In the swirl of misconceptions, misunderstandings, and general confusion surrounding the fields of parapsychology and psychic activity, most people have no idea how to make distinctions between different types of psychic abilities.

Wait a minute, you say, I didn’t even know there were different types! You’re in the same boat as most everyone else who has a basic understanding of psychic reading and activity. Little does the general public know, it’s not all tarot cards and psychic phone readings. There are sharply defined distinctions between everything from the obvious (tarot reading and telepathy) to the surprising (clairaudience, clairsentience, and clairvoyance).

Defining Psychic Abilities

First, let’s discuss what defines psychic ability in the first place! Extra-sensory perception (ESP), prophecies of the future, and a sixth sense could all be defined under the blanket term psychic ability. But where does psychic ability come from? Actually, no one really knows, not even psychic readers. People who claim to have psychic abilities describe a sense of just having it without having any conception of how it got there. Most say that it is part of their regular consciousness, and that they simply know or feel things before, during, or after they happen despite being unable to explain how. Though parapsychology has been heavily criticized, scrutinized, and stigmatized, the truth is that as much evidence points towards its veracity as against it.

Types of Psychic Abilities

So, what are some of the different types of psychic abilities? To begin with, there is the art of channeling, which is defined as the ability to receive and transmit information from another external consciousness while in a decidedly altered state of mind. Though each incident varies in intensity and resulting activity, many share the same basic traits: a semi-trance-like state and the appearance of an outer entity expressing itself through the channeler. Many people have been able to obtain a psychic reading of another entity and consciously channel that entity, but professional parapsychologists don’t recommend trying it until you’ve been well-trained and prepared.

Three more (related) types of psychic ability are clairaudience, clairsentience, and clairvoyance. Clairaudience is generally defined as the ability to hear or sense sounds that cannot be perceived by a non-psychic person. Clairsentience is another type of extrasensory perception in that clairsentient people can sense past, present, or future events through sensing them, though non-clairsentient people cannot perceive them. Clairvoyance is a synonym for extrasensory perception of any knowledge or consciousness of an event outside of seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, or smelling it.

Divination is another often-misunderstood type of psychic ability. Divination is the act of making prophecies or predictions through the practice of occult arts. Contrary to popular belief, this is different from intuition which is defined as the ability to perceive or act based on just knowing that it’s the right thing to do. Tarot Cards and tarot reading are forms of divination. Although the mainstream ideas of divination and intuition have been tweaked to seem like anyone can tap into this psychic energy field, the truth is that only a few people take the time to hone and develop their extrasensory perception skills.

What’s the difference between psychometry and psychokinesis? Well, psychometry is defined as the ability to glean information about an object by obtaining physical contact with the object. Good examples of this are seen in countless movies. Envision it: The hero touches a book and, upon contact, is filled with images of its previous user and the fate that befell him or her. Psychokinesis is the ability to move objects through willing it or thinking it.

Developing Psychic Abilities

All people are born with the capacity for psychic powers, but only a few become psychic. There are two types of psychics: the natural born and those who, through practice, are able to grow the powers within them. The natural born psychics are said to be gifted as they have had a great amount of psychic powers since birth. On the other hand, those who are born with lesser amounts of psychic powers require heavy practice and understanding in order to grow. In other cases, psychics' abilities can be suddenly awakened by strong emotions or near-death experiences, resulting in having great amounts of mental powers in an instant.

Here are some elements that can help a person develop their psychic skills or abilities:

• Understanding: Spiritual development requires time, patience, and understanding. To develop your psychic ability, you must first understand its importance and purpose. Having psychic powers entails responsibilities; becoming a psychic means allowing your mind and body to grow spiritually, setting your goal into helping others, giving precise information, and knowing that having a psychic ability is never to be abused.

• Patience: Whether you're a natural born with psychic powers or not, you will only be able to develop your psychic ability with time, so don’t rush. It is best to find a psychic group in your community or online to guide you.

• Focus: Focusing first on one ability is good. Choose which ability you would like to develop. It is important to believe in yourself while doing a reading. Psychics have different types of readings and will choose the most appropriate one based on the client.

• Choosing Your Tool: Always have the proper tool(s) before conducting a reading. Tarot Cards are a divination tool used to gain insight and resolve issues regarding health, relationships, career, and spirituality. Numerology, from the word itself, uses numbers that correspond to each letter of the alphabet. With a mathematical formula, psychics use numerology to give past or future information on a person’s life path. Astrology uses celestial bodies such as the moon, sun, and planets to represent events that occur in a person’s life. A Crystal Ball can aid in clairvoyance, which goes beyond the five senses to receive or download information using only the mind. Other ways a psychic may perform a reading include palm reading, cold reading, dream interpretation, among other methods.

• Practice: Becoming a skillful psychic requires a lot of practice. Nobody becomes a professional in any field in just a few days! When practicing your psychic ability, keep in mind that what you’re doing is good for someone. Discard your doubts, and no matter what your mind sees during a psychic reading, take full trust in your ability.

Lastly, if you’ve just begun to learn how to develop your psychic powers, try some psychic ability tests first to know the scope and limit of your psychic powers. Psychic tests are available online and in a psychics’ community.

By understanding, patience, focus, choosing the right tools, and consistent practice, anyone can tap into and develop their innate psychic potential.

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