Precognition is a form of extra-sensory perception which allows a "percipient" to perceive information about future places or events before they happen (as opposed to merely predicting them based on deductive reasoning and current knowledge). A related term, presentiment is used to refer to information about future events which may not present itself in conscious form but rather in the form of emotions or feelings at the autonomic level. These terms are considered by some to be s ...
Throughout history people have claimed to have precognitive abilities, and the "gift of prophecy" is a common feature of most religions. Just as prevalent are anecdotal accounts of precognitions from the general public, such as someone "knowing" who is on the other end of a ringing telephone before they answer it, or having a dream of unusual clarity with elements of content that later turn out to be events that actually occur. The French term, déjà vu, meaning "already seen" was coined by French psychic researcher, Emile Boirac to describ ...
Clairvoyance is defined as a form of extra-sensory perception whereby a person perceives distant objects, persons, or events, including "seeing" through opaque objects and the detection of types of energy not normally perceptible to humans (i.e. radio waves). Typically, such perception is reported in visual terms, but may also include auditory impressions (sometimes called clairaudience) or kinesthetic impressions.
The term clairvoyance is often used broadly to refer to all forms of ESP where a person receives informatio ...
There have been anecdotal reports of clairvoyance and claims of clairvoyant abilities on the part of some throughout history in most cultures. Often these have been associated with religious figures, offices, and practices. For example, ancient Hindu religious texts list clairvoyance as one of the siddhis, skills that can be acquired through appropriate meditation and personal discipline. But a large number of anecdotal accounts of clairvoyance are of the spontaneous variety among the general populace. For example, many people report instanc ...