The paranormal term clairvoyance originated in the French language. And can be broken down as, in French, ‘clair’ meaning clear, ‘voyance’ meaning vision and ‘voyant ‘ being a visionary. Therefore being a clairvoyant is one who has clear vision. This is, however, a literal translation and not really accurate or very helpful.

One thing that further complicates the definition is the fact that the term ‘clairvoyant’ has been used over the years to refer to different things. ‘Clairvoyant’ has gradually been used as a term that applies to an individual that displays various ranges of psychic or paranormal abilities. The definition that accurately sums up what a clairvoyant is a person that is able to know specific thins about a person, location, event, or object with a means other than the five physical sense. In summary, clairvoyance refers to the use of ESP or extra-sensory perception.

Usually clairvoyance involves an individual who has the knowledge of a situation that happens at the moment, but at a distance, out of the range of that individuals physical senses. Cases of individuals (clairvoyants) have been documented with these individuals knowing of situations that have happened in the past or in the future. Some consider clairvoyance to be a form of prophecy or of precognition.

A clairvoyant may receive this knowledge through various channels, but there are six means which are the most common. The most common of all and the one with which clairvoyance is most strongly associated is known as remote viewing. This consists of seeing a person, place or thing beyond the range of their five senses. This could be a vision or a mental image.

The second form is called clairaudience. In clairaudience, the clairvoyant gets their remote event information by sound. They might hear noises or voices that people and recorders are unable to hear. There have been cases where the clairvoyant hears voices of the dead. In this case, the phenomenon could cross the line into mediumship.

The third form or type is called clairsentience. With clairsentience an individual gains their knowledge with feeling and touch. This may include the feeling an object that are not present. This is more of a feeling or ‘vibe’ that a clairvoyant gets from events, locations or people that are out of the clairvoyants visual view.

The fourth form of clairvoyance is clairalience. In this, the clairvoyant is able learn about remote events or locations through their sense of smell. As an example, they may smell the wildflowers and grass of a peaceful meadow, then the smell of gunpowder and blood. Nobody else is able to smell these different things and there appears to no source for the different scents.

Clairgustance is the fifth form or type of clairvoyance. In this form an individual can taste the different flavors, despite the fact there is no apparent sauce and since they have not eaten anything. They are able to describe the flavor that they are tasting even though they are a distance from any source.

Claircognizance is the sixth and the last form of clairvoyance and the most difficult to explain or to define. In this form of clairvoyance the individual has knowledge of a object, location, person or event that is out of their viewing range. They cannot explain where they have gained this knowledge. They just know it. Claircognizance, to some extent, is a catch-all description of clairvoyance.

There have been many documented occurrences of people who are clairvoyant throughout history from different cultures around the globe. Instances of clairvoyance have also been incorporated into some of the world’s most widespread religions.

For example, in Buddhism, clairvoyance is considered to give humans the capability to reach advanced levels of meditation. And the ability to feel vibrations sent out by other people.

Among Catholics, clairvoyance is often considered miraculous. Over 500 hundred years ago, Saint Claire, a disciple of Saint Francis, had a vision in which she witnessed the death of Saint Francis, even though she was miles away at the time. Interestingly, the Catholic Church made Saint Claire the patron saint of television. ‘Television’ translates to ’seeing over a distance.’

There are skeptics of clairvoyance. It is a part of human nature to doubt and deny the existence of something that they do not understand. The existence of electricity and magnetism had been denied by scientist not so long ago in our history.

We might not quite understand how it works, but this doesn?t mean that clairvoyance should be discounted. Many believe that with the proper training and effort, anyone can develop clairvoyance and other psychic abilities.

We still do not understand how it works, but there is no reason to deny its existence. Its been suggested that all humans were clairvoyant in the past, but have lost their powers for some reason or other. The ability remains dormant, but it is thought that anyone who wants to activate that dormant power, could do so with an effort on their part.