I don’t think that women are more gifted than men in the area of intuition. But I do believe that more women are open to their intuition and interested in developing it than men are.
Here’s why:
- Only 15% of my Intuitive Awakening Course students are men, while 85% are women.
- Most of my fellow professional intuitives and healers are female (I only know of a small handful of male professional intuitives)
- I read for and work with many more women than I do men.
As for why women are more open to their intuition and more interested in it, I can’t say for sure. I wonder if openness to intuition could be an overall inherent tendency for women.
Interestingly, when I think back to the times when I have encountered real resistance to what I do, and negativity from people around that, it’s usually from men. But of course, this is all based only on my own experiences.
The Cultural Factor
I find that culture is a bigger factor than gender when it comes to openness to the spiritual world.
For example, in our Western society, there is a great focus on logic and reason – I find that the British in general are more closed to the idea of intuition than other cultures, such as Indian or Arab cultures.
I used to teach English to foreign students and I remember one afternoon, the topic I chose for discussion was: ‘have you ever seen a ghost?’ I had covered this topic with other classes before and usually there would be an equal number of people who believed in spiritual phenomena and people who didn’t.
I had a lot of Saudi Arabian males in my class and I was surprised to find that all of them believed in the spirit world, and in ghosts (which they called djinn in Arabic.) They were, of course, Muslim and when I did some research on this concept of ‘djinn’, I found that the Koran says the djinn are a race of spirit beings who exist on Earth alongside human beings. It seemed very similar to the concept of earthbound spirits or ghosts that I wrote about recently.
So, all of the men in my class were open to the idea of the paranormal and the spirit world, which was unexpected. They also seemed to accept that some people can contact the dead. It was unusual for me to encounter a whole roomful of people who believed in this. This showed me that openness to subjects such as the paranormal has a cultural element that doesn’t have to have a lot to do with gender.
But I digress a little with this point – I don’t know if those Saudi guys were more intuitive than the average western male, simply because they believed in ghosts.
Different Gifts
On an interesting side note, I have also found that men and women tend to have different gifts (note that there is not just one psychic ability or type of gift – there are several.)
In 2008 I did several hundred free mini readings for readers of this blog, where I used to tell readers what their primary and secondary intuitive gifts were, out of clairvoyance, clairaudience, clairsentience, and claircognizance.
The only difference between men and women that I noticed was that more men seemed to be claircognizant, which is interesting because claircognizance works like an ‘intellectual download’, where you just ‘know’ something or get a piece of information. So claircognizance is really a function of the intellect.
Those are my thoughts on this topic. What do you think – are women more intuitive than men?
I don’t think that men are less intuitive than woman, but I think they call it (for example) gut feeling instead of intuition. When you read about successful male business owners, it’s really a recurring theme to read about them trusting their gut feeling, etc. Or they just “knew” it was a good opportunity, and they were right. But often they don’t call this intuition.
The only difference is maybe how men and woman receive the information. I can certainly see that claircognizance would be higher in men than in woman.
And it could also be that woman just tend to be more open about those topics (again a cultural thing?), so it would seem they are more intuitive.
I don’t think women are more psychic, but I DO think we are raised to be more in touch with others emotionally and mentally, which means we are just naturally more open to receiving intuitive hits.
Off topic: that is a beautiful picture up at the top of this article. Where did you find it?
I do think that culture and society definitely has an impact. Even in esoteric circles the intuitive is associated with femininity, The moon is the female, while the sun is the male. Perhaps this is because the lack of understanding of the female in olden times, or just the increased focus on logical and ‘on-site’ evidence?
I am primary claircognizant, followed by clairaudient and clairvoyant. While intelligence and intellect have been theorized to be many things, I’d say that intelligence is more the degree of effectiveness different parts of the psyche working together. So does that mean men are more intelligent than women? Of course not. It’s just that the evolution of our cultures and societies – especially in the western part of the world – dictates that men are more focused on thought than, oh let’s say… feelings. There are exceptions, as always – however, these are just my two ører.
An interesting topic I’d love to discuss more! I’ll be back.
I found your comment that you’ve found more men to be claircognizant very interesting. I’m a woman, but I’ve worked in more male-dominated fields most of my life (analytical-type work), and my strongest intuitive gift is claircognizance.
I would say that, in my experience, women are more willing to admit they’re intuitive than men are, at least in the US. I think a lot of that is due to environment, upbringing, and how open a child’s family is to “alternative” experiences. I stopped talking about and working with my intuition for most of my younger life, until I left home as an adult, because of how it was NOT accepted in my immediate family (who were very fact- and hands-on-proof-oriented.)
It wasn’t until I was older and found groups of people who were open and accepting of the idea that everyone’s beliefs are valid and not “wrong”, that I began to open up again. If I’d stayed in my immediate family group, I probably wouldn’t have started developing my intuitive side.
Well of course females are more intuitive – it’s all about energetics :). Females manage their Chi/sexual energies better than males, which influence the way their chakras operate. That’s one thing.
Second thing is – males tend to think with third eye chakra, while females use mainly their heart chakra. A common misconception is that third eye is responsible for psychic abilities, this is not entirely true – in reality, when heart chakra is blocked, then intuitive thoughts will not be able to reach third eye anyway.
Males tend to think logically, females prefer to feel and “think” with emotions.
All of this makes females more intuitive naturally. But every guy, if he only wants, can work with his own energetics and develop powerful intuition, it’s not a problem.
Indeed, souls might have “gender” caused by multiple incarnations as male or female, but in case of the first and second etheric body (energy & astral bodies), male always have male energetics, and female always have female energetics, this is the Yin & Yang of the nature.
Of course, sometimes strong “soul gender” or energetic problems with cause differences and influence ones character. Thus, this might influence levels of intuition, but still, we’re talking about basic energetics – chakras and meridians.
Some really interesting responses to this question!
Peter – yes, you are right about men calling it something different. Not many men talk in terms of their intuition, but doesn’t mean they don’t use it.
Janet – yes, it is interesting! I find that strong analytical types with lots of left brain skills often do receive their intuitive information through claircognizance. I also find that artists or very creative types are often clairsentient or clairvoyant. It’s hard to generalize 100% but those are the trends I’ve noticed.
Sol – good point.
I wonder if it is possible to generalize about females and males and their energy? I say this because something I learned as part of my training was that all souls have a gender that they feel more comfortable with. Some have more female energy and others have more male energy. A soul that has more male energy may experience more male incarnations and be comfortable with those.
However, all souls are evolving towards a balance of the male and female. So a soul that is very comfortable with the masculine may have a female incarnation and still feel more comfortable with the masculine in that incarnation. Maybe that soul would be labelled a tomboy.
I don’t think this has much to do with sexuality, but it does mean that some souls may for example appear female but actually have way more masculine energy than some men do. And vice versa…
Interesting stuff.
In the U.S. it’s not encouraged for men to express their psychic skills. But with men like John Edwards and even the channel Daryl Anka things are changing.
I don’t think that sex has anything to do with having psychic ability, it’s more about the energy in the person.
To add to the culture debate consider Spartan women:
http://www.suite101.com/content/the-women-of-sparta-a6119
From that source check out this text:
In fact, Spartan women were notoriously known for their razor-sharp wit and outspoken natures. This freedom turned heads amongst the other Greeks poleis, and they, of course, disapproved greatly. But, if the physical health of a Spartan woman was seen as vital to her ability to produce strong Spartan boys, then her mental and intellectual might have been seen as just as important.
And there’s even this comparison between Athens and Sparta:
http://www.diffen.com/difference/Athens_vs_Sparta#Women_of_Athens_and_Sparta
And even in Israel women serve in the army: http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Israel+beyond+politics/Integration_women_in_IDF-March_2009
If you think about it, if women are naturally intuitive and feeling, how come they can serve in the military and take on male roles given the opportunity?
There are indeed souls that have strong male energy while being female, and vice versa. This does not automatically mean that the ‘opposite’ energy overpowers the other one, however.
Personally, I don’t think spirits have a ‘gender’ in the same way as we do (which would be obvious, really) but that they DO lean towards a specific energy. I also wonder if this is based on incarnations, but I feel it’s more likely that’s it is based on CHOICE.
Hi Anna! Funny enough, we are led to believe women have better intuition than men, but in my experience I find this not true. Cultures around the world had seers and healers of both sexes, but our current culture encourages women to network and be open, while encouraging men to be self-reliant. I have seen men be utterly spot-on with things that required some type of gut-hunch, but when asked, they think it is common sense. They don’t see their intuition the same way but I think it can work just as well as women’s senses.
However, I have also noticed that some men, particularly single men who are looking, are realizing if they can become open to the use of the words “intuition,” “psychic,” “spiritual” and other related words; they can attend events that are (amazing!) heavily attended by women!! Too bad most guys don’t know where “all the chicks are” right? Well, maybe some men are not psychic hehe! 🙂 So, perhaps when advertising your classes, you can raise the male enrollment using this information somehow! 😉
I agree with Peter – most men I have met refuse to even discuss anything with the label “intutive” or “psychic” but will readily tell you that their “gut” told them to go ahead with an idea. Go figure.
Interestingly, I have always related to men much better than women. They just get to the point faster and more clearly and that works for me. I chose two teachers for intutive development and both were men. I didn’t do it consciously, it just happened that they both hit me the right way. I was really surprised to find out that my own spiritual team is overwhelmingly female energy 🙂
Interesting article and comments. I’m not suprised that men were primarily claircognizant and that men from other cultures were more open to intuition and spirituality. I’ve also met some very intuitive men who just “knew things” but didn’t feel the need to explore it deeper. Wonder what the gender ratio is on remote viewing? The remote viewing training sites I’ve seen seem to be run by men and very targeted towards men.
Hmm. I don’t know if I’m more intuitive than a man, but I definitely believe in ghosts, since I live with one! He’s a nice ghost, though, and quite helpful. 🙂
I’m primarily clairvoyant, I think, possibly mixed with claircognizant, and I also have synesthesia, a non-paranormal condition which supports whatever intuitive skills I might have (and which IS more prevalent in females, for whatever reason).
Evolutionarily speaking, as the physically smaller gender, originally in charge of protection and nurturing of children (and thus of the species in general), maybe women have had to rely on their intuition rather than brute strength to avoid danger and survive. I’m sure that ability serves us well to this day, even though our options have expanded.
My husband is very intuitive, specially when it comes to his job and making big decisions for our family. Many things he’s “predicted” (he wouldn’t call it that of course) have come true. He’s also a very good judge of character and can read people and know their intentions way before anyone else does. He’s in sales so that quality makes him very successful in what he does.
He doesn’t call it intuition at all (he’s really supportive of what I do and believe in but he’s more of the “I need proof” kinda guy) , he calls it “common sense”. I say to him that if everyone had that kind of common sense, the world would be a very different place! 🙂
He’s a Piscis so I bet that has something to do with him being that way.
Regardless of what he calls “it” or not, I bet that sensitivity is what made me fall in love with him (among other things of course). And with him being that way, he keeps ME grounded, which is so important because I can get really out there sometimes! LOL
Great post, Anna!
What interesting points you’ve all brought up here.
The one that really stands out is the fact that men tend not to speak in terms of intuition or psychic ability and might not relate to those terms. I wondered why I didn’t work with many men, and I think that is perhaps why.
I agree with the majority of the commenters in regards to it may be a social programming thing. Most women in our society are raised to be more in tune with their emotions, but spiritually, you notice we all have the same energy centers and they all work the same. This is what connects us all as one. When we choose to let go of all these social patterns and are free to experience and let go of pinned up emotions, these gifts that are so natural in many intuitive women would probably be the same for many men as well. Interesting discussion 😉
I think the biggest reason why women tend to be more open to intuition is that more women are in touch with their feelings and not afraid to express emotion. Men, on the other hand, ignore those feelings and suppress a lot of emotion.
Flowing with the intuition is the feminine aspect of life. That’s why women are 10x more intuitive than men by nature. I’m an exception, of course.
Brenda,
I’m an American dad and believe I would much rather see my sons having the ability to see dead people as opposed to being gay 🙂
Anna : This is a really interesting place! As to the Gender Thing, two points. First, I have discovered that male people are just as psychic as anyone else, and are less likely to pretend to be psychic (at least with me) than the women I have met. I feel it’s important to use my abilities to help and assist others – it is an agreement I made with the world of spirit and I am following through, being willing to go out on a limb and possibly encounter resistance, but I do pick my conversations carefully. So my POV is biased by my personal values about this wonderful truth that is available to all, and that could color how I perceive male psychic expression. Secondly, socialization within the family is very important, I mean by the same gender parent. How many American Dads would secretly prefer the idea of gay son over the idea of one “who sees dead people”? people who fear disapproval by their social groups are going to be more reluctant to “go public” with their abilities. In conclusion – Gender doesn’t matter. Males are just as psychic. Family beliefs and treatment of psychic abilities & self expression within the family matters a lot, and can shut a budding psychic down for years if not a lifetime if family members are disapproving or rejecting of it. Thanks for reading!
If you take the supernatural concept out of the equation for just a minute, intuition would define accurately making the quick decisions on subjects or situations sometimes without all the facts. I believe that’s what you refer to as “claircognizance”. In this scenario, men are way more intuitive since their intuition is more based on past experiences. Women’s intuition is more based on emotions, which are often misleading. If you are sitting in a movie theater watching a scary movie and you jump out of your seat when the killer makes his move, you are making a decision to jump based on emotions, even though logically, there’s no real threat. because women are more in tune with their emotions they tend to be the ones tearing into the guy’s arm with their nails while the guy is just smiling at the scene. In that case, the guy’s intuition to stay seated is more accurate because it’s based in logic. Most situations fit that analogy.
Now, if we bring the supernatural back into the equation, I would not be an expert in the subject, except for that I still rather use my “experience” based intuition to make decisions about life in combination with my faith in God and my salvation through Jesus Christ.
That said, it doesn’t mean I am against emotion. Logic is great in that it promotes deep thought and troubleshooting, but just as powerful, emotions promote ACTION.