I’ve been reading Tarot since 1968, and one of the first questions I heard was “Can you teach me to develop my own psychic ability?” I really didn’t know for sure, so I decided to do a little experiment of my own. I advertised for a group of volunteers, and soon had 24 people to work with. In the end, 100% of my volunteers were able to tap into their ability and I wrote a course called “Foundations of Magic” which I still teach to this day.

Today, thanks to the internet (and Al Gore, if you believe him… ) I can offer this challenge at large, so lets get this party started!

HOW IT WORKS
I will be posting these challenges once or twice a month by posting a picture of an individual for your scrutiny. Two weeks after each challenge, I will reveal the identity and characteristics of the person you will be trying to connect with, and you might be very surprised at just how accurate your intuition might be.

First, make yourself comfortable, consciously relax every muscle in your body, starting with your feet and finishing on the top of your head. While you are doing this, take long, slow complete breaths filling up your lungs to capacity and slowly emptying.

Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Empty your mind of all thoughts and just focus on your natural rhythm slowing down until it becomes peaceful and even. Then, look at the picture below and quietly wait to see what random thoughts come into your head.

If you recognize the subject of the experiment, please do NOT reveal his or her identity. If you do, I will be forced to create a new page called “Spoilers and Other Assholes” where I will publicly shame you, and believe me - I do not suffer spoilers gladly.

HERE IS YOUR FIRST SUBJECT:

First, look deeply into her eyes and try to connect with her; who she was, where she grew up, etc. Then, scrutinize each of her features as well as the background of the photo. Is there something about the set of her mouth, angle of her head, or any other detail of her portrait that jumps out at you? Make note of those things, and proceed.

Ask yourself the following questions:
1) What type of person is she?
2) Do you like her? Why/why not?
3) What do you think her life was like?
4) Did she have any noteworthy accomplishments?
5) What kind of things happened to her during her lifetime?
6) What was her death like?

I do know a lot about this person, and will be able to verify and offer validation to any impressions you may get, so take a chance and see what you come up with!

A COUPLE OF TIPS:
1) When we see a face, we often instantly arrive at a character judgement about the person. Then, the logical mind kicks in. Screw the logical mind - this challenge is about intuition, and often our first impressions are right on the money. Make note of how your initial impression compares with what your logical mind presents you with.

2) Don’t worry if nothing comes to you at first. You might be too conscious about being accurate and your conscious mind will overshadow your gut impressions. If that’s the case, come back to this exercise later and try again

3) Ask the photo questions (no, really - I’m serious!). See if you can “hear” or imagine any answers and make note of them to compare with the results when they’re published.

4) If you like, print the image and carry it with you to review at a different location. I often go to my ‘secret spot’ in Riverside Park when I need to meditate, and that would be a perfect place to conduct this challenge. Another alternative is to put it under your pillow before you go to sleep, and see if she shows up in your dreams. The unconscious mind has a funny (sometimes downright hilarious) way of serving us, and you never know when its going to pipe up.

Approach this challenge playfully - after all, its only an experiment and at this juncture it would be a good idea to establish your start point so you can compare your progress to future challenges. And please remember my warning to spoilers - I can be a bitch from hell if you cross me

I’ll post results on April 10th, and follow up with another Intuitive Challenge shortly afterward.

Have fun with this, and I can’t wait to see what you come up with!