We have all heard a woman say, "I just knew in my gut...", be it in reference to something that could have a reasonable amount of evidence to lead
her to the conclusion (a cheating spouse), or something more unlikely (waking up in the night just -knowing- her child is ill). I have had very real,
very scary moments of intuition, and I feel as though they are increasing in frequency.
So here we arrive at this thread. Is this a psychic ability bestowed upon women only? Is this an ability men are just less aware of in themselves? Is
this just the way we are programmed to protect our children? I want to open a conversation to talk about symptoms of your own intuitive moments, as
well as theories on the origins of what I consider to be an amazing ability.
-Where does this ability to read emotions come from? It has been suggested that it is mainly due to social power. Women, who have been historically
lower in social power, spend more time observing and scrutinizing those in power (i.e., men, and powerful women), and become more attuned to their
nonverbal cues. It has also been suggested that evolutionary elements have been involved, selecting females who have better ability to decode the
needs of children and potential mates.-
Source
One opinion on this phenomenon is that women are simply better at picking up on verbal and non-verbal cues. I can understand this argument, and it
certainly explains several of my own encounters with "knowing". However, it does not explain them all.
One night I was working, in my teenage years, as a cashier at a local store. A guy came through my line whom I had never met before. The minute I
laid eyes on him I broke out into a cold sweat. I remember this DISTINCTLY before I knew anything about him, because I remember placing my hand on the
phone to the office as he approached my register.
The guy was a little older than me, not by much. He was dressed non-descript, a white t-shirt and jeans. He was purchasing a drink, it was late, I
was almost off work. I remember looking into his eyes and making small talk, a knot growing in my stomach.
He left, I relaxed, got my drawer together and went to get in the car with a friend who was picking me up. There he was. Talking to my friend. Come
to find out they knew each other, and we ended up spending a lot of time together in the same group of friends.
A string of very terrible crimes started happening in my town. The entire town was freaking out because they could not catch the person involved.
Every time I got close to this guy, I felt the need to run. I explained this to friends who insisted on hanging out with him and they brushed me off
(mostly males). One day I woke up and I knew. He committed these crimes.
I went to a payphone to make an anonymous call to the police department. I got them on the phone and told them. They had arrested him only an hour
before I called. These crimes were so heinous I honestly cannot believe that I am still alive today to tell this story, it was one of the scariest
things that has ever happened to me. This was the first day I truely believed in intuition.
I believe that this falls somewhere outside of just being able to read someone. In the moment I laid eyes on this man I was entirely present, I knew
with every cell in my body that there was something incredibly wrong with him. No one could convince me otherwise, everyone thought I was insane. He
insisted on keeping a weapon with him, not unusual for people in this area. When I was around I would leave or demand he leave it in his vehicle or
far out of reach. This one demand may have saved my life or the life of one of my friends.
Another notable experience is one night I woke in a cold sweat. My son was very young and my body was already in fight or flight mode. I ran to his
room, knowing something was wrong. I placed my hand on his forehead and he was burning up. His temperature was 104.6 and shortly we were on the way to
the hospital.
One more that I will share, as not to make this too long, involved another night getting off of work. I worked the bar and closed every night for a
fine dining restaurant. Every night for four I walked out of that parking lot and to my car without fear of worry of being attacked, as this was an
incredibly safe part of town. I was training for management position also, so sometimes it was just me and the manager for several hours after
closing.
I always left out the front door, the manager turned all the lights and left out the back. This night, he went to lock the door behind me and I
became sick to my stomach. I asked him to walk me out, he said sure they were supposed to do that anyway they just didn't. He was walking a bit
behind me, very slowly just to have me in eyesight. I turned the corner and a man came out from behind the bushes. "Hey girl, get your --- over
here" he started to run towards me. I screamed my managers name right as he turned the corner and saw the man. My manager started running for me full
speed. This scared the guy who was hiding in the bushes and he ran away.
These are experiences that I believe are unexplainable if you look at intuition from an evolutionary perspective based on the ability to notice body
language and verbal cues. Of course there are many other experiences I have had that are easily explained by the evolutionary outlook. What
experiences have you had that strike you as entirely psychic?
Another point I would like to touch on is the connection that seems to form when women talk to each other. There is an underlying unspoken dialogue
that happens that is kind of hard for me to explain. For instance, if I am having coffee with a friend and hear a conversation going on a few tables
down that is interesting, I merely make eye contact with the woman, slowly draw my eyes over to the direction of the conversation.
A silence will come between us and naturally we will both listen. As our attention comes back to each other, a silent exchange of "Can you believe
they just said that?" happens, and we continue with verbal conversation. We may not actually verbalize this until weeks later, by saying "Do you
remember what that guy said at the coffee shop?".
Alternatively in this experience with a man, if I make the same small movements, he gets confused. He asks loudly "Who? What?" and it takes a bit
to explain what I am trying to get across.
On the flip side...
A friend and I were swimming close to the shore of a lake, naked. This lake is always incredibly secluded, no one is ever there, and we have done
this a thousand times. Suddenly we looked at each other and started swimming out...far out...in a panic. No words spoken, no cue for fear, just
overcome with a feeling to run (swim) away. Not five minutes later a man appeared out of the woods.
He watched us for a while as we tread water uncomfortably far from land. Together we yelled, at the same time "Can we help you!?" he asked if we
were camping nearby. Together we yelled out a campsite we knew was far down the opposite side of the lake from where we were parked. The man lingered
a bit and then disappeared back into the woods. In a mad dash we got our stuff, threw it in our kayak and hauled butt back to where our car was
parked.
I can't explain this any other way than our intuition syncing up for a split