Psychic Abilities and Tarot
Do you ever do readings that feel different from your usual readings? You know, when everything flows together and there is a kind of divine brilliance? Answers and insights you couldn’t imagine coming from your mouth just spill out, almost as if you were channeling some super-wise being? I’ve had a few of those…and with a little focus, I might be able to have more.
At the Readers Studio 2009, Geraldine Amaral spoke about psychic abilities and intuition. She did differentiate between the two, but there is much debate about that divide and that debate is not the focus of today’s entry. For our purposes we’ll use the term “psychic” to mean information gained from tuning into vibrations surrounding the situation, in this case the querent and their question. Most readers agree that intuitive insights and/or psychic information play a role in tarot readings.
I thought the discussion of different types of psychic ability and their connection to chakras a very interesting part of Geraldine’s workshop. When the corresponding chakra was stimulated, it was an indication of the type of ability in play.
At one point, Geraldine had us work with a partner. One acted as the questioner and the other answered. There was only one question, repeated again and again until Geraldine said to stop. The person answering had to give a different answer each time. The question was: how do you know that you know? We were to keep our answers in mind as we discussed the different types of psychic abilities.
Clairvoyance, the ability to visualize and see images, is related to the sixth chakra, also known as the third eye.
Clairaudience, the ability to hear messages, is related to the fifth chakra, also known as the throat chakra.
Clairsentience, the ability to sense vibes and feel emotions via physical reactions, is related to the second chakra, also known as the sacral chakra.
I’ve always bemoaned my lack apparent lack of any of these abilities. I’ve never had strong experiences with any of them. But then Geraldine talked about one that was new to me—claircognizance.
Claircognizance, the ability to know, is related to the seventh chakra, also known as the crown chakra.
My answers to the question “how do you know that you know?” included feelings of certainty and, more interestingly, that the knowledge came into my mind from a tingling area at the top of my head toward the back.
I always wondered where those moments of brilliance came from. I always worried that perhaps I was pulling them from another part of my body not necessarily associated with a chakra. Now that I know how I know, I can focus on that ability, strengthen it, and improve my readings.
How do you know that you know?
Excellent topic Barbara! Well, in my case (at first anyway), I didn’t. It seemed like I was making it all up, and I used to doubt what I was getting. Then, when it came true, I don’t doubt it anymore. However, there are still times when I feel like I am making it up. I say to just be OK with not knowing how you know.
Hi Barbara,
This is a brilliant blog entry. I work a lot with my psychic ablities in reading the tarot and my oracle work, I use a lot the things you meantioned in your entry esp. clairvoyance, clairsentience and clairaudience and at 1st I was not as to which one of them it was.
But as i worked with my cards more i felt i was getting more in tune with my psychic ablilties and was able to discern which was approprate for the given suitation and how my psychic ablility was able to answer the question given at the time.
I believe that while having an ablilty is nice, we as readers need to learn to work with our ablilities not against them and discern which ablility is required to answer the question as spirit doesn’t always use the same way twice in my experence.
Simone
Ps. love the new revamped llewellyn website the blogs are a welcome addition 🙂
“How do you know that you know?”
I am a total novice at the Tarot. I was attending a tarot class where an older christian woman was being disruptive while the lecturer was speaking and kept reciting scripture verses. I sat across from her and volunteered to read, i.e. my first time. She insisted on handling my cards and I said no, I shuffled them and in a split second a divine light entered the back of my head and words started spilling out about, “There are good and bad people wherever one goes…and the tarot can be used for good or for bad intentions.” Then the Devil card was in the first position of a five card spread. The woman vehemently refused the reading because she didn’t shuffle the cards and said “that” card was meant for me.
I felt like, “I knew what I knew” through the Divine light. However, I freaked everyone out at the class but I learned that sometimes messages do come from the upper spiritual world through the Tarot.
Lisa A., It was such an amazing experience for me. I gives me more confidence. But also makes me want to develop that ability more, something I haven’t worked on very diligently I’m afraid. I think one benefit for me of blogging is being so public about things makes me feel more accountable.
Simone, I agree with you. And glad you like the new website. I love it, and am so happy about the blogging.
Melanie, that is an amazing story! Thanks for sharing.
Fascinating blog post, thank you for writing it. Several years back, when working with a psychic faire on slow times we would question each other that way. Each of us had such unique ways of reading folks it was a great learning experience to hear from each well established psychic. For me it always feels as if I am making it up. I just let the words, ideas and feelings flow. 1 example was when I was reading a woman at the end of November and the scent of popcorn suddenly flooded my mind. At first I dismissed it. Then it returned again stronger. This time I stopped the reading and asked her about “popcorn”
She started to cry. Every year her family strung popcorn for the Christmas tree and she was afraid that that year would be the first time the whole family was not together.
I have learned that whatever comes through, no matter how trivial or shocking is a message for the querent and to let it pass without judgment
dragonflybyte, that is such a cool story about the popcorn. I want to learn more about developing claircognizance, but am having trouble finding books or teachers. All the other senses, especially clairvoyance, have so much material. Thank you for sharing. See you ’round.
Barbara,
To develop claircognizance, or any other of the psychic oracle abilities, the best way is by repeatedly doing the “readings,” obtaining feedback, and the most important and hardest part, trusting in yourself. How many times have you felt “something” and dismissed it, then quickly discovered that the first “feeling” was correct? The answer is probably “many times.” Meditative work helps to learn to still the voice of ego. But it is with the daily readings and repetitions that one is able to learn to differentiate between the voice of ego and the voice of “messenger”. You are retraining the mind. Just as with any muscle, the more it is properly used, the stronger it becomes.