Spiritual Senses and Discernment
Understanding the Spiritual and Physical Connection Spiritual Scientists recognize that human beings have five physical senses and equivalent spiritual senses. Not all spiritual senses are active at once; they emerge as needed—offering insight, guidance, and sometimes challenge, depending on the situation or spiritual need. What I share here is not something I learned from books—this is based solely on my own personal experience. My sense of touch is constantly active—I can feel vibrations, both near and far. This would fall under clairsentience, the ability to feel spiritual impressions.
I went many years without having a word for what I experienced. In my study of Alice Bailey’s Esoteric Healing, vibrations were studied, but I kept using the phrase “feeling energy,” which led people to label me as an empath. That label didn’t match my experience—I wasn’t feeling others’ emotions; I was picking up on vibrations and thought patterns. Over time, I had to reframe how I described my sensitivity, because the common understanding of “feeling energy” pointed to emotional empathy, not the tactile experience I was actually having. It has always been about the direct awareness of vibrations.
Unbeknownst to me, the first time I felt vibrations was during a phone conversation with an aunt in 1987 or 1988. That was a sign of my gift that day, despite the conversation. Vibrations come in a range of densities—from suffocating, tingling, gentle, to light and airy. I can feel the energy in an aura, objects, thoughts (anger, hate, etc), or even places—it’s not emotional empathy; it’s vibrational sensitivity.
My sense of smell activates when required. This is often referred to as clairsalience—spiritual smell. I may smell fragrances, smoke, or other scents that are not physically present but carry spiritual meaning or connection to someone who has passed. When necessary, I also hear or see spirit. Hearing spirit is known as clairaudience, and spiritual sight is referred to as clairvoyance—both are forms of receiving messages beyond the physical senses. But I prefer to keep certain senses, like sight and hearing, dormant unless they’re truly needed.
One sense I’ve yet to experience is taste—and honestly, I don’t think I would want that gift, especially when it first bursts forth. Taste, like smell, is a physical sense. Spiritually, it is known as clairgustance—the ability to perceive taste without a physical source. If clairgustance ever activates for someone, the experience might include tasting something comforting, like peach pie their grandmother used to make, or something unpleasant or down right gross. Each taste represents something Spirit is communicating, and the individual must learn the meaning of each flavor. It’s not vibration or energy—it’s direct symbolic communication. And for now, that’s not a door I feel called to open.
What Happens When Emotions Take the Driver’s Seat
In the next part of this series, we’ll explore how emotional turbulence can lead to the creation of thought forms, how those forms attach, and what it takes to release what isn’t yours. This includes the subtle (and not-so-subtle) emotional patterns that can turn into energetic residue—and what a Spiritual Scientist must know to stay clear, grounded, and in alignment with truth.
Honoring the legacy of Living Spiritual Science.
Author: Rev. Starlene Joyner Burns, Minister and Spiritual Healer
National Spiritual Science Center Historical Society