We’re all aware of the classic five senses of sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste. Some people believe that those five encompass all the senses. But there are others such as myself who believe there are more. Who know there are more. Who experience more. Let’s explore further.

From the classic five senses we move on to the Sixth Sense, which the Cambridge dictionary defines as “an ability to know something without using the ordinary five senses” and Merriam-Webster calls “a power of perception like but not one of the five senses.” We then have Extrasensory Perception (ESP), a term coined by J. B. Rhine, a botanist who transitioned to parapsychology after becoming intrigued by occurrences of a psychic nature. He used the term ESP broadly to capture all psychic abilities, including but not limited to empathy, intuition, telepathy, psychometry and the various clair senses which we’ll get to momentarily. In partnership with William McDougall, they established the Parapsychology Laboratory at Duke University and conducted over 90,000 experiments on ESP.

Now we move onto the clair senses mentioned above. There are numerous clair senses, but let’s focus on those considered to be the most prominent four. I wonder how many will resonate with you as a gift that you possess. Will it be one, two, three or all four?

Clairaudience means clear hearing. Someone who is clairaudient can hear things beyond the normal range. What is heard might sound like something being spoken aloud, might be heard inside their head, or may sound like an echo from a different dimension. Signs of clairaudience include (1) a need for quiet, (2) hearing noises when no one is around, (3) a sensitivity to music, (4) the ability to hear high-pitched noises and (5) a tendency to talk to oneself.

Claircognizance means clear knowing, where instinct is so strong as to allow certainty of something without logical explanation. Signs of claircognizance include (1) knowing when someone is lying, (2) following gut instinct and being right about doing so, (3) correctly predicting outcomes to situations, (4) receiving solutions to problems via dreams and (5) preferring self-learning rather than the traditional education system.

Clairsentience means clear feeling, and someone who is clairsentient can feel the physical and/or emotional states of others without the use of the classic five senses. Like an empath, a clairsentient can feel the emotions of others but notch it up a level by also receiving insights regarding those emotions. Signs of clairsentience include (1) physically feeling the pain of others, (2) experiencing discomfort in large crowds, (3) having quick and unexplained mood swings, (4) finding it difficult to watch the news and (5) being accused of over-sensitivity.

Clairvoyance means clear seeing. Clairvoyants receive intuitive information visually in the form of pictures, visions, symbols and colors. This is also known as seeing via your third, or mind’s eye. Some signs of clairvoyance include (1) seeing movement out of the corner of the eye, (2) being a visual learner, (3) seeing flashes of light and color, (4) experiencing frequent and/or vivid dreams and (5) having an excellent sense of direction and spatial awareness. (The U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency was so interested in clairvoyance they conducted tests on it in the 1980s. You can read about it here if you are so inclined.)

Those are the main four, but I’m going to mention a lesser-known sense, Clairtangency (clear sense of touch), also known as Psychometry. The theory here is that objects absorb and retain energy and then their energy can be experienced by others. Sounds a bit far-fetched, doesn’t it? Well, several years ago I attended a psychic development workshop that included an exercise in psychometry. Participants - strangers all - were asked to select an item of theirs that they handled frequently and to discretely place the item in a basket provided by the workshop leader. Without knowing which item belonged to whom, we then each withdrew something from the basket. We were to hold the item in our hands, sit quietly, focus on the item, and let its energy ‘speak’ to us. I picked out a charm bracelet. My findings included an old woman standing on a narrow street, brightly colored houses on a hillside along water, lemons, and tears that somehow weren’t sad. The findings seemed real but made no sense.

One at a time we were asked to share with the group and receive feedback from the owner of the chosen item. Feeling self-conscious, I shared my findings. After I did so, the owner of the charm bracelet identified herself. She looked rather stunned as she told the following story. She and her husband had been to Greece a few months earlier. Lemon trees with their distinctive scent were pervasive throughout their vacation. One of their stops was a small seaside village with brightly colored houses festooning the hillside. Strolling around the small side streets they came upon an old woman beckoning people into her shop. It was there that her husband purchased one of the charms on the bracelet, presented it while expressing his love to her, and those words evoked such a deep emotional reaction that she shed tears of happiness.

The experience we shared amazed both of us. Although I had been unable to discern the meaning of what came through to me, the messages were solid and resonated with the owner of that charm bracelet. I’d like to try it again sometime, but in order to gauge the results accurately and without influence it would have to be with someone I don’t know. Walking up to a stranger and asking them to hand over something near and dear to them so that I can test my psychometry skills is not going to happen. Perhaps another workshop is called for some day.