Psychic ability is receiving information without a direct source using the five human-body senses—seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, or touching—or immediate physical surroundings and using no enhancing devices. It’s often referred to as extra-sensory perception (ESP). I have witnessed this level of perception in people who could taste colors when just looking at them (especially children), in people who could feel the passing of a loved one from a physically remote distance, in people who could touch an object and know who it belongs to from feeling the object’s lingering vibrations, and those who premonitions about a coming event, and then the event happens.

The term psychic originated with the ancient Greek word psyche (sigh-kee), meaning the soul, mind, spirit, and the invisible animating entity that occupies a physical body. Most of us have the concept of the life force (invisible animator) and the soul (the inner self). Psyche is more inclusive. In Hebrew, it is “nephesh” (neh-fesh), and the first four times nephesh is used in the Bible are in Genesis. It describes the creation of animals: Genesis 1:20 for sea life, Genesis 1:21 for great sea life, Genesis 1:24 for land creatures, and Genesis 1:30 for birds and land creatures. However, in Genesis 2:7, nephesh is also used to create a human being. The original Greek referred to the fullness of being, the entirety of the being, exclusive of the physical body and even the earthly personality. This has led many to refer to these perceptions as coming from a condition of being that all of us may develop. The French word clair, meaning “clear,” describes these “senses.”

Clairvoyance is seeing beyond the physically visible.

Clairaudience is hearing without the physical ear drums.

Clairsentience is having feelings and sensations with no outer influence, usually with a strong emotional quality.

Clairalience is perceiving smells that have no physical source.

Clairgustance is tasting without putting anything in one’s mouth.

Claircognizance is knowing something that is unknowable.

Clairvoyance: For example, my uncle, in California at 10:00 am, saw a mental vision of his brother (my father) in fiery explosions just as the attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii was beginning (California is 3 hours before Hawaii time, so 10:00 in California would have been 7:00 in Pearl). My father’s ship was bombed and sank, but my father survived uninjured. How does someone, especially a loved one, see what is about to happen or happening to another who is 2,500 miles away? Obviously, psychic perceptions are beyond time and space. We might think of it as a bird high above the river of life; it can see beyond the river’s present course. Also, despite all appearances to the contrary, all minds are connected to a Collective Consciousness.

Clairaudience: An example in my life was when I was at university and had gotten very depressed and confused about my life. I was slumped in a chair, feeling I couldn’t go on, when an audible voice of great authority ordered me to “get up and do the new things.” The “new things” were known to me, but I had been hesitant to make changes. Yet, the voice was so directive and powerful that I couldn’t ignore its command. Was that my soul? Was it my guardian angel? Whatever it was, there were no voice cords in that room, and my ear drums did not feel stimulated, but my mind heard the voice loud and clear.

Clairsentience: For example, a female friend felt a dramatic inner-body gasp and knew immediately that her father had just passed on at that very moment. Here again, we have a love bond in which the very cells of her body—originally from her father’s body—perceived his physical death without phone calls or emails.

Clairalience: An example of this happened when a prayer group was praying for one of their members who was very ill. Suddenly, the whole room filled with the scent of roses. There were no roses in the house! They all smelled them! It filled them with faith and power. Some in the group felt that it was the scent of Jesus’ presence, and some felt it was Mother Mary’s presence.

Clairgustance: For example, when my brothers and I were young and visited my grandmother, who lived in the city, she used to give us tiny, little bottles of cream that she used for her coffee. My brothers and I would drink these bottles of cream. When I was far away from my grandmother, I sometimes tasted cream in my mouth. When that happened, I thought she was thinking of me, so I would contact her.

Claircognizance: An example would be knowing who is going to call before they call when there is no reason for them to call. Another example is déjà vu, knowing specifics about a place that you have never been to or read about. Another example is knowing (not seeing but knowing) something is going to happen with certainty before it happens and without any evidence that it is going to happen. This knowing often comes in precognitive dreams.

How does one shift consciousness to a “clearer” state of being to benefit from psychic perception? There are many ways, including being born with this state of consciousness. However, most of us will have to grow to a broader awareness beyond physical reality by developing our soul’s senses. One quick way is pausing impulsive actions and reactions to allow inner perceptions to express their view. Another way is to develop a conscious awareness in sleep, reflection, or meditation. Becoming conscious in sleep is called “lucid,” thus the term lucid dreaming. Being conscious in mediation has levels of awareness, but the ultimate level is serene stillness in the “womb” of God, the Source of our lives. Eastern teachings call this the “void,” but it is an unexplainable void of vitality. The ultimate is ineffable on a human level.