You’ve probably heard of clairvoyance, but did you know there’s a whole bundle of Clair abilities? In fact, you likely already have at least one – maybe even a handful. I promise you, you’ve already experienced at least one of these Clairs – which means … you’re psychic! Which Clair Are You?

At least 10 different Clair abilities!

There are at least 10 different Clair abilities, ranging from taste and smell to touch and vision. 

Some argue we’re all born with these abilities, but the modern world and our hectic lives often dulls them. As we grow older, we’re expected to ignore them, and by the time we start to get curious, we’ve forgotten how to tap into those powers. Sound familiar?

Have you ever wondered why children are often portrayed as having psychic abilities, in stories and films? 

Could it be that they’re more in tune with their natural gifts simply because they haven’t yet learned to suppress them? Kids are free from the pressures of adult logic and judgment, so they embrace their intuitive powers without fear. Maybe we could all learn a thing or two from that.

What are the ‘Clairs’ then?

“Clair” means “clear” in French, which is why all these terms sound like elegant perfumes or characters from a Parisian novel.

Lets start with the most familiar of them all:

👁️ Clairvoyance – Clear seeing

~ French: clair (clear) + voyance (seeing)

This one’s the celebrity of the group. Otherwise known as intuitive vision, this is the ability to see with your inner eye, mind’s eye or third eye.

You get visions, images or mental movies out of nowhere. Maybe you ‘see’ things in your mind’s eye before they happen, or have vivid dreams that turn out to be suspiciously accurate.

No, you’re not imagining things (well, okay – technically you are, but in the psychic way).

• A clairvoyant is someone who is believed to have the ability to gain information about a person, object, or event without using the normal five senses – often called ‘psychic vision‘.
• It’s often used to describe people who can see spirits, visions or future events, or who have extrasensory perception (ESP).

🌬️ Clairsentience – Clear feeling

~ French: clair (clear) + sentir (to feel)

You’re basically a human tuning fork. You walk into a room and instantly feel the tension – or joy, or sadness – like it’s your own. Also, you absorb moods like an emotional sponge. Empaths, this is your gift! Where clairvoyance is about seeing, clairsentience is about feeling – emotionally or physically. 

A person with clairsentience might:

• Feel other people’s emotions as if they were their own (sometimes suddenly or intensely).
• Sense a presence in the room (like a spirit or guide).
• Get a ‘gut feeling‘ that turns out to be correct.
• Feel physical sensations (like a chill, pressure or warmth) that have no obvious source but relate to a person or place.
• It’s often described as being an empath on a higher frequency.
• Tuning into emotional or energetic information beyond the five senses.
• A common ability for energy healers, mediums and intuitives.

🔊 Clairaudience – Clear hearing

~ French: clair (clear) + audience (hearing) – (you’ll be fluent soon!)

You hear things – but not in a “the plants are talking to me” way.

Think of it like internal whisperings from spirit guides, ancestors or your higher self – often in words, songs or phrases that feel not quite yours. 

Clairaudience is intuitive hearing – this is the ability to receive words, music and other sounds from the spiritual realm, and therefore, not audible to the physical ear.

A person with clairaudience might:

• Hear inner voices or messages that seem to come from spirit guides, higher self or other non-physical sources.
• Perceive names, warnings or guidance mentally, as if ‘hearing thoughts’ that aren’t their own.
• Occasionally hear actual sounds (like footsteps, music, whispers) when no physical source is present.
• Common experiences include: Hearing a loved one’s voice in your mind after they’ve passed.
  Getting spiritual messages during meditation or dream-like states.
  Receiving a phrase “out of nowhere” that later proves meaningful.

🧠 Claircognisance – Clear knowing

~ French: clair (clear) + connaissance (knowledge)

This is an intuitive ability to just know something without any logical explanation or physical evidence.

You get answers before questions are even asked. 

You probably finish people’s sentences and ace tests without studying. This one shows up as sudden flashes of insight like mental lightning bolts. It’s especially common among thinkers and writers (Yep! We’re “no-it-alls” and nobody likes us for it!).

A person with claircognisance might:

• Suddenly ‘download’ knowledge or answers out of nowhere.
• Instantly know whether someone is trustworthy, or what decision to make.
• Receive insights that feel certain and complete, even if they can’t explain how they know.
• Having a strong gut feeling that’s mentally clear (not emotional like clairsentience).
• Common experiences include: Blurting out answers or truths before they’ve had time to think.
  Getting ideas during dreams, writing, meditation or in stillness.
  Having a strong gut feeling that’s mentally clear.

👃 Clairalience – Clear smelling

~ French: clair (clear) + alience (smelling)

Yes, this one’s about psychic smells. Can you smell Grandma’s perfume out of nowhere? Fresh-baked cookies when no one’s baking? You’re sniffing the spirit world …

Clairalience is the intuitive ability to smell scents that have no physical source. The smells do not come from the surroundings but from the spiritual realm. You’re not using your nose.

A person with clairalience might:

• Smell perfume, cigarette smoke or even body odour – when there is nobody around.
• Detect the scent of flowers, baking, rain or earth as a spiritual sign.
• Pick up subtle energetic ‘scents’ that others can’t smell.

✋ Clairtangency – Clear touch

AKA psychometry. It’s the ability to receive intuitive information through physical touch, especially by holding objects.

You touch something – a ring, an old photo – and you get feelings or visions. Info floods in! The object’s energetic history plays like a psychic mixtape. The information might be about the object itself or even its owner.

Also, clairtangency is the ability to touch a person and instantly know information about them.

A person with clairtangency might:

• Hold an item and receive images, emotions or stories related to its history.
• Touch a wall within a room and instantly ‘sense’ what happened there.
• Feel energy or impressions from photographs, jewellery or furniture.

🤝 Clairtaction – Clear physical sensation of being touched

Not to be confused with clairtangency, clairtaction is the sensation of being touched by something invisible.

That feeling of someone brushing past you when you’re alone. Or a hand on your shoulder. That’s clairtaction. It’s spirit contact through sensation. It may seem a bit spooky, but powerful.

A person with clairtaction might:

• Feel a hand on their shoulder or a brush on the arm.
• Sense tingling, pressure or heat as though touched by spirit or energy.
• Experience this during meditation, prayer or intense emotional moments.

👅 Clairgustance – Clear tasting

~ French: clair (clear) + goût (taste)

Randomly tasting whiskey, strawberries or metal in your mouth for no reason? Clairgustance known as intuitive taste, is the ability to taste something without it hitting your tastebuds. Could be a spirit message, a memory download.

It’s the psychic ability to taste something that isn’t actually present.
This is often experienced by mediums or empaths tuning into a spirit’s memory or message.

A person with clairgustance might:

• Suddenly taste chocolate, alcohol, blood or a specific dish without eating it.
• Pick up on a food or flavour connected to a deceased loved one.
• Receive symbolic messages through tastes during spiritual work.

🗣️ Claireloquence – Clear speaking

You speak words that seem to come from somewhere else – fluent, wise and sometimes freakishly accurate. 

Channelers and spiritual speakers often experience this in flow states or during readings.

You might say something you didn’t know you knew.  Therefore, claireloquence is the ability to speak messages from spiritual sources with fluency and clarity, often without consciously thinking.

A person with claireloquence might:

• Speak words, wisdom or messages that feel like they’re coming through them, not from them
• Enter a flow state where they channel guidance, often from a guide or spirit.
• Speak in unfamiliar languages (in rare cases) or with profound insight they didn’t ‘plan’

🌸 Clairessence – Clear essence

A little more subtle and layered – this is the ability to pick up the vibe, the mood, the soul fingerprint of a person, place or thing. Think of it as sensing the big picture through a mix of intuitive hits. It’s like smelling the whole bouquet at once, not just a single rose.

Clairessence is often referred to when someone experiences multiple ‘clairs’ simultaneously in a subtle or blended way.

Although not always listed as an official ‘clair’, many intuitives and sensitives use this term to describe their multi-sensory awareness.

A person with clairessence might:

• Walk into a space and instantly sense its mood, history or emotional residue.
• Feel the overall ‘vibe’ or energetic signature of someone or something.
• Combine impressions – smells, emotions, visuals – into one fluid, intuitive experience.

🌱 How to Develop Your Clair Gifts

Can you train these abilities, or are they just random magical traits you’re either born with or not?

You can absolutely strengthen your Clair abilities. Like muscles, they just need the right kind of exercise. In the next section, we’ll explore simple, everyday ways to stretch those spiritual senses. From meditation hacks to modern-day rituals that won’t freak out your dog or your flatmate.

Here are some ways to develop your intuitive abilities:

🧘‍♀️ Meditate Like You Mean It – No need for incense, chanting monks or levitating mats Just regular meditation boosts your energy levels, quiets mental chaos, and creates the kind of inner stillness that psychic info loves to sneak into.

🎭 Minimise the Drama – Yes, drama is great for TV but not for your psychic vibes. When you’re emotionally grounded, it’s easier to hear that quiet intuitive whisper over the noise of life’s soap operas. Therefore, constructive conflict? Yes. Toxic arguments? Big no.

⚖️ Use Your Powers for Good – Don’t plan on using your skills to win the lottery. Psychic gifts grow stronger when used with integrity and compassion. Basically, if your heart’s in the right place, your powers are too.

🧙 Find a Mentor (Not a Money Vampire) – A good mentor can inspire and guide your journey. A bad one will tell you you’re cursed, then charge £300 to remove it. Trust your instincts, and look for someone who empowers you – not preys on your insecurities.

🙉 Protect Your Process – Not everyone will understand what you know or feel (or want to). You don’t need to convince the sceptics. If someone makes you feel small or silly, honour your intuition and step back. Your gifts aren’t up for debate.

🥂 Choose Your Cheerleaders – Surround yourself with people who genuinely celebrate your progress – not the ones who give you side-eyes or suddenly keep their distance when you say you sense things. Psychic vibes thrive on encouragement, not envy.

😱 Let Go of the Fear – It’s totally normal to be a little freaked out at first. That’s because the unknown is, well, unknown. But this isn’t a scare fest – this is you tuning in to a deeper part of yourself. You’re not summoning demons; you’re awakening your divine Wi-Fi.

🪄 Experiment With Friends – Psychometry is a brilliant way to flex your intuition. Have a friend bring a mystery object – something you don’t know the story behind. Hold it, feel it. What happens? Visions? Emotions? Random names? Smells? Share what you sensed and see.
Even better – make it a regular thing.

🌱 Offer Free Readings (But Keep It Real) – Feeling confident? Start giving mini readings – for free and with full honesty about your experience level. There are Facebook groups and forums where people happily trade practice readings. It’s a safe, supportive space to grow – there’s no pressure, no performance.

🌳 Get Outside & Ground Yourself – Nature is like being plugged in, with the best signal. Go for walks, sit under trees, talk to squirrels. Nature clears your energy and makes you more receptive to subtle messages. Plus, it’s free therapy.

🫂 Find Your Psychic Crew – Being intuitive can feel isolating, especially if your friends think chakras are a type of bread. Therefore, find your people. Online groups, local meet-ups, online communities… not everyone will be your soul match, but you will find kindred spirits.

👏 “Which Clair Are You?”

Are you seeing glimmers of clairvoyance, hearing whispers of clairaudience, or just have a gut feeling you’ve got something special going on – trust it. 

Developing your intuitive gifts is a deeply personal, beautifully weird adventure. There’s no rush, no rules and no final exam. Just curiosity, growth, and the joy of discovering your unique connection to the world around you, and within you.

Did you enjoy ‘Which Clair Are You?’ If so, why not take a look at my other spiritual blogs and articles!