Psychic Ability vs. Gifts
Added on 16 March 2021
We are drawn to psychic development for many reasons. Some have a fanciful notion of the psychic side of life, thinking it to be magical, full of danger or myth. Some approach the psychic side of life after serious incidents within life, others experience a gentle awakening that can take years to manifest into any solid personal understanding, & for many other reasons. Many, venture into development thinking that it is a "gift". Something which is bestowed on a few or handed down through bloodlines. The latter can lead to feelings of disappointment for those who do have a family link to the psychic world, if they do not appear to have any visible gifts present within themselves. Seeing it as a gift can also stop people from developing if they do not feel any latent signs of it being present in their lives.
The word "gift" denotes something special. A gift of sight or healing, magical & given with care, & only given to a select few. If seen as such, it can be a hard issue to grasp, as you have to feel worthy of such a gift in order to receive it. It is this aspect that can cause problems, as it is not that psychic growth is a gift that makes it hard to obtain, but the expectation that it is one, & your subsequence relationship with that expectation.
I put psychic growth in the "ability" camp. We are all capable of psychic development, growth & experience. It is not a select gift, but rather part of the human experience. As spiritual beings, we all have a link to the divine, however you perceive that to be.
"Potential" is the word of note. Without the belief that development is possible, or that an experience is of a spiritual nature, it will be brushed off as a trick of the light or turned away at the doors of logic. The psychic muscle is like any other: flex it or lose it.
To one degree or another, we are all capable of seeing things via energy, just as to one degree or another, we are all musical or artistic. I can't play an instrument, hold a note, or draw, but I'm confident that with practise and dedication, I could improve. Even those with natural talent have to home in & develop it to enrich it. Psychic ability is no different.
Gifts can place psychics on pedestals, but abilities take that magic away, as anyone can reach out & grasp them.
Being titled as a "gift" can raise the psychic to a high status, making their every word golden. Truth and facts must be spoken, even when they are clearly not. Ability, on the other hand, shows determination to be an open, clear channel and to question the source as well as oneself before information is given. There is no pedestal, just a human who has dedicated themselves to their own development.
Gifts imply God. Abilities imply a human experience. Christianity is probably the original instigator of the "gift" tag. My own grandmother was a Christian Spiritualist; there were no abilities for her, just God-given gifts. She, like you and me, is Spirit. If we are Spirit within a human shell, then we are all divine, therefore all God.
It is the human element of our existence that gives us the chance to explore our abilities, to reach out to our potential, & it is within the mind that we find our own barriers to work through. Our spiritual self has no need to become psychic. Our spiritual self is already 'in the know'; it knows us warts n' all. We, on the other hand, seek to understand that hidden element of ourselves. It is the human mind which wishes to sneak a peek behind the veil of the unknown & look at its higher nature.
I'm not throwing the word "gift" totally out of the psychic picture. It has its place, & for me, it is in recognising that the gift comes from having a subconscious mind. A mind that can grasp the concept of a spiritual self & have the courage to delve into it in order to develop an ability that can open the heart & mind more than any other I have yet to find.
