The terms ‘psychic’, ‘mediums’ and ‘clairvoyants’ are regularly used interchangeably and are often misunderstood to mean the exact same thing. Simply put, ‘psychic’ is a generalised term referring to anyone who possesses the ability to decipher and relay information inexplicable by natural law as we know it. Mediums specialise in connecting with spirits of the deceased and ‘clairvoyancy’ is a catch all expression for the act of receiving messages through one’s physical sensations, such as seeing their information. Whilst these terms are definitely similar in nature, they bare subtle differences that are crucial in deciding when and why to involve a particular technique for one’s own personal matters. This article will therefore work to outline the main differences that exist between the three practices and will include honourable mentions of some famous figures from each.
What is a Psychic?
In Greek, the term ‘psyche’ refers to all aspects of conscious personality. Simply put, anything from our sense of spirit, our souls to the presence of ghosts is classified as facets of the human psyche. It is ultimately a general term to describe the parts of ourselves that aren’t physically tangible – yet truly make us who we are. With this in mind, a ‘psychic’ is said to possess the capability to connect with another person’s soul. The key discerning factor which discriminates a psychic from other spiritual practitioners is the fact that these souls are of the living and not of those who have passed over. Through tapping into an individual’s soul, psychics are able to acquire information about this person that has not necessarily been volunteered. This personal information can vary from experiences in the past, issues consuming the present or events predicted to occur in the future. Whilst specific to each psychic, it is commonly said that psychics engage with people’s auras and energy-fields as a means to tap into the soul.
In addition, psychics are considered highly sensitive and ‘in-tuned’ with the people around them. Their heightened sense of intuition is integral to their practice and goes far beyond the average person’s hunches or inklings that they might have about someone. As a result of this heightened intuition, psychics also tend to provide excellent guidance to those who seek it. This because by connecting with some of the deepest and most underlying components of a person’s psyche, resolutions to particularly troublesome concerns are able to be found.
Psychic Peter Hurkos
In the 1941, Dutchman Peter Hurkos suffered a serious brain injury at the age of 30. After which, he claims his psychic abilities began to emerge and was dubbed ‘the man with the x-ray mind’. His work as a psychic included providing clues towards the infamous Manson murders and the case of the Boston Strangler. His gift also extended into the world of entertainment, as he was known to perform his psychic feats for live audiences, picking up on personal information only the audience member themselves could have known.
What is a Clairvoyant?
In French, the word ‘clairvoyant’ translates as ‘clear seeing’. The practice of clairvoyance is often used by psychics and mediums as it describes the work of the mind’s eye of which conjures intensely vivid images. Not to be mistaken for one’s imagination, these images can often appear salient enough to reach out and grasp. These images may be of certain individuals, particular places or significant events in a recipient’s life. These images are then interpreted by the psychic or medium and subsequently, the message that needs communicating is done so. However, a clairvoyants’ work typically centres around the present instead of the future. Whilst this is certainly not a fixed rule, what usually differentiates a clairvoyant is their focus on seeking truth in current situations for an individual. By doing this, a clairvoyant is gifted in helping truth-seekers make sense of questions or concerns they may have.
Despite the conjuring of images being the most common, variants of the practice similarly exist and are equally as important. For instance, the ability to pick up on auditory messages, or ‘clairaudience’, and the capacity to feel different physical sensations, referred to as ‘clairsentience’, are also manners of receiving information that fall under the wider umbrella of clairvoyancy.
Clairvoyant Marquis de Puységur
The Marquis de Puységur was an 18th Century French aristocrat. Despite his unique gift being largely misunderstood in his day, he is latterly recognised as one of the pre-scientific founders of hypnotism. His work primarily focused on telepathic communication with other individuals of which messages would be received visually and acoustically. For many centuries prior, clairvoyants had no choice but to keep their practice hidden for fear of being of judged as a witch. Only towards the end of the 18th Century was the phenomenon of receiving non-tangible visual, auditory and sensory messages explored in wider science.
What is a Medium?
The term ‘medium’ in all contexts refers to the transmission or transportation of information or a product. In a psychic context, a medium is a person who has the ability to receive and relay messages from the spirit world in particular. By doing so, mediums are essentially the doorway that connects the physicality of earth with the spirituality of the next life. Whilst mediums aren’t typically able to influences spirits themselves, their main purpose is to convey vital information and heartfelt messages from deceased loved-ones to the ones they have left behind in this current realm.
Mediums are usually of great comfort to those who seek their assistance and therefore have taken a prominent stance in the psychic world; for most, the thought of being able to have one last conversation with a departed loved-one is an unfathomable concept so their powerful gift has made them the go-to-choice for many people seeking psychic guidance. As discussed prior, a medium is utilising the practice of clairvoyance when receiving messages from spirit. They may be able to hear, see, feel, or even smell the presence of a spirit, but the act of specifically contacting the deceased is what turns a psychic or a clairvoyant into a medium.
Alongside this, the types of discarnate spirits that can be contacted through mediumship is not limited to that of a personal friend or family member. ‘Wise beings’ are considered to have had various lifetimes and thus have amassed a higher ascension than a typical spirit. These wise beings may take the form of a spirit guide, saint-like figures or even angels, depending on one’s own belief system. In addition to this, mediums may also be able to connect with ‘ascended masters’, or in other words, infamously poignant spiritual figures such as Jesus or Buddha. Despite this, what unites all of these various types of spirit is the fact that they all once took human form.
Medium Theresa Caputo
Teresa Caputo is arguably one of the most famous mediums in the western world, after starring in hit reality TV show, Long Island Medium. She claims to have been able to sense spirit as a child but at the time didn’t make the connection that she was able to receive and deliver messages from them also. Whilst also technically a clairvoyant as she uses her senses to obtain these messages, she is classed as a medium for her unique gift of contacting the dead.
In sum, clairvoyancy is a technique adopted by both psychics and mediums alike, but one cannot be a medium or a clairvoyant without having psychic abilities. Moreover, a medium will need to possess clairvoyant abilities in order to connect with the dead, yet a clairvoyant is not necessarily always a medium. Whilst it can be somewhat confusing to fully grasp these distinctions, it’s important to understand that although not all psychics and clairvoyants are able to contact spirits, many will eventually develop this gift over time, thus adopting the term ‘medium’ when this occurs.
Psychics, mediums and clairvoyants all possess extra-worldly abilities that allow them to bridge the gap between the physical world and the realms of spirituality. People who have these gifts are unique in that they are our only earthly evidence of differing planes of consciousness and the concept of life after death. By learning the subtle differences that exist between psychics, mediums and clairvoyants, one can start to make an informed decision regarding the ways in which they seek their guidance. Each offers distinctive and unique insights that can have profound effects on the course of one’s life.
We have selected the most relevant psychics for this article, you can connect with any of them and get accurate advice on this subject.
