Do psychic people inherit their abilities from their family line? We hear of many people calling themselves “3rd generation mediums.” Does that mean that someone with no psychic parents or grandparents can’t be psychic themselves? Do psychic abilities run in families, or are they something that could manifest in anyone? And can a person simply decide to develop their supersensory skills?
It’s very true that many psychic mediums discover that sixth sense abilities are prevalent in their families. Often these gifts were kept hidden because no-one wanted to talk about it. Some even thought, rightly enough, that their abilities might put the whole family in danger, given the once popular view of witchcraft being aligned with devil worship. Thus, children and teens who seemed to be developing psychic abilities were trained not to speak of it, and not to reveal their gift to a living soul.
Women, in particular, were always extremely cautious about sharing their abilities. 300 years might seem like a long time ago, but accounts of witch trials still thread through family histories, both in the United States and throughout Europe. Even now, in certain African countries, being accused of witchcraft can result in torture and death, with mothers and grandmothers ripped from their families. No wonder people keep quiet about having super-sensory abilities.
Once upon a time, such gifted individuals were treasured and revered, then along came certain religious faiths which felt that their flocks were threatened by anyone who had a direct line to spirit. And so psychic communication was throughly stamped upon and people simply stopped talking about it.
The Hereditary Psychic
Like eye and hair color, shape of noses and ears, body type and build, psychic traits are sometimes passed down through families. They might skip a generation here and there, but, with any luck, it's possible to learn how gifts thread down through bloodlines. There is some speculation that families with a high incidence of twin births are more likely to share sixth sense traits.
There’s no doubt that genetics can play an important part in whether someone has sixth sense or not. A person who has been brought up in a family where psychic powers are accepted as normal, is likely to develop those skills themselves.
A study carried out by Shari Ann Cohn in 1996, “Scottish tradition of second sight and other psychic experiences in families” sent out a large-scale, survey questionnaire throughout Scotland. In one region, 33% of people reported some degree of second sight.
Only when Jake grew up, and their father was about to pass away, did he discover that his brother had been seeing auras ever since he could remember. Jake is an empath, but had kept his ability from his family in case they thought he was weird or making stuff up. Once he began talking about it to his brother and the rest of his family, did he find out that psychic gifts were common among his forebears.
One couple had just found out that they were expecting a baby. They had told no-one, not one person. They they discovered that the woman’s five year old niece had been telling everyone who would listen that Auntie Jen was pregnant.
Another pregnant woman’s mother told her she’d dreamed that her grandmother had appeared to her and told her the baby would have brown eyes and curly chestnut hair, even though both parents were fair-haired and blue-eyed. When the baby was born, it seemed Mom was mistaken. But, sure enough, after the baby was a couple of months old, it became obvious his eyes were turning brown and his growing mop of hair was curly.
What if you haven’t inherited any psychic abilities from your family? Can you still be psychic?
Psychic Abilities and Difficult Childhoods
Some children develop psychic abilities during difficult childhoods. It’s as if they are able to move their consciousness to another level in order to avoid what is going on in reality. Several report having OBEs (out of body experiences) during times when they suffered hardship and/or abuse. Their pain and trauma caused them to become ultra-sensitive and this led to experiences of deep empathy and claircognizance.
Shirley grew up in a children’s home after she was removed from her alcoholic mother. She has no idea whether she came from a psychic family, but shortly after being transferred to the children’s home, she began to dream about other children there. She says she knew which children would be adopted, which ones were going to fall ill. She even dreamed about one boy tripping and breaking his leg. In every case she was right. She didn’t, however, foresee her own adoption at the age of eight. Shirley is now in her fifties and happily clairvoyant.
Feeling Different and Developing Supernatural Gifts
It’s true that anyone can develop their psychic abilities. Everyone has the capability of tuning into their intuition or paying attention to their gut feeling. With, practice, these hunches will get stronger. The more you listen, the stronger and more frequent they will become.
Often fledgling psychics are disappointed because it doesn’t happen for them straight away, but it can take years of dedicated work to hone one’s psychic skills. Sometimes, there’s a problem because you think you have one type of skill but are completely overlooking another, stronger one. You might be trying to hear voices and messages, but ignoring the fact that you feel a strong empathy when someone is in emotional pain. Or perhaps you think you are an intuitive tarot reader, when in fact, your dreams are delivering messages frequently, but you are dismissing them.
The key to developing psychic ability is to be open to all possibilities, and one way to do that is through meditation. You may have a sudden revelation of where your psychic abilities lie. Or after meditating during the day, you might have a vivid dream that shows you what you have been missing all along. When you are with another person and they are talking, just ‘go within’ for a moment, and notice any random thoughts or feelings which arise. Perhaps, your sub-conscious is giving you some information or a message that you should pass on. Figure out a way of telling the other person; sometimes asking a question is the way to go. Try not to be too left field, or they will look at you askance.
Maybe You Are an Hereditary Psychic Without Even Knowing
If you can, talk to the older people in your family. Ask if they know if any of your forebears were psychic. It’s strange how elderly folk will open up and recount all kinds of information. All you have to do is ask.
What About You?
Does sixth sense run in your family? Please let us know in the comments.