Clairsentience ("clear feeling") is the claimed ability to acquire psychic knowledge primarily through physical or emotional sensation — a felt impression rather than a seen image or heard voice. It is the third of "the clairs" alongside Clairvoyance and Clairaudience.
Psychometry
The best-known specific technique associated with clairsentience is psychometry — the claimed ability to gain information about an object's history or previous owner by holding or touching it, sometimes described by practitioners as sensing residual "energy" left on the object. The term was coined in 1842 by American physician Joseph Rodes Buchanan, from the Greek psyche ("soul") and metron ("measure"). Buchanan's early experiments involved having medical students hold sealed letters or autographs without seeing their contents, and asked them to describe the character or traits of the writer.
Psychic detectives
Clairsentience and psychometry are the abilities most commonly claimed by self-described "psychic detectives," who purport to assist criminal investigations by handling an object connected to a case or a victim, or otherwise sensing details about a crime. A range of other claimed abilities are sometimes invoked alongside it, including Clairvoyance, Telepathy, and dowsing. While individuals have claimed credit for assisting police investigations, there is a documented lack of independent police corroboration for these claims, and no psychic detective has been shown under controlled conditions to provide information they could not have obtained through ordinary means.
Scientific perspective
As with the other subtypes gathered under Psychic Ability, clairsentience has not been demonstrated to a standard accepted by mainstream science. Its reliance on subjective feeling rather than a specific, checkable image or piece of information makes it especially difficult to test formally, and claims are generally regarded as explainable through cold reading, prior research, or coincidental correspondence with publicly available details about a case.
Related concepts
- Psychic Ability, the umbrella page for this and related claimed abilities
- Clairvoyance and Clairaudience, the other two of "the clairs"
- Mediumship, which may also draw on clairsentient impressions