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What is the Difference Between Psychic Ability and Intuition?

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When you know who is calling before you look at your phone, that is intuition. When you have a feeling that you shouldn’t do a particular thing on a particular day, that is intuition. If you know what a friend is going to say before they speak, that too can be called intuition.

Intuition is always speaking, in every person. It’s the small, voice, the hunch, the gut feeling, the last minute change of mind. But you have to be listening and then choose to act on that hunch or feeling. Intuitive guidance is received.

Psychic ability is not different than intuition. It is merely the intuitive faculty that has been paid attention to, developed, and honed. It is directed and conscious use of intuition. Psychic ability appears supernatural because so few people choose to consciously refine and actively use their intuition. Anyone can work to develop their psychic abilities, although some people are naturally gifted in this way, just like others are natural musicians, or athletes.

Intuition or psychic ability is accessed through specific senses, in this case Clairaudience,  Clairvoyance, Clairsentience, or through direct knowing—Claircognizance.

Are You Intuitive or Psychic?

Although it usually is not necessary to differentiate between the two, let’s look at some examples of intuition versus psychic ability:

• You are working out a tough problem at work, and all of a sudden you get the solution. This is intuition.

• You are curious about what your next boyfriend might look like, so you sit down in meditation to consciously “look” for information. This is accessing your psychic ability.

• You consciously hold the object of a person to access information about them or the object itself. This is a psychic exercise.

• You are out to dinner with a friend, and you just know that she’s going to order the crab salad, even though you’ve never seen her eat such a thing. This is intuition.

How Psychic Ability Develops

Professional psychics usually have a natural talent or interest in the paranormal and the mystical. They take their ability or interest and cultivate it. Many will be drawn to the Tarot, Astrology, or other tools of divination. Psychics may also call themselves intuitives or sensitives. 

Psychic ability can also develop over time through various forms of spiritual practice, or it may come after a big life change or trauma. Typically, when people find they are “suddenly” psychic, it’s because they are finally noticing their intuition! Their sixth sense has usually been there all along. 

In my case, I had clairvoyant and clairaudient ability as a small child, but, without any context for what I was seeing or hearing, it became quite unnerving. I regularly saw animals that “weren’t there” or heard noises like a running soundscape in the background of what was audible to everyone else. I also saw auras and what I called “light beings.” I remember asking my guardian angel to make it stop. And it did. Many years later, I was studying to be an energy healer. Being a professional psychic was the last thing on my mind. Yet, as I studied healing and went through rigorous personal growth, the abilities I’d had as a child just reappeared. And then, delighted by this, I made a specific effort to hone the skills.

Another psychic I know has no memory of being especially intuitive in childhood, but found herself hearing voices at the onset of puberty. She thought she was going crazy, and actually did get tested for mental illness and hearing issues. But it turned out that this was just her intuition speaking, and this is the main way she accesses guidance for clients today.

Just like a musician needs to practice scales in order to be better at their craft, you can practice using your intuition to become more psychic.  Having greater access to your intuition is a wonderful thing, whether or not you want to use it as a professional skill. 

Curious about working with a psychic and understanding their gifts? Or in cultivating your own? Call an advisor on Keen today to learn the next steps on your psychic journey.

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