What is a "psychic"?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 25 Jan 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

scheherazade	25 Jan 2003
I'm aware that this term is used in somewhat of a derogatory tone, but I'd like to know what it truly means. I don't consider myself a psychic, and yet some people have a preconception that if you read Tarot and the similar, you are psychic. Others think that psychic powers are parallel to magical powers, while others think it is a power that anyone possesses, deep within, if they find a way to access it. I'd like to know - what do you think "psychic" means?

HOLMES	26 Jan 2003
it is like asking what is a human being, a soul, a spark of life, the favour strawberry, 1. in truth we are all psychic to one degree or another, with strengths in certain area. now those with an higher degree of awareness are called the term psychic, 2. in the area you speak of, those who don't know the tarot, the spirituality of new ages and old ages, call us who pratice these areas such as the tarot, psychic, what do you think it means, why, what inspired these thoughts ? and to answer for me,, i gave some poitns in number one and number two . yet as doreen virtue says in her book divine guidance that we all can talk to the creator, and the angels ( i am not quoting,, but she says that in general ) and it is true to the degrees we are open to it , like you said learn to access it.. but to learn to access it, is to simply open the mind to the possiblities, and the wonders. ask yourself how many times. 1. you shook someone hand and knew if they were good for you or not. 2. looking at the eyes of a stranger you knew if they attacted you on the soul levle.. (not necessaily relationship wise, but even the same sex you seen someone eyes and had to go talk to them and they would turn out to have some sort of influence on your life) 3. walked into a room and felt the chill... or the happiness ? 4. followed an inutiion and it paid off or didn't pay off and it didn't ? for me i term the phrase, psychic ,, for natural abilties and a pyschic for someone praticing it. for me i am not "psychic" in the term i hear voices, see spirits, move thing with my mind, read your body with my hand, yet sometiems i get lucky with a reading, or a channeling,, and i thank the universe, and get amazed. ( sure sucks when i get it wrong, and i realize what i did wrong.l. 1. tried to help with low energy for example) believe me when i say in some way either by dreams, eye reading, shaking hands, or reading people voice tone, or simply imaginng scenarios to see possibilities that in some way you are psychic, and these abilities like all things in life can be improved, awaken further, with pratice. of course you dont' have to believe me eheh,

Ramses	26 Jan 2003
well... to me, a psychic is someone capable of getting in touch with higher energies...I mean, someone able to see, listen, feel, etc a bit more than the rest of us... I think any of us can be a psychic, if we really work for that....to others, it comes more naturally... hummm....I don´t know...it´s very complex...

scheherazade	26 Jan 2003
Holmes, I hadn't thought of the subject in those terms. I have intuition, as many Scorpios are bound to. I never thought that my back-of-the mind senses could be considered sensing energies - I suppose I should have thought of that. I admit that being psychic in my point of view would be having the ability to sense the future, and what other people are feeling or thinking, just that easily. For some reason, it didn't occur to me that I have sense for these same things. True, sometimes my emotions and biases interrupt the clarity of what I sense, but yes, I do have a sort of knack for feeling these things out. It's why people find me good to talk to, and find my advice to be quite insightful. I suppose it's better to see "psychic" as an inborn sense that's within all souls, rather than an esoteric talent that only a few people have. My view of psychic - the ability to sense how all things are connected, and the ability to appreciate the beauty of it all. ;)

Umbrae	27 Jan 2003
Psychic is passe’, you are not longer psychic, you are intuitive. In some states, you could be proscecuted for being psychic. But intuitive is okay. Just the same, you can have intuitive shyster’s also… Between you and I? I have the intuition of a shoebox (thank you Kiama), but I am psychic. And I make no apologies for the use of the word.

Karenwhe	27 Jan 2003
I fail to remember where I saw an insightful article about the difference between psychics and mediums. That articles would have been nice to read on this thread, but I just can't recall where I found it. However in that article it explains that psychics are people who were born with a very developed sixth sense or have trained their sixth sense. In both cases the result would be the same: a person who can feel and sense things that others can't with 5 senses. This would include for example peripheral viewing, sensing things and stuff like that. A medium on the other hand is something different. This would be someone who can serve as a conduit (channel) to other entities from the other side or other places for that matter. A psychic can also be a medium and vice versa. I am sure mediums can be trained just as much as developing a sixth sense, however I don't no for sure. From my experience I personally meet a few psychics in my life and a few mediums. The psychics I knew (one of them was a family relative and she died quite a few years ago), she could see amazing things. She never made a living from her abilities (I think by profession she was an accountant). However she foretold a few wedding in the family with perfect description of the groom of bridge. She foretold a few events in the history of the country (I must mention though that she lived in a communist country, so it is not like she could go to the media and say that there will be a revolution in 1989, which there was, or publish any of her visions). She also foretold most of my mothers main events (or cross roads) in her life, needless to say that she was spot on. I also heard that she was a medium and could connect to the other side, but I have no proof of that or stories. Nevertheless being a psychic also means little things that you can sense and as you develop further your intuition you sense things with higher importance (that is how I see it – of course I could be wrong). I am still not sure how you develop this type of intuition I also was born with it, but I can’t control it, I just see thing and that is all. All the people I personally know that are also psychics which see things also CAN'T tell how they do it, they just do. But I am not talking here of the possible outcome of an action, I am talking about seeing 5 or 10 years ahead events. Things such as: who you gonna marry, places you gonna visit and stuff like that. Which you haven’t even planned, things that never even crossed your mind. Maybe there are more knowledgable people here that can better explain the phenomena.

Aoife	27 Jan 2003
I'd be interested to know people's thoughts on what happens if/when people actively suppress their psychic abilities - maybe because there's a culture of fear or dismissal or shame around them.....not just from the wider culture but also from those closest to them. Maybe it's their own fear of things 'different'....of being different..... of being seen to be different. I'm thinking about the price people have to pay for closing down. Stuff about losing a sense of self [maybe slipping into psychological 'illness' - depression and so on]. Are they also some of the people who 'grow' to be particularly bitter? Is it because of anger with themselves and others about their decision to stay with the mundane and suppress all else? My experience of my culture is that it is largely peopled by the mundane - their power being because they are in the majority. And what power they wield - the power to suppress 'difference'. If riddicule doesn't work they send in the big guns of psychiatry. People in this country get labelled mad, deprived of their liberty, subject to forcible 'treatment' often because they've been raised in a different culture, one which respects 'difference' but which frightens the majority here who 'need' to suppress it. In the UK we have a seriously disproportionate number of people dealt with in this way whose roots are in other cultures.

Baneemy	27 Jan 2003
To me, a psychic is someone whose subconscious mind is smarter than their conscious mind. They know things, but they can't explain how they know them. We're used to some kinds of psychic thinking; others seem mysterious or supernatural, but my money says they're not. I have a friend who is psychic when it comes to music. He compose beautiful, complicated music with very little effort. Music is based on mathematical principles which he has never studied and has no conscious knowledge of -- but obviously he understands those principles on a subconscious level, or else he wouldn't be able to create good music. A psychic who can predict the future is, in my opinion, no more magical than a psychic who can compose music. We all have the ability to predict the future based on our knowledge of how the world works, and if our knowledge is good our predictions will tend to be good. A psychic's predictions are no different, except that they incorporate knowledge the psychic is not consciously aware of. -Baneemy

lunalafey	27 Jan 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Aoife I'd be interested to know people's thoughts on what happens if/when people actively suppress their psychic abilities - maybe because there's a culture of fear or dismissal or shame around them.....not just from the wider culture but also from those closest to them. Maybe it's their own fear of things 'different'....of being different..... of being seen to be different..... People in this country get labelled mad, deprived of their liberty, subject to forcible 'treatment' My father was what I would call psychic. He had dreams that showed past and future. He would not call himself psychic though, because it was all around him in his family and culture. The grandmother to my son's, everyone called her crazy and was subjected to those treatments back in the 60's. I would call her psychic because she 'knew' things as well. I don't think she had a clue (as cluless as the rest)why she had this kind of perception...adding to the misunderstanding of what is 'psychic'. We are all psychic, just on different levels and in different ways. generally I think the masses see 'psychic' as a person who makes that thier career.

zorya	27 Jan 2003
the way i see it, there are many different kinds of psychics. not just those that predict the future. imho, a psychic is one who utilizes their extra sensory perseption. yep, e.s.p.! this would be someone who is able to receive or send information beyond the realm of the five senses. here are some kinds of psychic abilities; (apologies in advance if i left someone's out ;) ) precognition; visions or dreams that tell us of the future. telepathy; mind to mind communication. psychometry; being able to touch an object and learn of it's history. channeling;receiving messages from spirits. clairvoyance; receiving visions of past, future or remote events clairaudience; hearing voices or messages. retrocognition;seeing past events clairsentience; a kind of empathy or inner 'feeling or knowing' of events which are unknowable. those with this gift are also called 'sensitives' this includes those who can smell odors that are not present in the physical world. medical intuition; ability to perceive subtle energies around another person. carolyn myss's ability to diagnose even from a distance, with just a name, would be a good example.

The What is a "psychic"? thread was originally posted on 25 Jan 2003 in the Spirituality board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Spirituality, or read more archived threads.