“But I want the big, booming voice,” my client, Kristen, protested. She’d come to me for a psychic reading, and during it, I’d shared messages and advice from her spirit guides. And while Kristen had confirmed that the messages had resonated with her, she admitted to being puzzled. She had received many of the same messages before her reading, but she had questioned them because they didn’t come in the form she expected: a big, booming voice telling her plainly what she needed to know.

I explained that I don’t hear a big, booming voice, either, that messages come to me in a variety of bits and pieces of impressions, pictures, feelings and words, rather than fully formed ideas. I then get to interpret them, putting them together like a puzzle picture coming together.

Kristen was amazed, because that’s the kind of tidbits of info she receives as well. She thought the absence of a big, booming voice meant her antenna for messages was somehow weak or out of order, but she was right in tune. She just didn’t know it.

Understanding how intuition speaks to you is the first step towards following and trusting it. Here are three ways intuition communicates.

1. Intuition speaks to us through synchronicities.

Not just the title to an album from The Police in the 80s, synchronicities are “meaningful coincidences of outer and inner events that are not themselves causally connected. The emphasis lies on the word ‘meaningful’. (Marie Louise von Franz)

Whenever two or more independent incidences of a theme/topic repeat, it could be a synchronicity. They can come from a phrase or sentence jumping out when reading to a friend saying just what you need to hear… anything. Intuition speaks through these meaningful coincidences, so being mindful of synchonicities is key to getting an answer you’re looking for. As Carl Jung said, “Synchronicity reveals the meaningful connections between the subjective and objective world.”

Try it: Put synchronicities to the test through this exercise:

After getting quiet and asking the divine/your guides/your higher self/your intuition a question, pay close attention for the next 24-48 hours to the conversation you have with others, the entertainment you watch/listen to, and the things you read. If you notice repeats of the same theme or topic happening independently of one another, then it could be an answer for you.

2. Intuition speaks to us through “clairs”.

A prefix meaning “clearly or clear”, “clair” is added onto other sensory words to describe the intuitive ways we receive information, guidance, or answers. Whether you clearly hear, see, feel, or know something without explanation, such as just knowing someone isn’t being honest or hearing a voice telling you to take a class to learn something new, this is another key way your intuition speaks to you.

clairvoyance = clearly seeing

clairaudience = clearly hearing

clairsentience = clearly feeling

claircognizence = clearly knowing

clairalience = clearly smelling

clairgustance = clearly tasting

Try it: Not sure which “clair” your intuition speaks through? Try this exercise to find out.

Get quiet. Take a few deep breaths. Ask the divine/your guides/your higher self/your intuition a question. Then pay attention to what you hear, see, feel, etc. to experience an answer. Which clair comes through for you?

3. Intuition speaks through symbols/dreams.

Dreams can hold the keys to our unconscious and are often the language of intuition. Look for recurring items and symbols in your dreams in terms of

1) what they actually do (for example, a car is a mode of transportation),

2) what they mean to you (a car may mean freedom, independence, mobility, etc.),

3) what they may represent in society or mythology (a car can mean status, industry, performance, etc), and

4) how they make you feel.

Then see what that item or symbol is doing in your dream to see what your intuition could be telling you.

Try it: Try this exercise to consciously call on your dreams to speak to you.

As you get ready for bed, take a few moments to get quiet. Take a few deep breaths. Ask the divine/your guides/your higher self/your intuition a question. Then pay attention to what dreams you have that night and write them down first thing the next morning. Did anything in your dream serve as an answer?

Want to learn more about trusting your intuition? Join Jennafer’s free class, 5 Tips to Trust Your Intuition.