Mediumship And The Language of Spirit
“Before you can touch the Spirit, you must find it within yourself.”
—Gordon Higginson
How can those in Spirit communicate with us when they no longer have a physical body, or live in the physical world? The answer lies in the psychic or “extra” senses that we all possess. These senses, known colloquially as the “Clairs,” correlate with our physical senses, but we experience them energetically while in a state of heightened awareness. A Spirit communicator is an energetic being, existing in a state of pure consciousness. Because of this, Mediums must work not from their physical senses or thinking mind, but from an altered state of energetic and soul awareness which utilizes their psychic senses. Mediums use their Clairs to sense the presence of a Spirit communicator, as well as to receive evidence and messages from them. Here is a glimpse into each of the Clairs, and how they are a Medium’s eyes and ears into the Spirit world.
Clairsentience is clear feeling, and it is the foundation of mediumistic awareness and communication. This sense allows us to sense and feel energy, including our own, as well as the presence of Spirit. Clairsentience allows a Medium to receive impressions, feelings, and inspirations from the Spirit world, which translate to information, evidence, and messages for the recipient. When a communicator steps into the Medium’s energy, it can be felt. The Medium can feel the essence, personality, age, physical and other characteristics, and even health conditions of the communicator, and so much more. The Medium can also perceive the emotions and feelings the communicator wishes to convey, which can lead to further evidence and messages such as apologies, congratulations, pride, and of course, love, among many others.
On the more technical side, this Clair helps the Medium to “follow the power” to note the subtle changes in the energy when another communicator has stepped forward, when a message is forthcoming, when the piece of evidence given is correct or not quite right, and even to know when the communication has come to its natural end. It also helps the Medium to “feel into” the context of the evidence, which adds even more detail and accuracy to a reading. Clairsentience is an invaluable and highly versatile psychic sense, and indeed, an entire reading can be done purely based on clairsentience alone.
Clairvoyance, which is clear seeing, allows us to see pictures in our mind’s eye. While you can imagine a red apple in your mind to approximate what clairvoyance feels like, the difference is that with true clairvoyance, the Spirit communicator “drops” the flash of an image into your mind, and it can feel like it came out of nowhere. Spirit can show us anything including themselves, where they lived, what they did for a living, memories, objects, numbers on a calendar, photos, how they passed, and much more. The possibilities are endless. Clairvoyance can be the dominant sense in many Mediums, but clairsentience works in tandem to allow the Medium to feel into the context and purpose of the image, as the image often is not meant to be literal.
Clairaudience is clear hearing. The ability to hear Spirit usually requires the Medium to be deeply relaxed and surrendered, and often comes later on in development. It is the one of the most straightforward and accurate senses in that the Medium can simply repeat what they hear. Again, the possibilities are limitless. To name just a few, the Medium can hear words including names, street addresses, dates, lyrics to songs or the song itself, relationships such as “sister” or “mother,” as well as sounds. For example, the Medium may hear a train whistle, the whirring of a drill, a dog’s bark, a church bell, sounds of cooking, and even words in other languages. As you may have guessed, clairsentience can step in to provide the feeling and context that goes along with the sound. Using the above examples, the Medium may get the feeling that the Spirit once traveled across the county on a train, worked as a carpenter, has a beloved dog in Spirit with them, attended church regularly, and loved to cook a family meal every Sunday where Italian was spoken. Like our physical senses which all work together, the Clairs also function together to provide a complete sensory experience that allows the Medium to understand what is being conveyed.
Claircognizance is clear knowing, and like clairaudience, is highly accurate. The Medium will just know the information along with a feeling that it is correct. Claircognizance can be both pure knowing that simply drops in, and can also be the culmination of all the Clairs working in unison to provide the Medium with a complete understanding of an overall sensory experience. For example, the Medium may suddenly just know that a grandfather passed from an embolism, that a mother was married three times and has two children, or that an aunt was an avid pet rock collector. As with all evidence, there is no limit to what can come through through the Medium “just knowing” the information.
Two other Clairs bear mention as well. Clairaliance is clear smelling, and Clairgustance is clear tasting, and both can waft in at any time during a reading. The Medium may become aware of the smell of freshly baked banana bread that was a grandmother’s signature treat, the distinct scent of a cigar that an uncle always smoked, or even the smell of a skunk that evokes a funny memory shared between two friends. Smells can tell the Medium what the communicator did for work (such as the smell of oil), where they lived (perhaps the smell of grass or fields), or where they loved to vacation (think salty ocean air). Smells and tastes can also evoke a feeling within the Medium that leads to a evidential message. They are a welcome and often unexpected part of a reading.
All of the Clairs can be developed by a special meditation for mediumship development known as “Sitting in the Power,” which, at its core, teaches us how to hold a passive, receptive focus, and how to sense and feel our own energetic being as well as the presence of another being. When we sit for the Spirit, we are learning the discipline of stepping away from the everyday thinking mind and allowing ourselves to just be present in the oneness of the energetic experience. We are giving Spirit the time needed to unfold our mediumistic and psychic abilities, and to awaken and develop our psychic senses so that communication can occur. Sitting in the Power also contributes to the spiritualization of the self, as we are purposefully building our connection to and relationship with the Spirit. Because the language of Spirit communication is subtle and occurs on a frequency we are normally not aware of, Mediums must learn to place their minds to the side, and allow their psychic senses spring to life.
