, either draw cards or use bibliomancy or channeled writing to determine how that will happen. You could also open a dialogue with your spirit guides and/or your ancestors for support.
We are complete! Peace. 🙏💖
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