Let's take a look at what Clairvoyance is in more detail.

Clairvoyance is derived from two French words and means literally "clear seeing."

It means far more, however, in the language of Spiritualism and psychics, and is now used to cover and classify, if not to explain, a large number of different phenomena which some day will probably be explained in other ways. There are various types and kinds of clairvoyance, different authorities having given somewhat different definitions of the various sub-divisions. Thus, the Manual of the National Spiritualists' Association subdivides and defines the various types of clairvoyance as follows.

Subjective Clairvoyance

1.Subjective Clairvoyance is that psychic condition of a human being (who thereby becomes a medium) which enables spirit intelligences, through the manipulation of the nerve centres of sight, to impress or photograph upon the brain of the medium pictures and images which ace seen as visions by the medium without the aid of the physical eye. These pictures and images may be of things, spiritual or material, past or present, remote or near, hidden or uncovered, or they may have their existence simply in the conception or imagination of the medium communicating them.

Objective Clairvoyance

2.Objective Clairvoyance is that psychic power or function of seeing objectively spiritual beings, objects and things by and through the spiritual sensorium which pervades the physical mechanism of vision, without which objective clairvoyance would be impossible. But few persons are born with this power, in some it is developed and in others it has but a casual quickening. Its extent is governed by the rate of vibration under which it operates; thus one clairvoyant may see objectively spiritual things which to another may be invisible, because of the degree of difference in the intensity of the power.

X-Ray Clairvoyance

3.X-ray Clairvoyance is a form of clairvoyance which partakes of the characteristics of the x-ray and seems to be objective. The clairvoyant who possesses this power is able to see physical objects through intervening physical matter, can perceive the internal parts of the human body, diagnose disease and observe the operations of healing and decay.

Cataleptic Clairvoyance

4.Cataleptic Clairvoyance occurs when the body is in a trance state, resembling sleep, induced by hypnotic power, exercised by an incarnate or discarnate spirit, or it may be self-induced; when in this state the spirit leaves the body and is able, at its own will or the suggestion of the hypnotist, to travel to remote places and to see clearly what is transpiring in the places it visits and to observe spiritual as well as material things in its environment. While in this state it sometimes happens that the thoughts of the spirit in its travels are expressed by the lips of the physical body and that thought-images are conveyed to it through the physical body. This is due to the fact that there is a spirit "cord" which connects the body and the spirit and transmits vibrations between them. As long as this cord is not severed the, spirit can return to the body, but should it be severed, then what we call " death " would at once ensue. Under this form of clairvoyance there is an interblending of subjective and objective spiritual sight.

Trance Control Clairvoyance

5.Trance-control Clairvoyance is that psychic state under which the control of the physical body of the medium is assumed by a spirit intelligence, and the consciousness of the medium is, for the time being, dethroned. In this case the controlling spirit is really the clairvoyant, and simply uses the medium's body as a means of communicating what the spirit sees, and therefore the question of subjective and objective spiritual sight, in so far as the medium is concerned, cannot be raised. To some persons who go to mediums for readings and who may become witnesses in trials at law it may not be known that under trance control the medium is to all intents and purposes absent, therefore in dealing with definitions of clairvoyance to be used for the enlightenment of thinking people, judges and juries, it seems necessary for the protection of such mediums to explain what is here termed "Trance-Control Clairvoyance."

Telepathic Clairvoyance etc.

6.Telepathic Clairvoyance is the subjective perception in picture form of thought, transmitted from a distance.

The type of clairvoyance illustrated in class 4 is frequently called "Travelling Clairvoyance" because the spirit appears to travel, after leaving its body, and visit distant scenes. According to the above definitions, this type of clairvoyance is classified under definition No. 1, but other authorities would give it a separate class by itself. When the psychic's mind seems to travel backward along the stream of time, and remembers events which were beyond its normal recollection, we have cases of so called "retrocognition." When, on the other hand, the psychic's mind seems to travel forward into the future and sees scenes and events which, of course, he was otherwise unable to foretell, we have cases of prevision, prophecy and precognition. This latter subject will be dealt with more fully in the chapter devoted to "Prophecy versus Fortune-Telling."

We also have spontaneous and experimental clairvoyance, these definitions explaining themselves.

Then, direct and indirect clairvoyance: Direct when no other mind or agency is involved but the psychic's own; indirect when it goes through a roundabout channel and involves some other mind incarnate or discarnate.

As opposed to "telepathic clairvoyance" we have so-called "Independent Clairvoyance." Also there are cases of "Reciprocal Clairvoyance" in which two persons see one another at the same time and, as it were, exchange their clairvoyant visions.

The type of clairvoyance which is characterized by leaving the body and visiting the spiritual spheres (afterwards returning to reanimate the body) is called "ecstasy."

Mr. Leadbeater divides Clairvoyance into three subdivisions: clairvoyance in time, clairvoyance in space, and direct clairvoyance, in which the astral or spiritual senses are opened up so as to perceive planes of activity now about us.

Dream Clairvoyance

Clairvoyance may also occur in dreams, crystal visions, etc., and clairaudience (which corresponds to clairvoyance, save that the information is obtained by means of the ear rather than the eye) may be obtained through shell-hearing. In this case the messages are heard rather than seen. (Another technical name for clairvoyance which is sometimes used is " Telaesthesia.")

Clairvoyance may manifest itself in a variety of forms as the above definitions would signify. The most common form is:

Spontaneous Clairvoyance, in which the psychic sees pictures of absent persons and scenes.

Clairvoyant dreams are fairly common.

Clairvoyant Diagnosis

There is a type of mental clairvoyance which enables the subject to see, as it were, into the body of another, diagnosing his disease as though he perceived clearly the conditions present in that individual's body at the time. This form of psychic vision was possessed by Andrew Jackson Davis in a remarkable degree, but is possessed by many psychics of our own day.

Another form of clairvoyance is that in which underground metals and waters may sometimes be perceived. Usually in this case the psychic walks over the ground to be explored with a forked twig or stick in his hands. Suddenly this bends or dips, and where this happens water or metal is to be found. This is technically known as "dowsing" and has been proved to exist as a scientific fact by Sir William F. Barrett, Professor of Physics, in the University of Dublin.

Of late years a new and peculiar type of clairvoyance has been developed by Mr. Vincent N. Turvey of London, a friend of Mr. W. T. Stead. He termed this "Phone-voyance," for the reason that he receives his impressions and intuitions, etc., when he is conversing with a distant friend over the telephone, and then only This is a form of sensitiveness which could be obtained by many psychics if they developed it.

The Explanation of Clairvoyance

Clairvoyance has been explained in a variety of ways. We may briefly summarize these theories as follows:

1.The Astral or Spiritual-Sense-Theory. This may be stated as follows: Corresponding to each physical sense-organ (the eye, ear, etc.) there is a corresponding spiritual or astral sense-organ. We see physical objects by means of the physical eye and hear them by means of the physical ear. When we see clairvoyantly, on the contrary, we see by means of our spiritual eye and when we hear clairaudiently we hear by means of the spiritual or astral ear. These spiritual sense-organs function in a spiritual world (and of course serve the spiritual body when we die as our physical organs now serve us) and operate on the spirit plane of activity. If their use is not cultivated in precisely the right direction, it may lead to difficulties, for the reason that both the astral and spiritual sight may be used at the same time, they may become mixed up, and you may see two worlds at once instead of one, so that you cannot be sure when you go outside the door whether you are going to step on the pavement or into a great ditch, both of which you see equally clearly before you. Many persons have got into this condition which takes some time to outgrow.

2."The Spiritual Influence Theory." According to this theory clairvoyance is accomplished not by means of the subjects' own unaided powers, but always through the instrumentality of a spirit who sees the distant scenes, etc., and impresses them upon the subjects' mind telepathically.

Tubes, Thought-Forms and Direct perception

3."The Astral Tube Theory." According to this view, the clairvoyant constructs a sort of telescope or tube for himself out of "astral matter," and through this he looks. The figures, in this ease, always appear small, and far-off.

4."By the Creation of a Thought Form." On this theory, we create a thought form for ourselves in the locality we desire to visit, and utilize it for the purpose of observation; we look out of its eyes, hear with its ears, etc..

5."The Direct-Perception Theory." This theory says that outside influences play no part in the phenomena, but that we perceive distant scenes ourselves, by means of some process of self-projection. But here we are met with the difficulty that if the psychic is absent, viewing the distant scene, how can he also be present in the room, animating his own body and speaking through it as he undoubtedly does in many cases I Most psychics, when they begin their development, see shapes and figures more frequently than they experience any other phenomena. They wonder why this should be. Why should nearly all of us see I (Now and then, it is true, we come across one who hears more easily than sees, but he is the exception, not the rule.)

Why and How we "See" in Clairvoyance

The explanation of this fact is probably the following: We use our eyes more than we do any other one of our senses. We feel that our active consciousness is more connected with sight than with anything else. The sight-centres in the brain are more used than any of the others, and this fact is proved by dreams, in which we see figures but very seldom hear spoken words. Again our memory consists mostly of visual symbols. If we think of a person we call up his image before us, this being a "memory image." Now, as these parts of the mind and brain are so active, it is only an extension of this faculty of inducing memory-images, which enables us to see objects and figures in clairvoyance. We only have to force this faculty of the mind a little more than usual to carry it beyond the limitations of physical sense; whereas, with the other senses, much less used, we have to do a great deal more of this cultivating or forcing-process, in order to develop the corresponding spiritual organs. Clairvoyance and similar faculties depend in many eases upon the partial liberation or freeing of the spirit from the body, and the stimulation of the corresponding psychic sense-organs into a higher degree of activity, and so permitting their use.

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