The paranormal term clairvoyance originated in the French language. And can be broken down as, in French, ‘clair’ meaning clear, ‘voyance’ meaning vision and ‘voyant ‘ being a visionary. Therefore being a clairvoyant is one who has clear vision. This is, however, a literal translation and not really accurate or very helpful.
One thing that further complicates the definition is the fact that the term ‘clairvoyant’ has been used over the years to refer to different things. ‘Clairvoyant’ has gradually been used as a term that applies to an individual that displays various ranges of psychic or paranormal abilities. The definition that accurately sums up what a clairvoyant is a person that is able to know specific thins about a person, location, event, or object with a means other than the five physical sense. In summary, clairvoyance refers to the use of ESP or extra-sensory perception.
Clairvoyance normally involves a person with clairvoyant abilities knowing that something is taking place at that moment, but in a distant location that would be out of their normal range of physical senses. There have also been cases documented of various clairvoyants knowing about things that have happened either in the past or in the future. Due to this, clairvoyance is often considered by many people to be some sort of prophecy or precognition.
A clairvoyant may receive this knowledge through various channels, but there are six means which are the most common. The most common of all and the one with which clairvoyance is most strongly associated is known as remote viewing. This consists of seeing a person, place or thing beyond the range of their five senses. This could be a vision or a mental image.
The second form is clairaudience. In this form the clairvoyant receives information remotely by sound of the event. Hearing noises or voices which other people and recording equipment cannot. Such as hearing voices of the dead and this phenomenon may cross over into the realm of mediums.
Clairsentience (also known as psychometry) involves knowledge in the form of tactile sensations. The clairvoyant may feel objects which are not there or a generalized physical sensation which may be related to another place, event or person.
Clairalience refers to knowledge coming to the clairvoyant in olfactory form. The clairvoyant may smell grass and flowers from a meadow (or anything else) which clues them into the source of the smell. Only the clairvoyant can smell these scents, which come from no obvious source.
The next and fifth type of clairvoyance is known as clairgustance. In clairgustance a clairvoyant with an empty mouth is able to taste different flavors even though there is no obvious source. These clairvoyants are able to precisely describe the different taste of things from a distance.
Claircognizance refers to a clairvoyant ‘just knowing’ something without any explanation for their having received this knowledge. There is no sensory analogue to claircognizance, making it a difficult phenomenon to explain.
There have been many documented occurrences of people who are clairvoyant throughout history from different cultures around the globe. Instances of clairvoyance have also been incorporated into some of the world’s most widespread religions.
In Buddhism for example, clairvoyance is considered of the six special senses humans are capable of at advanced levels of meditation. In this case, it refers to being able to feel vibrations put out by other people.
Among Catholics, clairvoyance is often considered miraculous. Over 500 hundred years ago, Saint Claire, a disciple of Saint Francis, had a vision in which she witnessed the death of Saint Francis, even though she was miles away at the time. Interestingly, the Catholic Church made Saint Claire the patron saint of television. ‘Television’ translates to ‘seeing over a distance.’
There are plenty of people that are skeptical of clairvoyance. It is human nature for people to deny that something exists just because they don’t understand it. Take for example the scientists that not so long ago denied the existence of electricity or magnetism.
We might not quite understand how it works, but this doesn?t mean that clairvoyance should be discounted. Many believe that with the proper training and effort, anyone can develop clairvoyance and other psychic abilities.
We still do not understand how it works, but there is no reason to deny its existence. Its been suggested that all humans were clairvoyant in the past, but have lost their powers for some reason or other. The ability remains dormant, but it is thought that anyone who wants to activate that dormant power, could do so with an effort on their part.
