The Intuitive Quest for Knowing

by Myron Gantt

It is possible that we are closer to understanding the meaning of life than we realize. If intuition can be thought of as a tool of inner knowing through access to the unconscious, does it somehow connect us with the essential principles of life? A psychological study of the spiritualist Eileen Garrett sheds light on this idea.

Eileen Garrett sough a psychic reading from Edgar Cayce about the spirit guides who spoke through her. During that reading, Mr. Cayce suggested that since these guides were "in her experience," that she should do an investigation herself.

In response to this advice, Mrs. Garrett asked Dr. Ira Progoff, a Jungian psychotherapist, to investigate them. He presents his findings in his book Image of an Oracle (Helix Press).

Dr. Progoff concludes that Mrs. Garrett's voices are not disincarnate entities; neither can they be considered as fragments of her personality. Rather, they are dramatizations: personifications of levels of consciousness on the continuum from Man to God. Her psyche attaches names to the portrayals in order to better deal with them.

One entity, Ouvani, is presented as a doorkeeper. Its functions are to protect Mrs. Garrett's consciousness from damaging influence and to direct inquires to the appropriate levels. Ouvani, then, is a guardian of the mind, its purpose entirely personal.

Deeper, Tahoteh, is a symbolic representation of The Logos - the relationship of one's self to all past human existence. Less personal, it defines human existence with eternity.

Ramah, is the most fundamental of Mrs. Garrett's personifications. At the esoteric level Ramah is the "life energy of the universe"; in religious terms, the "Breath" of God. Entirely non-personal, it is the objective level of the psyche where, according to Dr. Progoff, "truths are truths in eternal, universal form." The author describes Ramah as an "Oracle Dynatype". As such, it "acts as a channel of meaning for others" and also enhances one's own understanding of their relationship with the universe.

Mrs. Garrett's voices then represent way-points on the individual's spiritual pathway. They are the principles of meaning which provide inspiration and insight during the intuitive quest for knowing. Intuition, in seeking the meaning of human existence, is brought face to face with the universe's attempt to provide that meaning. In other words, wisdom rises to meet the quest. The Oracle Dynatype provides the facility for a deepening dialogue between the two.

The intuitive process becomes a matter of evolving: of experiencing the trials of striving along the pathway and the danger of having cherished beliefs destroyed and valued ideals altered. It becomes a rebirth; a putting of the rational self aside so as to better experience the life energy at the elemental basis of all things.

Intuitively, our yearning is to close the distance between ourselves and God. But there are indications, Dr. Progoff writes, "...that the psyche of the individual...is a reflection of larger transpersonal principles...."; in other words, the God we are seeking is the God we are.


Current Update as of June 7, 2002 Inspired by The Edgar Cayce Institute for Intuitive Studies Edited by HENRY REED, Ph.D.