The 8 Clair Senses: Which Psychic Ability Do You Have?

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Discover the eight intuitive senses that shape your spiritual gifts—and learn how your soul speaks through them.

Have you ever just known something without knowing how? Heard a message in your mind that felt more like a download than a thought? Felt someone else’s emotions or physical pain in your own body?

These aren’t random experiences—they’re the language of your intuition.

Known as the clair senses, these eight psychic abilities are how we receive energetic information from beyond the physical realm. Everyone has intuitive potential, but the way your soul communicates may differ from someone else’s.

In this guide, we’ll explore all 8 clair senses—clairvoyance, clairaudience, clairsentience, claircognizance, clairalience, clairgustance, clairtangency, and clairempathy—to help you discover which one (or more) is your strongest psychic gift.

What Are the “Clairs”?

The “clairs” are extrasensory perceptions—psychic senses that extend beyond the five physical senses. The word clair means “clear” in French, and each sense is named for the type of perception it relates to:

Clair Sense	Meaning	Type of Perception
Clairvoyance	Clear seeing	Visual (inner vision)
Clairaudience	Clear hearing	Auditory (inner voice or sounds)
Clairsentience	Clear feeling	Emotional or physical sensations
Claircognizance	Clear knowing	Mental downloads, gut knowing
Clairalience	Clear smelling	Psychic scent perception
Clairgustance	Clear tasting	Psychic taste experience
Clairtangency	Clear touching	Psychic touch or object reading
Clairempathy	Clear emotional feeling	Feeling others’ emotions psychically

Let’s explore each one more deeply and how to recognize them in your own life.

Clairvoyance: Clear Seeing

Clairvoyance is the psychic ability to see beyond the physical realm. You might receive information as vivid mental images, symbols, flashes of light, or even dreamlike visions.

Signs of Clairvoyance:

• Strong visualization skills or vivid dreams
  
• Seeing symbols, colors, or lights in meditation
  
• Flash images or inner movies appearing spontaneously
  
• A tendency to “see” potential outcomes clearly
  

Strengthen It:

• Practice guided visualizations
• Activate your Third Eye chakra (use amethyst, lapis lazuli)
• Keep a dream journal
  

Clairaudience: Clear Hearing

Clairaudience is the intuitive ability to hear messages from Spirit. These may be internal, like thoughts that sound separate from your own, or external, like hearing whispers or tones.

Signs of Clairaudience:

• Hearing names, lyrics, or phrases unexpectedly
  
• Sensitivity to sound and vocal tone
  
• Receiving guidance through inner dialogue
  
• You think in conversations or hear spiritual insights as voices
  

Strengthen It:

• Spend time in silence and tune in
• Chant or sing to open your Throat chakra
• Pay attention to repeating sounds or messages
  

Clairsentience: Clear Feeling

Clairsentience is the psychic ability to feel energy, emotions, or sensations. It’s common among empaths and highly sensitive people.

Signs of Clairsentience:

• Picking up on others’ moods instantly
  
• Physical reactions (chills, tightness) around certain people or places
  
• You feel the “vibe” of a space without explanation
  
• Physical discomfort when exposed to negative energy
  

Strengthen It:

• Practice energy protection and grounding rituals
• Work with your Heart and Sacral chakras
• Use rose quartz, moonstone, or black tourmaline for emotional clarity

Claircognizance: Clear Knowing

Claircognizance is the psychic ability to simply know something without knowing why. It often comes as a sudden insight, gut instinct, or idea that feels undeniable.

Signs of Claircognizance:

• Strong gut instincts or mental “downloads”
  
• You know how things will turn out without evidence
  
• You finish other people’s sentences or sense truth instantly
  
• Ideas come fully formed with no logical source
  

Strengthen It:

• Meditate and free-write your thoughts
• Ask your higher self questions and listen for inner answers
• Practice trusting your first thought or insight

Clairalience: Clear Smelling

Clairalience is the intuitive ability to smell scents without a physical source. You might smell perfume, flowers, smoke, or even unpleasant scents connected to people, spirits, or memories.

Signs of Clairalience:

• Smelling a deceased loved one’s cologne or cigarette smoke
  
• Detecting scents tied to people, spirits, or places
  
• Sudden strong smells no one else notices
  
• Emotional memories triggered by phantom scents
  

Strengthen It:

• Tune in to smells during meditation or memory work
• Use essential oils in ritual to anchor scent as a psychic sense
• Practice smelling with intention during spiritual practice
  

Clairgustance: Clear Tasting

Clairgustance is the ability to taste things psychically. This may sound unusual, but it’s a common experience during mediumship or spirit communication.

Signs of Clairgustance:

• Tasting foods out of nowhere, especially during readings
  
• Associating certain spirits or energies with a distinct taste
  
• Emotional or ancestral memories triggering taste sensations
  

Strengthen It:

• Pay attention to tastes during spiritual work or dreams
• Use mindful eating rituals to connect with spiritual energy
• Keep a journal of taste sensations and their meanings
  

Clairtangency: Clear Touch (Psychometry)

Clairtangency is the psychic sense of receiving information through touch, often through holding objects (psychometry). You may feel emotions, memories, or impressions from physical items.

Signs of Clairtangency:

• Picking up energy from jewelry, crystals, or heirlooms
  
• Feeling hot, cold, tingling, or emotional shifts when touching objects
  
• Avoiding secondhand items due to “weird vibes”
  
• Receiving sudden images or emotions when holding something
  

Strengthen It:

• Practice with objects that have history (like antiques or family heirlooms)
• Record what comes up during touch-based readings
• Use grounding crystals like hematite to stay centered

Clairempathy: Clear Emotional Feeling

Clairempathy is the intuitive gift of feeling other people’s emotions as if they were your own. While often confused with clairsentience, clairempathy specifically relates to emotional resonance and energetic absorption.

Signs of Clairempathy:

• You absorb other people’s moods easily
  
• You struggle to separate your emotions from others’
  
• You often “feel off” after being in crowds or intense conversations
  
• You can emotionally tune in to people without talking to them
  

Strengthen It:

• Set energetic boundaries and use visualization to release emotions
• Work with your Heart chakra and aura cleansing techniques
• Spend time alone to recalibrate your emotional energy

Discovering Your Psychic Strength

Everyone has the potential to access all 8 clair senses, but most people have one or two dominant ones. As you become more spiritually attuned, you may find new clairs opening up—especially during ritual, shadow work, or dreamwork.

How To develop your clairs:

• Meditate regularly to quiet external noise
• Use divination tools to practice intuitive listening
• Work with crystals, herbs, or moon phases aligned to your clair senses
• Track your intuitive hits in a “clair journal” and look for patterns

The Clair Senses

Your psychic senses are not random or reserved for a gifted few—they are part of your soul’s natural wisdom. Whether you see visions, feel deeply, or simply know truth when it arrives, your intuition is already guiding you.

By learning to identify and strengthen your unique clair senses, you awaken a deeper connection to Spirit, your guides, and your higher self.

Your intuition is sacred. Trust it. Nurture it. Let it lead you.