Define Intuitive, Please…

Q: What is the difference between psychics, intuitives, mediums, fortunetellers, etc?

A: One thing I’ve tried to avoid my whole life, one thing I really abhor, one thing I think is very divisive, is labels. Okay, okay, I admit that sometimes we NEED labels, like when we’re at the grocery store, otherwise there’s chaos. Labels are also helpful when we’re ordering pizza – we might call a hardware store if the pizza place isn’t labeled correctly in the phone book.

But I’ve found that when it comes to people, labels tend to do more harm than good because they automatically divide people. I’m Republican, you’re Democrat. I’m Presbyterian, you’re Catholic. I’m a Christian, you’re an atheist. I’m right, you’re wrong. So let me just start out by stating that I don’t like to use any labels when it comes to spirituality, but because you asked, I’ll share my thoughts with you on the subject.

The word “psychic” has really gotten some bad rap throughout history. Think of the stereotyped images of spacey women with long hair and flowing skirts swirling their hands around a crystal ball, talking about ripped auras and bad karma. Think of the carnivals, and of the way psychics are usually depicted in the movies and on TV. Having said that, I think psychics and intuitives are the same thing, but I like the word intuitive much better because I think everyone is intuitive to some degree, so it’s a more inclusive term. If I told you you were psychic, you may disagree and tell me you can’t read other people’s minds. Well, neither can psychics.

Here’s what I know about this world of intuition. Information that is perceived beyond our normal five senses is all around us, all the time. We just can’t process it all – there’s too much, and our bodies aren’t wired to receive it. Think about the dogs and their keen hearing (ever hear a dog whistle? I think not). Think about the cats and how they can see in the dark. Think about how well most animals can smell. So if someone is an intuitive they are able to pick up on this information because their bodies are able to hear, see, smell, feel, and know it more acutely than the average person.

If you have the ability to feel things more than the average person, you have what’s called clairsentient abilities. “Clair” means “clear” and “sentient” means feeling. So you are “clear feeling.” If you just know things, you are called claircognizant, clear knowing. If you are able to hear things, you are called clairaudient. If you are able to see things, you are called clairvoyant (this is usually what all intuitives are called, but it’s really a misnomer since everyone receives information differently, and so I’ve broken them down into the different categories – everyone I’ve ever known is both automatically clairsentient and claircognizant).

Once you are able to “see” things beyond normal perception, you are what I call “claireverything,” which means you can receive higher information through ALL of your senses. Now, I’ll backtrack for a second again and say that one of these gifts is not greater or less than any other; I’ve just noticed that everyone is different. Someone once told me they wanted to do exactly what I do, and I answered them that that was impossible. They do exactly what THEY do. Everyone can play music, but one person will be better at piano, the other a clarinet, the other a cello. It would be a horrible orchestra if everyone was playing the triangle, wouldn’t it? Boring.

So let’s assume that someone is “claireverything.” They are now able to tune into a greater field of knowledge (I call it ‘energy,’ but then I call EVERYTHING energy!) where everyone is connected. Now they can ‘find’ someone else’s energy (because that’s how we know each other, by our energies, not necessarily the bodies we have this time around), communicate with it, see what’s going on in that other person’s life, then hopefully do the work to try to help the other person understand themselves better.

No intuitive knows a person better than that person knows themselves. All intuitives, mediums, channelers, etc., are looking from the outside of a person’s life, no matter how good they are. You know yourself the best. Mediums are able to connect with the energies of those who are no longer in human form, channelers are able to let the information flow through them, and fortunetellers? Well, when you say that I think of the women with bandanas on, shuffling cards over a crystal ball, and besides that, if anyone tells you they can tell you your future, RUN AWAY AS FAST AS YOU CAN. Nobody can predict your future because it is fluid. I might see something that may happen to you, and you may walk out the door and with one decision, change everything I just saw. It’s called free will.

Some people choose to use what I call props, in their intuitive work. Props include tarot cards, pendulums, rune stones, other types of cards, tea leaves, I Ching, and much more, I’m sure. They let that information flow through the prop, then translate it into language a person can understand. I personally don’t like any ‘props’ because I think there’s the danger of misinterpreting information when you use something outside of your own knowingness, but that’s just my opinion.

Again, labels are tricky things, and if someone tells you that an intuitive is more gifted than a medium, or whatever, I think that’s destructive behavior and doesn’t serve any purpose. If you’re looking for help, look at the individual that you’re going to see, not the label they may attach to their work. Do they have integrity, are they kind, do they seek to empower you rather than show off their nifty tricks (why should it impress you that a psychic ‘knows’ you have three children? YOU know you have three children! How does that information help you? It doesn’t. It’s just somebody showing off).

What to look for in a good medium/intuitive/psychic/etc.? Someone who is genuinely interested in helping you understand yourself better. They should OOZE integrity. They should make you feel empowered and really fabulous when you’re finished. Under NO circumstance should you feel scared by anything they have said. I’ve heard of some pretty awful experiences from people who’ve gone to less than ethical intuitives, ranging from warning that if the person didn’t immediately cough up $2000 to the psychic, that the person would never find love. Or somebody saying that they had to come back for at least 10 more times, or trying to sell them candles or stones that would solve everything (and oh! The psychic just happens to sell them!). And an honorable lightworker should never TELL you what the TRUTH is – they can only offer you their opinion.

I’m past the point of trying to justify my gifts to anyone. It’s just who I am, as natural as breathing, and just as crucial to me. Intuition is a natural part of the human experience. If someone cries, you feel that tightening in your own stomach, don’t you? That’s clairsentience. If the phone rings and you know who it is, that’s claircognizance. See? No big deal. So let’s not make it any more difficult. Everyone is intuitive, but some people are more aware of their intuition and have developed it more. If their gifts are really strong, they may be able to use them to help others. And in the end, I think it SHOULD be all about helping others, no matter what label you may want to put onto others.

But if you’d like to try to label me, I guess you could say I’m a liberal Republican Presbyterian Intuitive Writer Mother, which doesn’t make much sense, does it? Because even as I’m writing it, I already want to change it; it doesn’t come close to describing WHO I am. Besides, some of my best friends are conservatives, Democrats, atheists and Buddhists. So why bother to define?

I don’t want to be locked in. I want to be always fluid, always changing. The way we’re supposed to be (again, in my opinion). Otherwise we just get rigid and inflexible. Then we stop growing. NEVER stop growing. But just by asking your question, you’ve shown me that you’re someone who always wants to learn and understand. Now you can tap into your intuition and start answering your OWN questions, because remember – we’re ALL intuitive!