Takeaway: Whether you’ve worked with a psychic before or are considering getting a reading for the first time, chances are you’ve asked yourself: “How does a psychic reading really work?” In this post, I break down everything you need to know about the types of psychic readings, clairvoyant abilities, and the accuracy of psychics, including how to tell whether you’re working with a real psychic and what to expect from the process.
If a random sample of people in the US were asked to describe what "a psychic" looks like, most people would probably name the following: an older woman, a crystal ball, tarot cards, lots of rings, a dark and mystical ambiance, glass jars piled up against the wall and some black cats. Some might describe a silver-haired woman with "special powers" who sees the future. While others might emphasize that psychics are swindlers, only willing to tell you certain things based on how much money you will spend. Further still, others might imagine love potions, someone who reads your palm, or a wise woman who can tell you if you will get married and how long you will live.
For centuries, psychic abilities have been a mystery to the general public, and the people who hold them have been both feared and idolized for offering prophesies and fortune-telling. In recent decades, a more favorable attitude towards psychic abilities has emerged, attributed to the acceptance of mysticism and spirituality as entities separate from organized religion.
Before we jump into what to expect from a psychic reading, let's take a closer look at what psychic abilities are, who has them, and how they can be harnessed to create a much more joyful, inspiring, and heart-centered life.
Understanding the spectrum of psychic abilities
On a conceptual level, psychic abilities are often broken down into different categories. Here are the 8 different types of "Clair" senses, or ways to tap into psychic information:
Clairvoyance:
Individuals with this gift have vivid mental images or visions that provide insight into past, present, or future events, guiding them with visual cues beyond the physical realm. These visual messages typically manifest as glimpses into moments or situations, akin to the gradual development of a Polaroid photograph. Individuals endowed with the gift of clairvoyance often perceive such information unfolding like a movie within their third-eye chakra.
Clairsentience:
Those with clairsentience find themselves intuitively sensing emotions, energies, or atmospheres around them, allowing empathy with others and discernment of subtle vibrations in their surroundings. Individuals who experience clairsentience often identify as being sensitive and might identify as a highly sensitive person (HSP).
Clairaudience:
Through clairaudience, individuals hear inner voices, messages, or sounds that offer guidance or information, serving as a form of intuitive communication enabling listening beyond the ordinary. Instances such as ringing in the ears, musical tunes or singing, and hearing voices as if directly spoken to, exemplify forms of clairaudience. Such information is transmitted telepathically and usually remains exclusive to the receiver unless others are attuned to the same frequency of perception.
Claircognizance:
Those who possess claircognizance experience sudden insights, understandings, or "knowings" without logical explanation, trusting their innate wisdom and inner knowing to guide them. An example of this might be simple, like knowing to take a different route to work that day to avoid an accident you weren't aware of until you got to work.
Clairgustance:
Through clairgustance, individuals perceive tastes or flavors without physical stimuli, receiving symbolic or intuitive messages through subtle sensations on the palate, offering unique insights and guidance. Overall, I have found this to be more rarer occurrence among intuitive people.
Clairsalience:
People encounter clairsalience as the ability to perceive scents, fragrances, or odors with no physical source, receiving intuitive messages or spiritual cues through subtle aromas in their environment. An example of this might be entering an old house with no residents, but smelling odors like perfumes or cologne that are not from the present time.
Clairempathy:
With clairempathy, you might empathize deeply with others, intuitively sensing and understanding their emotions, feelings, or energies as if they were your own, fostering compassionate connections and profound insights into human experiences. This particular clair is very common among highly sensitive people.
Clairtangency:
With clairtangency, individuals receive intuitive information through touch, feeling sensations, textures, or vibrations associated with objects, people, or places, allowing gleaned insights from energy imprints they carry.
As you read these ways of tapping into psychic phenomena or intuitive information, notice if you resonate with any of them or feel drawn to learn more about one than others. As I mentioned, a psychic medium might use one or all of these abilities to provide an accurate psychic reading.
Now that you have more information on the types of ways psychics perceive and read energetic information, let's look at what psychic readings are and what can be included in them.
Types of psychic readings
Whenever you work with a psychic medium, soul essence coach, lightworker, or spiritual practitioner, they might have different levels of any of the abilities listed above. However, they will all use their unique gifts to provide insight and information to you.
Across the board, there are many types of psychics and platforms on which readings are offered. Here are some common ways of receiving psychic readings:
In-person and zoom-based psychic readings:
At Soul Essence Wellness Center, our favorite way to give soul essence readings is in person or via Zoom. This allows us to connect more deeply with you and also to support your heart more openly. We believe in transparency, clarity, and honoring your soul essence with kindness, deep listening, and attunement.
Additionally, it is very common for psychic mediums to give readings and teach primarily using online platforms to avoid office fees. Most psychics can tune into your field without requiring you to be in person simply by the strong frequency and information connected to your name.
Online chat readings:
More chat platforms are popping up that offer on-the-spot psychic readings from contracted psychics who work around the world. These chat psychic readings allow you to communicate back and forth with ease.
To be fully transparent, I've never chosen this platform to give readings because it feels like answering a crisis line. People reaching out on these platforms are usually very overwhelmed or upset, and sometimes desperate to figure something out and can block out their own higher knowing because they are spiraling in big emotions.
Additionally, when it comes to any online platform, there are always risks concerning cyber security and ensuring that the online platform is indeed a real business offering genuine support. Make sure to look up the name of the company on Google and do your research before giving any credit card information to the organization.
Online product psychic readings:
Along with chat readings, online psychic readings have become more popular because they are easy to purchase through popular platforms like Etsy. Typically, you can choose to pay per question or receive a general psychic reading about your life. Some psychics focus on past life readings, while others might excel in relationship readings.
Some platforms will give you a free psychic reading in exchange for your email and personal information, which allows them to start sending you information (that will hopefully draw you to pay for a reading). Choosing a free online psychic reading can be very hit or miss with accuracy.
In my experience, to read things deeply about a person, I require the person's first and last name, and for the person to be in my visual or auditory field, otherwise I only receive more general information about them.
Similarly, I recommend following the same guidelines for online chat readings: always tune into your intuition if you are uncertain or feel unsure about giving someone or a website your personal information and payment information. If there is no information on the website about the person giving the reading, I would not trust it and assume it's a fake psychic website.
Phone psychic readings:
Before the internet blew up, it was common to see commercials for phone psychics on television. I'm honestly not sure if they still have them, but giving readings over the phone is still popular with older generations of psychics.
Many of my spiritual teachers in their 70s and 80s offered their classes and one-to-one readings over the phone (and still do). This can be a great option if you have a higher trust level when it comes to psychic readings and don't need to see someone's facial expressions.
Psychic fair:
Many psychics and tarot readers in Colorado will attend psychic fairs to expand their network and offer readings at a reduced price. I spent several years doing readings at the Body, Mind & Spirit Expo in Denver, Fort Collins, and Colorado Springs. There are dozens of different healing modalities and types of spiritual readers there, and as a patron, it can be really fun to pick several readers to have a session with. It is rare to come across fraudulent or fake psychics at these events, as the community prides itself on offering high-frequency, accurate, and transformative psychic sessions.
Ultimately, regardless of how you choose to engage in a psychic or intuitive reading, you should leave the reading feeling more aligned with your higher knowing. Spiritual readings done by reliable psychic readers result in you feeling more grounded, clear, and empowered in your decision-making.
Tarot readings vs. General psychic readings:
Tarot readings involve the interpretation of a deck of cards, typically consisting of 78 cards with symbolic imagery representing various aspects of life and human experiences. In a nutshell, they are like having a mystical chat with a deck of cards. A reader picks cards and gives you a sneak peek into your life's story, sort of like a fortune-telling card game, but with a twist of cosmic insight! A tarot reading is a great way to begin opening up to your higher self and can be done at home with the famous original deck, or with modern oracle cards.
How accurate are psychic predictions?
It's important to remember that real psychic readings are based on whether someone is truly tuned into their soul essence and gifts, and using those in service to minister information to you.
Accurate readings often occur when a psychic has good energetic hygiene and is taking care of themselves. However, it's important to note that a psychic reader will not be 100% correct all the time.
Now, you might be asking the question, "Why is this? Shouldn't a psychic see exactly what will happen?"
Here's the really important thing to understand about reality: It's changing all the time. Everyday we are different, and each day there are hundreds of opportunities to make new and different choices.
We live on a planet where free will exists, which means that nothing is necessarily pre-determined. As a spirit, you choose to learn about certain energies or "life themes" in life, but how you learn about them and get through them is entirely up to you. Hence, professional psychic mediums might be able to predict future events or provide valuable insight, but the future can change entirely, even based on one small decision you make.
Here are a few factors I've come across that result in an accurate and impactful psychic reading:
Energy and openness:
One of the hardest parts of doing psychic readings is when people test you by saying very little. When a client you are working with doesn't trust you or has a question in mind, but doesn't say it, their energy field stays closed off. To a psychic, it looks and feels like someone standing in front of you cloaking themselves, or wearing a mask. This lack of trust makes the person very hard to read, which manifests in blurry information and general information. Choosing to be open and vulnerable during a psychic reading will allow the practitioner to pick up on lots of information, so it's important to be direct, honest, and curious in your readings if you would like to receive the most accurate information.
Ability to listen and integrate:
The best psychics are the ones who remain neutral to the information, which also means being honest about what they pick up on. When I offer soul essence readings, I am creating space for your higher self to join us and speak through our connection, which results in psychic phenomena coming into form. Part of the reason a client seeks out psychic readings is that their ego has become too loud for them to hear their inner self. Hence, putting down our personality and ego selves in favor of experiencing our spiritual compass is very important to create the change you are seeking in your life. If you are unwilling to listen deeply to the information, integrate it, and make changes from this higher knowing, you will end up in the same place you started before the reading.
Motivation to change
Humans are often creatures of comfort, and sometimes out of fear, they choose to stay in the same stuck situation because it's predictable. Hence, a psychic reading might push you to examine parts of your life that aren't working in your best interest any longer. If a client chooses to remain unconscious to patterns of life circumstances that could be shifted to bring in a better quality of life, then they will manifest lessons and experiences that continue to cause the same cycle of suffering.
Although I haven't run across many fake psychic mediums, let's go over some basic principles concerning deciding who to work with and what to look for.
How to tell if a psychic is real
First and foremost, finding a good psychic starts with trusting your inner knowing. Tune into how you feel when looking up information about them. If the person is right to work with, you will probably feel lightness or openness. If you feel heaviness in your heart or gut, check in to see if it's your fear of learning something new or if it has to do with the person's energy field.
Here are some additional tips to consider when searching for a quality psychic reader:
Consistency and Specificity:
A real psychic often provides consistent and specific information that resonates with you and your experiences. Look for details in their readings that feel accurate and relevant to your life, rather than vague or generic statements. If something doesn't make sense, ask them to expand on what they are seeing and sensing or ask for an example. If you feel confused, ask them to explain the information in a different way.
Feedback and Reviews:
Check for feedback and reviews from previous clients. Genuine psychics often have positive testimonials from satisfied clients who have experienced accurate and helpful readings. However, keep in mind that not all reviews may be genuine, so consider the overall reputation and credibility of the psychic. I always look up anyone I am considering working with on Google Business.
Intuition and Gut Feeling:
Again, trust your intuition and gut feeling when interacting with a psychic. If something feels off or doesn't resonate with you, it's okay to question or seek clarification. Conversely, if you feel a strong connection or sense of trust with a psychic, it may indicate that they are genuine and aligned with your energy.
Ethical considerations in psychic practice
At Soul Essence Wellness Center, integrity and respect are two very important principles we believe in when offering psychic readings. We do not aim to create dependence on our services. Instead, we are inspired to help you connect with your soul essence, gain the information you need, and learn how to stay plugged into your spirit so you receive your own information and trust it.
When choosing to get a psychic reading, these are other important principles that we uphold and believe other psychic mediums should uphold:
Respect for Autonomy:
Psychics should respect clients' autonomy and right to make their own decisions. They should offer guidance and insights without imposing their beliefs or influencing clients' choices.
Confidentiality:
Psychics should maintain strict confidentiality regarding clients' personal information and readings. They should not disclose sensitive details or share client readings without explicit permission.
Integrity and Honesty:
Psychics should practice with integrity and honesty, providing truthful and accurate information to clients. They should refrain from making false claims, promises, or predictions that cannot be substantiated.
Boundaries:
Psychics should establish clear boundaries with clients and maintain professional relationships. They should avoid engaging in personal or inappropriate interactions, such as forming romantic relationships or friendships with clients that would cause them to become biased in their feedback.
Informed Consent:
Psychics should obtain informed consent from clients before conducting readings or offering additional services. Clients should be informed about the nature of psychic practice, the purpose of the reading, and any potential risks or limitations involved.
Empowerment and Non-Discrimination:
Psychics should empower clients to make informed decisions and take control of their lives. They should not discriminate against clients based on factors such as race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or socioeconomic status.
Continued Learning and Development:
Psychics should commit to ongoing learning and development to enhance their skills and knowledge. They should stay informed about ethical guidelines and best practices regarding psychic practice.
Get the clarity and insight you need.
Getting a psychic reading can be a life-changing experience if you allow yourself to be open and honest with a psychic medium.
Soul Essence Readings are specifically designed to help you align with your highest self on your spiritual journey. We also believe intuitive gifts can be accessed by anyone who is inspired and driven to uncover them.
Ultimately, we aim to deepen your connection with your soul essence so that you can better access this information and remain sovereign in your being rather than assuming you don't have the answers inside of you.
To learn more about Soul Essence Readings, or to book an online psychic reading, click here.
If you are interested in opening up your intuitive abilities and learning how to gain access to your spirit guides and higher self, check out our energy medicine programs.