I love the movie, You’ve Got Mail with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks. I love how the two seemingly opposite main characters end up together, the coziness and warmth in the home and store of Kathleen Kelly, (Meg Ryan) the film’s soundtrack, and most importantly, I love how the story is told around books. During an impassioned speech to save her children’s book store, “Kathleen Kelly” states, “When you read a book as a child, it becomes a part of your identity in a way that no other reading in your whole life does.” That line resonated within me; it was part of my truth. I still remember my childhood favorites, Gus and the Baby Ghost, Miss Suzy and her troublesome toy soldiers, and The Boxcar Children. It wasn’t just the wonderful stories that transported me to another world, or the little embedded lessons, it was the sound of my mother’s rhythmic voice that made the characters come alive and punctuate the importance of their actions. What I was reading became part of who I am.
Not only did what I read influence me, the art of reading and the books I read, became one of my great loves. They have kept me company through the ups and downs, have acted as wonderful escapes to new realities and imaginative creatures, and have served as deep transformational introspections that have molded my beliefs and values. While I don’t have an opportunity to read picture books very often anymore, I do continue to love books, and what the authors who write the books, bring to my life. So that leaves me here, on my blog, as a reader, writing about books.
Throughout the healing process, reading other ideas and insights have a way of filling in the gaps and serving as a platform from which we can jump. One of these books, The Intuitive Dance by Atherton Drenth (a medical intuitive and energy practitioner) has done just that. It’s a book for intuitives and empaths, full of thoughtful treasures and ideas to put to work.
While there is a lot of information present in this book, like thoughts on ego and the different forms of intuition...are you Claircognizant? Clairvoyant? Clairaudient? Clairsentience? All four?...I love the exercises that are immediately applicable in honing our intuition. I really love the everyday practicality of some of the author’s recommendations as well. For example, the author dedicates a section to getting good sleep. Well, by now, we have all heard about the importance of getting good sleep, but there are some interesting gems included, such as, the spiritual aspect of dreaming and astral travel (the soul traveling to different planes). The author also gives her readers techniques on how to manage dreaming so that we are not exhausted when we wake up.
Being well rested and using techniques to protect and know our energy is important for our growth, so is being able to shift our thoughts. The author recognizes that using positive affirmations and changing how one thinks are two important steps in building our intuitive gifts, but the trick is maintaining this no matter what comes at us. She calls these “blips.” She writes, “We are what we create. Our thoughts become our reality. If you change your reality, there is going to be a change. The ego is resistant to change. This means that it will struggle with any obstacle that it sees as threatening the status quo.” The author goes on to remind us that our thoughts are either based in love or fear. Fear keeps us circling while love moves us forward.
In addition to how to use one’s intuition, Drenth gives techniques as to how to protect our energy using light and the “cloak of privacy.” She also gives explanations as to how and why being around certain people (energy tyrants) can drain our energy and what to do about it through strong boundaries. While she examines the different types of energy tyranny, a specific one, the bully, is explained as one who inflicts abuse on another and uses “emotional blackmail” as a part of emotional abuse. She writes, “Emotional blackmail is any statement or accusation that undermines, challenges, or dismisses your feelings as being untrue and not believable...Any statement said to you that makes you feel guilty or forces you to back down or override what you know to be true for you is evidence that you are giving away your power...Whatever the other person says-no matter how they direct it to you, try to make it all about you, try to blame you, or try to threaten you-they are only talking about themselves!’’ This is important for empaths dealing with narcissists and abusive situations as emotional blackmail can make one feel as though they deserve it or that they are going “crazy.”
Drenth completes her book with the emphasis on energy and how it relates to everything within and around us. Because of this, maintaining the energy of our spaces is equally important to the energy within us. She writes, “‘Everything in the universe responses to the same spiritual laws, one of which is called the Principle of Correspondence: ‘As above, so below: so above’” (Intiaites, 1912). Along with the physical space clearing, forgiveness is also a type of clearing important for us to do. While face to face forgiveness isn’t always possible, working with the spiritual essence of someone is and Drenth includes an exercise to help us with this.
In conclusion, this book is a basic “how to” when it comes to working with intuitiveness, using assistance from the spiritual realm, and how to understand the intricacies of energy. Her helpful guidance puts us back in charge when it comes to standing within our power and embracing the gift of intuition.
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