Types of Psychic Abilities

When talking about psychic phenomenon, it is important to consider the different types of psychic abilities.

What Does It Mean to Be Psychic?

Before discussing types of psychic abilities, it is important to establish a definition of psychic ability. There are a lot of misconceptions out there about what it means to be psychic. Being a psychic is more than just reading minds or predicting the future. A psychic is anyone who gains knowledge and information through psychic means. Many psychics and parapsychologists believe that everyone has some type of psychic ability, but that only a few people are truly able to tap into those abilities.

Intuition vs. Psychic Ability

Certainly, human beings have a knack for intuition – or the processing of information quickly and without conscious thought. While the terms "psychic abilities" and "intuition" are often used interchangeably, there is a difference. According to famous psychic, Edgar Cayce, psychic ability arises from the soul, while intuition arises from the mind.

Types of Psychic Abilities

There are five main types of psychic abilities through which psychics receive their information.

Clairaudience

Clairaudience is also known as "clear hearing". Psychics who are clairaudient receive their information as sounds that aren’t audible to others. For instance, they may hear voices or music that gives them information.

Clairvoyance

This ability is also known as "clear seeing". Clairvoyants receive information as a visual clue that isn’t visible to others. For instance, they may see a film or snapshots of the information they are receiving. Visual cues can also come in the form of symbols that have personal meaning to the clairvoyant and require interpretation.

Clairsentience

Someone who is clairsentient receives information through a sense of touch. For instance, the clairsentient reader might feel pressure on her chest that communicates someone has heart problems, or she feels a lump in their throat to indicate that the person had difficulty speaking or breathing. Clairsentience can also manifest as a sense of smell, such as smelling the scent of roses. Typically, this is the most difficult of the psychic gifts to interpret because the information is almost all symbolic in nature. It is also the most commonly overlooked psychic ability because it can be so vague.

Clairempthy

Sometimes known as empathy, clairempathy is the sensing of attitudes or emotions of others. Those who are empathic often feel the emotions of others as their own, and the information they receive comes in the form of feelings and emotions.

Telepathy

The final type of psychic information received is telepathy. Those who receive telepathic information do so as a form of direct mind-to-mind contact. This ability is commonly referred to as extrasensory perception (ESP) or mind reading.

Psychics can receive their information in just one of the five ways listed above, or through a combination of abilities. Some psychics are gifted with all five abilities.

Applications of Psychic Abilities

There are a number of ways that psychic gifts can be used. Below are just some of the applications of psychic abilities.

• Psychometry is the ability to read the history of an object by touching the object.
• Psychokinesis is the ability to move or manipulate objects using the power of the mind.
• Psychic mediumship is the ability to communicate with the dead using psychic abilities.
• Animal communication involves using psychic abilities to listen to and communicate with all types of animals.
• Medical intuition involves using psychic abilities to diagnose physical ailments and their causes.
• Auric sight is the ability to sense the colors of the auras of individuals.
• Psychic healing is the ability to use healing energy – such as Reiki – to heal physical problems.
• Mental influence is the ability to use the power of your mind to assert influence over another’s mind.
• Remote viewing is the ability to visualize another location and/or occurrence without ever having been there or witnessing it.
• Channeling involves the psychic allowing a spirit or entity to use their body as a conduit to communicate.
• Automatic writing is the process of allowing an entity to write through the psychic. Perhaps the most famous case of channeling is the case of Patience Worth/Pearl Curran.
• Dowsing is a form of divination that involves the use of a tool to find a certain type of energy. Its most well-known application is using a pair of dowsing rods (metal rods) to find water.
• Psychic detectives are psychics who work with law enforcement personnel to help bring cases to resolution through psychic means.
• Scrying involves looking into an object to ascertain psychic information. One of the most common forms of scrying is gazing into a crystal ball.

As you can see, there are a number of ways that psychic powers manifest themselves, and even more applications for the powers. Want to test your psychic abilities? Test them using the Boundary Institute psi tests or the Institute of Noetic Sciences psi tests.

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