What's the Difference between Mediums, psychics, clairvoyants and astrologers?

Mediums, psychics, clairvoyants and astrologers have one thing in common: the ability to reveal to us about our lives. The aura of mystery and super natural well-being surrounding them, keeps us both fascinated and horrified at the same time. Although their methods differ, most people cannot properly distinguish them. So, who are they? And where do they get their inspiration from?

What are Mediums?

Mediums are people with the ability to communicate with spirits or dead souls. They invoke the spirit of the dead and communicate with them. They then relay the messages they get to friends and loved ones of the deceased. These spiritual messages are relayed in various ways to the mediums. They may come as actual images or visions. They may also come as auditory/sound messages. Lastly, they may be relayed as intuitive information- hidden in cryptic signs and images that the mediums are able to decrypt and decipher their meaning.

Meetings may be held between a medium and people who want to communicate with the deceased spirits. These meetings are referred to as séances and may be between a medium and one person or several people. During the séance, some mediums enter into a trance as they communicate with the spirit world, while others remain completely awake and coherently convey whatever is given to them by the spirits.

Mediums are therefore classified by the way they receive their messages.
They include:

• Clairsentient Mediums - they convey feelings of the departed. They are able to perceive the emotions of both the departed and the living and therefore act as an emotional link between the two.
• Clairaudient Mediums - they hear audible messages from the spirits. The dead may either communicate to them through speech or via thought.
• Channeling Mediums - they allow their bodies to be used as objects of communication directly by the spirits. After the spirit occupies the medium, he/she starts to speak and behave like the spirit. The medium may relay the information through speech or writing. This should not be confused with permanent demonic possession. It is only a temporary occupation and the medium reverts back to his/her normal being once the communication is complete.

What are Clairvoyant Mediums?

Clairvoyance basically means seeing clearly. It comes from two French words: Clair which means clear and voyance which is seeing. These are therefore people with the ability to have visual perceptions that are beyond human capabilities. Clairvoyants can be classified as either mediums or psychics.

They are said to be mediums if they can be able to see dead spirits and communicate with them. If on the other hand they can only perceive a living person’s life (past, future or present) visually, then they can be said to be psychic. In the case of psychic clairvoyants, they gain information through extra sensory perception (ESP). They therefore do not consult spirits or souls of the dead.

What are Psychics?

Psychics are not much different from mediums and more often than not, they are used interchangeably. In fact, all mediums are psychics, but not all psychics are mediums. Therefore, mediums have higher abilities than psychics.

Unlike mediums who rely on spirits for enlightenment, psychics depend on spiritual artifacts such as deck of tarot cards, crystal balls, astrological charts and Ouija boards for spiritual insight. Without these artifacts, psychics may become useless- with the exception of psychic mediums. With the help of ESP or the third eye (as they like to call it), psychic mediums behave like mediums during a séance.

A good example of psychic mediums is the clairvoyant psychic. They do not visually perceive spirits as the clairvoyant mediums do. However, they clearly see the past, present and future of their subjects.

What are Astrologers?

Astrologers are quite different from mediums and psychics as they do not possess supernatural powers or extra sensory perception. Astrologers however study celestial bodies or cosmic objects, such as the sun, moon, stars and planets to predict the future. They believe there is a relationship between celestial bodies and our daily lives and that the movements and placement of these heavenly bodies mirror events in our lives.
Astrology has so many branches.

​The most common types include:

• Humanistic astrology or horoscopes are very popular in the western culture. They are used to create personal awareness about the impending future.
• Relationship astrology deals with the relationship between two or more people, such as parent-child, husband and wife or employer and employee relationships.
• Medical astrology helps people face issues related to health. Proper dieting and exercises fall under this type of astrology.
• Vocational astrology helps people locate the best career choices based on their personalities and passions.
• Financial astrology. Otherwise referred to as astro-economics, this type of astrology predicts financial position of people based on alignment of their celestial bodies.
• Nadi astrology is a very popular Indian practice. It involves palm reading to reveal past, present and future.

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Astrology may also be categorized based on the place where it was formed and popularized, such as Indian/Vedic astrology, western, classical, Hellenistic, Korean, Chinese and Mayan.