Clients occasionally ask if it’s possible to shut off their abilities completely. This question often comes from highly intuitive or sensitive people who are overwhelmed by the intensity and frequency of sensory input. A friend once memorably described it as walking around in the world as a raw nerve.
I feel compassion for the people who ask – they’re in pain and struggling under the burden of their gifts. But I don’t recommend shutting off our abilities completely because it comes at a price.
Our gifts are divine and meant to enhance our life. Intuition and the ability to sense energy are aspects of the soul. To deny part of our expression creates the equivalent of soul loss. Without this natural connection, we lose a sense of purpose, joy, or creativity.
Rather than shutting off our abilities, it’s much healthier if we learn to manage them. It’s possible to be connected to our intuition and still feel safe and protected.
A helping spirit called a gatekeeper can assist us with healthy boundaries around our intuition and sensitivity. Just like we can have a direct connection with a special angel or power animal, we can develop a relationship with a gatekeeper.
The tradition of working with a gatekeeper grew out of the spiritualist movement of the late 1800s. For mediums, it is difficult and exhausting to be in the world with the ability to see, hear, and sense spirit beings without some form of protection. In their training, many mediums learn to work with a gatekeeper.
A gatekeeper is similar to a bouncer at a nightclub who controls access and keeps the queue to get inside orderly. For intuitives, our gatekeeper can help us turn our gifts off and on at will, control the volume, and set boundaries with spirit beings who want our attention. This gives us the spaciousness to feel more at ease, less like we’re being bombarded with information.
Forming a connection with a gatekeeper helps us manage our abilities so we are able to see them for the gifts they are.
This work is real, and it matters.
March 24, 2022