Before moving to Ireland, I had no clue just how popular and ubiquitous spirituality and metaphysical studies are here. Having begun a spiritual journey of everything from astrology, crystals, reiki, and so forth when I was back in Texas, I was hopeful that I would at least find perhaps a few people with similar interests.
Cork City boasts a lovely little metaphysical shop called Dervish. After a few shopping trips, I built up the courage to chat with the friendly woman behind the counter. I asked if she knew of any spiritual development groups and she immediately showed me the weekly schedule. Apparently, there were classes hosted every evening, everything from spirituality for beginners, intro to Shamanism, and a psychic and mediumship development circle. Intrigued, I signed up for the psychic circle classes hosted every Wednesday evening. Not really knowing what to expect I was just excited by the prospect of being around psychics and intuitives.
Probably the most common misconception of psychic circles. No, we do not perform seances! We are only working in the light.
I’ve been attending this weekly class for over one month now, and I am delighted to report that it has opened the door to so many wonderful gifts and opportunities. The class is hosted by renowned Kinsale-based psychic medium Norah Desmond. Each week, approximately eight of us ( a mixture of men and women) meet at the top floor of the Dervish shop and practice honing in on our intuitive abilities. Norah, being the skilled and talented teacher that she is, guides us into strengthening all “our clairs”:
Clairvoyance: clear seeing
This is the most common way psychics, and intuitives retrieve their information. Typically, images are “seen” through the third eye/mind’s eye. This process is very similar to a daydream. When connecting to the spirit world, one may see visions about the past, present, or future. Some visions may come across very strongly and vividly while one may only see glimpses or flashes of a visual. Through active practice and working to develop one’s clairvoyance, the visions will become stronger. Personally, since attending the psychic development classes, I’ve noticed a tremendous increase in lucid dreaming. Maybe there’s something to be said about tapping into one’s third eye.
Clairaudience: clear hearing
Ever hear that voice in your head? Sometimes, it’ll say something to the effect of “turn right!” while you’re driving down the road. You can’t explain why you heard it, but the sound plays in your head. This is an intuitive skill known as clairaudience. One may hear voices, various sounds, or music. Sound is a great tool that spirit uses to communicate to us.
Clairsentience: clear feeling
Ever experience a strong “gut feeling” that overwhelms you? For instance, you might be walking along a dark, empty street at night and feel unsafe, fearful, or worried. Similarly, you might walk past a stranger and for no clear reason, they give off a bad vibe and give you the creeps! This is your intuition’s way of communicating with you to keep you out of harm’s way. In a psychic sense, developing one’s clairsentience means being able to connect to the feelings experienced by spirit. When in the presence of a spirit or energy from behind the veil, the sensations are unmistakable. Being aware of the feelings which arise within you which will improve your psychic abilities.
Clairalience: clear smelling
Gifted mediums and intuitives can utilize all their senses when connecting with spirit. This holds true for the sense of smell. For example, smelling the scent of tobacco smoke may indicate that a spirit is present which enjoyed smoking a tobacco pipe while he was alive on earth. Pungent smells, either a particular perfume or flowers, indicate an unmistakable connection to particular spirits which are trying to come forward. As the saying goes, “the nose knows!” Clairalience is a skill I would love to strengthen.
Clairgustance: clear tasting
Ever daydream about eating something you’re craving, say a cheeseburger with fries, and you can almost taste it in your mouth? This experience can also occur on a psychic level when spirit tries to communicate with us. Often, a particular taste is associated with a memory which has a powerful meaning. Recently, I had a psychic medium connect with my grandmother, and she said she had an overwhelming taste of mint and herbs in her mouth. Oddly enough, my grandmother was a big-time fan of Ricola herb candies, or as she called them, “bom boms.”
Claircognizance: clear knowing
This occurs when you suddenly know people or events in which you normally would not have knowledge about. Spirit comes through to us and leaves us with a premonition about a future event which requires faith to trust this message. Claircognizance gives us knowing which is often inexplicable and is up to us to heed the message or not.
Before beginning the mediumship development exercises, each class starts off with a deep meditation to open our chakras and connect with spirit and Source energy. This is one of my favorite times of the week because it allows me to truly escape and encourages a stronger connection to my spirit within. I have also utilized the meditation techniques learned in class to my daily life. I now try to find at least ten minutes a day to silently retreat and meditated.
Besides learning great psychic exercises, I’ve met so many wonderful like-minded people. It is so nice to spend time with kindred spirits. I have learned that my interests in spiritual development are shared by others, which is awesome! Furthermore, I was asked to be the chairperson for the Centre of Spirit’s monthly Divine Service which is held at the Metropole Hotel. Last week I hosted my first event, and it was a lovely occasion. I met so many talented and inspiring people and enjoyed in-depth and stimulating discussions. I am very much looking forward to next month’s service.
If the psychic development circle has taught me anything, it is that there is always something new to discover. We are students in this life, and we never stop growing and learning.