Are You Psychic?

Many people believe in the existence of ESP – extra-sensory perception – or psychic ability. But have you ever considered that YOU might have one or more of these talents? In fact, some believe that all human beings are psychic (although, as with music, art and sports, some may be more gifted than others). It has been suggested that all psychic abilities are examples of tapping into our shared or collective human consciousness, and recent discoveries in quantum physics may one day explain it.

Meanwhile, do you have psychic talent? Sometimes it’s just a matter of definition. You might be doing something routinely that you never thought of as ESP-related before. Looking at the following list of psychic abilities, common and uncommon, you might be surprised to find something that resonates with your own experience.

Déjà vu – been there, done that, doing it again!

Baseball legend Yogi Berra said it best: "This is like déjà vu all over again." Déjà vu (French for already seen) is the feeling that you’ve experienced something before and is the most common of the ESP repertoire. In fact, most people don’t even think of it as a psychic ability. Over 60 percent of those quizzed in reputable polls not only believe in the phenomenon but feel they have experienced it.

Retrocognition - knowledge of the past

Sometimes called postcognition, this is knowledge after the fact. Most people experience this as a sudden flash or a vision of an event. You’d suddenly “see” what actually happened, perhaps even through someone else’s eyes. You’d be acutely aware of details, things you couldn’t know by ordinary means. You might feel or sense the emotions or vibes of the past. Sometimes retrocognition includes past life regression, although it’s possible you might be picking up on a powerful impression (traumatic and emotional events like battles, murders, etc. can leave their psychic stamp behind) rather than one of your own previous lives.

Precognition - knowledge of the future

Ever think of a song you haven’t heard in years and years and soon afterwards you hear it being played? Foretelling the future is the talent we associate most with the term “psychic”. It conjures up images of crystal balls and tarot cards, palm reading and rune casting. For most of us, though, it’s the premonition that tells us something is about to happen, or the dream that has us wondering if we should change our plans. At least a third of the population believes that some dreams can convey information about the future. Intuition, premonitions and “gut feelings” fall under this category, and precognition often goes hand in hand with clairsentience (see section on this).

Telepathy

This is the ability to communicate mind to mind without the use of verbal speech. (The Changelings in my new paranormal romance series do this when they’re in wolfen form) Sometimes the information is sent by mental speech, sometimes by images. Medium John Edward says he gets images of pink roses when a spirit is trying to convey love. There are many documented cases of a telepathic connection between twins that science still doesn’t understand. By the way, there’s a movie called Telepathy coming out next year -- Russian scientists experiment with twins to see if telepathy can be used in earth-space communication.

Psychometry

Psychometry is based on the principle that all objects absorb energy from their surroundings. Some people are said to be able to pick up an item of clothing or a piece of jewelry and be able to tell something about its owner. Or they may be able to touch a piece of furniture and tell its history, or simply pick up uncomfortable vibes from it. This may manifest as a phobia. Actor Billy Bob Thornton (whose mother is a psychic) is quite open about his fear of antique furniture and says it “creeps him out”. When in Europe he shuns historical hotels and seeks out the most modern accommodations possible.

Clairsensing – beyond the sixth sense

There isn’t just a sixth sense, there’s a seventh, eighth, ninth, etc., all under the umbrella of clairsensing or “the clairs”. The words are taken from the French. Clair can mean light, bright or clear – think of the word “clarity”. Clairvoyant then means clear-sighted, clairaudience means clear-hearing and clairsentience means clear-knowing. The following is a list of the more common clairsenses:

CLAIRVOYANCE – This one is often confused with the ability to predict the future (precognition), but it actually refers more to visions or something called remote viewing. This psychic ability might allow a person to describe a place they have never been, or a hidden object, or even an activity which is a considerable distance away. Remote viewing has even been used to try to locate archeological sites, and governments around the world (including the US) have invested in programs to study the potential of remote viewing for gathering intelligence. The 2009 George Clooney movie, The Men Who Stare at Goats, was a comedic treatment of the topic - with more truth than you might think.

CLAIRSENTIENCE – Sometimes called claircognizance, this is clear knowing. Ever hear the phone ring and you know who it is before you answer it? Clairsentience is knowledge that comes to you without an apparent source. You might have a strong gut feeling or a hunch that you should keep your distance from someone you just met, even though they’ve given you no reason not to trust them. Most people chalk experiences like this up to intuition. Oddly, intuition is seldom thought of as a psychic gift!

CLAIRAUDIENCE – This is hearing sounds or voices that others can’t. They may be physically heard with the ears or perceived “inside one’s head” like telepathy or even channeling. Some mediums say this is how they get their information from the spirits they connect with. Probably a little scarier than other psychic gifts because it’s easily mistaken for schizophrenia!

CLAIRALIENCE – Sometimes called clairaroma, this is the ability to perceive a smell where one doesn’t exist. Sometimes visiting spirits are accompanied by a distinctive scent, and I’d have to put my hand up on this one. One winter day as I was putting laundry away, the room was suddenly thick with the smell of lilacs. At the same time, I heard my Welsh grandmother’s distinctive chuckle in my mind. She’d passed away some years before, but her signature scent had been lilac – I well remember the bottles of lilac perfume, jars of lilac body powder and other lilac-smelling cosmetics on her dresser. So clairaroma and clairaudience combined to give me a brief connection to a family member on the other side.

Sometimes this gift is said to offer warnings, such as if you smell gas in the house when no one else does (although you might just have a keener nose than your friends and family and you really DO smell gas!) And it should be mentioned that terrible odors have often been reported as part of a haunting, or in a place where something dreadful has happened and the energy is particularly dark.

CLAIRGUSTANCE – Sometimes called clairgustus, this is the odd ability to taste something without having put anything into your mouth. It’s generally associated with a spirit, perhaps the favorite food of that person or a food they prepared a certain way. Or it might be a substance associated with the spirit in some way – reports have listed the taste of alcohol, medication, metal, tobacco or sometimes even blood.

How do you find and strengthen your psychic abilities?

Many times it’s a matter of increasing your awareness of what’s already going on. We’re in such a hurry most of the time that we could be having all sorts of psychic experiences and not know it. Slowing down can make a huge difference. Pay attention. Focus. Pause a few seconds before you do things like open the mail, answer the door or pick up the phone. Here’s a fun exercise - Take a moment before you turn the page in a magazine. Is there already an impression or a picture in your head? Maybe it’s red lipstick or Brad Pitt, maybe a new car or a hamburger. Look and see if you were right. (This is a great game to play with friends too.)

Be sure to write down your experiences, no matter how small. Keeping a journal will help to build your awareness. It’s like trying to remember your dreams – keeping a pad and pencil by your bed and making a habit of writing things down when you awaken actually trains your brain to recall things.

Just for fun or to seriously test how psychic you are, you might want to try out some online ESP quizzes (look for reputable ones, and pages that your browser says are safe). This one posted by Stephen Wagner on About.com is a good one http://paranormal.about.com/library/weekly/aa050800a.htm

Dani Harper
http://www.daniharper.com/

YOUR TURN – Do you feel that psychic ability exists? Have you had an experience with déjà vu, precognition, or clairsensing of some kind? If you could have one of these abilities, which would you choose?