Whether you realize it or not, everyone has some degree of psychic or supernatural sensitivity. The key is identifying which sense you possess and learning how to listen to it.
Extra-sensory perception (ESP) isn’t taught in schools, so many people need to practice and cultivate their abilities. Understanding the differences between these senses—such as clairvoyance and clairsentience—can help you refine your gifts.
People often assume all ESP is the same: visions of the future or a medium connecting with spirits. While related, these are distinct ways of tapping into Universal energy and interpreting subtle information.
What are the 6 Senses?
Here we’re not referring to the five physical senses. Instead, we mean clairvoyance, clairaudience, claircognizance, clairsentience, and the lesser-known clairalience and clairgustance.
These terms can sound unfamiliar, but the experiences they describe are common. Have you ever known something without being told? Have a smell suddenly transport you to a different time or place? Felt a strong sense of déjà vu as if you’d lived a moment before? These responses are often ways people access intuitive or Universal guidance.
Below is an overview of each branch of ESP to help you recognize and develop your natural abilities.
Clairvoyance
Clairvoyance is one of the best-known psychic senses, though it’s frequently misunderstood. The term combines words meaning “clear” and “vision,” but clairvoyance isn’t limited to literal visual images or predicting the future.
It often manifests as clear insights or impressions about people, places, objects, or events—information you wouldn’t normally know. Sometimes it appears as visions of future possibilities, and other times as sudden intuitive knowledge about someone’s thoughts or a situation’s history.
This ability has been reported across cultures, appears in religious traditions, and has been examined in various scientific and parapsychological studies. When you experience an inexplicable knowing or image, consider that it could be a message from the broader field of awareness.
Clairaudience
Clairaudience combines “clair” (clear) with “audience” related to hearing. It refers to receiving meaningful auditory information that others do not perceive.
People with clairaudience may hear voices, music, or sounds that carry messages from the Universe, guides, or departed loved ones. These auditory impressions can be distinct or subtle and may arrive as inner voices or clear external-sounding notes.
If auditory messages of this kind are familiar to you, you might also have mediumistic abilities that connect you with those who have passed on.
Clairsentience
Clairsentience comes from “clair” and the Latin root sentir, meaning to feel. This sense is the capacity to receive information through physical sensations, emotions, or visceral impressions.
Symptoms of clairsentience include goosebumps, a sudden chill or warmth, tingling, butterflies in the stomach, or a strong emotional response tied to information you didn’t previously have. Paying attention to these bodily cues is a practical way to strengthen your intuitive sense.
Claircognizance
Claircognizance is the sense of clear knowing. The word “cognizance” denotes awareness or knowledge. Unlike clairsentience, which is felt through the body, claircognizance presents as immediate, contextual-free knowing.
People with claircognizance often receive sudden insights, ideas, or truths that appear spontaneously. This form of intuition is closely linked to analytical clarity and inner certainty.
Clairalience & Clairgustance
These two senses are less widely discussed but are equally real forms of ESP tied to smell and taste.
Clairalience
Clairalience is an intuitive connection through scent. A smell can trigger a vivid memory, a sense of another time and place, or an emotional message. Because smell is strongly linked to memory and emotion, clairalience can be a powerful conduit for intuitive information.
Some people report specific odors, like sulfur or flowers, signaling the presence of a spiritual influence or evoking meaningful impressions without any physical source present.
Clairgustance
Clairgustance involves psychic impressions through taste. It can appear as sudden, unexplained tastes that convey symbolic meaning or confirm information. Although less common and sometimes harder to identify, clairgustance may show up when you taste something and instinctively recognize that it signifies more than flavor alone.
Children sometimes explore objects by taste, which could reflect an innate use of gustatory information for intuitive learning.
Trusting Your Senses
Recognizing these intuitive senses in your own experience is the first step. You may already have memories that match these descriptions—now is the time to honor them and pay attention.
Practice listening to the body and mind when impressions arise. The more you notice and act on these subtle cues, the more reliable and clear they become. Use simple exercises like journaling intuitive hits, noting physical sensations during decisions, or pausing to reflect when a strong impression arises.
As you develop your abilities, be mindful and respectful of boundaries. Not everyone will understand or welcome messages that reveal uncomfortable truths, so use discernment when sharing psychic insights.
Explore your senses with curiosity and gratitude. By trusting both the Universe and your own inner guidance, you open to a richer understanding of yourself and the world around you.
What are you sensing?