Did you know there are various forms of psychic abilities? Many of us have Hollywood-esque ideas of what it means to be psychic: Waking up from prophetic dreams to an ice-cold room full of dead people trying to get your attention, getting a complete download of someone’s past just by touching their hand, and so forth. Now, I’m not saying those things can’t happen, but if you’re waiting for signals like that to clue you in to your psychic abilities, you might be disappointed.
Instead, here are some clues to help you uncover your psychic abilities right here, right now. Chances are, you will have multiple abilities, although some may be more dominant than others.
Clairvoyance
This is what many people think of when they think “psychic.” Clairvoyance is all about visuals, so if you’re clairvoyant you may see images while in meditation, in dreams, in your mind’s eye while you’re talking to someone, etc. The key is that the information comes to you in a visual format.
This is my primary psychic skill, which isn’t surprising since I’m a visual artist. I see anything from vivid images to snatches of pictures or splashes of color in meditation and during tarot readings; my dreams are like detailed films; and I often see images, colors, and energy patterns in my mind’s eye when I’m around other people.
Clairaudience
This is the psychic ability based on sound. You might hear voices (like someone is in the room talking to you–although this is not super common–or in your mind), or you might hear snippets of a song, a bell tone, or other noises that convey information.
While this isn’t my primary psychic skill, when it does occur, I hear voices in my mind that are distinctly different than my own inner dialogue; it’s as if I’ve picked up on somebody else’s radio station for a moment. I’ve heard other people use this example: You’re trying to figure out a problem, and when you get in your car the radio is playing a song that speaks directly to the issue at hand. (Some might also call this synchronicity, but I believe the two are intimate bedfellows.)
Clairsentience
This psychic ability is all about being able to sense emotions (past, present, or future), and these emotions might be connected to a person, a place, an animal, etc. One way that I receive clairsentient information is during a tarot reading: While I’m doing the reading, an emotion will arise in my body, such as anxiety, happiness, or sorrow, but it has a different feel to it than if the emotion were my own. Once I acknowledge the emotion and receive the information it contains, the emotions leaves my body completely.
This term is often used interchangeably with “psychic empathy.” If you are a psychic empath, you pick up on other people’s emotions, and perhaps even their physical pain or other ailments. If this is you, I highly recommend doing a Google search on “boundaries for empaths,” because my life was a roller coaster ride before I realized I didn’t have to pick up on everyone’s stuff like this, and that I could still get valuable psychic information without acting like a trash dump for other people’s emotions and pain.
Claircognizance
This ability is characterized by a sense of knowing. You just know something, even though you probably can’t detail the reasons why–you just do. This knowing can occur in the form of a “gut instinct” or a fully formed thought simply appearing in your mind. For me, this happens often in conversation: I’m focusing on listening to the other person, and suddenly, as if out of nowhere, a fully formed thought appears in my mind, something that would have taken me awhile to cook up had I been thinking about it consciously.
Clairolfaction
This is one you don’t hear about as often, but I believe more of us use this ability than we realize. This is the ability to receive information through smell. While all of us can smell the aroma of baking bread and come to some logical conclusions based on that smell, clairolfaction looks a little more like this: You meet someone for the first time and they smell “off,” even though, physically, you’re not aware of them having BO or wearing any funky perfume. As you get to know them more, this scent is confirmed by a realization that the two of you aren’t compatible. Another example: I was in ritual with some friends of mine, and suddenly, we all detected the smell of wild onions and flowers, very strongly. These were not scents present in the physical environment.
Which ones are you?
Okay, onto the fun part. I’ve noticed that I have certain language tics, which correspond to my dominant psychic abilities, and I’ve seen this to be the case in my friends, too. Try this fun test on yourself and see if the corresponding psychic ability resonates with you.
If you say things like [ ] then you might be [ ].
“I see what you mean.” – clairvoyance
“I hear ya.” – clairaudience
“I feel you.” – clairsentience
“I know what you mean!” – claircognizance
Hmm…as for olfaction, I don’t know, do people still say things like, “I smell a rat!” or “This smells fishy to me”? 😉