The paranormal term of clairvoyance originated in French language. The French word clair means clear, voyance means vision and voyant the word for visionary. Clairvoyance therefore means clear vision. An individual who is clairvoyant has is a clear visionary. The term, unfortunately, is only a literal translation that is not accurate nor helpful.

To further complicate the definition, clairvoyant has been used in reference to a variety of things over the years. The term clairvoyant applies to an individual who has exhibited abilities in a range of psychic or paranormal talents and has emerged gradually over the years. An all-encompassing meaning which truly fits is that a clairvoyant is an individual who has the ability to know places, people, events and objects by other means other than the five physical senses and refers to a form of extra-sensory perception (ESP).

Usually, however, clairvoyance involves an individual that knows of something happening at the moment. But happening a distance outside of the physical senses. There is, however, documentation of cases of clairvoyants having knowledge of an event taking place either in the past or the future. In view of this clairvoyance is considered a form of prophecy or precognition.

The clairvoyants means of retrieving this hidden information is varied. But generally it can be broken down into one of six categories. The remote viewing phenomenon is where clairvoyance is most associated. With remote reviewing a clairvoyant views a person, place, object or event. This can take the form of visual hallucination or at other times the individual will view a place, person, object or event with their minds eye.

Clairaudience is another means by which the clairvoyant may receive information. As the name suggests, in this case this is in the form of sound which they and no one else can hear. Some clairvoyants may even hear the voices of people who are dead; these cases are more properly termed 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 is clairalience and in this form the person receives knowledge from a remote place or event through a sense of smell. An example would be should they smell flowers or grass in a meadow or the tang of blood or gunpowder. No one else could detect these smells and there would be no available source for the variety of scents the clairvoyant is picking up.

The fifth form of clairvoyance is clairgustance. In this instance, an individual who has not eaten or drank anything tastes various flavors and there is no apparent source. They can also taste these flavors from a distance and describe them.

Sixth and final form is Claircognizance and perhaps the most difficult to explain or define. In this form a clairvonyant has information on a person at a remote distance. An object, person, place or event, but is unable to explain how they received that information. They just know it. Claircognizance is a catch all category, to some extent.

Clairvoyance is something which is known in every part of the world and has a place in every single one of the world’s cultures. The phenomena also figures into most of the world’s major religions.

In the Buddhist tradition, clairvoyance (specifically in the form of clairsentience) is thought of as one of the six types of extrasensory abilities which are granted to people through advanced study of meditation. Buddhists believe that these people are able to perceive the vibrations given off by other people.

Buddhists believe clairvoyance to be one of six forms of extrasensory perception which become available to people with advanced meditation training. In Buddhism, this clairvoyance is thought to be in the form of clairsentience, with practitioners able to feel the vibrations emitted by others.

Clairvoyance also makes appearances in Christian and Islamic literature, with the visions being considered to be divinely inspired miracles. St. Clare described a vision of St. Francis’ death, though she was many miles distant. The Catholic Church later named St. Clare as the patron saint of TV (which happens to literally mean ’seeing at a distance’).

As with other psychic phenomena, there are many skeptics about clairvoyance. Skepticism is natural; it’s hard to believe in something without seeing it in action. After all, even magnetism was once thought to be non-existent.

Many, of course, are skeptical of clairvoyance, but it is a part of human nature to deny something’s existence because they have no understanding of it. Not long ago, in our earlier history there were skeptical scientist who had even denied the existence of electricity and magnetism.

No matter what the skeptics say or do not believe, no one has been able disprove clairvoyance. The increasing evidence of the existence of many genuine clairvoyants worldwide has opened the minds of many. Scientists, parapsychologists and even the general public are ready to accept clairvoyance as real.