Most people have some psychic gifts, and they are just that – gifts. Unless they are offered to others in love, help and support and on a truly altruistic basis, they mean nothing. That's why we have them and that's why we need to use them.

We all have natural intuition or 'sixth sense'. And while some people are undoubtedly more gifted than others, it is normally possible for anyone to strengthen their psychic gifts through practice, or to learn skills such as Astrology or Tarot that will help them use their gifts more powerfully.

Intuition

The simplest level of psychic awareness is intuition. This relatively common gift can be the kind of feeling we get about someone we have just met. Lacking any logical information, our intuition may tell us something about this person.

We may feel, for instance, that they will be important to us in some way, such as helping with our job or career. Alternatively, we may meet someone we take an instinctive dislike to: “I do not like thee, Dr Fell, the reason why I cannot tell…” as the rhyme goes.

Intuition is an innate human response. Some chose to pay attention to it, and some do not, for it is not based on rational thought. However, where we feel strongly about someone, we should trust our intuition as we may find out later that they want to help us or, perhaps, to do us a disservice.

Psychic awareness

The next level is psychic awareness which requires deeper sensitivity to the environment. It might involve thinking about someone and then that person phoning you up. You are picking them up telepathically. Telepathy is a form of psychic awareness.

Synchronicity is another form of psychic awareness. For example, you might meet up with a friend or colleague and tell them that they will get the job they hope for because you have 'a feeling' about it. At that point, your friend expresses surprise because she has the acceptance letter in her handbag.

This kind of awareness is not something that is constantly 'turned on', like a tap. It is a sense of awareness that ebbs and flows like the tide and it can often be related to the constant cycles of time, even across oceans and continents.

Increasing powers

People with further powers may be able to experience clairvoyance, a very powerful type of psychic awareness which can manifest as hairs standing up at the back of the neck.

Clairvoyance means 'clear sight' or seeing things that are not physically present. I include clairaudience here where a 'sensitive' has the ability to hear words and sounds that are not part of the material world such as discarnate voices.

Clairvoyants often like physical contact with the person if they are doing a reading for them. For example, they may hold the person's hand or something belonging to the person who is being asked about. Alternatively, a crystal ball will help to reflect visions received through concentration and focusing, or they might use the third eye, which opens in the middle of the brow.

Mediumship – the pinnacle of sensitivity?

A medium is a sensitive who believes that spirit, or a divine power guides them to contact those who have passed over to the other side - or died, to put it more traditionally.

A medium very often has a spirit guide (or guides) to assist them in the spirit world and they often develop a strong bond with them. This trusting, working relationship is vital for the medium's work and is one that is constantly evolving.

A medium makes no guarantee of communication with someone on the other side. They cannot, as they are a channel or medium between the beyond and the here and now. It's worth noting that any kind of contact with the other side is a privilege and, to a degree, it's the luck of the draw. You might not get the person you want to contact.

For instance, if a client asks for help due to bereavement, the medium will go into a trance and ask his or her spirit guide for help to see if the deceased has a communication for their friend or relative.

However, rather than person 'aimed for', someone else may come through. That person may have waited a long time to make communication with someone in the family about something very important. It might be foolish to say that you didn't want to talk with him!

When consulting a medium don't be too impatient! Any consultation with a medium needs time for a link to be made and for communication to come through. Some spirits may be eager to communicate but this is not always the case.

The medium's role is to produce accurate information with, if possible information that could not be known beforehand. This produces evidence of the spirit world and of the deceased person's valid communication.

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