Main Entry: 1 psy-chic Pronunciation: 'sI-kik Variant(s): also psy-chi-cal /-ki-k&l/ Function: adjective Etymology: Greek psychikos of the soul, from psyche soul 1 : of or relating to the psyche : PSYCHOGENIC 2 : lying outside the sphere of physical science or knowledge : immaterial, moral, or spiritual in origin or force 3 : sensitive to nonphysical or supernatural forces and influences : marked by extraordinary or mysterious sensitivity, perception, or understanding

Pretty fancy mumbo jumbo for what we normally refer to as somebody who has the ability to predict the future. Yes, of course there are other definitions of psychic besides just predicting the future, such as dream interpretation and psychokinesis but for most people we associate psychic with fortune telling.

Any way you slice it, we're talking about something that most of us don't understand. And those who say they DO understand are usually looked at with much scepticism, if not downright contempt, that's of course until we go to our local fortune teller to have our palm or cards read, or our astrological or numerical charts reads. Then we're ready to believe just about anything, especially if it's what we want to hear.

The debate as to whether a person truly has the ability to see into the future has been going on for centuries and no doubt will continue to go on. In this series of articles we'll try to answer some questions about this so called science, trace some of it's origins and go over a few of the tools that psychics use to see into the future.

I want to personally thank an associate of mine who claims to be a psychic for some of the information in this article. No, I wont be giving his name so as not to add to the already growing amount of email he is already getting on the subject. Let me start with a quote he gave me that might help explain how a typical psychic first realizes that he has this ability.

"There is no mystery to how someone knows he has psychic power. As in my case it usually starts at a young age. The person gets a vision of something happening in the not so distant future. There is no explaining where this vision comes from. It just does. Then the event occurs. This may happen a dozen or more times in the young person's life before he or she realizes that they have psychic powers. It is really that simple. It is something that is out of their control at first. As time goes by they simply learn how to control the visions."

Sounds simple enough. To many it might sound like a bunch of bunk. But my associate reminded me of the famous Jean Dixon predictions of the early 1960's when she foresaw the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy. Luck? Maybe. But who is to say? We may never know for sure if psychic power truly does exist.

In the next article we're going to go over the early history of psychic ability.