Clairaudience

In the field of parapsychology, Clairaudience (from late 17th century French clair (clear) & audience [hearing]) is a form of extra-sensory perception wherein a person acquires information by paranormal auditory means. It is often considered to be a form of clairvoyance. Clairaudience is essentially the ability to hear in a paranormal manner, as opposed to paranormal seeing (clairvoyance) and feeling (clairsentience). Clairaudience may refer not to actual perception of sound, but may instead indicate impressions of the "inner mental ear" similar to the way many people think words without having auditory impressions. But it may also refer to actual perception of sounds such as voices, tones, or noises which are not apparent to other humans or to recording equipment. For instance, a clairaudient might claim to hear the voices or thoughts of the spirits of the deceased. Clairaudience is said to be positively distinguished from the voices heard by the mentally ill when it reveals information unavailable to the clairaudient person by normal means (including cold reading or other magic tricks), and thus is considered psychic or paranormal.

Popular culture

Clairaudience is the title of a 2005 electronic music composition by Canadian composer Pat McNeil.