Psychic Phenomenon: Gifts, Powers, or Abilities? by Christin Snyder

In my work as a psychic who seeks to mentor those developing their
own skills, I find it important to mention this subject. I refer to
psychic abilities as just what they are - skills or abilities. The
other terms I find to be damaging as they infer that this is
unatainable by others, or that psychic senses are much
more "supernatural" than they actually are.

Often I hear others speak of their developing abilities as "gifts",
as though they were so special that God gave them this unique and
special ability and not others. Unfortunately, many famous psychics
also do this, insinuate that some great mystical super-secret society
power has been bestowed on them. This is harmful to those who would
love to develop psychically but feel that they "aren't enough"
somehow, or haven't been "chosen".

Are psychic abilities gifts? Indeed they are. Those of us who have
developed them recognize that we are blessed, but I also recognize
that every breath I take on this planet is also a gift. I also know
that we all breathe. Therefor oxygen, while still a beautiful,
precious gift that should not be taken for granted, is something that
we can all partake in. Psychic ability is no different. Just as
everyone can pick up a pencil and write with it, everyone can also
learn to develop some form of psychic skill set. Not everyone will
become a pulitzer prize winning novelist, or famous poet, but that
doesn't stop all of the rest of us from writing, so why should it
stop beginners in Metaphysical studies from even trying? It is
amazing to me the number of people who come to me and say "I don't
think I am gifted?" or "Can you tell me if I have gifts?". My
answer: Are you standing here, breathing, having a life experience
right now? then yes you are gifted. The key is not focusing on lack
or what one doesn't have, but appreciating what is.

Psychic abilities are not elusive foreign phenomenon that only the
chosen few can bring forward, they are an innate set of senses,
hidden deep within the psyche and soul of each being that must be
allowed to be brought forward. Many people don't agree with this,
they believe that because they want psychic abilities that they must
already be allowing it and it just isn't coming. This is very
untrue. Developing these skills means adjusting to a different
reality that what is presently understood and accepted both by
society and the individual. The body/mind have a natural resistance
to this in place as a protective mechanism. In order to reach our
fullest potential psychically, we have to work at peeling away the
barriers. It can take considerable time and effort to allow these
abilities to manifest to their fullest potential, and as with
anything worth having they require persistence and dedication.

We live in a society that pushes heavily the "instant gratification"
syndrome, and this tends to cause many developing psychics to throw
in the towel much to soon. When we add the stigma of "being gifted"
to it, many don't even try at all. They are falsely led to believe
that these abilities just manifest in others who have been fortunate
enough to have them bestowed upon them by Creator. News Flash,
God/Creator loves all of creation, so why then would He/She/It only
give gifts to some of the Earths children and not to all? That's not
unconditional love, but it is a human condition ;). Everyone of you
reading this also has psychic ability, and yes it is a gift, but so
is everything else.

Another word I hear misused a lot is "powers". Psychic ability does
not give us "power" over anyone, and those psychics who believe it
does usually find their careers short lived, or find that Karma
catches up eventually. Any genuine psychic is humble enough to tell
people that they too can do what he/she is doing. A good psychics
goal is to empower others not to wield some false sense of power over
them. When I hear psychics and/or aspirants refer to their "powers"
it is one of my biggest pet peeves. That word implies not only that
it is a super secret society elite thing again, but also propogates
fear and contributes to the already abounding social ignorance
surrounding psychic phenomenon. Those who do this to puff up their
own egos by portending they have super-hero like "powers" make it
difficult for genuine psychics to get established and the outlook for
ever being taken seriously in our field becomes even more grim.

I have the upmost respect for psychics and healers as well, who
seek to empower others by demystifying this process. John Edward is
one prime example of a mainstream psychic who has done a lot of work
in this area. Thanks to his work, more people are seeing this as
something that is not just a power for the chosen ones, but something
anyone with the dedication to do so can develop. I hope that as more
of us establish our careers we will also take the "high road" and
continue to promote more personal empowerment and less hocus-pocus.
Knowledge is the true "power".


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Christin Snyder is an author, psychic, mentor, and pesonal success
coach. She works on demystifying psychic phenomenon and helping
others to expand their consciousness. Visit her website today for
free guided meditations, spiritual guidance tarot readings, free
psychic skills development courses and more:
http://www.spiritualguidancetarot.com