
In a recent comment on this blog, Tracy asked me to talk about clairvoyance and my experience with it. I thought it fitting to post, along with my thoughts, a picture of a very famous clairvoyant.
Yes, this is a movie still from the film THE SIXTH SENSE. If you’ve never seen it, I highly recommend it. Without giving too much away, the little boy in the movie is a medium, but he really doesn’t know it, nor does he understand what to do with his “gift.” He’s scared most of the time because the spirits around him are usually upset, angry, or violent.
Honestly, if this were my experience, I could hardly blame him for being terrified.
Thankfully, I’ve never been afraid of my clairvoyance. It’s been a great asset throughout my life, and I’ve worked hard over the last 12 years or so to really hone it into something that’s reliable and controllable. I believe everyone (and yes, that includes you!) has this natural ability to perceive spirits and to tune into their intuition. Most of us, however, are too busy doing other things to make learning more about it a priority.
A textbook definition of clairvoyance is being able to see spirit with open eyes, or to see spirit in the mind’s eye. The little boy in THE SIXTH SENSE is a perfect example. He can see spirit as plainly as he can see the living people around him. This is great for Hollywood, but it’s not a reality for most of us actual mediums. I know very few mediums who can actually see spirit with their physical eyes. Most clairvoyants tell me that they see spirit in their minds and then can describe what that particular spirit looks like. When I’m able to see spirit, this is usually how it happens for me, although there have been rare cases where I’ve seen an actual glimpse of a spirit with my physical eyes.
Many people use clairvoyance as an umbrella term to describe any method of spirit perception. My most attuned spirit sense is clairaudience, or being able to hear spirit speaking. I usually hear pieces of phrases, names, music, and sentences that help me to understand who is communicating from the spirit world and what they want to say. People often ask me if I hear this with my physical ears, or if I hear it in my mind. For me, the voices are definitely in my mind, but they are different and are not my own voices. It’s hard to describe this to people that haven’t had the experience, but suffice to say that I can tell when a spirit is talking to me versus when it’s my own internal chatter, which we all have.
Many, many mediums perceive spirit through their sense of clairsentience, or feeling. This is also called impressional mediumship, and it indicates an ability to feel a spirit’s presence. A more refined sense of knowing about a spirit and understanding his message can be defined as claircognizance. These two perceptions are based more on feeling and impressions that the medium receives about spirit presences. These two senses are ones that I use quite often in my mediumship work.
As a professional medium, it’s interesting to me what lay people think we’re doing when we’re aware of spirit. Many folks think that spirits walk right up to us and initiate conversations anytime, anywhere. I’ll never forget going to a funeral for a friend’s father, and another friend came over to me during the visitation, which was held at the chapel in the cemetery. In a hushed, respectful voice, she asked, “So, are all the other people here bothering you?” I looked at her, puzzled, and glanced around the crowded room. For a moment, I thought she meant the visitors for the funeral, and I thought to myself, “Why would all these other people be bothering me?” Then I realized that she was asking if I was being solicited to deliver messages by spirits on the Other Side. I smiled and replied, “No. I’m not working, and they know that.”
It begged an interesting question for me, however. How many mediums really do walk around open all the time? I’ve heard some of the celebrity mediums talk about being bugged at all kinds of events to deliver messages to those gathered there. I remember John Edward writing in one of his books about being on his honeymoon and having to leave the beach so he could call a client with a message from a dead relative. And I’ll tell you what: if I was his wife, I would’ve had his hide for that one. (John, if you’re reading this, I love you and your work. But on your HONEYMOON? Dear, we need to talk!) I draw a very distinct line with my mediumship work, and I’ll tell you why. I don’t believe we’re MEANT to walk around opened up to the spirit world all the time. Aren’t we supposed to be conducting our lives with our living folks? Even if we chose this path as a profession, how many accountants, bakers, truck drivers, etc. do their work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week? None of them, I guarantee it. I think it’s important for us to close the door to the Other Side sometimes, and to just enjoy the present time and the living people that surround us. Spirit is important, too, but gosh, they’ve also got better things to be doing in Summerland. They don’t need to be jonesing for a connection to the physical world all the time when they have learning of their own to do.
So am I like Cole Seer (and isn’t that a great name?) in THE SIXTH SENSE? No, thank God. I don’t see spirit walking around my house. I don’t stroll around the lake at my local park and watch spirits drifting by, dressed in period clothes from other centuries. I don’t even go into old houses and feel presences. I am very, very precise about the work I do and when I do that work. If I want a connection, I open up the door, so to speak, I walk through it, and I receive information. When I’m not working, the door is closed. Yes, I will still sometimes get impressions, but they are vague and indistinct if I haven’t specifically asked for the information to come through. And my own spirit people know that if there’s something important I need to know for my own life, they can get my attention and tell me.
It’s hard sometimes for “regular” people to understand this. And it’s hard for them sometimes to respect it. I’ve had total strangers walk up to me at events, press pictures or other objects into my hand, and demand for me to read them. I’ve had people ask me at events while I’m eating my lunch or dinner to please, please give them a reading. “Oh, come on. Just a little message? It’ll only take a minute.” And I have to bite my tongue, be polite, and try to explain to them that it just doesn’t work that way for me. And really, how would you like it if I came to your desk while you were taking a danish break and asked you to print out that report for me one more time? It’s the same for a medium. At least it is to me. If I’m off the clock, folks, please don’t ask me to punch back in.
But clairvoyance…it’s a beautiful connection to spirit. It really is. And you have it, even if you don’t realize it. Is it going to come to you walking and talking like your spouse in the next room? Maybe, if you’re really lucky–but then, you have to learn to turn it off, too. That might be your challenge. For some of us, the challenge is simply discerning what’s our own noise and what belongs to the spirit world. But if you are up for the work, it’s amazing and inspiring to do it. And I do love it, so, so much.
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On another note, folks: I will be appearing tonight on Darkness Radio from 12 midnight to 1 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. If you’d like to listen, go here:
http://www.darknessradio.com/
There’s a button on the left side of the page where you can listen live.
If you’re like me and not a night-owl, you can download the interview later, which will be up about an hour after the broadcast:
http://www.ktlkfm.com/cc-common/podcast/single_podcast.html?podcast=darknessradio.xml
In this interview, I’ll be discussing angels, the Archangel Metatron, and my new book METATRON: INVOKING THE ANGEL OF GOD’S PRESENCE.
Thanks for stopping by. Blessings to you and yours.