You're a Clair-Who?

Part of my April A-Z blog challenge on all things mystical, here's today's letter, 'C'...

“So, Glory, you’re clairvoyant...and clairsentient,” Clarice said.
Glory shifted a bit in her seat. “I’m what?”
“You not only have premonitions of the future, but feel the emotions of others.
“Oh.” Great, so there’s an official name for what ails me, she thought. She realized that she’d never bothered to try and find out.
--Excerpt from VISIONS

When I was researching psychic phenomenon in order to write the main female character for VISIONS, I ran across an interesting twist to the typical 'mind reader' image...the power of clairsentience.

Clairsentience is the ability to know facts about a person by employing the senses, typically to touch the person or handle an object connected to them. This can also encompass a full sensory experience of a psychic vision, as opposed to simply having images of the future "come to mind." Clairsentients may also be able to detect spirits in the vicinity by noticing smells, or experiencing sensations of being touched or having their hair stand on end.

This was a fascinating concept to me, in that the power of touch is well documented by science. Orphaned infants, for instance, who are denied human touch grow weak, depressed, ill, and may even die. It made sense to me that clairsentience--touching someone for a greater access to their innate energies--would aid in psychic visions.

Clairsentients also can project their senses out around them, in order to hear, see, or feel things going on at a distance or another time. This prompted some "What if" thoughts of my own, and I wondered what might happen if a clairsentient inadvertently pushed out her SIXTH sense--her psychic ability--when contacting another person. It seemed to me that this could jump start that person's own latent abilities. Thus, the fictional concept for VISIONS was born.

In reality, clairsentient ability can be developed--but not simply by bumping into a psychic. It is believed that the skill is honed through meditation, chakra work, and various exercises in concentration and outward focus.

For more information on Clairsentience, here are a few sites to check out:
http://home.xtra.co.nz/hosts/Wingmakers/Clairsentience.html
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/your_intuition/47490
http://www.occultopedia.com/c/clairsentience.htm