What exactly IS intuition . . . and do women really have more of it?

No easy answers to either of those questions.

Psychologists define it as  knowing or understanding based directly on your experience of something without reasoning or application of your logical, analytical mind. Intuition is the work of your left brain . . . in essence, your "gut feelings", the voice of your inner guide.

Suzanne Falter-Barnes tells a story of instinctively disliking a woman she met in a business setting. She admits that the woman was very 'socially skilled', as if she had read every book, attended every course on 'how to make friends and influence people' -- lots of friendliness, eye contact, and seemingly genuine interest and empathy.  But still Suzanne didn't "feel right" about her and chose not to work with her.

Suzanne says it turns out she was right. "Soon afterwards I met many people who had worked with her and they confirmed she was a real backstabber. "

So what had happened? What was it that told Suzanne this woman was not to be trusted?

You guessed it: Intuition. We've all had similar experiences, sensing that something is 'not quite right' with what we are seeing or hearing and consequently not feeling comfortable making the decision that seems so logical but feels so 'wrong'.

So who's got the edge in terms of intuition . . . males or females?

Women have traditionally been credited with having the upper hand, especially when it comes to "reading nonverbal cues" and knowing which ones to trust.  One explanation is that women (as well as racial and ethnic minorities) quickly learn to read the signs and "trust their instincts" since their safety/security/success so often depends on how "the more powerful others" are going to behave towards them.

But a couple of recent studies have indicated that this may not be the case. (Men slightly "outperformed" women in evaluating the "genuineness" of smiles in one of the studies.) We'll just have to wait and see, I suppose.

Personally, I like to think this unexpected result was found because more men have learned to be more in touch with their feelings, aka their "feminine side", aka the advent of the "sensitive, new-age guy". Gotta' love 'em!

The ancients certainly recognized a gender difference favoring women's intuition. There are very few intuitive gods in any pantheon compared with numerous intuitive goddesses, who usually identified as the . . .

Moon Goddesses

Not only the 'officially designated goddesses of the moon' (such as Selene, Luna and Ix-Chel) but any goddess whose 'way of knowing' and type of wisdom can be described as "diffuse" or "conceptual, rather than factual"  merits designation as a moon goddess.  The Greek goddess Artemis) is a well-known example. The moon  in one of its phases usually appears in the symbols of those who were intuitive and instinctual.

How intuitive are you? Just for fun and to learn a bit more about the right/left sides of the brain:

Take the Moon Goddess Quiz!

If you get a message that the quiz has been closed, (reached the maximum number it can handle), use one of these links instead:

Moon Goddess Quiz IV
Moon Goddess Quiz  V
Moon Goddess Quiz  VII
Moon Goddess Quiz  II
or
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and your 'space' will be conserved for the next person. Thanks!

The Greek goddess Hecate is the quintessential example of the qualities of the "right-brained" intuitive.  

The right brain, with its intuitive power, receives inspiration and it envisions what could be and what should be. It serves to illuminate and to instruct and provide direction for the logical left brain.

The right brain has no sense of time. It is detached from personal involvement, and neither justifies nor condemns oneself or others. It is visionary . . . creative and expansive in its scope.

Hecate, Greek Goddess of the Crossroads

The Greek goddess Hecate was the only one of the ancient Titans allowed by Zeus to retain their authority once the Olympians seized control. He shared with Hecate, and only her, the awesome power of giving humanity anything she wished (or withholding it as she pleased).

In some of her legends she is invisible, perhaps only glimpsed as a light, a "will-o-the-wisp".  Perhaps it was this luminous quality that marked Hecate as a "moon goddess", for she seemed quite at home on the earth.

Hecate was known as the goddess of the crossroads (especially the 'Y' intersection) and helped travelers choose the 'right' path. She is often portrayed as having three heads because of her "timelessness", her ability to see into the past, present and future.

Hecate's made her home in the Underworld, the land of the sleeping and the dead (in archetypal terms, the spiritual world).  Her comfort with this world of spirits made her tolerant in the company of those most would shun out of fear or misunderstanding.

Though she lived in the intangible reality of this spiritual world, she also travelled comfortably in the world of tangible reality, the earth. 

Known for her tolerant nature, she was often accompanied on her travels by a following of 'ghosts' and other social outcasts. Hecate was revered (and feared) as the protectress of the oppressed, of 'misfits' and of those who  'lived on the fringes' of society.

Best known as the goddess of witchcraft, you can read more about this moon goddess at:
Myths of Hecate