Must reality be defined by only what is available to the “average” person? That’s like saying that only those things which anyone can order from Amazon are real.

When I say people are psychic, I’m not saying that everyone can be a psychic medium (talk to the dead), see auras, use telepathy to cheat on tests, see the world (and history) through OOB travel, or any of the many psychic talents you may have heard of. As with other human attributes, we’re born with some, and it’s not the same for everyone. You can have artistic talent but be able to paint but not sculpt, draw with detail and accuracy, but not catch a likeness, you may be able to play music but not sing, or write it. You may be able to dance ballet but not tap. You get my point. Telepaths aren’t necessarily clairvoyant. Mediums may tap into ghosts that have come close to their loved ones to communicate, or haven’t yet “crossed over”, or they may be able to communicate to those on the “other side” and still not perceive Ghosts- or the spirits of those who are still here. I always thought since I had a lot of visual focus I’d be able to see auras. Nope. I tend to feel them as a temperature difference. So basically, it’s all a near infinite number of talents, and while they do run in families, there’s no telling which anyone will manifest. I liked the way Piers Anthony described it in the Xanth books, you may have something that’s really useful, or you may have a “spot on the wall” talent, you can make a spot appear on a wall. How disappointing! At least we seem to have moved past valuing the people who ‘test well’ over those who have practical talents.

I also think it’s important to realize that practice helps. Just as some people have more coordination than others, it’s the ones who practice, whether it’s running, jumping, riding a skateboard, or doing gymnastics that pushes them from talented to “great”. If you have a lot of inborn talent, and you practice, you can blow minds. If you are “just average”, but you try things and practice the ones you want to, you can get a solid ability. If you’ve got a lot of natural ability but don’t use it, it may fade away. When you live in a culture that fears or disbelieves in these abilities, they can be suppressed when the people around a child show disapproval when the abilities manifest. That’s why kids often seem more psychic than adults. As I mentioned, sometimes gifts run in families, or maybe some families who are accepting of the talents don’t train it out of their kids when it shows up, and even nurture it.
There also seems to be a connection to both stress and high hormonal active periods triggering psychic talents: Puberty, pregnancy, and menopause are all times when people seem to be more likely to have psychic talents pop up out of nowhere. (I’d love to see some studies about the effects of medicinal hormone treatments on psychic ability.) Many plants like peyote and ayahuasca are also known to trigger or enhance psychic activity. Less dramatically many herbs can help support psychic abilities including anuse hyssop, bay, elecampane, jasmine, st. john’s wort, star anise, yarrow, as well as frankincense and myrrh (not herbs, but). There have also been many stories about people developing psychic abilities after an accident. (We really should figure that out!)

Not everyone is cut out to be a Professional Psychic. I think there is more to that than psychic abilities, you need to know how to run a business, promote, do counseling for the clients, and have a whole lot of other unrelated abilities. However, I believe we can teach most people to dowse, to do some useful level of energy healing, to learn from their dreams, and to gain …. and, most importantly, to figure out where their talents lie.

Similarly, the ability to make things happen in accordance with your intent is common in most cultures, although not always called magick. Some people are more comfortable calling it prayer, and saying the power comes from other entities (angels, gods, ancestors or spirit allies), others prefer to call it manifestation, or the power of positive thinking, or harnessing energy. Yes, some entities do help humans develop their abilities. A common example is that of traditional spirit workers or Shaman. They were often chosen by their spirit allies to take on this role, and sometimes forced into it. For most non-shaman it’s a lot less vigorous than that. We can learn shamanistic practices without getting the whole package. But the vocabulary differences in cultures and sub-cultures can be a huge stumbling block to sharing what we’ve learned about these activities. Still, it’s pretty clear. We can see (perceive) stuff, and we can make stuff happen. That’s pretty cool.