Many of us refer to psychic abilities as “gifts”, even though there are those who find their natural psychic ability to be more of a curse than a gift.

Like many people, my own intuitive abilities are inherited. My mother was well aware of her psychic nature, and consciously and admittedly tried to ignore it, because it scared her. I think many natural psychics do the same.

Part of the reason that natural psychic ability can be scary is that, untrained, intuitive people naturally pick up on the biggest energies that loom around them. Often, the energies that are biggest, or “loudest”, if you will, are the ripples of energy created by tragedy.

While many of us work hard to develop our psychic abilities, and are dismayed when we don’t feel we are connecting to the spirit world the way we want to, there are many who find their psychic gifts a burden.

Those who pick up on deaths they can foresee but cannot prevent often wonder why they are given such devastating knowledge. They long to shut down their psychic vision, and to escape from their role as constant witness to tragedy.

My own gifts are very empathic. In my younger years, before I discovered tarot, I was burdened by my ability to clearly see the inner turmoil of strangers around me. I wasn’t always able to discern that the discomfort I was feeling didn’t come from me, and didn’t belong to me. This is a very typical problem, and, again, can make psychic abilities feel burdensome and undesirable.

Psychic ability is something that can be developed. What surprises people is this fact. Those who are most in need of psychic development are those whose natural psychic talents are strongest.

Why would people with strong natural abilities need to work to develop those abilities? Because without study, discipline and direction, our natural psychic abilities truly are difficult to understand and manage.

Often, I meet people who are in distress because of disturbing dreams that predict unpleasant things. They simply want the dreams to stop, and aren’t very happy when I tell them that the way to make things better is not to avoid their psychic nature, but to dive into it.

If you are plagued by disturbing dreams, precognition of disaster or feeling the pain of others, you may be in the unfortunate position of dealing with a handicap that makes it hard for you to function normally, but does not appear in any medical journal.

Psychic handicap is a real thing, I assure you.

Some psychic people feel the need to sequester themselves from other people. Others have a hard time driving a car, because they can foresee ever potential possibility every minute. Often, psychic people deal with anxiety and depression at a clinical level.

These problems are worsened by the fact that, when, we have these experiences, we often question our own sanity, or find our sanity in question by others.

Often people wonder why they are seeing what they are seeing.

Sometimes there is a specific purpose. However, most of the time, the answer is simple.

A naturally psychic person is like a radio antenna, and will pick up on whatever energy waves are present. Often, the most painful things are what make the biggest waves.

Training and development can help a naturally psychic person control and utilize their tendencies. That same training and development can assist anyone with an interest to develop their own intuition and psychic abilities.

One of the best ways to begin psychic development is with a tool of divination, such as tarot. As you learn to work with the energy and the symbols, you also learn to direct your own energy, and to ask specific questions of the Universe. This will allow you to receive more information that is actually helpful. It will also help you make sense of the information that isn’t specifically helpful or pleasant.

Other great techniques include meditation, chakra work, and lucid dreaming.

Once you find ways to control  and develop your abilities, you will begin to appreciate them as the gifts they are.