Echo Bodine - A Still, Small Voice: A Psychics Guide to Awakening Intuition

I would like to dedicate this book to my very gifted chiropractor, Dr. Marcie New, who has been incredibly supportive of me and my work during the writing of all my books. Marcie, you've held my body together during some very tough times and taught me so much about my physical health and my soul's well-being. Thanks so much for being such a dear and loving friend.

Albert Einstein

CHAPTER 1: 23

CHAPTER 3: .................................. 57

CHAPTER 4: 75

CHAPTER 8: .......... 129

o my mom, Mae Bodine, for teaching me to live this way of life. To Caroline Pincus, my wonderful editor on this project. I was so grateful when I heard you were available for this book, because you're not only a very gifted editor, you're an absolute delight to work with. Thanks for all your insights and suggestions and for providing some of the quotes for the book.

To Marc Allen, Munro Magruder, Georgia Hughes, and Marjorie Conte for all your efforts getting my work out there. Thanks for believing in my abilities and for being such a strong supportive force in my life.

To my fiance, Mike Hartley, for being so understanding about the things I feel called to do. You are always so patient and understanding and I feel really blessed to have you in my life. Thanks a million, honey.

To my son Kurt, for being in my life and for always doing the research for my books. I love you, baby.

And he said, Goforth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: and after the earthquake afire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still, small voice.

Elijah in 1 Kings 19:11 12

s a psychic, I get hundreds of calls every year from people looking for guidance. Some are desperate, others are simply curious, and their questions are as varied as they are. They come to me trying to understand the reasons for health challenges or problems with relationships; they're looking for guidance on career choices or parenting issues; wanting to unblock childhood memories or the root causes of their depression; wanting to discover the psychological, physical, or soul reasons behind weight problems, abuse, sexual dysfunction, addictions, or trauma. Some of them want help accessing information about past lives or communicating with the deceased.

I enjoy what I do and believe my work can be very beneficial to people, but there are times when I wonder if I might not be doing my clients a disservice by answering all their questions. I worry that I'm enabling their dependence on outside sources rather than encouraging them to go within and seek their own answers. So many of their questions when is this new guy going to call, am I going to win the lottery, which car should I purchase, when should I move, should I get an abortion, what school should my child go to? are questions their own intuition can answer with a simple phrase, or even a simple yes or no. It is the deeper questions that pertain to their soul's path that require the more in-depth information that perhaps only a psychic can give.

There's an old Chinese proverb: "If you give a man a fish he'll eat for a day; teach him how to fish and he'll eat forever." The book you hold in your hand came about because I believe that most of the time it's more important to teach people how to fish than to feed them for a day. I want you to learn how to access your own intuition, and to discover how to trust it and use it to live a life of magic and abundance. I'll show you the difference between psychic abilities and intuition, and how psychic readings can keep you dependent on others but living by intuition can set you free.

When I was growing up, I wanted to be just like my mother. She is physically very beautiful and has a loving, giving heart, a great sense of humor, and a certain mystique that makes you wonder if she isn't part gypsy. To top it off, she has always had an uncanny knowing about everything that happens in our lives.

As a child I decided that the way to be like her was to do everything just as she did. When she cooked I'd be right beside her in the kitchen. When she baked, I would follow along with my tiny rolling pin, cake pans, and Easy Bake Oven. On the nights when she dressed up to go out with my dad, I would put on some of her clothes, jewelry, and makeup and try to make myself as glamorous as she was. I really did believe that if I did everything just like she did, I'd grow up to be just as beautiful and caring and giving.

I don't recall how old I was when she first introduced me to the idea of listening to my intuition, but I'll never forget that she described it as a "silent voice" inside my stomach that would guide me through life. But whereas my mother is a highly unusual, mystical Moonchild (a Cancer, on the cusp of Leo), I'm a Virgo and very much a product of our culture and our times, which means I'm a thinker - left brained, logical, practical, and down to earth. So the idea of trusting a voice other than the one in my head seemed a little too wacky to me at the time. I put women's intuition in the same category as old wives' tales; intuition wasn't based on facts that could be proven, so I had a hard time believing in its significance. Still, the fact that she attributed her incredible ability to always know what was going on to her "intu," as she called it, really got my attention.

Whenever I'd ask for guidance, she would refer me to my intuition. Learning to listen to this voice in my stomach came in gradual stages, and my logical mind fought it all the way. Fortunately for me, Mom didn't get discouraged by my skeptical attitude. She just kept right on recommending that I go within for my answers. Many times I felt caught in the conflict between what my head thought I should do and the guidance I was receiving from my inner voice, but over time it became perfectly clear: whenever I let the inner voice guide me, life always seemed to work out. The decisions I made would turn out right not only for me, but for others as well. I'd end up in the right place at the right time and so many "coincidences" kept happening that it became a way of life.