All About Precognition

Last Updated on May 31, 2021

When it comes to psychic abilities, there are plenty that people tend to yearn to have. Some want to hear thoughts, others want to see the past, while even more wish they could move things with their minds. That said, there’s one psychic talent that seems to be the most coveted of all: precognition.

Precognition is the talent that gives people the ability to see into the future. Often associated with divination, which typically uses tools to fortell what will happen, precognition is one of the most commonly discussed talents a psychic can have.

But, what is precognition? How do people see into the future? This guide will tell you everything there is to know about the topic.

What is precognition?

Precognition is the ability to tell the future, and it’s an umbrella term for a wide range of different experiences. It is different from divination because precognition doesn’t require any tools in order to see what will happen in the future.

People who have this talent can see the future through a variety of different ways, including the following:

Dreaming of what will happen. Did you ever have a dream that later came true? Then you experienced one of the most common forms of precognition firsthand. Most people who have this talent first experience it through dreams.
Hearing news from spirits or deceased loved ones. Though rare, there are people who have precognition by hearing the future’s forecast from loved ones who passed on or other spirits. This is a form of mediumship, too.
Literally seeing what will happen. If you’ve ever heard of a psychic “having a vision,” this is what it means. They’re literally witnessing future events.
Getting a “hunch.” Most people have at least one time in their lives where their gut instincts tell them something is going to happen. Those “gut feelings” and “hunches” are a form of precognition.
Getting an urge to write or paint a specific scene that later comes true. This artistic gift has been documented in the past, especially when it comes to predictions about the sinking of the Titanic.

Is precognition real?

With a lot of psychic abilities, there’s serious debate over whether or not they actually can exist in people. Precognition is not one of those. Unlike most other psychic talents, precognition actually has some scientific evidence that suggests it’s real.

The study revealed that people often pick up on subtle hints that give them a clue as to what would happen, at the very least. That being said, not all future predictions can be explained through subtle hints.

Though the study was very vague about what is real, the truth is that there are countless stories about people who correctly predicted the future. So, anecdotally, it’s safe to say that there’s some truth to this ability.

Do all people have precognition as a talent?

It depends on who you ask. Many parapsychologists and Fortean researchers believe that precognition is a talent that is latent inside of all of us. However, it’s clear that we don’t all have that capability in practice.

The general belief about precognition is that some people are more in tune with the future than others and that those people tend to have the most luck at seeing the future. That being said, there are ways to train that ability–if you believe in it.

What makes someone more prone to being precognizant than others?

Truthfully, there aren’t really many surefire ways to predict whether or not a person will have precognition. However, people who have these traits seem to have a higher chance at being able to tell the future:

They often have relatives who have the gift or similar psychic abilities. There definitely seems to be a high correlation between people who have psychic relatives and a higher chance at having precognition.
People who are precognizant often possess other psychic abilities. If you’re clairvoyant or are able to see ghosts, you are more likely to be able to foresee the future.
Precognizant psychics are also more emotionally tuned in. Much like other psychic abilities, precognizance tends to involve a certain level of emotional intelligence and empathy.
They are more open to spirituality. It’s hard to be open to the otherworldly if you are closed off to the paranormal, after all.
They are also more likely to have experienced trauma. A recent study showed that people who are precognizant often experienced trauma that may have “pushed” their ability to the forefront.
Precognizant people are also more likely to have experienced a paranormal event in their lives. Like attracts like, so to speak.

Famous Precognitions in History

Did you know that historic records showed many events that were foretold by people with precognition? It’s true. These predictions came true, often changing the course of history in the process:

Abraham Lincoln predicted his own death. Lincoln was known for his psychic abilities, so it’s no surprise that his journal recounted a dream he had where he witnessed his own funeral at the White House. Two weeks later, he died.
Rasputin predicted the fall of the Russian crown. Rasputin was known for being heavily spiritual as well, and to a point, it was his downfall. The priest was famous for the power he exerted on the Romanoff family. He claimed that if he was assassinated, the royal family would be overthrown. He was assassinated, and shortly after, Russia became a communist country.
The sinking of the RMS Titanic was predicted by a book written 10 years before it was built. The book became notorious for its premonition.
Reeva Steemkamp, Oscar Pistorius’s girlfriend, predicted her own death at 14 years old. Pistorius murdered Steemkamp in cold blood when she was in South Africa with him. When it happened, her mother turned pale and brought up a picture she painted at 14 years of age. The picture shows the scene of her own death in chilling detail.

Can Precognition Save Your Life?

Considering how many disastrous events were seen in advance, this ability can be quite scary. Precognition would be a curse if you didn’t know how to use that knowledge to help yourself. Thankfully, there is some good news.

If certain stories are to be believed, then yes, they can. Having visions of the future can allow people to avoid death or serious harm–and have helped people in the past. This is often called “danger instinct.”

Logan Dryer saved his own life through premonition. Logan Dryer was only 5 years old when he started to get terrible feelings at his school. He began to scream and cry, begging not to go out of fear that something would happen. His mother kept him home one day…which made him narrowly avoid the Sandy Hook school shooting.
Multiple passengers on the Titanic refused to board out of fear for their lives. They had a feeling something horrible would happen to them if they went.
Wall Street executive Barrett Naylor narrowly dodged death when he felt an urge to go home on September 11. Had he gone to work that day, he would have died.

Is Danger Instinct Precognition?

For the sake of this definition, yes. But, unlike other kinds of precognition, it is a scientifically-backed phenomenon with a logical explanation. Simply put, this precognition is an old instinct of ours.

In The Gift of Fear, author Gavin de Becker explains that we often are able to perceive danger before it happens by picking up on subtle cues. And, we literally feel it in our guts through our “second brains.”

This is an instinct left over from the days when we had to avoid predators in the jungle, and it still works today if we listen to it. Listening to your guts can literally save your life!

Signs You Have Precognition

Believe it or not, a high percentage of people have some form of precognitive abilities. If any of the following are true for you, you have precognition:

You’ve had dreams that came true. This is a clear sign you have a gift for precognition! Congrats!
You tend to have good feelings or bad feelings about people, and those feelings tend to be accurate. In many cases, this is a mild form of energy reading that can help you “feel out” what would happen if you get close to the person at hand.
Things you’ve written about later came true. A lot of artists who have this psychic ability tend to find it getting channeled through their work.
You’ve listened to your gut and it helped you avoid danger. This is one of the most common ways people get in tune with their precognition.
Though you can’t explain it, you just “know” things. Many people experience precognition and premonitions through a sudden, out-of-the-blue vibe they get.
You experience deja vu. For reasons unknown to us, deja vu is heavily tied to precognition.
You have dreams with symbolism that means something to you. One person I know often dreams of people getting married shortly before they die. This is a form of premonition.

How To Train Your Precognition Skills

It’s often said that psychic abilities are like a muscle. If you train yourself, you can become more intuitive and also increase your chances at telling the future. These tips below are said to help increase your intuition.

Be open to spirituality and the paranormal. A lot of psychics will tell you that people who keep their third eye “closed off” are highly unlikely to experience the paranormal or get premonitions. Stop being a skeptic. Be open to it and let yourself experience this side of reality. You might be surprised at what you find out!
Meditate. Meditation is known to help psychic abilities take hold and improve. It’s also known to control psychic abilities that are untamed.
Observe the world around you, and really connect with it. Psychic abilities, including precognition, are more about interacting and listening than they are about doing. So, become receptive to your environment. Pick up vibes, and see how they work with you.
Try to read the energy of objects and people around you. Precognition is a form of energy reading that helps you see the future energy around you. To do that, you often need to be open to energy reading. A good way to practice energy readings is to try to get a vibe on objects you don’t know…and then compare your notes to the object’s notes.
Practice visualization. When you close your eyes, can you “see” an object if you try hard? Can you see all the little details? Practice until you can, and you’ll be amazed at what a difference it makes.
Practice with divination tools. Hey, tarot cards can help many people sharpen their skills. Why not you?
Learn to relax and still your mind. Trying to read a future when you’re worrying about 10 things at once is like trying to hear someone speak while you’re wearing noise-canceling headphones. By learning to calm yourself down, you make it easier to feel the future.

Are You Having A Premonition?

The funny thing about precognition is that it’s often hard to figure out whether you’re having a premonition or not, especially if you’re new to the phenomenon. If you feel like you’re getting a glimpse of the future, here are some guidelines that can help you figure out if it’s the real deal:

If it’s a dream, it’s very uncharacteristic of you. Let’s say you dream of a plane crash one night. The problem is, you don’t ride planes. You don’t read about them, don’t talk about them, and don’t do anything near them. It’s not like you to think of planes, and yet the dream was very realistic and very much about the plane. If this sounds like what you experienced, it’s probably a premonition.
You have a sudden feeling of danger that you just can’t shake. This is a common experience among people who are precognizant. It’s best to listen to those instincts and avoid whatever is causing you alarm.
Somehow, you just “know” what you feel is true. Does your feeling have a certainty to it that most other thoughts don’t? If so, don’t question it and don’t second-guess it. It’s probably dead-on.
It’s a vibe you got when you aren’t distracted. If your mind is on one thing and you keep getting a gut feeling something will happen, then it’s likely a premonition. If it’s something you regularly get anxious about, it’s probably anxiety.
The dream is recurring. Recurring dreams are often trying to tell you something. The same can be said of dreams where you get information from the dead.

Can Predictions Be Wrong?

Like with any psychic ability, precognition isn’t always a surefire thing. However, it’s important to remember that there is a potential explanation for this. If you know something is going to happen if you do certain things, you can avoid that future from happening by changing course.

Though we can often see the future, the truth is that it’s up to us to actually see it through. Fate isn’t written in stone, you know!