(Clear – Knowing)

The sense that allows one to gain an understanding of information without a reasonable explanation of how they obtained the knowledge, is claircognizance. When this sense is active, we often feel we know things but are not exactly sure why we know them. We just know. This is a sense we all have experienced in some way. This is one of the primary senses for our “inner guidance”. I am not of the party of thinkers that believe some people are “a claircognizant” (or any of the other clair-senses for that matter). To me, this is like saying “I am a smeller” because I can smell. Most people can smell on some level, right? Yet, no one finds the need to proclaim it. This is the same concept to me. Learning to develop and fine-tune the senses is another story though. This takes effort, time, and confidence in our own selves.  

This sense requires faith and trust, or it can become a bit frustrating to navigate the challenges that come along with it. Quality communication skills are also a must here otherwise all the knowing in the world won’t do you any good. Knowing something but not being able to trust or properly articulate the information can become troublesome. The information to be gained from this sense can vary from simple things like knowing you should take a different route to work to avoid traffic; more useful things like the understanding of topics you have not yet studied or experienced; or very confusing things such as information pertaining to future events. It is one thing to gain this information for yourself and learn to trust it, but it is another thing entirely to attempt to share it with others. Over time you will learn to trust the information you gain through claircognizance, but others may not have developed this trust in your clear-knowing. This is where articulation and communication are key. “I just know” doesn’t always fly as reasoning with other people.

This sense is linked primarily to the seventh or Crown Chaka. If you want to learn to develop this sense, bringing strength and balance to the seventh chakra will prove to be helpful. For more information on Sahasrara (the crown chakra) please click here.

Some also say in order to really utilize this sense we must harmonize the solar plexus, throat, brow, and crown chakras. Bridging the gaps between the self, communication, thought, and spirit. I find that knowing your own self and having a good understanding of your own energy will come first with any of the clair-senses. As boring as it is, if you want to develop claircognizance I believe you must start with managing and understanding your own energy. After that, some crystals resonate well with this clair-sense. 

There are crystals that resonate with claircognizance

Strengthening the connection between spirit and the self is very helpful when it comes to understanding the information we gain through this sense. Confidently aligning ourselves with truth and faith will allow us to recognize when we acquire knowledge through the sense of claircognizance. Understanding and recognition are the first steps to really harnessing the power of this sense. Any crystal you find that helps to strengthen your “self”, faith, connection to spirit, and facilitates calm clear communication will be helpful in your efforts. Some of my top picks for this are golden apatite, celestine (celestite), azurite, fluorite, lapis lazuli, optical calcite, and smoky quartz. 

Practice, Patience & Trust

There are “exercises” that can also be done to help reinforce the trust and recognition of information you receive. Honestly, the most helpful thing I have found is to be aware. All things pertaining to the higher chakras really are best led by the individual. Everyone is different and everyone requires a different approach. Some say you should invite spirit guides into your life. Many believe a guide is key in order to effectively work with spirit or energy. Many will rely heavily on the information gained through guides. 

“My guide says…” 

For many, this is the source of trust in spirit. This approach does not resonate with me personally – it is totally okay if it is your way though. I can’t tell you that you are wrong or right. This is an area of personal experience. The thing is, I feel we are all capable exactly as we are. I do not feel we require outside assistance to understand spirit. A spirit guide would be spirit after all, right? I feel it is most helpful to seek information from deep within. If spirit guides are a thing we will find their guidance within our own self, not just somewhere outside of us. Putting all trust in the words of another over our own self can be a slippery slope of trouble in the worst-case scenario, but in the best-case, we are devaluing our own strength and capabilities. When we value anyone else over our own self (as opposed to equally) we diminish the trust we have in ourselves – this applies even with spirit. When people relay messages leading off with “my guide says” I pretty much always ignore them. To me, if someone trusts the information that they observe or experience, they shouldn’t need to validate it with names of beings or spiritual status. By saying a guide has told you something, you actually are taking away your own accountability. You are takin your own influence and power out of the equation. I have learned this lesson the hard way many times over. So, for me, I don’t look for a guide or even a name in spirit. I look for the meaning and find an understanding myself. Everyone is welcome to do what feels right to them, but if I want to strengthen my own senses, I am not going to look outside of myself to do so. Having the faith in ourselves is key. Belief is a powerful thing. 

How do we strengthen claircognizance?

This is really simple but takes time and patience. You must pay attention to your mind. See where your thoughts take you as you make decisions in your daily life. Once you begin to do this, mindfully tell yourself you want to recognize the messages that come through via your claircognizance. We do not want to over-analyze anything as this can cause one to become detached from reality. Take a grounded and centered approach to notice your thoughts. Start to ask yourself why? Why did I think that? How do I know that information? Is it learned? Is it just logic? Or is it something else? Taking 5 minutes a day to sit with your own thoughts is a good place to start. Where your mind takes you when you don’t actively control it can lead to the insight you really need. It also can help you to recognize how you feel when your clair-senses activate. Knowledge is what we are looking to recognize. This will most likely take time. Starting with 5 minutes a day to just take in your thoughts will be helpful. When you are going about your day and a thought enters through the sense of claircognizance, you will be more inclined to recognize it if you practice noticing it when you are being still. It isn’t that we need to make something new happen, we need to recognize what is already there. These clair-senses are not something so mystical and beyond our normal lives. We use them every single day, we just don’t usually pay attention.

As I said earlier, we all get that “I should do this” thought every now and again. We don’t question it because it is our own thoughts. However, what made us think it? Asking yourself this question throughout the day is the next step. We have done it at rest, now learning to do it quickly without dwelling in action is the goal. Once we recognize our own thoughts when we are still, the thoughts that just happen and not the real conscious ones, then we will recognize them when we are going about our daily activities. This is one of the ways this sense can be helpful. If we can recognize the thoughts coming from inner knowing and not dismiss them, then we will see we can avoid some of the “inconveniences” we might previously have encountered. 

Have you ever thought you should take a certain road but then you ignore it only to get stuck in some traffic due to an accident? You wish you had listened to that little voice in your head, right? This sort of thing is what we are talking about now. We all have this! We just don’t recognize it for what it is. 

Once we recognize it in practical applications like the above example, we can then start to fine-tune it. We can think of particular situations and gain insight on the potential outcome so we can better make decisions on our own behalf. The key is to not try and control the thoughts. We set the intention of what information we wish to gain and then we must sit with our thoughts like before. Recognize what comes into your mind, do not try to lead or control the thoughts. 

This basic, non-glamorous practice is just one way to learn to recognize and trust information gained through claircognizance. Once you notice information coming in and are unsure of why you thought, test out if it’s accurate if possible. Take that alternate route and see what happens. Sometimes this will end up being the best choice. The only way to gain trust in yourself is to believe and take a chance. These are things that can’t be gained from an outside source. Sure, people can try to confirm or validate your “intuition” but then your faith in yourself is contingent upon the validation of others. 

Validate yourself. 

If we approach this clair-sense in a centered, grounded, and above all else honest way, we will find you have the source for our own best inner guidance is already right within us.