There Are 4 Types Of Intuition: Which Are You Dominant In?

All of us are at least a little bit intuitive. And just as there are varying degrees of intuition, there are also different types of it—four types, in fact, known as the four "clairs."

Professional intuitive and author of Angel Intuition, Tanya Carroll Richardson tells mbg that someone with very strong intuition may actually experience all four clairs, though one or two will dominate for most people. So, if you're wondering which type of intuition you have, we worked with Richardson to create a quiz to help you start to figure it out. But first, a bit on the four clairs.

Clairaudience sounds like someone talking in your mind. Unlike a tormenting or distracting voice that may be present in people with certain mental illnesses, clairaudient messages are calm and clear. As an example, say you're driving down an unfamiliar road and you're not sure where to go. As you approach an intersection, you hear "turn right." That would be clairaudience.

Where someone who is clairaudient hears messages, those who are clairvoyant see them. It can look like a flash of a mental image or scene and is often symbolic or metaphorical. Perhaps you meet up with a friend and as you say hello you see a mental image of them standing in the rain, crying. You would know that something must be bothering them and they are feeling very emotional.

Clairsentience is actually the most common of the clairs, Richardson notes, and it involves feelings: physical feelings, emotional feelings, or energetic feelings. People who are clairsentient often get a lot of gut feelings—literal intuitive hits they can feel in their gut, whether it's a sinking pit in your stomach, butterflies, or a warm and fuzzy feeling. Clairsentient folks can also pick up on other people's energies and emotions, feeling other people's energies and emotions as if they were their own.

And lastly, claircognizance involves thoughts that seem to just drop into your head. Unlike clairaudience, you don't actually "hear" them. Suddenly, you just know. Many people call these bursts of intuition "downloads" because of the way they seem to just appear in the mind, as if from somewhere else. Claircognizance happens whenever you feel some instantaneous insight or knowledge about yourself, another person, a particular situation, and so on.