We earn a commission from brands listed on this site. This influences the order and manner in which these listings are presented.
Advertising Disclosure

What Is a Clairvoyant? The Ultimate Guide to Clairvoyance

Maria Raczka
What Is a Clairvoyant? The Ultimate Guide to Clairvoyance
Do you want to explore the spiritual world of connection and wonder where to start? Developing your “clairs” — clairvoyance, clairaudience, clairsentience, claircognizance, clairgustance, and clairalience — is a great way to get to know yourself, others, and the spiritual world.

But what the heck are all of these “clairs”? It’s very simple because you already have them. Clairs are all of your senses (vision, smell, taste, touch, hearing) at an elevated level of sensitivity. So, how do we learn to use them?

What Does Clairvoyance Mean?

The term clairvoyance means “clear seeing.” It’s a compound word derived from the French “Clair” (clear) and “voir” (to see). Did you ever meet a psychic who just seems to know things that they could not have seen before? Clairvoyance is a profound way of opening up your senses to perceive the spiritual world and the world around us with more depth. With practice comes mastery. Although many people think of clairvoyance as a sixth sense, it’s really your sense of vision sharpened and elevated to a hypersensitive level.

To give you a taste of what clairvoyance is like, I invite you to close your eyes. Imagine a scene from your childhood appearing in front of your eyes and imagine it in great detail. Now open your eyes and keep on looking at that same scene. Clairvoyance is very similar, except that it’s not a memory. Instead, you start perceiving images, objects, actions, shapes, places much in the same way as a visual memory or a dream. Some people see things very clearly, others only in black and white —sometimes like a dream through a veil and other times as solid as the cup of coffee we drink every morning. Clairvoyance differs from person to person.

How Do I Know If I’m Clairvoyant?

If you’re looking to develop your clairvoyant perception, I have great news for you. You are already clairvoyant. Everyone is because clairvoyance is the hypersensitivity of your visual senses. Notably, individuals with a sensitive character and anxiety seem to have a talent and need for developing and stabilizing their senses. The best psychics and mediums likely have heightened clairvoyance and use it as one of their tools to communicate with the spiritual world. Clairvoyance is like any muscle. If you don’t use it, it weakens, but it grows stronger and more precise if you exercise it. There are many exercises that you can do to strengthen your clairvoyant abilities. Great teachers and publications for your reading pleasure include Tony Stockwell, James Van Praagh, Pat Longo, Caroline Myss, Edgar Cayce, Rebecca Rosen, Sonia Choquette, Paul Selig, Robert Schwartz, Ted Andrews, Gordon Smith, and many more.

Let’s try an exciting experiment so that you can experience clairvoyance.

Take a minute to relax your body (externally and internally). Inhale (counting to four), hold your breath (again, count of four), and exhale (once again, for a count of four). Now relax the top of your head, your facial muscles, your eyes, sinuses, and throat. Imagine the space between the back of your throat and sinuses widening. It’s OK if you yawn; your body is just relaxing. Now, open your eyes and look into the distance without focusing. Look past everything and just be. Welcome any images to your thoughts, visions, or perceptions. The main goal is not to force anything. Just relax and trust that you will remember what you have to, and if your mind wanders, just bring it back to the moment and continue relaxing. Once you finish, write down any intriguing impressions. These impressions will get more frequent, dense, and dependable with time. Remember always to trust yourself. Self-doubt is the biggest obstacle when learning anything new.

As with any talent, you should never try to force your development. Instead, always pay attention to your body and other senses because perhaps, you have different talents that will develop simultaneously.

What Is a True Clairvoyant?

A true clairvoyant is simply an excellent and experienced clairvoyant (like any other developed ability that takes practice). Also, keep in mind that it takes maintenance. Once, I went on a cruise with the full intent of relaxing. I used all of my clairs daily (to one degree or another), so I wasn’t worried about practicing. I wanted a vacation. Suddenly, as I sipped my champagne, I heard a scream, “Pay attention!” Yes, your senses will let you know if you have been neglectful.

A good clairvoyant can describe faces, people, events, locations, places, and items in great detail and without prior knowledge. Like with everyday vision, while we don’t choose what we’re shown, we increase our observation skills to perceive as much as possible, provide greater accuracy and details, and then pass along the messages to our clients. A genuine clairvoyant can help a client locate items, people, past lives, soul’s purpose, and more.

Tips for Consulting a Clairvoyant

Like any ability, clairvoyance is a sense that you can develop for yourself. However, it’s great if you have mentors. While you learn, you may be curious to explore further and consult experienced clairvoyants. The truth is that you should always follow your intuition and common sense. It’s always a good idea to read over a few profiles and reviews to see which ones resonate. For example, Psychic Source provides testimonials and descriptions of many clairvoyants that you can browse through. If you are looking to entertain yourself further, a great option is Keen. Featured in Cosmopolitan and Woman’s Health, Keen advisors help clients gain clarity, perspective, and opportunities in our everyday world.

Other Types of Psychic Abilities

While you develop your clairvoyance, there are other clairs that you may be interested in exploring. We have as many clairs as we have the senses:

Clairaudience (clear hearing), for example, is a hypersensitive sense of hearing. Have you ever thought you heard music, the sound of words, and were unsure of the source? No, you were not hallucinating. More than likely, it was your sense of Clairaudience.

Clairsentience (clear feeling) is very much like a sensitive empathy or feeling. It happens when we feel a person’s (or spirit’s) feelings, physical pain, emotions, or experiences without prior knowledge of their experience. Curiously, people with a heightened clairsentience feel drawn to careers where they care for others.

Claircognizance is simply an intense way of knowing. When people refer to a “gut feeling,” they refer to claircognizance. This knowledge can include people, events, or places. Did you ever have a premonition? More than likely, that was your claircognizance kicking in to give you a heads up and protect you.

Did you ever feel like you smelled the perfume of your grandmother or a distant relative that was not around any longer? Clairalience is “clear smelling.” Although less common, you may still find yourself experiencing it.

Clairgustance is “clear tasting.” Some people experience flavors or food texture impressions without actually tasting the food. Just like with the sense of smell, this experience is less common. As in everyday life, when some senses are predominant, we can also expect the same senses to dominate when developing the clairs.

Although some people can be skeptical, once you practice heightening the sensitivity of all of your senses, clairs will become an everyday tool. Of course, like with any leaps, this requires trust but can be greatly rewarded in the end.

It’s essential to keep a diary of symbols. Often, when you start seeing things, the visions may not be literal. For example, an apple can mean nourishment, vitality, or symbolize a teacher for me. To develop your psychic symbol vocabulary, consider reading books on symbolism, such as The Best Dream Book Ever: Accessing Your Personal Intuition and Guidance by Kevin J Todeschi.

Sometimes, the images you see will be quite literal and hold meaning only to you or your client. Make sure always to convey what the image means to you and ask them if it has a different meaning. For example, once I was giving a public, gallery-style reading and approached a group of people who came together. I told them that I saw a hat, a smiley moon face crescent, and a young man that kept on taking the cap (on and off) in mock a greeting gesture. That just didn’t make sense to me and seemed to make even less sense to my audience. After the reading, a gentleman who seemed visibly shaken approached me. He told me that his friend passed away about a week prior, and he was so shocked that he couldn’t speak out publicly. The hat with a smiley moon face was the only item he had from his friend.

Your Psychic Journey

Although it takes practice, developing your clairs can be extremely rewarding. Not only will it help you connect spiritually to your soul’s purpose and others, but it will also ease anxiety and help you become more mindful. With practice, you may connect with spirits, other people, find people and objects, see body imbalances and ailments, see people’s moods, and be able to help others find their way in life.

Practice, read, surround yourself with great mentors, and you will soon be on your way to a greater, more magnificent you. The “you” that you are truly meant to be.

Maria Raczka
Maria Raczka is a published writer, reporter, editor, grant proposal writer, and public speaker. She is devoted to spiritual wellness and healing and is an empathic medium. Raczka shares her expertise writing for Top10.com. Her work has taken her across the globe, writing and winning funds for arts/nonprofits.