The “clairs” are labels used in psychic writing for claimed ways of receiving information. They describe a belief framework; they are not a checklist that can verify special powers.
1. Clairvoyance: seeing
A practitioner describes visual impressions or mental images. Imagination, dreams, and a strong visual memory do not by themselves establish clairvoyance.
2. Clairaudience: hearing
A practitioner describes sounds, words, or inner hearing. Do not assume unexplained voices are messages; concerning experiences deserve appropriate professional attention.
3. Clairsentience: feeling
A practitioner describes a sense or feeling about a situation. An emotion or bodily sensation does not establish facts about another person.
4. Claircognizance: knowing
A practitioner describes knowing something without identifying a source. Check whether prior knowledge, observation, or a reasonable guess could account for the impression.
5. Clairgustance: tasting
A practitioner describes taste-related impressions. A change in taste should not be used as evidence of spirit contact or as a substitute for considering ordinary causes.
6. Clairalience: smelling
A practitioner describes scent-related impressions. Investigate a real smell of smoke, gas, or another possible hazard before assigning spiritual meaning.
How to use this glossary
Ask a reader to explain their terminology and limits. Keep any interpretation separate from verified information, and avoid making consequential decisions on a claimed impression alone.
The earlier version presented these abilities as universal human powers. This revision identifies them as claims and removes that certainty.
The label names a claimed form, not a verified source
The APA Dictionary’s entry for extrasensory perception describes a claim of awareness outside known sensory channels and notes the controversy around its existence. Understanding a definition does not establish that an individual experience came through such a channel.
Keep three questions separate: What did the person experience? What interpretation did they give it? What would independently establish the factual claim? A vivid image, a strong feeling and certainty are descriptions of experience; none supplies the missing verification on its own.
| The term | An experience someone might describe | The extra conclusion |
|---|---|---|
| Clairvoyance | An image of a closed door comes to mind. | That the image reveals a future rejection or an unseen real door. |
| Clairaudience | A familiar phrase is remembered internally. | That a spirit supplied the phrase or issued an instruction. |
| Clairsentience | A person feels uneasy during a conversation. | That the feeling establishes the other person’s hidden thoughts or intent. |
| Claircognizance | An answer feels certain before its source is identified. | That certainty makes the answer correct or rules out prior knowledge and inference. |
| Clairgustance | A taste is noticed or recalled. | That the taste identifies a deceased person or verifies contact. |
| Clairalience | A scent is noticed or recalled. | That a spiritual explanation has ruled out an ordinary source, hazard or health concern. |
These examples illustrate language, not symptoms to reproduce or tests to pass. Do not seek an unusual sensation to identify your “strongest” clair. A glossary cannot assign a supernatural identity, an accuracy percentage or a rank.
A language example: Tali separates a picture from a prediction
In this fictional example, Tali is reading about clairvoyance and thinks of a train. The example concerns the wording of a claim, not a documented psychic event.
- The experience
- “A picture of a train came to mind.” That is the description Tali can give without deciding its source.
- Information already available
- Tali saw a train poster earlier. That ordinary source stays relevant even if the mental picture arrived suddenly.
- The added interpretation
- Tali wonders whether the train symbolizes a change. That association does not establish that a journey will happen or that a message came from someone else.
- The practical limit
- Tali does not buy a ticket, change a plan or contact a stranger because of the image. Any real travel decision needs its own information and choice.
Six is the scope of this glossary
Spiritual writers may combine, rename or add categories. A different number in another source does not establish that one list is a scientific classification or that you are missing a sense. Ask the writer how each term is being used.
Also distinguish form from source. An image may be called clairvoyant; calling it a message from a deceased relative adds a mediumship claim. Our psychic, clairvoyant and medium comparison explains that distinction. The existing mediumship study guide focuses on practice claims, consent and course questions.
Sensory experiences need their own attention
Remembering a tune or imagining an object is not the same description as hearing or seeing something that seems physically present when others do not. Do not diagnose either a psychic gift or a health condition from this glossary.
The NHS guidance on hallucinations and hearing voices explains that unexplained seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting or feeling experiences can have different health-related causes and advises medical help for hallucinations. In the UK, it directs people to an urgent GP appointment or NHS 111; seek equivalent appropriate care where you live.
That guidance calls for emergency help for voices telling someone to harm themselves or another person, an intention to cause harm, severe agitation, rapidly worsening hallucinations, sudden confusion or speech that is not making sense. In the UK, use 999 or A&E; elsewhere, contact the appropriate local emergency service. Do not wait for a spiritual interpretation to decide whether such an experience is safe.
For the narrower terminology and hearing question, read what clairaudience means and when hearing experiences need help. Do not use substances, sleep loss, prolonged staring or other attempts to induce unusual perceptions as an ability exercise. An actual smell of smoke or gas needs an appropriate real-world safety response.
Questions about the six clair terms
1. Do all spiritual writers use exactly six clairs?
No single list is established by this glossary. Writers may combine, rename or add categories. Ask how a particular source defines the terms rather than treating the number as a scientific classification.
2. Does an inner image or a strong feeling identify my psychic ability?
The experience alone does not verify a supernatural source or assign an ability. Separate what happened, the interpretation, ordinary information already available and the factual claim that would need independent checking.
3. Are clairalience and clairgustance the same term?
No. In the usage described here, clairalience concerns claimed scent-related impressions and clairgustance concerns taste-related impressions. Neither label establishes what caused a smell or taste, rules out a hazard or diagnoses a health concern.
4. Should I try to hear voices to develop clairaudience?
No. Learning the vocabulary does not require inducing voices or other unusual perceptions. Seek appropriate medical help for hallucinations and emergency help for the warning signs described above, rather than treating them as proof of a gift.