Image by Gerd Altmann
We are all psychic. Whether you believe it or not, we are all born with intuitive senses, and they are as innate within us as our other physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual senses. Think about your psychic senses as mirrors to these other ones. Just as many of us can see, hear, smell, taste, and feel, we can also do this energetically on a spiritual or intuitive level.
You may hear people refer to the psychic senses as the “clairs.” The word clair means “clear,” and there are nine clairs, identified as clear hearing, clear knowing, clear feeling (of emotions), clear tasting, clear thinking, clear smelling, clear feeling (of sensations), clear touching, and clear seeing. Each of them has unique characteristics.
For example, clairvoyance, or clear seeing, is the most visual of the psychic senses. You receive pictures in the form of images in your third eye, also referred to as your mind’s eye. If I ask you to picture or imagine an apple in your mind, can you see it? Is it red or green? Does it have a stalk or a leaf on it? Is the apple full or is there a bite taken out of it? Some people can picture this in their inner mind, but others cannot. They might be able to describe to you what it is supposed to look like, but they can’t visualize it. This is a condition called aphantasia, which is a lack of the mind’s eye, leading to the inability to visualize things mentally.
There are also people who don’t have internal monologues or narratives with themselves; some people’s thoughts are like sentences they “hear,” and other people have abstract nonverbal thoughts and then have to consciously verbalize them.
I share this with you because if you’ve thought being “psychic” showed up in a certain way and that was a belief you held on to your whole life, up until now, you might not have realized that you are indeed intuitive! Spirit likes to connect and communicate with us however we naturally gravitate toward communicating or prefer to process and learn.
For example, I am a very visual person. You can explain something to me verbally and I can track and follow, but often it isn’t until I see it written down or shown visually in some other way that it “clicks” for me and I fully understand. So, it is not surprising that one of the biggest ways my guides and angels communicate with me is through my mind’s eye, which makes me clairvoyant.
Our Psychic Senses
Before we connect and communicate with our spirit team, it is important to better understand our psychic or intuitive senses. As you look through the descriptions below, see which of them matches experiences you have had. For those that do, it will give you a place to start to learn more.
Clairaudience or clear hearing is when you are able to hear voices or messages from the spiritual realm. You may hear them in the inner ear or physically hear them as well. For example, you may be driving and suddenly hear “slow down” even though you are the only person in the car. You might be clairaudient if you are naturally attuned toward sounds, music, or toning. One way that clear hearing shows up for people is that you repeatedly hear the same songs or musical lyrics. You may also experience ringing in one ear (in the absence of a medical condition), which means that a message is coming in from Spirit.
Claircognizance or clear knowing occurs when you experience a sudden knowing. You may have a strong sense of knowing information or what has or will happen. This is often referred to as the “sixth sense,” “gut intuition,” or even “mother’s intuition.” In other words, it can manifest as instincts. Mothers and their children, twins, or other people who have close bonds experience this often with each other.
Clairempathy or clear emotion is sensing other people’s emotions, thoughts, or even symptoms. It is an awareness of emotional energy. Most humans are born with empathy, but some have a heightened sense of empathy and are particularly sensitive to their own and others’ emotions. For example, you may feel a certain way and have no way of explaining why, especially if there is no reason for you to be feeling that way, such as a medical reason, specific experience that took place, or something else. It is important as a clairempath to understand how to balance your empathy, so as not to take on others’ “stuff.” The difference between clairempathy and clairsentience is that empaths can sense the emotion vs. physically feel it. (You can have both at the same time as well. If you’ve ever experienced a broken heart, that is both at play.)
Clairgustance or clear tasting is sensing or experiencing things through taste even without having that physical source of taste in your mouth. If you have this clair, then you might taste sweet, sour, salty, or spicy things. It could even be an unpleasant taste.
Clairintellect is clear thinking. This happens when your thoughts arise from your intuition. You may notice that words easily come when you’re talking in conversations, but it feels like they are coming from a higher place. You may also experience thoughts coming in at random when you aren’t thinking of anything in particular, or that profound solutions or epiphanies come at the right moment. You may be inclined toward clear thinking if you are left-brained or a linear thinker.
Clairsalience or clear smelling is when insights come through the perception of smell. An example of this is smelling your grandfather’s tobacco pipe or your mother’s favorite perfume. Angels are also known to send people the scent of flowers, especially roses, which have the highest vibration rate of any flower, reigning supreme at 320 MHz.
Clairsentience is clear physical feeling. (It differs from emotional feeling or clairtangency, which is clear touching.) You may feel the physical feeling in your body that others are experiencing. An example is if someone has a stomachache and you feel that same sensation or pain in your stomach as well. Another example is that you may feel your or someone else’s emotional trauma that manifests in the body. I experience tingles up and down my spine when a message is particularly important for someone I am giving a reading to or if it is a message that resonates with me. People who can communicate with souls who have crossed over may feel the souls touching them on the top of the head, brushing a cheek, or holding their hand.
Clairtangency is clear touching, a form of extrasensory perception in which facts or impressions about a person or thing are received through contact with an object that retains an energetic impression. If you’ve gained insight about things or people by touching them, then you have this ability. This is also often referred to as psychometry or token-object reading.
Clairvoyance is clear seeing and the most visual of all the clairs. Visions may come in the form of vivid dreams, pictures, mental images, or mini movies that appear or play in your inner mind. These images may be literal or metaphorical. You may even be able to see colors of an aura. You are likely clairvoyant if you are a visual person and like to receive or process information that way.
Each of One of Us is Unique
Each of us has a different relationship with each of the psychic senses. Just like some people are born naturally as great athletes, intellectual thinkers, or creative artists, and others have to work harder to get to that level, the same is true of our intuitive abilities.
If we have a strong physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual sense, then that will likely be the mirror to our psychic sense(s). It will also be the one that our spirit team will use to communicate with us. Spirit speaks to us not only the way we receive and process information, but also in our own voice.
I will never forget the first time I heard Spirit speak “out loud” during a bright, sunny day at the park. Years later, as I began to learn more about my own intuitive abilities, I asked a psychic where the voice came from. She explained that it was me, my own intuition or clairaudience. I had always thought it was my guardian angel or Archangel Michael. But upon reflection, the voice was definitely my own. I like to think that it was both my higher self and my guardian angel using my own voice to get my attention.
Since then, I’ve recalled a number of situations in which my own intuition seemed to come through verbally, whether it was a thought or an inner voice: “Don’t trust them.” “You can do it.” “Take the job.” “Slow down.” You name it; either I or my guides and angels have said it. Our intuition is always guided by Source, our higher selves, or Spirit, nudging us in the best direction all along.
As you become aware of your psychic abilities, you’ll discover that certain intuitive senses are easier for you to tap, and others may be more difficult. Pay attention to what psychic senses feel stronger to you, and focus on the sensory experiences to guide you.
You will also more than likely evolve over time as you experience the clairs. Some might spend years working with one or a few psychic senses only to find that another one quickly surpasses them. It is as normal for us to grow and evolve as it is for psychic abilities to do the same.
Copyright 2023. All Rights Reserved.
Adapted with permission.
Article Source:
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About the Authors
Scott Guerin is a distinguished author, educator, and retired healthcare professional with two master’s degrees and a doctorate in human development with a focus in spiritual development. His popular Angel in Training series describes how society has begun to shift from organized religion to spirituality. Scott’s twenty-three-year tenure as an adjunct professor in psychology at Kean University in New Jersey allows him to impart wisdom and knowledge to countless eager minds, helping them foster a deeper understanding of human psychology and spirituality.
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Nichole Bigley has been transforming lives for the last twenty-three years, including her own. She helps thousands of people worldwide, each year, teaching them how to connect with the Divine and discover and lean into their life purpose. In addition to conducting intuitive sessions and creating content for and hosting her three podcasts, Nichole is currently working to launch spiritual courses and retreats and go on speaking tours designed to motivate and inspire others to find and embrace their truths. Discussions with networks and streaming services are also underway on several TV show concepts.
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