THE PSYCHIC WORLD & THE IMPORTANCE OF ‘CLAIRS’
If you’ve had the privilege of receiving a reading from a medium, a psychic, a tarot reader, palm reader, runes diviner, or any other divination baddy, than you may have encountered a clair without knowing it. Who’s to say that you don’t have a clair yourself? Have you picked up an item in an antique store and suddenly felt like you were transported to another time? How about walking into a colonial village only to be hit with a phantom scent? Or even been minding your own business seated at a café or local library, when a person, with a melancholic expression, sits down next to you… and then you hear a small whisper that says “I’m ok, Todd”, so your turn to the person next to you and ask “are you Todd?” and they nod quizzically…which leads you to share the message with them, only to find out they just lost their loved one earlier that week?…These are all signs that you have the gift of a Clair.
Mikhail Nilov - Pexels
Why in All the Hells Are We Here?
Last year I had the privilege of being a guest on Dani Margeauxs’ Podcast “Magic Exists”, where we discussed what it means to be a witch, how magick exists across many spiritual practices and backgrounds, as well as divination abilities, and healing practices. Since that episode was released, I had many of you wonderful darklings reach out asking for further information on Clairs. If you have zero idea of what I’m talking about, but are intrigued, a more in-depth explanation of the episode, as well as the link to the episode itself, will be released in an article in 2 weeks time!
I Understand Magical Abilities, The Psychic Realm, but What in all Hells is a Clair?
Wether it’s on TikTok, Instagram, or Lemon8 the question “What’s your Clair?” has been asked a lot! And if you’re new to the witchy community or the psychic realm in general you’re probably just as lost as I was when this question first landed at my feet. In the psychic community there are different abilities that allow readers, mediums, psychics, spiritual guides and teachers to access information which in no way could have been known. The way they access this information is seen as a gift or that they’re born with it. But everyone has a clair (or possibly multiple), and can work to figure out what theirs is, how to grow it, and use it for their personal use or even for community growth and wellness.
The Clairs in a Nutshell
There are eight known Clairs to date. With that said, there are four main Clairs that, as we define them, may sound most familiar to you.
Clairvoyance: arguably the most heard of, especially in the medium community, or in movies. Clairvoyance is the ability to see things that are not there (ghosts, spirits, magickal beings, etc.) which also incudes visions in dreams or otherwise, that come to fruition. Many mediums and psychics who have this ability describe how they started seeing things that weren’t there (usually as a child), and either grew to accept this gift or completely shut it off and never opened the door to it again. Fun fact, clairvoyance is the least common clair!
Clairaudience: the ability to hear information, mainly experienced as a voice, as if a person were speaking directly to you. However, this can also be inaudible noises and sounds that relate to questions you may be asking, or a client you may be seated with (ie: running water, laughter, clinking glasses, kettle whistling, etc). Anything that makes noise could be heard while accessing this clair, it simply depends on the situation, person, or question(s) placed before you.
Claircognizanse: this is one that many have a hard time expressing, or putting a detailed definition to. It is the simple knowing, or certainty of an outcome, a situation, or a person. You feel this in the gut, and when asked a question you will feel it there. None of the five senses support this clair, but that is also what can make it so powerful. This is a great access point for those who have a hard time trusting their own gut. If that’s the case for you, I would recommend looking into this clair for your psychic journey.
Clairsentience: similar to claircognizance, clairsentience is a clair that is best described as a gut feeling. However, it is one that people don’t necessarily equate to a psychic download because we experience this on a daily basis as humans. When you see a dimly lit allyway that could get you to your destination quicker, but your gut turns to knots and you decide against it, only later to hear that someone else didn’t heed the warning in their gut and faced turmoil, that is clairsentience. Your other senses could give you support into how this clair will guide you in the next moment. I would be so bold to say that this is the most common clair there is!
The next set of Clairs have been given their names based on sensations as they’ve developed over time. Some are new to the point that as I was researching I realized they’re even new to me! This is a great reminder that spiritual modalities and practices are always evolving, and there will always be new elements to learn (or unlearn) throughout our journeys within The Craft.
Clairsalience: I would say this is a Clair I would want the least because you don’t have control over what smells may come through. That’s right, this is the gift of receiving universal information through your sense of smell! Science has proven that when one smells certain scents, it can unlock memories. When I smell a floral musk, I immediately am brought to my grandparents home, where they are sitting on the two dusty pink, velvet arm chairs, with a Trisha Romance painting hanging upon the wall behind them. There are studies that even go on to discuss the possibility that it could unlock memories from another time! How fascinating would it be to explore our past lives through scent?
Clairempathy (this ones a new one, even for me!): We’ve all heard of what an empath is, well in this way think of it as a superpower and with superpowers comes great responsibility, and not just for others but for ourselves. Clairempathy is a psychic ability that allows for the attuned person to feel what others are feeling without knowing them, or the situation even. An old acquaintance of mine wore these beautiful thrifted fur coats, he always enjoyed feeling lavish and lush but shared with me that he had to be very careful about which coats to take home because he could feel the emotional ties that were on each garment. He could feel the lives of those who once owned the coats, and some were too overwhelming, even for a seasoned wxtch like himself…
which brings us to our next Clair…
Clairtangency: the ability to receive psychic information through your hands. Those who practice reiki and other forms of energetic healing, either have awakened or strengthened this ability within their work. A famous example of this is a character in Stephen Kings novel The Dead Zone who awakens from a coma and has the ability to tell future events by touching people or objects. You do not have to have had a horrible accident to have these abilities, but sometimes near death experiences awaken supernatural gifts within us. Tyler Henry, a famous medium with a netflix special, is known to ask his clients to bring an object that belonged to the person who passed with them to the reading. Through his physical connection to the item, he receives information from the beyond!
Clairgustance (only recently heard of this one myself): This Clair was most recently added, and accepted, as a psychic ability. The power to receive tastes associated to places, situations, and people. Many mediums, psychics, and paranormal investigators have had experiences where they can taste blood, metal, or salt water in their mouths only later finding out that someone had died via gunshot wound, or drowning, and blood was the last thing they could taste…another Clair I could kindly do without.
You do not have to be gifted, or learn a Clair in order to be a wxtch. Many mediums and psychics don’t practice The Craft, and yet work in the world of the unseen. The interesting thing is that, although not every psychic is a wxtch, nor every wxtch a psychic, both would have been killed for either having such powers, or practicing magick in other ways. This is why many wxtches do use divination as a modality in their craft, because if we are to die, at least let us live to our fullest power before doing so.
Pavel Danilyuk - Pexels
Ok, so if I have a Clair, How do I Harness it?
This is a great question, so I’d like all the wxtches who feel that they don’t have a clair, or a clair that’s laying dormant, to step to the front. In order to access this there are a few practices you can start putting into place on the daily or weekly basis. Just remember that the more often you practice, the sooner it will take hold!
Meditation/Visualization:
There are some beautiful books, YouTube videos, and classes available for meditation and that can be a great start or segue into building connection with your clair ability. Meditation and visualization is such an important key to unlocking the door to the psychic world, mainly because our physical reality is very chaotic, overstimulating, and demanding. It’s very hard to connect to spirit, universal energy, or a divine source if you haven’t worked on quieting your inner world. So this is a great place to start. I’ve even met with fellow witches who only needed to do this step in order to make that connection, because it was waiting for her on the other side. Also because she found herself to be clairaudient, and therefore needed the inner silence and peace to tap into that audio frequency.
Parlor Games turned Psychic Awakening
You may have seen across social media platforms where wxtches, diviners, and psychics play a little game with their audience. They’l pull 3 cards (tarot/oracle) or hold a crystal in their hand, and I’ve even seen some where the have a picture of an animal and you are meant to tap into the psychic energy and predict was card, crystal or animal is going to be revealed. Now, this isn’t the best example of how you’ll know if you have psychic abilities, of course, but it’s a GREAT tool to help build that muscle! I highly recommend doing this in your own time. If you have a deck of cards (a regular playing deck will do) and pull one to start. Focus on that card intently. Even place your hand over it or onto it to feel if any information comes through. Speak to it, ask it to tell you, or reveal itself in your minds eye. You want to try and connect through all clair options, don’t write any of them off! You could be surprised how the universes wants to work its magick with you.
The Buddy System
This isn’t such an easy task, especially if you’re broom closeted, or don’t have a fellow wxtch around you. However, you may be surprised to find many people like to play guessing games, and so you can always paint it as that. Go ahead, we won’t tell *wink*. So grab a partner and creat some rules; example, your partner has to choose between a pig, a bear, and a cat. They cannot tell you what they choose. Sit across from one another, and stare into each others eyes. Tell your friend to see the animal in their minds eye. Then to hear the noise they make. Then, is there a smell associated with them? Maybe in their environment? Have them really smell it. Don’t let them drop these ques…and really concentrate. Give yourself a few minutes before guessing the animal. You can do this with words as well!
There is a viral game going around social media where friends/partners/family members have to say the same word. They look at each other and count down from three, really concentrating, then say the word. If it isn’t the same word, they then pick a word that could come from the two already spoken words- still the goal to say the same new word. Count down from three. If it still isn’t the same word, you repeat the process one last time. Usually it is then guessed correctly by both parties. This is a test in telekinesis, but also psychic abilities too.
Psychic Schools and Teachings
I have personally never taken a course or gone to a psychic school to enhance or learn my abilities. I don’t believe it is necessary, but it can absolutely take you to the next step and fast! I don’t have any to recommend, so I highly encourage you, and warn you, to do extensive research before investing money into courses or teachings. With that said I have heard from acquaintances that they wouldn’t have been able to access the full spectrum of their gifts without guidance within an eduational-type system. That could be due to their personality type of course (possibly a virgo?) but regardless, it’s your own journey therefore your choice to make. A few famous options to note are The Lily Dale Assembly, Ivy League Psychic Academy, A.R.E of NY Edgar Cayce Center, IAC (international Academy of Consciousness) and these are in NY State alone!
If nothing else, I hope this article gave you more understanding to this viral question being asked all over socials. I hope that if you’re at all curious about developing your own skills as a psychic, that this was helpful in guiding you to seeking further insight, expansion and ownership of your magical abilities. We all have it within us to access, some stronger than others, but that doesn’t make us better or worse for it. Regardless of your inquiry into the clairs and the psychic world, I hope this brought you a bit of fun in your exploration of the unseen world, which we wxtches call magick!
Till next time darklings, stay spooky xx
Cottonbro - Pexels
