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Gut instincts — when you must listen

Gut instincts — when you must listen

Last updated on: July 31, 2025 at 4:46 am by Ann Trip

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Gut instincts — when you must listen 2025-07-31T04:46:26+00:00 Ann Trip

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

gut

Stop BY KEVIN DOOLEY

So, I was talking with my elder, the Rev. Foxxy (Sher) Pullen this past week about my weekend. She suggested I revisit my gut instinct story because as she put it, “it’s a very important topic.” I was thinking long and hard about this and yes, this is a great idea, especially since my almost incident.

See, on Saturday morning I intended to get to the Farmers Market early. Had I left when I wanted to, it would have been a bad idea. First off, I might have been in a car accident. A pretty bad one at that, considering both cars were towed away. (Luckily, no injuries.) Second of all, I might not have had the opportunity to cover it for my job. As you may know, I am also a journalist, which means covering both good and bad news.

This is when instincts kick in. You don’t even know why you are stalling until afterwards. And unless you are aware and pay attention to every detail, you may not even notice. Chances are high that a regular mundane person may not have even thought: “Wow, I dodged that mess.”

Sometimes, though, you’re very aware which I explain in the blog Follow Your Gut Instincts; Always Trust Those Uneasy Feelings.

That Samhain I really felt it in my gut even before I pulled up to park my car. I knew something wasn’t quite right, I should have listened to my gut from the very first butterfly feeling. That night it practically screamed, “Hey, get out of here.”

gut

Illustration BY GENEVA VANDERZEI

That was a huge warning sign. Now, I don’t need that anymore. If it tells me to wait or not to do something, I listen. This Saturday morning was no different, I didn’t rush out. I did everything I needed to do before I left the house.

For those of you unsure of the feeling I mentioned, it feels like butterflies are going crazy in your stomach. They are hopping around, bouncing up and down and side to side, or so it feels that way to me. If you ever experienced the nervous jitters before a test or a first date, it’s like that but on espresso.

Other times however, you might be running late somewhere and could kick yourself for being behind. Don’t, take a minute and think of what obstacles you might have stepped into if you left your home on time. Maybe there was an accident that you managed to avoid or another catastrophe such as a robbery.

Maybe it is a positive outcome, yes those happen to, being in the right place at the right time. Remember, my elder Hermotimus “Herm,” Pullen’s late husband, taught me that there is no such thing as a coincidence. Everything happens for a reason and don’t forget that, I am serious.

So yes, I’m going to try my best to explain this concept. This is one way that it applies to good things too, especially the ones that appear out of thin air. You decide, without planning, to buy a lottery ticket and it wins. Or you desperately need something and have been putting off that large purchase. You finally break down and look for it and discover it is on sale.

Out of nowhere, you decide on the way home that you want to stop for a bite to eat. I bet something disastrous was avoided. Or stop for gas because you forgot to get it earlier. Then there’s that errand that you need to run, one which was not important or needed at that time. And once in a great while you get a double whammy. You pull off a road that you don’t belong on and you find something on sale that you could use.

My friend David Morgan, said while serving in the Navy in Italy, he and his wife were on the beach. His now ex-wife, who is Native American, had a gut feeling that something was off. They called home to her family in Wisconsin, figuring the problem was there, however it was in Italy. Their electronics were robbed only about 15 minutes prior to their arrival back to the house. If they had returned without checking on what was up, they would have probably been in that mess. See, they were told to pay what he called “the Guardino” in order to be protected. He didn’t and that in the end caused an issue. However, further problems, and possibly injury, were avoided because they did trust their guts.

gut

Hey listen! Illustration BY QUINN DOMBROWSKI

This topic I tend to go over often with Sacred Wheel CUUPs at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Montclair, NJ. Trusting your gut is a very important skill and something every Pagan should know even before learning Tarot. Actually, everyone should know this, even the mundane, especially since it is natural. Yes, it can be second nature to most of us Pagans, but even many of us need to relearn this.

So, to paraphrase Buffalo Springfield, “It’s time we stop, hey, what’s that sound and look, what’s going down.”

Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Montclair

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