You’ll be familiar with our five physical senses: those being sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell.

But what about our sixth sense? Our ability to perceive the non-physical, also known as our intuition, or extrasensory perceptions (ESPs).

We’re all born with additional sensory abilities, gifts that defy our rational, logical minds. These abilities can be hard to fathom and explain so are often dismissed. These subtle sensory clues are our body’s way of getting our attention, making us aware of something within our vicinity or life. Moments like when goosebumps appear but you’re not cold, or meeting someone for the first time and taking an instant like or dislike to them but you’re not sure why.

Consider how you perceive the world around you, when you step out of your front door or enter a room what are you aware of first?

Are you struck by sights, sounds, a feeling, or an instinctual knowing about that moment? Perhaps it’s smells, or maybe you’re aware of the feelings and moods of others. These ‘other’ senses are our clair’s, clair meaning clear in French. What you’re more sensitive to sensorially is an indication of which clair or clairs are more dominant for you.

Clairvoyance – clear seeing

Clairvoyance has been used as the general term to cover all psychic abilities but this isn’t accurate, Clairvoyance is specific to psychic sight. The seeing could be with the physical eyes or the inner eye also known as the third eye, your mind’s eye, or the screen of your imagination. Some clairvoyants have both abilities.

Are you clairvoyant?

• With your physical eyes you may be able to see colours and shapes around people, animals, plants, and objects (auras).
• Perhaps you see people and animals that have passed, they could appear as they presented in life or as a white haze, an orb, or sparkles of light out the corner of your eye.
• Or maybe you see angels or other entities.
• With inner sight, this can appear as a scene from a film, or images and words flash into your mind’s eye. Your mind’s eye is how you receive images and messages when you close your eyes to meditate or rest.
• Clairvoyants are also known to be vivid dreamers, when asleep premonitions about future events or other important messages can be relayed sometimes from those that have passed.
• Clairvoyants are often artistic, they enjoy bringing a vision to life.
• They’re visual learners too preferring images, symbols, graphs and maps over written text and instructions.

How to strengthen

Clairvoyancy is related to our third eye chakra, the space between our eyebrows.

1. Find a time and place where you won’t be interrupted, find somewhere comfortable to sit or lie down.
2. Close your eyes, take several deep breaths, and relax.
3. Bring your attention to your third eye, keep breathing and notice if you feel a pulsing, tingling, or slight burning sensation here. If you don’t, not to worry you can still practice the exercise without.
4. Visualisation helps your psychic sight develop, clear your mind of all thoughts, and see the screen of your imagination. Some people see a white or chalkboard, for me, it’s an empty stage.
5. Onto the screen project words and images, start with something easy like your name or numbers 1-10. See them clearly, make them appear real as if you were looking at them with your physical eyes.
6. Then try something else maybe shapes within shapes, a blue circle within an orange square, hold that image, and concentrate.
7. Keep doing this daily, it doesn’t have to be for long 5-10 minutes will help strengthen this ability. The point of the exercise is to see in as much detail the images you’re asking the mind to conger up.
8. Once you feel good about the simpler shapes and images move on to more complex objects like imagining the face of someone you know well, then a room in your home, walk the space see and experience everything. You can also try looking at an object for several minutes then closing your eyes, focusing on your third eye and bringing into your mind’s eye everything you saw.
9. Eventually, you’ll be able to experience the exercise with your eyes open using your psychic and physical sight in tandem. Stay open and receptive to what visual messages want to be relayed and trust what comes through via your outer and inner sight.

Clairaudience – clear hearing

Clairaudience is the ability of psychic hearing, either with your physical ears or your inner voice, some clairaudients have both abilities.

Are you clairaudient?

• Those who can hear with their ears will notice sounds that aren’t always audible to others, such as words, mumbling, music, undisguisable sounds, and vibrations.
• The inner ear voice speaks like your own but is gentle and measured (this was a revelation to me. I’d been waiting for a booming voice from the heavens all along!). Initially, it can be hard to distinguish whose voice you’re hearing, just remember all of your psychic abilities are working for your highest and best good.
• Clairaudients are also likely to hear messages in lyrics and songs or when others talk. Sounds, words, or sentences will stand out and it’ll be clear there’s a message for you to distinguish. If you ever wake up with a song playing in your mind, take note of the song name and its lyrics, there could be a message there too.
• Clairaudients are often excellent orators; they have a command over their voice which compels others to listen.
• They can be musical, hearing a song in their head before it’s been written, naturally gifted at reading, and playing music or possess a beautiful singing voice.
• Clairaudients are auditory learners; they prefer to discuss instead of review instructions or listen to an audiobook or podcast versus reading about a subject.

How to strengthen

1. Clairaudients are sensitive to noise, loud, busy environments can overwhelm so it’s important to make time for peace. Quite the noise of life and allow your inner voice to shine through and guide you.
2. Meditate or take a walk in nature and notice all the sounds you hear, count them, and try to notice even the faintest.
3. Also note if you hear an inner voice, start to recognise which voice is the chatty ego mind and which is your psychic hearing.
4. If you experience ringing in your ears (ruling out any medical-related issues or tinnitus) buzzing or ear pops that happen regularly they too can be a sign of your guides trying to get your attention. Take note of when this happens and what’s going on around you, or in your life at that moment.

Clairsentience – clear feeling

Unlike clairvoyance and clairaudience if you have this gift you feel it fully, physically within your body.

Are you clairsentient?

• You can walk into a room and feel the energy of what transpired before you entered.
• You know without having to ask how someone feels emotionally and physically and can experience the same symptoms.
• When you hold objects, especially metal ones (energy is more attracted to metal) do you feel anything, any emotions arise? The ability to read vibrational energy is called psychometry.
• Do you feel pangs of pain or a swell of emotion when in open, busy places and wonder where did it come from?
• This gift stretches beyond people too, you’re also able to feel the physical and emotional imprints left on land or a place where tragic events took place.
• You feel spirit entities, unlike clairvoyance, you won’t necessarily see but can sense when energy shifts, moves and changes around you.
• Clairsentients feel things deeply, you may have been told you’re a highly sensitive person (HSP). This is because you’re so in tune with the emotions of those around you. Unwittingly you may have taken on others’ emotional and physical pain without realising it wasn’t yours to experience (especially if your solar plexus, the emotional energy centre is undefined too).
• Clairsentients are natural healers; they will instinctually know how best to heal and help. Pursuing a career such as a nurse or a doctor, an energy healer, massage therapist or psychologist would best utilise this extraordinary gift.

How to strengthen

1. Be aware and take notice of everything around you. What happens when you walk into a new space, do you feel the energy shift?
2. Ask for permission to read the energy of a friend, someone you trust. Notice what you feel and where in your body emotionally and physically and seek validation with what you experience.
3. Practice psychometry on objects that aren’t yours, energy is more attracted to metal so it’s a good idea to start with this material. Lean into the feelings and try and validate what you experience.
4. With clairsentience it is important that you regularly clear your energic field given how open and receptive you are to the world and others around you. There are many different techniques you can use, you can simply imagine stepping into a bubble of pure, divine light which will travel with you and protect you. Or in the shower imagine the water purifying your energy field. Research what feels good and experiment with what works best for you.

Claircognizance – clear knowing

This is an interesting gift and often gets confused with clairsentience but there’s a distinct difference between the two. With clairsentience you feel it physically within your body it manifests as an emotion or physical reaction. Whereas with claircognizance it’s a feeling of knowing, there’s no room for doubt, you react with complete guttural certainty.

Are you claircognizant?

• You know things sometimes when you have no idea why or how you know but everything within your being tells you to follow your instinct.
• It might be precognition or retro-cognition, it might defy logic and be about something you have no experience in but your inner voice tells you to listen and follow.
• If you ignore this feeling of knowing it’s likely to persist until you trip yourself up and wonder why you didn’t listen in the first place!
• Claircognizance is an ability that can be found in spiritual leaders, industry visionaries, innovators, and philosophers.

How to strengthen

1. Channelled writing can reveal that which you weren’t aware of, take a sheet of blank paper and pen, ensure you won’t be interrupted, clear your mind, and start writing. Don’t read just write whatever comes into your mind.
2. When you’ve exhausted the flow stop and read back. Are there any messages and learnings? If not, date your writing and put it to one side you so can return at a later time, you may find validation in the future.
3. As with the others when you receive an overwhelming feeling of knowing take note of what came through and date it. Reflect at a later time and validate what’s accurate. It feels fantastic and so reassuring when what you knew does come to pass, it helps strengthens your trust muscle.

Clairalience – clear smelling

Clairalience, clairolfaction or clairessence all mean the same thing, the gift of psychic scent. People with particularly sensitive noses may possess this gift and be completely unaware.

Are you clairalience?

• You may be the type of person who smells things when others can’t or have a heightened sense of smell which affects you more than others.
• Perhaps you smell familiar and distinct smells of loved ones or animals that have passed, scents like their fragrance or aftershave or the distinct smell of their home or your pet’s bed.
• If you have the gift of clairalience it’s possible you can smell people’s emotions, those around you in a higher vibration state will smell pleasing those in a lower state less so.
• You may also be able to smell if people are unwell, unusual smells that are hard to distinguish and identify. In the same way, our animals notice our injuries and diseases you too may have the same gift but never realised that’s what you’re perceiving.
• People with a heightened olfactory sense could use their gift by working in winemaking, brewing, as a chef, sommelier, or perfumer.

How to strengthen

1. You need to take care of your body and senses, try and avoid anything which might dull your sense of smell and taste such as smoking, drinking alcohol and taking drugs.
2. Be mindful of what scents you add to your skin, if too many or too much you may overpower your psychic scent.
3. When meditating burn oils known to help stimulate intuition such as lavender (provides mental clarity, linked to our third eye chakra), frankincense (purifier) or sandalwood (grounding, balancing).

Clairgustance – clear tasting

Clairgustance or clairgustience is the ability to psychically taste when you have nothing in your mouth. It’s closely linked with clairalience and if you have one of these skills you’re likely to be able to develop the other. It’s one of the more obscure gifts and not as well-known so maybe you have this ability but never realised.

Are you clairgustant?

• You can experience tastes from anything not just food, it’s about the essence of the object or thing.
• Perhaps you’re aware of a taste when a memory is sparked or you wake from a dream with a distinct taste in your mouth.
• Or you see an image of food and an overwhelming taste experience presents itself like you’re already eating what you can see.
• Clairgustants gravitate towards jobs which allow them to work with food (not surprisingly), they make excellent chefs, bakers, food tasters, sommeliers, food writers and critics.

How to strengthen

1. To open up your palette you need to get tasting! The more you expose your mouth to different taste experiences the more receptive it’ll be to present you with different psychic tastes.
2. Imagine different tastes without eating them, close your eyes and concentrate on what the taste would be like in your mouth.
3. Imagine eating strong flavours like pineapple or chilli then move on to more unusual ones like soil, metal, and soap. This is an exercise you can do whilst meditating to help keep your focus.
4. Finally keep a taste journal, each time you’re aware of a taste make a note. What was it, what was happening at the moment you became aware, events around you or your thoughts? See if there’s a narrative or message to be found.

Clues to your intuition within the charts

I want to first say we all have extrasensory gifts, just for some they may be more pronounced or predisposed. If you’re intrigued here are some places to look within your charts.

1. If your moon is in a water sign (Cancer, Scorpio or Pisces) your abilities are going to be strong
2. If your moon and/or Neptune is in its domicile or exalted sign this would certainly help support your abilities.
3. If your 8^th house (which rules the occult and esoteric interests), 9^th (rules religion and spiritual beliefs) and/ or 12^th houses (rules spirituality) are prominent within the chart i.e. features your sun, moon, Mercury, Neptune, Uranus or Pluto you’re likely to have abilities.
4. If Neptune, Uranus or Pluto are making aspects to your sun, moon or AC you’re probably aware of your ESPs
5. If Mercury (the planet of communication and logical thinking) aspects your Neptune, depending on the type of aspect will depend on how you receive and communicate your gifts.
6. If you have a grand water trine or a grand trine that includes Neptune, your abilities will likely be strong.
7. If your North Node is in a water sign, and/ or the 8^th, 9^th or 12^th houses this is a sign in this lifetime you’re working towards mastering your abilities.
8. In Human Design if your gate 57 the Lucid intuitive is defined (coloured in), this is the gate of intuition and inner knowing (it covers all of the clairs). It’s connected to our spleen which is the energy centre for intuition and instincts. If you have this gate it’s so important to trust your ESPs, don’t let your logical mind squash your gifts or allow other people’s rationalisation to supersede your natural wisdom (I have this gate defined and am forever catching myself when my rational mind wants to doubt!).
9. Gate 57 is also associated with the left ear and gate 22 is the gate of Openness the right, both these gates are linked to clairaudience.
10. As is gate 43 the gate of Insight, this is our inner ear where we receive insights in the form of inner voices.
11. If you have gate 50, the gate of Values it’s possible you’re clairsentient. You’re here for collectives empowerment by harmonising our consciousness.
12. Gates 61, 63 and 64 sit in the head centre where the pineal gland resides, if any of these gates are defined you may be clairvoyant.
13. If gate 44 the gate of Collaboration is defined you may have clairalience and the ability to smell if people are trustworthy or not.
14. If you have gate 48 the gate of Depth it’s possible you have the gift of Clairgustance, awareness comes to you through your tastes and preferences.
15. If you have gate 61 the gate of exploration you will undoubtedly be fascinated by this subject (it’s no surprise to find you reading this article!). You want to know everything there is to know about mysticism and esoteric systems.

Final thought…

We are all sentient beings; we can all develop and strengthen the gifts we were born with. How your ESPs present and develop will depend on your level of sensitivity and commitment. From personal experience, I can share life gets more interesting and magical when you commit. At times it’s felt like a superpower and has given me comfort and peace.

A few hints to help you along the way, try and stay open-minded and receptive. When that inner voice or nudge wants your attention listen and be aware of what it has to share. Don’t dismiss your reactions outright look for signs and meaning in those moments.

Take notes and validate as you progress, it’s so thrilling when you receive a message via any of your channels that either makes sense immediately or when you return at a later stage and the message was a revelation and happened.

This leads me to trust, it’s almost impossible to strengthen these abilities if you doubt yourself. Some of what you perceive and receive may not be your ESPs but your ego nudging in. As you become more aware of your gifts it will become easier to distinguish what’s genuine.

Take care and protect yourself. We’re energy beings, so it’s important to be clear and intentional with what you’re asking to receive and what you’re allowing into your energy field. I use the simple Ground, Clear and Protect visualisation technique (GCP), there’s lots of information out there on this and many others. Learn what resonates and feels good for you and build it into your practice.

Finally, enjoy the discovery and magic in what awaits you. If like me you’ve lived the majority of your life oblivious to the fact we all have these gifts, and if you choose to awaken them you can, with persistence and patience.

I’m aware on this subject there are a couple of other suggested clair, clairtangency (also known as psychometry, clear touch)  and clairempathy (clear emotion).

Having researched and reflected on both my intuition tells me they are not separate from clairsentience so I’ve chosen not to write about them separately. I understand some people will disagree with my evaluation but this is what my guidance has led me to which I hope can be respected.