I’ve been having a lot of conversations lately with people about the confusion around what psychics are and what they aren’t. Some people think that “psychic” only refers to telling the future in some way, while a lot of card readers think they aren’t psychic, and that they only read cards.
So when we’re discussing psychic, spiritual, and intuitive gifts (words that are used like they’re different, but really aren’t in this context), we have a LOT of terms that are used, and I wanted to put out a quick and easy guide.
Psychic
This is the main word that describes receiving information outside of our usual direct physical ways of receiving them (physically seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, or smelling something) or concluding the information rationally (deductive or inductive logic, assumptions, inferences, guesses, etc). Seeing things happening before they happen (outside of simulation), hearing voices that aren’t usually perceptible, or feeling emotions that aren’t yours and aren’t sympathetic would all be examples.
Everyone is psychic, and while most people have some abilities that are more “dominant” or “natural” for them, all abilities are available and can be developed as much as any individual pleases, so while you may particularly identify with or resonate with specific abilities on this list (or other lists), all of these abilities are part of each of us and can pop up unexpectedly or be developed as much as you would like with the proper exercises (which is a WHOLE other topic).
Each of the most commonly found experiences/abilities/skills we’ve discovered have their own individual names and are a “sub type” of psychic and are found below:
Telepathy
This term refers to the ability to perceive, hear, or experience another person’s thoughts. While sometimes this can be like eavesdropping on someone else’s inner monologue, a lot of times people with this ability active or turned on experience those thoughts and impulses as their own and learning to differentiate between their own thoughts and the thoughts of someone else can be a little complicated. “OMG, I was just thinking that too!” or “Wow, I was just about to say that!” are phrases these people commonly hear or say because they either speak a thought before the original thinker can say it or the original thinker will say it and the telepath will genuinely believe they were having the original thought.
Telekinesis
Sometimes this is also referred to as psychokinesis, this is the ability to move or affect the physical nature of other physical objects or beings in a physical way without engaging with them with your physical body but purely with the intent of the mind, spirit, or emotion. This would include picking something up, pushing it over, crushing it, or touching or scratching something or someone or altering its nature in some way, such as turning sand into glass or paper into ash. Pyrokinesis is a subtype or another form of this ability that is particular to the use of or affect of fire. It is often held that a lot of “poltergeist” activity is actually attributable to emotional disturbances, especially in regards to children during puberty.
Clairvoyance
“Clair” is a French word meaning “clear” which we’ve added to a bunch of different senses (we’ll see more of this), and “voyant” comes from the French for “seeing.” This ability refers to the ability to see those things which you should not otherwise be able to see at that moment. This includes, but is not limited to, being able to see something happening in another location and time (sometimes called “Remote Viewing”) or things which are not usually visible, such as energies, including auras or healing energies, or spirits, like guardian spirits and fae, not visible to the physical eye. These visions are perceived as if they were physical, although sometimes this is as a current visual input and can sometimes obscure the current view, though usually this is more similar to remembering a memory as a mental visual image.
Clairaudience
“Clair” (French for “clear”) combined with “audience” (French for “hearing”). Here, we’re referring to the ability to hear things which you should not otherwise be able to hear in that moment. This can include hearing things that are happening in a different place or time, but also hearing messages from or conversation and chatter from spirits, guardians, or other entities that may be around you but otherwise imperceptible to our traditional physical senses. It’s very easy to imagine this as seeming creepy or “crazy,” but usually these are more informative and people usually mistake these voices for their own internal monologue that, for some reason, sounds slightly different momentarily. Messages are usually short and helpful, like “He’s lying” or “Buckle your seatbelt,” though this is not their limit. As with Clairovoyance, Clairaudience is usually an internal experience, though sometimes it can interfere with external experiences and drown out the sounds of whatever is happening around you.
Clairolfactance
“Clair” (French for “clear”) combined with “olfactance” (French for “smelling”).This refers to the ability to pick up information through the sense of smell, even though there is no actual physical scent to perceive. Sometimes also called “Clairalience.” As people, we aren’t very good at focusing on our sense of smell to begin with, so this ability isn’t as well explored or as focused on as most other abilities are, which is a shame. Experiencing clairolfactance can be a little confusing and interesting. This usually shows up as perceiving a scent when certain things are happening around you. Some psychics experience certain scents when they are around people who are undergoing certain experiences (like grief or anger) or health conditions (like cancer), but this also occurs when certain spirits are present, like a cigarette smoke smell when one’s deceased grandmother comes to visit or the smell of roses when a spirit guide is making itself known to you. As with Clairovoyance, these scents are usually an internal experience (even if they seem external), but they can also sometimes interfere with actual physical scents actually occuring in the environment.
Clairsentience
“Clair” (French for “clear”) and “sentience” (French for “feeling”). Clairsentience is often confused with Empathy, which has to do with emotions (or “feelings”) and psychometry (which is experienced through touching an object), but it is a different skill set. Like the other clairs, clairsentience involves perceiving information not usually perceptible through our five physical senses in a tactile way. This means that you experience information through sensations in the body. A classic example would be sensing the presence of ghosts as a drop in temperature or feeling colder in a space and then warmer when you move to an adjacent space. This can also include getting goosebumps when someone is lying to you (and you otherwise would have no way of knowing this) or feeling nauseous when around someone else who is ill. Some people may also feel sick or experience pain where something very violent has happened, like a murder or a terrible accident. This is an ability that tends to be a much more common experience though not as commonly discussed as it’s own ability. As with the other Clairs, these sensations are usually an internal experience, but can also interfere with external experiences as well.
Clairgustance
“Clair” (French for “clear”) and “gustance” (Latin for “taste”). Clairgustance isn’t discussed as often as it probably should be as it seems to occur or be experienced alongside other abilities during certain circumstances. Much like Clairolfactance, Clairgustance can be very subtle and many more people experience it than those who discuss it. Oftentimes, this occurs, for example, as experiencing a slightly metallic taste in the mouth when an unknown spirit is present or a specific associated taste with a known spirit, like the taste of strawberries when your passed grandmother is visiting. It can also manifest as part of other psychic experiences, lending a taste palette to visions from the past or future or experiences that happened to other people. As with the other Clairs, these sensations are usually an internal experience, but can also interfere with external experiences as well.
Claircognizance
“Clair” (French for “clear”) and “cognizance” (Latin for “knowing”). Claircognizance is often described as just “knowing” something that you really don’t have information about, however, unlike other psychic abilities, there is no experience of gaining this information. There are no visions to experience, no voices telling you anything, etc. The information is just already in your mind as if it had always been there, even though it has no reason to be there. Some people describe this as “remembering” information that they never actually learned and never previously remembered.
Precognition
Precognition is one of the more well-known abilities out there, appearing in many TV shows and movies as a favorite plot device. This is the ability to see the future, usually in a vision (called premonitions), either as a dream or during waking hours. Sometimes these visions can be symbolic and metaphorical, and sometimes these visions are more literal. Less commonly, precognition can occur as audio or other sensations, though if they are narrated by a voice, they are not considered a precognition. Like with some other abilities, precognition is usually an internal experience, though it can sometimes interfere with external experiences, such as obscuring vision or hearing while experiencing the premonition. The reliability or changability of these premonitions is the subject of much debate.
Remote Viewing
Remote Viewing is the ability to intentionally and deliberately see what is happening in a different location or time without the aid of any tools or other knowledge about what is going on in that place or time. Remote viewing is primarily a visual experience, although sometime other senses become involved as well, such as being able to hear what is going on (like any conversations or background noise) that may be occurring, or smells, etc. Sometimes this can be done with as little information as an address. Remove Viewing has been especially focused on in the use of missing persons or objects.
Empathy
Often confused with Clairsentience, the ability to access information through tactile sensations, Empathy refers to the ability to perceive or experience the emotions of other people (physical or non-physical people, including animals and non-human spirits), when they are otherwise not obvious, as by someone’s facial expression. Much like with telepathy, people with this ability active or turned on can easily mistake these outside emotions as their own, which can be very confusing, and learning to differentiate can be complicated. Often people with Empathy are considered “highly sensitive” and find themselves subject to seemingly “random” moods and emotions until they begin to recognize these emotions as not their own. Empathy can be somewhat subjective as well, with an Empath only feeling the emotions of other living people, only animals, or only people in their immediate area, although these limitations can be changed with practice.
Mediumship
Mediumship is the ability to speak, communicate, or perceive people (including animals) who are no longer alive. This can include perceiving ghosts in a haunted location and can include contacting people intentionally who have died who are not lingering or visiting someone at that time. Not every medium is able to intentionally communicate with the spirits they perceive, and perception does not always include vision. It is common for mediums to initially experience their abilities in an “always on” way, sometimes being unable to distinguish between the living and the dead, though skill and control will allow a medium to choose when to perceive spirits and when not to.
Channeling
Channeling is the ability to communicate with a spirit with the intent to pass on or record their messages (the deceased, guardian spirits, land spirits, gods, and other beings), in a variety of ways. When this is limited to only the deceased, this is called “Mediumship” instead. There are several methods to channeling, including conversational or relay (where a spirit speaks to the channel and the channel relays their message), conscious embodiment or possessory (where a spirit inhabits the channel’s body but the channel retains awareness and control), and unconscious embodiment or possessory (where a spirit inhabits the channel’s body and the channel becomes unaware and relinquishes control). Sometimes a channel can see, touch, smell, or taste these spirits in addition to hearing them. Automatic writing is also another style of channeling where the spirit is granted control only of the channel’s hand.
Divination
Divination is not a specific type of ability or perception, but rather a set of skills that can be developed to focus psychic abilities. Divination uses a huge variety of tools and systems that share a common element of randomization to allow people to access and interact with their psychic abilities more easily. These tools can include cards, dice, bones, charms, smoke, tea, runes, books, clouds, music, memes and so much more. These tools can be used to help the psychic diviner to learn information about and answer questions about any topic whatsoever – the past, present, or future (with caveats), personal information about themselves or other people, including people they have never met, worldwide events, communicating with a variety of spirits, information about the world (scientific aspects or past events), and all sorts of other information. Again, although this is often debated, the way a diviner accesses the information from their tools is related to the psychic abilities that they have developed, and is only included on this list because of this debate.
This is not an all-inclusive list, but it is intended to be a resource regarding the most common and most commonly discussed abilities in the spiritual and witchy communities as well as in the media.
I hope that you have found it useful, and please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
