Qualifications, please!

“Who are you that you feel qualified to give others information on spirituality and magick?”

I think this is a funny question but I do get asked this a lot.  And I’m not anyone important, really.  I don’t have any fancy titles or letters behind my name.  I don’t have a degree from any university on the subjects of metaphysics, spirituality, or magick.  I’ve never attended any seminars or classes on any of the subjects, either.

I am seriously horrible at following other people’s teachings. Being who I am, I have trouble paying attention to teachers and reading books on the subjects often bore me (I have severe ADD & am very easily distracted, which, then turns to boredom).  Any books you see me suggest here?  I’ve made myself read a chapter here or there because I needed material to suggest to other people on their Spiritual and/or Magickal quest.  Additionally, most of the books you’ll see on my “Suggested Reading” pages are usually books dealing with “tools of the trade.”  My ADD-riddled butt does much better with those kind of books because I can just hunt for what’s relevant and not have to read the whole darned thing! 

The knowledge and experience I have to date regarding spirituality and magick began with searching for answers about myself and my Gifts.  I was born with several psychic Gifts, including the Gift of Mediumship.  As I was growing up I made enough FUBARs using my Gifts that I started searching for information (in hopes that I’d stop making FUBARS!) and searching for people like myself.  I didn’t end up finding anyone like me (this was in the age before computers & Google) but I did find a Witch.  In knowing the Witch, I discovered that, to a degree, magick tends to go hand-in-hand with psychic gifts, on certain levels.  So in my quest to learn about myself, I also began learning about magick.

So.  I’ve said all that to say:  My qualifications, so to speak, are from my own experiences.  I do not claim to be the “end-all-be-all” authority on the subjects I write about. I am merely imparting information I’ve gained, and some of my life experiences, in hopes of helping those who are seeking knowledge. 

 

Are *YOU* Empathic or Clairsentient?

All those emotions, all those mood swings…
It is my belief that Empathic skills and Clair-sentience are the most prevalent psychic gifts in our society.  It is also my belief that these two gifts are the ones that most often go unidentified by the people who have them and even by other psychics (a true psychic normally recognizes the energy of another psychic).  I often wonder how many people who have been diagnosed with depression or anxiety disorders are actually Empaths or Clairsentients.
*** VERY interesting side note here: It is my belief that many unidentified (or even identified) Empaths & Clairsentients also have addictive behaviors like food, drugs, alcohol, gambling, etc.  This, I believe, is because the addictive behavior is an outlet for the emotions these unidentified gifted people have but can’t deal with–so they find another outlet for it and the addiction momentarily allows them to ignore what they don’t understand and don’t like feeling.

The most obvious sign of being a Clairsentient is when you are emotionally attached to someone; you can “feel” them, even at a distance.  Even if you and the other person are at odds with one another, or maybe you’ve even ended your association with one another, you will still continue to feel them and feel a connection to them.  In times when the person you are connected to may be going through emotional highs or lows, you will still feel them.

The best way I can describe it is: thoughts of that person will suddenly come to you, out of the blue.  The thoughts will come to you as a sudden onslaught that you can’t get rid of, even though part of you may want to.  Unless you take steps to sever the spiritual/energetic “tie” you inadvertently created during your association with this person, such occurrences will continue without warning.  They can continue for years.

Clairsentience and Empathic skills are closely related but differ slightly.
The most obvious sign of being an Empath is when you are around other people, you take on the feelings of the people around you.  If you are in a good mood and come into contact with someone who is sad, you will suddenly–inexplicably–become sad yourself.  People unconsciously seek out Empaths.  It is almost like the energy of a person who is in some sort of pain recognizes the energy of one (an Empath) who can relieve that pain.  And the wounded will gravitate toward their cure (without being consciously aware they are doing so).

If you are someone people find it very easy to talk to (ie: “dump on”), you have Empathic traits.  If you find yourself wanting to “fix” everyone else, but ignore your own needs, this too, is the sign of an Empath.  If you find it easy to figure out other people’s emotions but largely ignore your own, this is yet another sign of an Empath.

Empaths are naturally sensitive emotionally.  They take on the emotions of people around them.
Empaths also have difficulty expressing their emotions to other people.  They largely keep what they feel to themselves.  They are the “sacrificial lambs” of society.  A lot of times, in their relationships (to include romantic, friendship, familial, professional), Empaths will be the one’s who sacrifice, get used, abused, or enable the co-dependent.   Unless an Empath takes steps to prevent it, they will draw the short straw in every relationship they have.

Here are the traits of an Empath. (See if any of these sound familiar to you.  If they do, I recommend researching how to control the skill):
* Random mood swings even though you have no idea why.  You search for possible reasons why you may be feeling the way you do and attach labels that don’t really fit.
* In crowds, your emotions run high and change often–you get anxiety-ridden, panicky, frustrated, angry.  You may want to be in a large crowd, but every time you are, you end up feeling tired (and it’s because you emotionally run a marathon of different emotions).
* People seek you out to confide in you
* People like being around you, but every time they are, they end up talking about their problems/issues while your problems/issues are rarely spoken of, if at all.
* You have a need to make everyone feel better/feel happier and you take steps to that end
* You somehow just “know” what people need to hear in order to feel better about themselves
* You have difficulty expressing your own emotions and much prefer to focus on someone else
* You often ignore people’s bad treatment of you–explaining it away because they need you, and on some level, that’s enough for you.
* You are the natural healer, helper & you always sacrifice for others.  You NEED to help people.
* You are a magnet/receptacle for negative energy.  Not because you started out feeling negative, but because people around you need a place to put their negative energy (and there you were, ready to receive it!).
* You don’t like feeling bad/down/negative/sad, but you feel resigned & believe it to be part of your lot in life
* You are the natural animal lover!  You love animals–they make you feel happy and a love that feels like pure innocence.
* You are a “nature baby.”  Being in the country, by the water, at the beach, a good rain storm, etc.–anything to do with nature brings you a sense of peace you simply crave.

Here are the traits of a Clairsentient (Clair-sen-tee-ent):
* You are highly sensitive to your surroundings.  They cause swings in your emotions.
* When you go some place where large crowds are, you often get headaches, feel nauseous, or have other physical reactions
* If you go to places where violence, illness or extreme sadness has happened, again, your mood swings violently in direct proportion to what has occurred.  You will also probably get throbbing headaches.
* You have an almost unreasonable desire to avoid going near or into places like hospitals, cemeteries, prisons, jails.  You may even become a bit panicky if you have to go near them.
* You can “feel” the presence of spirits, but you don’t understand what you’re feeling nor do the spirits present themselves to you–you can just feel something “odd” when you are in a place where a spirit might be. (this is b/c you don’t have the gift of Mediumship which would allow you to see/speak with the spirit, but you can still feel the energy of the spirit that is present)
* You touch other people’s belongings and your emotions begin to inexplicably change
* You go to other people’s homes and your emotions begin to inexplicably change.  You may even attribute it to not liking the people, but have no definitive reason why you don’t like them, you just don’t!
* You think of someone who is not around you, and you inexplicably know how they are feeling
* You think of someone who is not around you, and you inexplicably know something good or something bad is going to happen to them (this is knowing how that person will feel in the future, but if you do not have the gift of clairvoyance, you will not know what the event will be, you will just know how they are going to feel about it whenever “it” happens)
* You have the weird talent of “distance healing.”  (and probably don’t know it, lol).  You talk to someone over the phone and they feel better whereas you feel worse.  Or, you think of someone at a distance and begin to feel worse.  You later talk to this person and find out they were thinking of you and felt better afterward.
* You can feel other people’s pain.  You even feel the location of the pain on their body.  Sometimes you will take on that feeling within your own body (and it freaks you out, lol).

Most of what you’ve just read doesn’t sound overly positive, does it?  Now do you see why the “gifts” of being Clairsentient and/or Empathic are both a gift and a curse?  These two gifts actually can be very positive, if recognized and channeled properly.  A positive aspect of Empaths and Clairsentients is that they can pick up the positive emotions people have and “siphon” those positive emotions off of others and begin to feel positive themselves. Siphoning other people’s emotions off of them is what an Empath or Clairsentient does anyway, so why not derive some enjoyment out of it by siphoning the positive rather than just the negative?  After all, it does not harm the other person if you begin to feel good / happy, nor does it take away the other person’s happiness or joy.

Also, after having read all of the aforementioned, one can see where some people who have been diagnosed with depression or anxiety or a panic disorder could have been misdiagnosed.  I am not a doctor by any stretch of the imagination, nor am I suggesting you stop taking your medication if you are on any.  What I am suggesting is that you do some research because you may just find there’s not anything “wrong” with you other than you were given a gift that no one ever told you that you had.  You also may find yourself on a new path–one of peace and happiness.

We Empaths and Clairsentients are the healers of the world.  Society needs us.  The gifts given to us were given for a greater purpose than our own personal lives.  It is not often “fair” that we have these gifts.  It isn’t even “fun,” for the most part, unless you can come to an understanding of your purpose and be at peace with it.  You were chosen.  It’s that simple.

Once realized, the gifts seem to cause you to start a path for the “greater good.”  Again, it doesn’t seem fair.  However, if you have these gifts and refuse to acknowledge them, your life will continue to be riddled with sadness, depression, loss, and negativity–where you always seem to end up “the loser.”  So if you recognize yourself in either of the descriptions above, I implore you to seek knowledge on how to control your gift so you can live a life of peace and happiness rather than upset and loneliness.  There can be balance.  Seek it.
Be Blessed,
Sol