In the stars

How to Tap Into Your Own Psychic Abilities

No crystal ball or ouija board necessary.
Redheaded woman with her eyes closed
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Welcome, cosmic warriors. I'm astrologer Aliza Kelly Faragher, and this isAllure Astrology, a column dedicated to all things magick. Today, we’ll learn how to tap into our psychic abilities. No need for a crystal ball — these gifts are already embedded deep within your spirit.

As an astrologer, tarot reader, and occult practitioner, it’s quite easy for me to tell whether a client is psychic — certainplanetary placements in a birth chart,card spreads, or even闲谈过manfiestationreveal an individual’s extrasensory perceptions. Although I’m always thrilled to meet other super-feelers and am eager to share my observations, I always proceed with caution: Being psychic isn’t easy, and many people have misperceptions about what this gift actually entails. Working with psychic skills requires patience, practice, and lots of self-love.

I’ve come to realize that when many of us hear the word “psychic,” we imagine a neon-lit storefront, decorated with crystal balls, fog machines, and animatronic contraptions that manipulate supernatural occurrences — the true essence of “smoke and mirrors.” From an early age, we’re warned by our parents that these services are scams and begin associating psychic gifts, at large, as dubious and fraudulent. Theotherworldly eventswe experience in childhood are often discredited, and even as weexplore divination practices in adulthood, we are still quick to raise an eyebrow at the word “psychic.”

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For many of us, the first step in tapping into our extrasensory abilities is divorcing this concept from deception. While there are definitely many charlatans who either exaggerate their skills or make them up entirely, these individuals are not psychics: They are con-artists who use fear tactics to pray on gullible or vulnerable individuals. In most cases, pretending to be psychic is just one of many exploitative schemes for these imposters.

Psychics, on the other hand, are simply individuals who are able to see, hear, feel, sense, taste, or have intuition beyond the boundaries of the physical world. It is difficult, perhaps even impossible, to firmly define what society deems “normal” perception. After all, we are conditioned to believe that our perception of reality is fairly concrete: We assume that everyone knows the sky as blue or can detect when someone is in a cranky mood. But as we continue to expand this sensory spectrum, we quickly realize that certain senses become increasingly less common among our peers. It is through this awareness that many of us become aware of our unique, inherent psychic gifts.

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The Psychic Spectrum

Fundamentally,psychic skills are defined by an innate ability to process sensory data — both tangible and intangible stimuli — on an extremely deep emotional, physical, or spiritual level.Of course, this is a rather broad definition. Because extrasensory gifts vary greatly in intensity and application, it’s best to imagine psychic skills on a spectrum.

To visualize this range, imagine four friends meeting for dinner. The first individual to arrive approaches the host stand, speaks with the maître d', and is led to the table. After sitting, she notices that she’s missing a fork and that her water glass has already been filled. She’s quite thirsty, so she takes a sip.

Shortly after, the second friend enters the restaurant. He approaches the host stand and notices that maître d' is scrolling through Instagram on her phone. Unsure of whether the maître d' is bored or indignant, the second individual delicately gets the hosts attention through a gentle greeting. The host is gracious and welcoming, and the second individual is immediately relieved. The host leads the second individual to the table, where he sits down, greets his friend, and proceeds to review the menu.

The third friend enters the restaurant. As she approaches the host stand, she is overwhelmed with stimuli: She notes the restaurant’s garish decor, the servers’ swift movements, and a particularly loud gentleman in the back of the room who seems to be dominating the conversation. His energy is arrogant and abrasive, and his young children appear both embarrassed and afraid. Will they grow to adopt his behavior, or will they reject it and become soft and docile? Suddenly, the third friend snaps back in reality as maître d' asks how she can help. Once she arrives at the table, she immediately shares her observations with her dinner mates.

Finally, the fourth friend walks into the restaurant. Upon entering, he’s completely overwhelmed by the movement, sounds, lights, and smells. Within an instant, he’s aware of interpersonal dynamics at each table, the complex relationships between the servers, the pungent odor of a particular dish that reminds him of childhood, and a few charred rafters on the ceiling. Had there been a fire? Suddenly, he senses an extreme heaviness (something bad happened here) and — avoiding the maître d' — hurries towards the table of friends. He tries to shake off these experiences, but they continue to linger throughout dinner.

从上面的例子中,朋友的一个和两个的发展rate a relatively standard range of sensitivity, while friend three and four exhibit more extreme extrasensory abilities. Consider your own experiences: How much stimuli do you absorb on a daily basis? Which types of stimuli resonate most deeply? How does it impact you emotionally? Physically? Spirituality? By understanding your own unique gifts, you can begin to learn how to tap into your psychic strengths.

Tapping Into Your Psychic Abilities

Most frequently, we develop psychic abilities during childhood. These gifts are either passed down through close individuals (who, directly or indirectly, teach us this language) or are cultivated in response to environmental conditions. As children, we notice more, see more, hear more, and feel more — these are basic survival instincts that enable us to safely move through the world. But as we mature, we are told to stop being so sensitive, that ghosts aren’t real, and that pain is always physical. Through this conditioning, we start to believe that emotions and intuition are antithetical to science and reason. We suppress our gifts, sneer at “clairvoyants,” and accept the physical realm as the full extent of reality.

But don’t fret, cosmic warriors: Your psychic gifts are never completely lost. Though it may require a bit of work to reignite these dormant skills, here and some easy tips and tricks for tapping into your extrasensory abilities.

Grab coffee with your intuition.

想象与老儿时的朋友wh会议o you haven't seen in decades. You're excited to reflect on memories, and can distinctly remember your unique interpersonal dynamic. But a lot has changed since your playdates, and although your old buddy is still the same person, in many ways, you're now complete strangers. In order to build a new friendship, you'll need to get to know each other all over again.

In order to tap into your psychic abilities, treat your intuition like this old childhood friend. Of course, you'refamiliarwith your intuition — it's always been part of your spirit. But you may have a completely different way of working together than you did in the past.

Cultivate a relationship with your intuition by developing a daily practice. One simple exercise involves assigning colors to your emotions. Start by considering a very straightforward experience, such as a frustrating conversation with your boss or flirty text exchange with your crush. Next, choose colors to associate with these feelings (in this example, let’s select yellow and pink, respectively). Over time, this color will become synonymous with that emotion and your intuition will be able to communicate through this non-verbal language. Once the color has been fused with the energy, your intuition will be able to signal on events outside your immediate realities. So if you see pink when your friend starts telling you about her new coworker, you’ll immediately know that there’s a romantic link.

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Scan the room.

Another great way to cultivate your psychic abilities is to practice “environmental scans.” To do this, position yourself in the center of a room. Move around the space (either physically, or just with your eyes), noting the sights, sounds, and scents. Which areas are the most inviting? The least? Explore the corners, the windows, the furniture. How do these energies make you feel?

I know this exercise may seem a bit awkward at first, but trust me, no one will notice your psychic exploration. Practice these environmental scans in different areas — parks, bars, offices, and even subway cars. The more you become aware of your surroundings, the easier it will be for you to pick up on subtle shifts in energy. Eventually, you’ll be able to extrapolate this skill to past memories, as well as future happenings. This is the first step toastral projection, the ability to willfully manifest out-of-body experiences. Of course, astral projection takes years of practice, but environmental scans will help deepen your psychic practice.

Get dreamy.

It may sound trite, but one of the best ways to access your psychic skills is through the subconscious. In our daily lives, we are constantly creating boundaries to limit how much stimuli we ingest — and with good reason. In order to live healthy, functional lives, we simply cannot absorb everything we encounter. Accordingly, these experiences are often stored within our psyche.

The fastest way to tap into your psychic abilities is to cultivate a healthy relationship with your subconscious mind. Dreams are a great pathway into this realm: They symbolize the alternative reality to our waking world. Free of physical constraints, we can move effortlessly move between spaces — exploring foreign lands, traveling to bygone eras, and encounteringotherworldly spirits. Dreams are a portal, and the more acquainted we become with this subconscious realm, the more easily we are able to access the full spectrum of our psychic gifts. Be sure to always keep a pen and paper close to your bed: As you become increasingly comfortable with your subconscious, you will begin to realize the incredible fluidity between worlds.


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