Developing Your Intuition:
A Personal Spiritual Growth Journey

Introduction

Developing your intuition can be fun, exciting, and in some cases even awe-inspiring. It should be a natural process that enables individuals to live a more fulfilled, creative life in tune with the mission they have set for themselves for this lifetime.

The Edgar Cayce readings affirm the importance and naturalness of this process; however, the readings also add another dimension to the process. They emphasize again and again that personal spiritual growth and development needs to accompany the development of intuitive abilities in order for an individual to maximize the most healthy, creative use of these abilities. This is not a suggestion that is repeated only once or twice in the readings; this thought is repeated over and over. For some individuals Cayce said the focus on spiritual development should even be given higher priority than the focus on intuitive growth -- for without the spiritual dimension the readings warn that the individual will become lost in self-glorification or the temptations of the earth plane.

Therefore, as an integral part of your studies in the Edgar Cayce Institute for Intuitive Studies, this course is required early on in the curriculum. The purpose is to introduce you to this important relationship between spiritual growth and intuitive development so you may continue to focus on it as you develop your intuitive gifts to their fullest.

Completing this course does not mean you have completed working on your spiritual growth. Completing this course means that hopefully you have found a personal spiritual discipline that you can work with, modifying when necessary, for the rest of your life.

Components of the Course:

The course is divided into two parts. Part I consists of reading materials that introduce you to the concepts in the Edgar Cayce readings that focus on the relationship between spiritual growth and intuitive development. Part II asks you to design a personal spiritual discipline and work with it for six months.

Part I

1) Excerpts from chapters one and two of Harmon Bro’s book Edgar Cayce on Religion and Psychic Experience with study questions. These selected pages are reproduced in this study guide in Section I "Excerpts from Religion and Psychic Experience." Study questions which are designed to help you focus on the relevant information can be found on the first pages of this section.

2) Excerpts from the Edgar Cayce readings. These selections focus on the various issues found in the readings discussing the relationship between spiritual development and the development of intuition. They are in Section II "Excerpts from the Edgar Cayce readings." A few study questions follow the readings’ excerpts.

3) Understand and Develop Your ESP by Mark Thurston. A copy of this book is included in the front pocket of the study guide. Study questions for the book are in the guide in Section III "Study Questions for Understand and Develop Your ESP."

4) Cassette tape of panel discussion. The course also includes a ninety-minute cassette tape of a panel of professional psychics and others who have taken courses from the Institute discussing the relationship between spiritual development and intuitive development. This cassette is found in the cassette holder in the front of the study guide. Introductory comments and guides to listening to the tape are in Section IV "Study Guide for Panel Discussion on Cassette Tape."

Part II

1) Selecting and working with a Spiritual Discipline. Found in Section V "Selecting a Personal Spiritual Discipline" are the steps for selecting your spiritual discipline and weekly log sheets for recording your experiences for six months.

Final Telephone Call. When you have completed all components of the course, you can contact the Institute at 757-428-3588 ext. 7192 or e-mail mwoods@are-cayce.com to arrange for your final 30 minute phone call discussion with an Institute staff member. This phone call replaces the need for written papers or final exams. Throughout the course in the study questions and elsewhere you will find information that tells you the type of information you will discuss as part of this phone conversation. The purpose of the call is twofold: 1) to be sure you have an understanding of what the Edgar Cayce readings mean when they emphasize the relationship between spiritual development and intuitive development and 2) to discuss your overall experience with the spiritual discipline you selected.

Time Frame for the Course

Probably one of the questions you have now is why the six month requirement for the spiritual discipline before you can complete the course. The Institute’s response can be summarized in this way. The Edgar Cayce approach to developing and working with intuitive abilities is a life-long process. The courses you are taking as part of your Institute work are meant to be stepping stones along the way. Finishing a course or obtaining a certificate does not mean you have come to the end of the process. It simply means you have taken another step in a growth process that will continue for the rest of your life.

Part of the message of this process is patience and not hurrying through some experiences which should not be rushed. Experiencing and reflecting on how spiritual disciplines impact intuitive development is one of those processes that we at the Institute feel should not be rushed. So we are asking you to take the time for this part of the course.

However, we also invite you to participate in other courses during that six-month time frame. There is no reason why you can not attend another conference at the A.R.E., attend an A.R.E. field conference, or sign up for another home study correspondence course while you are participating in Part II of this course. In fact the added experience of working on your intuitive development in other ways will probably intensify the results you are receiving from your spiritual discipline.

How to Begin:

You can begin as soon as you receive these materials. You do not have to complete the elements in Part I in the order they are listed even though there is a flow to the process by doing them in this order. Feel free to let your intuition guide you as decide how to proceed through Part I.

The course will ask you to be thinking about your spiritual discipline as you move through the components of Part I; therefore, we ask you to wait until you have completed all the material in Part I before finalizing your spiritual discipline. While you may know now some of the elements that will be part of this discipline, we hope you will discover some new ideas from your work with Part I that you can incorporate into this discipline.

Books and Audio-Visual Materials:

All the written and audio-visual materials you need to complete the course are included in the study guide. Therefore, you do not need to order any additional books.

You may supplement this material by reading more in the area of spiritual growth, intuitive development, and the Edgar Cayce readings. The Institute will be happy to provide you with more ideas if you would like them, but you are under no obligation to do so for this course.

Questions:

If you have questions about some aspect of the course, feel free to call the Institute at 757-428-3588 ext. 7192 or e-mail us at mwoods@are-cayce.com

Have Fun