In French, a clairvoyant is simply someone with good vision and clairvoyance simply means clear vision. This literal translation of the French word isn’t particularly helpful for our purposes here, since the word has taken on a different meaning in English.

To complicate the meaning further the word clairvoyant has be used in reference to other different things during the years. The term clairvoyant has emerged gradually and applied to an individual displaying a range of abilities in the psychic or the paranormal. An all around definition which fit’s a clairvoyant is and individual who has the ability to know information about places, events, objects or people without using the five physical senses. Clairvoyance, however, does refer to a form of extra-sensory perception, also known as 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 refers to the clairvoyant receiving knowledge in the form of sound. They will hear sounds and voices which only they (and only they) can hear.

Clairsentience is analogous to our sense of touch. Also called psychometry, clairsentience refers to information which comes as tactile extrasensory input. The clairvoyant may feel vibrations from people, places, events and things or even be able to feel objects which cannot be perceived by anyone else present.

Clairalience is the fourth type or form. This form, clairalience, involves the sense of smell of the clairvoyant. The knowledge, for example, of the individual (clairvoyant) is gained through the smell of flowers and grass of a meadow, the ordor of blood and gunpowder. An it is unlikely anyone else near them can detect these smells and there is no source for these various scents.

Clairgustance is analogous to our sense of taste. Clairvoyants may sometimes taste flavors at a distance or those which come from no apparent 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 are numerous documentations of occurrences of individuals with clairvoyant abilities historically within many cultures worldwide. The instances of clairvoyance have been found in many of the worlds widespread religions.

Clairvoyance, in Buddhism for instances, is considered to permit humans capable to achieve advanced levels of meditation. However, in this case, the clairvoyant feels the vibrations of others.

Clairvoyance in Catholicism, for instance, has been considered miraculous. More than five hundred years ago, a disciple of Saint Francis, Saint Claire, had a vision of the death of Saint Francis despite that Saint Claire was miles away when she had the vision. Saint Claire, interestingly enough, was sainted the ‘patron saint of television.’ Televisions literal meaning is ’seeing over a distance.’

There are many who are skeptical of clairvoyance and it is human nature to deny the existence of anything only for the reason they did not understand anything about it. It wasn’t that far back in our history that even scientists 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.