The Many Types of Psychic Ability

The terms "psychic" and "clairvoyant" are often used interchangeably to refer to people who have paranormal sensory abilities, however, this is somewhat inaccurate. There are actually several different terms to more accurately describe a person’s paranormal specialties.

Clairsentience

In the paranormal field, clairsentience is a form of extrasensory perception in which an individual obtains psychic awareness predominantly by means of feeling. The word is from the French words clair, “clear,” and sentience, “feeling.”
In addition to the realm of the paranormal, the term is also used in some religions. As an example, clairsentience is one of the six special human functions mentioned in Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, it is a capability that can be obtained at an advanced level of meditation. Generally, a clairsentient is a person who can feel the vibrations of other people. There are many different degrees of clairsentience ranging from the ability to perceive other people’s diseases and illnesses, to their thoughts and emotions. The ability differs from clairvoyance in that instead of having a very vivid image in mind, a very vivid feeling can form.

Clairaudience

In the field of the paranormal, the word clairaudience, which stems from the French clair (clear) and audience (hearing) means a type of extrasensory perception in which a person acquires information by paranormal auditory means. It is often inaccurately considered to be a form of clairvoyance. Clairaudience is basically the ability to hear in a paranormal manner, as opposed to paranormal seeing and feeling (clairvoyance &clairsentience). Clairaudient people have psi-mediated hearing. Clairaudience may refer not to the actual hearings of sound, but instead refers to impressions of the "inner mental ear" similar to the way many people think words without actually hearing them. But it may also refer to actual perception of sounds such as voices, tones, or noises that are not perceptible to other humans or to recording devices. For example, a clairaudient might hear the voices or thoughts of the spirits of persons who are deceased.

Clairalience

Also known as Clairescence, clairalience, from the French clair (clear) & alience (smelling), is a form of extrasensory perception in which a person acquires psychic knowledge primarily by means of smelling. Although rare, clairalience does exist in certain individuals.

Claircognizance

Paranormally speaking, claircognizance is a form of extrasensory perception in which a person acquires psychic awareness primarily by means of intrinsic knowledge. It is the ability to know something without a physical explanation why you know it, like the concept of mediumship.

Clairgustance