What Being Psychic Means (to me)

I wanted to follow up my last post with my own two cents on Psychicism. I mentioned Cold Reading, which is described as a technique that false psychics utilize to draw out valuable information from their clients- to make it seem as though they supernaturally knew it.

An Atheist friend says “We all know there is no such thing as the supernatural” and I am quite inclined to agree with him. Especially when it comes to psychicism.

Let us examine the etymology of the word. I love the evolution of words. Words are only alive when spoken, as soon as they are written down they are dead. It is through the verbal use of the words that they evolve the most.

Psychic derives from the Ancient Greek psykhikos and psykhe meaning “of the soul, spirit, or mind” (and those three things, it could be argued, are the same thing -or totally separate- but I will refer to them here as being the same). Spirit, furthermore, used to mean “breath”. It was the Breath of the GOD(s) that animated the first humans in many mythological creation stories. It is also our breathing that keeps us alive- while we also require water, warmth, nourishment & love we are constantly breathing and it only slows when we sleep, it never stops. We can begin to deduce from etymological study that the Soul & the Breath are integral to each other and that our ancestors most-likely made this connection too. I just used the Google Ngram viewer to see the usage of the word “Psychic” between 1800-the Present. It seems as though it wasn’t in use till about mid-1800 and appeared in American English before British English. I would guess it came into use as a term to describe “supernatural mental powers” alongside of the Spiritualism movement- the movement that brought seances into the public eye (and they have never left). With this we shall conclude the brief etymology of psychic.

Now, after exploring the word and pointing out that I don’t believe in the supernatural, it may be shocking to be informed that I am indeed Psychic. Furthermore, you are too.

“But I’ve never received visions, messages or perceived future events or anything! How can I be psychic?” you may ask.

Let me ask, “Are you breathing, thinking, feeling?” I thought so.

Psychicism is the use of the mind. Most people don’t use their mind. Most people drown their mind in television or Farmville. While some media can indeed be stimulating, it is rare to find something on television that is healthy for the mind. Not even the History Channel (load of sensational entertainment and ill-informed rubbish, that is). It really wasn’t until I chose to abstain from television completely that my “psychic perception” began to grow. When I utilize my psychic powers I take note of everything my 5 senses sense. I think that the “6th sense” which is supposed to be the “psychic sense” is indeed the combination of the 5 that we have (and I must point out that if you are lacking one of the senses common to most humans- my boyfriend’s 100 year old grandmother was born without smell- it does not disqualify you from using your latent powers, you just get to find a different way to utilize them).

It’s about being aware of the environment around you and the stimuli you receive from that environment. When I read for a client I will take note of their actions and reactions, body language, tone of voice, and their eyes. These will all give me insights into the information that I am receiving from my interpretations of the symbols that I have cast in front of us. (by the way, I am currently using the Tarot as my main divination tool but would like to learn tea leaf reading and palm-reading… I’ll also help you interpret your dreams) If I ever have a potential client come to me and tell me to prove my magic powers by knowing their zodiac sign or the name of their dead lover or something like that in which there is no natural way of me knowing beforehand, I will refuse. I’m just like Yahweh in the respect that you don’t test me to show off my skills.

I also would like to point out that divination does not always require a “psychic” or someone who is intune with their abilities. Divination is the interpretation of set symbolism. I use Tarot because it is a fairly fleshed out system that can be expanded upon with personal preference. Sortilage and the casting of lots (i.e. I-Ching) is also a system of set symbols and patterns that can be interpreted for the question. Dream interpretation is trickier than that because that world lies deep within our psyches (oh, there’s that word again!) and the appearance of a red car might be different for you than me. For instance, it could refer to my first car which could be a symbol of new found freedom (because it was my first way to leave my parent’s house by myself) or new found restriction (because I was forced to pay money for insurance, gas, maintenance). To you it could mean fear, pain or death. Perhaps there was a traumatic car accident that you were in involving a red car. You see what I mean.

Sometimes I do have a flow of information that I didn’t previously know. I do not attribute this to a supernatural download of information. I attribute it to my mind putting together pieces of the puzzle as I talk with the client, pull the cards & interpret the symbols, ask questions, listen & be aware (<–most important), and respond accordingly. Being Psychic is Being Mental. And I don’t mean that in the colloquial British way.