| In the swirl of misconceptions, | | | | people have been able to obtain a psychic |
| misunderstandings, and general confusion | | | | reading of another entity and consciously |
| surrounding the fields of parapsychology and | | | | channel that entity but professional |
| psychic activity, most people have no idea | | | | parapsychologists don't recommend trying it |
| how to make distinctions between different | | | | until you've been well-trained and prepared. |
| types of psychic abilities. Wait a minute, | | | | |
| you say, I didn't even know there were | | | | Three more (related) types of psychic ability |
| different types! You're in the same boat as | | | | are clairaudience, clairsentience, and |
| most everyone else who has a basic | | | | clairvoyance. Clairaudience is generally |
| understanding of psychic reading and | | | | defined as the ability to hear or sense |
| activity. Little does the general public | | | | sounds that cannot be perceived by a |
| know, it's not all tarot cards and psychic | | | | non-psychic person. Clairsentience is another |
| phone reading -- There are sharply defined | | | | type of extrasensory perception in that |
| distinctions between everything from the | | | | clairsentient people can sense past, present, |
| obvious (tarot reading and telepathy) to the | | | | or future events through sensing them, though |
| surprising (clairaudience, clairsentience, | | | | non-clairsentient people cannot perceive |
| and clairvoyance). | | | | them. Clairvoyance is a synonym for |
| | | | extrasensory perception any knowledge or |
| First, let's discuss what defines psychic | | | | consciousness of an event outside of seeing, |
| ability in the first place! Extra-sensory | | | | hearing, tasting, touching, or smelling it. |
| perception (ESP), prophesies of the future, | | | | |
| and a sixth sense could all be defined under | | | | Divination is another often-misunderstood |
| the blanket term psychic ability. But where | | | | type of psychic ability. Divination is the |
| does psychic ability come from? Actually, no | | | | act of making prophesies or predictions |
| one really knows not even psychic readers. | | | | through the practice of occult arts. Contrary |
| People who claim to have psychic abilities | | | | to popular belief, this is different from |
| describe a sense of just having it without | | | | intuition which is defined as the ability to |
| having any conception of how it got there. | | | | perceive or act based on just knowing that |
| Most say that it is part of their regular | | | | it's the right thing to do. Tarot Cards and |
| consciousness, and that they simply know or | | | | tarot reading is a form of divination. |
| feel things before, during, or after they | | | | Although the mainstream ideas of divination |
| happen despite being unable to explain how. | | | | and intuition have been tweaked to seem like |
| Though parapsychology has been heavily | | | | anyone can tap into this psychic energy |
| criticized, scrutinized, and stigmatized, the | | | | field, the truth is that only a few people |
| truth is that as much evidence points towards | | | | take the time to hone and develop their |
| its veracity as against it. | | | | extrasensory perception skills. |
| | | | |
| So what are some of the different types of | | | | What's the difference between psychometry and |
| psychic abilities? To begin with, there is | | | | psychokinesis? Well, psychometry is defined |
| the art of channeling, which is defined as | | | | as the ability to glean information about an |
| the ability to receive and transmit | | | | object by obtaining physical contact with the |
| information from another external | | | | object. Good examples of this are seen in |
| consciousness while in a decidedly altered | | | | countless movies. Envision it: The hero |
| state of mind. Though each incident varies in | | | | touches a book and, upon contact, is filled |
| intensity and resulting activity, many share | | | | with images of its previous user and the fate |
| the same basic traits: a semi-trance like | | | | that befell him or her. Psychokinesis is the |
| state and the appearance of an outer entity | | | | ability to move objects through willing it or |
| expressing itself through the channeler. Many | | | | thinking it. |