Psychic vs. Intuition

When he’s questioned by a doctor, George declares, “I think I’m what everybody can be.…Anybody can get here. I’m the possibility. ”2 He clarifies that given the choice between his abilities arising from a tumor or from something like an alien encounter (as some people had suspected), he would choose the tumor, because it shows that the capability is innate and part of the human spirit that’s already within us. It’s not alien or unknown. It’s here, now, part of everyone’s potential. It’s within our grasp.

That’s also my perspective on psychic ability. Think of how animals are born with instincts that help them naturally know how to do things like migrate and stay protected. We, as beings that come from nature and this universe, also have natural senses that are part of our makeup. Our way of life, distanced and protected from the dangers of the natural world, has simply made those instinctual abilities less obvious. They now run in the background and are often entirely unacknowledged. But just because we may be unaware of these abilities doesn’t mean we aren’t all using them to some degree. We are. These are things that you (and everyone else in the world) have been using your whole life. These abilities are real. They are a part of us. And if we so choose, we can learn how to strengthen and make more conscious use of them. And for some of us, this mindful approach to the development and use of our subtle abilities equates to an inner spiritual experience. The emergence of our intuition is the call of Spirit, an awakening to our authentic self and the divine within.

While I refer to us as secret psychics, I know that many will feel a bit squeamish at the use of the word psychic, preferring to call themselves intuitive instead. To understand why this is, we need to break down the use of these two words.

You may be surprised to find out that these two terms are often communicating the same exact thing. Many people, including myself, use them interchangeably. While they’re often used to mean the same thing, they’re

2. Phenomenon, directed by Jon Turteltaub (Touchstone Pictures, 1996).

sometimes used in different ways. When people speak of having intuition, they’re usually talking about a gut instinct or following a hunch. A humorous definition of intuition that I originally found attributed to Minds Journal sums it up perfectly: “Intuition (n.): when you have a keen sense of feely feels that feel feely and you feel like you know things that you don’t know, but you do know because you’re feeling them.”3 Intuition is subtle and often intangible or indescribable. You just feel it and know it. And you either trust and go along with it or you don’t.

While I do use these two words interchangeably, I view intuition as energy communicating a message to you via your psychic abilities. I think of the two terms in this way:

• intuition = your subtle inner guidance • psychic = the senses and abilities that intuition uses to gather information and communicate that guidance

Another way to think of it is like this: if intuition is the body as a whole, then psychic is the eyes, ears, tongue, nose, and fingers that gather subtle sensory information for the body to interpret and make sense of. Both have the aim of guiding us safely through life by gathering and sharing subtle nformation. To me, the use of one term over the other is more a distinction of language and not so much about ability. Intuition is the use of psychic ability. Psychic ability is intuition, broken down into our individual subtle senses, many of which correspond to our physical senses (i.e., psychic hearing, psychic seeing, psychic feeling, etc.). Intuition is the umbrella term for the use of those abilities.

Among the psychics I interviewed for this book, I found that our interpretations of these terms were very alike, with slight variations. For example, subtle energy expert Cyndi Dale breaks it down with even more distinction, saying, “I consider the psychic ability to be the foundation of intuition. To me, we are naturally psychic when born. Being psychic is the instinctive capability of receiving, interpreting, and sending subtle energy

3. America’s Best Pics & Videos, “Intuition,” October 12, 2021, https://americasbestpics.com /picture/intuition-n-when-you-have-a-keen-sense-of-feely-lcmRIUG38.

or data. At baseline, psychic activity promotes survival and our safety. Intuition is a more grown-up version of being psychic. It involves learning how to mindfully manage our psychic aptitude, or the subtle energy we are constantly exchanging between ourselves and the outside world. It takes more understanding and conscious training to function intuitively rather than only psychically.”

Psychic and medium Sherrie Dillard’s explanation beautifully states that “although intuition and psychic ability are essentially the same thing, there is a subtle difference. Psychic ability is a more focused and developed form of intuition. You can call on it when you want specific information and use specific skills such as clairvoyance and clairaudience to access energy information. Intuition for me is more free-flowing inner awareness that comes and goes. It, too, can be expressed in various different ways. However, we don’t have as much control over how it surfaces.”

In yet another example, psychic medium Kristy Robinett thinks of the two terms this way: “The Greek definition of the word psychic means ‘soul.’ The psychic information comes from the gift of clairvoyance and clairaudience. The definition of intuition is a hunch or feeling, and intuition comes from the gift of clairsentience and claircognizance. The gifts all come from the soul.”

No matter how you define these two words, our subtle guidance is natural and a very practical form of inner guidance. As psychic medium Jodi Livon states, “Intuition is a free and natural resource and something to be celebrated, not shamefully hidden away.”

Resistance to the Word Psychic While the word intuition has a lightness about it, the term psychic is a loaded one for many people. In our culture, psychic has a somewhat negative connotation; it carries a lot of baggage, with set stereotypes and negative assumptions, and can feel scary due to the ingrained beliefs that many of us have picked up without even really being conscious of where they came from. But when you strip away those assumptions and understand the true meaning of the word, it starts to remove that fear.

While I was talking with a secret psychic friend of mine, she shared, “I don’t yet identify with the word psychic. While I have a more logical understanding of what that word is, for many it might conjure images of fortune-tellers, crystal balls, strange people, and trying to predict the future.” As a result of these kinds of historical assumptions, and the judgment (or even persecution) that has come along with them, identifying yourself with the word psychic simply may not feel natural because it’s still bound with fear.

Another reason you might have reservations about the use of the word psychic is because it can feel like such a definitive claim. Saying you’re psychic can feel very black-and-white, as though you’re saying that you know it all, when in truth we’re always learning. If you’re reading this book, you likely are not trying to claim that you have a professional level of psychic ability. On the other hand, claiming yourself as intuitive probably feels like there’s more forgiveness there, more room for error. If you tell others you’re intuitive, they probably won’t assume that you have all the answers. There’s immediately more understanding around the subtle nature of your perception.

Which Word Should You Use? In my first intuitive development class, the instructor gave us all buttons that read “Psychic in training” because of the expectation of perfection or sense of burden that can come with using the word psychic. When you’re starting out, if the word psychic feels too heavy, then stick with intuition or regularly remind yourself that you’re still a psychic in training.

While I do make a distinction between the terms intuition and psychic, they are truly tangled threads making up the same web, and I use them as interchangeable terms that are basically communicating the same thing. When I’m talking with someone whom I don’t know for sure is “in my world,” I’ll use the more widely accepted term of intuition, but when I’m speaking with others who are more understanding of what these terms and abilities are all about, I naturally switch between both words. There really isn’t a need to overcomplicate things. If you feel more drawn to one term over the other, go with it.

Keep in mind that words can make a difference in the way we think about things. When you’re starting out, it can be helpful to stick with intuition, because the use of that term is less likely to sway you toward the ego mind. If you refer to yourself or your abilities as psychic and you feel like it puts you in the mindset of wanting to get attention for being special or of having extraordinary powers that others don’t, it might be beneficial to use the word intuition instead, at least initially. This is because intuition is generally recognized as being something that everyone has to some degree. You’re less likely to get swept away by your ego when referring to your intuition.

PRACTICE Understanding Your Discomfort with the Word Psychic

Pause for a second now and think about the words psychic and intuition and the charge you feel with each. Notice if either term triggers you in a negative way. If so, note whether that’s true for one word or for both. Sit in the feeling that you get and try to define what it feels like. Maybe it just feels icky, or maybe there is a specific emotion that you can attach to it. Try to trace the negative feeling in order to define where exactly it comes from. Determine whether the origin is something you find to be based in truth or whether it’s something you now find to be not so true. If the belief is not true, do you feel that you can start to let go of it?

Moving forward, use the language that feels natural to you. As you continue on this journey, if using the word psychic to describe yourself feels loaded, know that we’ll be unpacking why that may be. By the end of this book you may find that it no longer carries such weight.