Honing Your Psychic Abilities

It may seem like some people are gifted with the ability to communicate with the beyond, but what if I told you that we all have the ability to communicate psychically? Not everyone will be able to talk to full corporeal spirits, but everyone has a “6th sense,” some of us just need to work to hone our specific gift. Let’s see how you can explore your psychic abilities.

Where Do Psychic Powers Come From?

You’ve seen Hollywood’s portrayal of mediumship with glassy eyed grandmothers and inexplicably shaking tables. While that is fun to watch, real life isn’t quite so dramatic. 

Humans actually have a lot more than the 5 basic senses of sight, taste, vision, touch and hearing. You also have a sense of your personal space, a sense of direction, a sense that someone is looking right at you. You’re probably familiar with your sense of intuition as well. Even non spiritual folk have a sense of intuition, they just call it a “gut feeling.”

It can be intoxicating to believe that psychic powers are a gift bestowed only to the chosen few, whether through devotion to a god or through ancestry. However, the power to divine information seemingly out of nowhere is not as elusive as you may have thought.

You can imagine it like a spectrum. Some folks exist on one end of the spectrum where it is impossible to ignore the spirits around them, and so they are forced to accept their gifts. Others live on the other end of the spectrum where they are so deeply closed off to the spiritual world that they wouldn’t know a ghost from a spec of dust.

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Most people live somewhere in between. Maybe you’re vaguely aware of your own gifts, having experienced some things that cannot be defined by modern science. Or perhaps you’ve had definite spiritual experiences sporadically throughout your life. No matter what your relationship is to the unknown, everyone has the ability to hone their own psychic gifts.

The 5 Main Psychic Powers

The psychic abilities have been dubbed “the clairs.” The etymology of these words comes from the french “clair” which means clear. Much like our 5 main senses, here we have 5 “clairs”: clear seeing, clear knowing, clear feeling, clear hearing, and clear smelling. However, these are merely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to exploring psychic abilities.

Clairvoyance “Clear Seeing”

This is the household name for psychic abilities, often used erroneously as a catch all for mediumship. Clairvoyance is the ability to see ghosts, spirits and other entities that exist beyond our own physical plane. For some with this gift you can see a spirit as clear as day right in front of your eyes. For others, the spirit is seen by your third eye, in your mind. The spirit is often still clear as day, but it is being seen from a different point of view.

Claircognizance “Clear Knowing”

Most people who have dipped a toe into the spiritual world have come across this ability. This is, in part, due to the fact that it is the most common clair ability. Claircognizance is the ability to know something you have no reason to know. For instance, you might meet someone and suddenly the thought that this person broke their arm in the 4th grade pops into your head.

Clairsentience “Clear Feeling”

This sense is often misunderstood as being able to intuit the feelings of spirits around you. While that may be an aspect of Clairsentience, it is only one small part. We feel more than just feelings, so experiencing this ability can be more elusive. For example, you may encounter a spirit and it feels like he is a man, it feels like he is older, it feels like he is kind. While you cannot see him in your mind’s eye, and you are not communicating through words, you are still able to feel into his energy and ascertain information.

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Clairaudience “Clear Hearing”

This is the ability to hear the voices of spirits. For some this can be an unnerving ability since spirits can speak directly into your ear. A common experience is hearing one’s name shouted out, only to turn and see not a single soul in sight. For others, the voices are in their heads, more like listening to a radio that’s in your mind*.

*Hearing voices can be dangerous, so it is important to talk to a medical professional if you experience voices that are asking you to commit violent crimes. Schizophrenia and clairaudience are not the same thing and the former needs the help of trained professionals, not spiritual influencers. Always err on the side of safety and take care of yourself and others.

Clairalience “Clear Smelling”

Have you ever been minding your own business and then the smell of your grandmother’s perfume overwhelms you? Clairalience is the ability to smell things that aren’t there. These smells have no physical source, yet their scent brings an omen. Perhaps the smell of roses brings comfort, and the smell of sulfur acts as a warning to you.

How Do I Hone My Own Psychic Powers?

Hopefully you now have a better sense of which psychic ability you have. Truthfully, we have all of these abilities, but some are more powerful than others. You may have a strong sense of claircognizance, but through developing that skill you come to realize that you also have a good sense of clairalience.

Honing your powers is easy enough in theory because the most important tool you have is trust. It takes a lot of practice to trust fully in yourself and your abilities, since these currently exist outside the realm of scientific explanation.

Meditation is a great tool that anyone can use at any time in order to hone your psychic abilities. Meditation is not the practice of emptying one’s mind, it’s the act of observing your mind, body, surroundings, and others around you, without attachment. Next time you’re on the bus or waiting in a long line, practice being present with yourself. Notice the feelings in your body. Notice the feeling of air on your skin. Pay attention to the energy of the bodies around you. And with that heightened sense of awareness, poke around to see if there is anything “extra” you can see, know, feel, hear or smell around you.