Empowered by sensitivity? It sounds strange, doesn’t it? Sort of ironic, contradictory, even mutually exclusive.
How can you be empowered by something so soft, subtle and delicate, in a world full of hard, overpowering and loud people? Indeed, many of us Empaths get trampled, used, thrown around, and taken advantage of. But we have a secret.
Deep down inside, beyond the veil of our superficial appearances, we harbor something quiet, but powerful. Our gifts don’t dominate, tyrannize or overthrow people, but that doesn’t detract from their strength, or usefulness. If anything, our powerful but subtle gifts benefit us more in the long term, allowing us to gather emotional, psychological and physical information from our surroundings that is often inaccessible and undisclosed to the average, unreceptive mind.
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While we can’t bully, back-stab or use brute force, we can heal, guide, protect and deeply understand the lives of the people around us. In essence, we can gather immense amounts of knowledge. And knowledge, as they say, is power.
If you would like to discover whether you are an empath, take our empath test. Also, if you would like to discover what type of Empath you are, you will discover the 10 types at the end of this article.
Are You An Empath?
If you are an Empath, you will experience a combination of some or all of the following symptoms:
- You absorb other people’s emotions like a sponge, carrying them as your own.
- When someone close to you is physically ill, you can feel this as physical pains in your body.
- You often suffer from physical or mental fatigue and tiredness.
- You find Solitude immensely refreshing, and you require it to “recharge”.
- You often experience many mood swings or emotional states throughout the day.
- Witnessing violence or cruelty is unbearable to you.
- You are a very good listener.
- People often come to you with their problems.
- Animals and children are attracted to you.
- You are caring and nurturing by nature.
- You are hyper-aware of the physical environment, e.g. to smell, taste, sight, touch, hearing, etc.
- You can’t stand interpersonal conflict.
- Crowded places are very overwhelming and draining to you.
10 Types Of Empaths
While being an Empath can have its many positives and benefits, it can also weigh us down heavily with confusion, disorientation and anxiety. That is why it’s important to put a name to what we individually experience to better understand ourselves, and identify others who share the same abilities as us.
For this reason, I have included below a list, and small description, of each type of Empath. By understanding who you are, what gifts you possess and where you stand in life, you will be able to begin working with your soul. I elaborate on these types in our awakened empath book.
Claircognizant Empath
This is usually defined by the ability to simply know something needs to be done, or is true or misleading, without having any basis in logic or reason. Often this type of Empath will just “know” when something is right to do, or not, or when someone is lying or hiding something.
Emotionally Receptive Empath
Most Empaths are emotionally receptive, and can physically and emotionally feel the emotions from other people before they are even expressed.
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Physically Receptive Empath
Many Empaths are also physically receptive to other people’s illnesses and bodily pains. This often manifests itself in the Empath’s own body, and can be an especially useful skill in healing.
Fauna Empath
This type of Empath can hear, feel and interact with animals.
Flora Empath
This type of Empath can communicate with plants, being able to receive physical and emotional signals.
Geomantic Empath
The Geomantic Empath can read the energy and signals transmitted by the earth. Many are able to feel/predict natural disasters before they occur.
Medium Empath
This type of Empath can either see, hear, feel (or a combination of these elements) spirits, usually from deceased individuals.
Psychometric Empath
This manifests itself as the ability to receive information, energy and impressions from physical objects, e.g. photographs, clothing, jewelry, utensils, etc.
Precognitive Empath
This type of Empath can feel the occurrence of an event or situation before it actually happens. This is usually manifested in dreams, or as physical/emotional sensations, for instance: dread, anxiety, or excitement.
Telepathic Empath
The ability to accurately read a person’s unexpressed thoughts is the main defining feature of the Telepathic Empath.
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Free Test (Discover Which One You Are)
If you have trouble identifying which empathic gift you have, feel free to take our Empath Type Test
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Being an Empath can be difficult and confusing, but with awareness of your gifts and abilities, you can refine them and use them to guide, heal and protect yourself and the people you love.
My hopes are that the information within this article can continue to make ripples within your life. Please share with me any stories or experiences you have below. This will help all of us broaden our knowledge and understanding of what it is to be an Empath!
If you would like to keep reading about empaths, you’re welcome to click on one of our other empath articles below:
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I’d say I identify with being a claircognizant,precognitve and telepathic empath. Would any of these have to do with having a particularly strong intuition? Excellent read Luna.
Thank you Lu. Intuition springs from the vast depths of the unconscious mind, as does telepathy, claircognizance and precognition, so there is a strong connection and interconnectedness. Most people with strong intuition and “gut hunches” for instance, also are easily able to read people’s emotions and thoughts (as well as other gifts like communicating with plants/animals, earth energy), because they are tapping into that same mysterious part of the brain, the source of “infinite knowledge” or collective unconscious, as some people like to think.
Thanks for reading!
Luna
Lately, I’ve had aches in my breasts, then my friend found she had to have a double mastectemy. I had another friend who found she had bleeding ulcers while I was having stomach issues. I have often thought that i could feel other people’s bodily problems, but was never sure because I had nothing and no one to refer to about it. I may be empathic, I have to read further.
Thank you kindly for waking me up with your article.
You may like to keep a journal Louise, I’ve found that recording my physical ailments and later checking up on them and noting down any possible correlations or connections with other people, helps a lot. This will be a very interesting time for you!
Luna
I had trouble growing up as a kid having all these different things going on at the same time and not knowing what they meant or were.. I was able to tune them out as I grew older as it was quite overwhelming at times and ignorance can be bliss.. I had an event happen that reopened those channels and I’m learning more and more how to use them and control them… Or should I say understand that a lot of the thoughts and feelings were not mine.. I felt alone for along time because not many people had the same instincts and that was daunting.. I have come to realize that the true path of enlightenment is a solitary one but self awareness is the next step to human evolution.. Thanks for your posts.. They inspire me :)
Self-awareness is indeed the next step of human evolution, and it’s inspiring to talk with such evolved beings here! It is scary and alienating to deal with such gifts when they suddenly spring themselves on you, or begin functioning again like forgotten limbs.
The wonderful thing is that you are developing self-awareness, which is essential in any journey of self-growth.
My thoughts and best wishes are with you!
Luna
Me too
Dear Ginger, since I’ve subscribed to your web and have been reading your messages, I feel infinitely relieved and hopeful because I am not alone anymore. Thank you so much. It means SO much to me….Love and light . M
Dear Marie, it makes me infinitely proud to hear that as the mummy to this blog. Thank you! :)
Looking forward to hearing more from you around this corner of the web!
Luna
Thank you both for what you are doing to make this physical manifestation of life a little easier to negotiate. Late in life you are guiding me to understanding why I have lived a life on the outside looking in, and for the peace that is coming with the acceptance that that is where I will always be. There is so much I would prefer not to feel or sense or see, but what you share here is making it easier to accept that my soul chose this incarnation for a purpose I am not privy to, however, I am here for the duration, to learn so much, and as much as I would often prefer to NOT see + feel, I surrender to a journey now made easier by knowing that I am not an alien here + that I am not alone in being ‘different’. Thank you
Janine, a very special comment, thank you. :) Any article I share with the cyber world I don’t have much hope for, knowing that many of the topics I write about are obscure, but to receive such affirming and supportive comments like yours really makes my mission as a writer burn brighter. ;) It’s amazing how we go through life constantly putting up a fight and resisting everything. I still make that mistake, but realize through time that the best answer is to surrender, to “give in”, for lack of a better term, to the currents and flow of life. And she is very changeable! But there is nothing good or bad about that: it simply is. It’s a fact of existence.
So once again, thank you for your kind comment, and it delights me to know that this article could make some small impact on the life of another.
Warmest wishes,
Luna
I am HSP in many ways but not really an “empath” although I can be empathetic. I do suffer from what I call “mood by osmosis” and my husband and I often “pick” thoughts out of each other’s heads!
Telepathy at its finest Tess :) From what I understand, Highly Sensitive People are highly receptive to the physical environments and world of sensations, while Empaths are highly receptive to the non-physical world of emotions, so they run along the same thread. I haven’t considered it much before, but it makes sense … HSPs are in-tune with the external environment primarily, while Empaths are in-tune with the internal environment primarily. And as you point out, not all Empaths are HSPs and not all HSPs are Empaths.
This is a very interesting article because it has given me insight into a lot of my emotions and thoughts. I find it difficult to gauge what type of Empath I am, without having anything to really measure it by. Cruelty to animals or hurt animals distress me very much. I can ‘read’ the undercurrents in people’s interactions, but it’s usually as a ‘feeling’ that I can’t immediately recognise, so I can’t respond to them or the situation at the time. I also recognise that I am very inwardly concentrated… so I have very little peripheral vision of my settings. I get emotionally distressed very easily, and sometimes have an awareness of upcoming situations that I can’t explain. Normally nice people tend to bully me – in all sorts of little ways and I can’t account for it – but I do tend to pull out the worst in them. This also means that I have had very little encouragement and so few affirmations in my life. I know to pay attention to dreams that imprint on my consciousness. These are some of the thoughts and recognitions this article has stirred up in me…
With time Maigret, and constant inner growth, you will come to understand your gifts more, and why you react the way you do to people (and also why they react the same way to you). Developing Self-Awareness is the most essential step to any kind of problem-solving or inner work (more here: https://lonerwolf.com/involution-self-awareness/ ). Without working hard to develop awareness of ourselves, we have little insight into why other people behave the way they do, and even why we do what we do, feel and think what we do.
I appreciate your comment – many thanks for sharing here. :)
-Luna
I can relate to at least three types… I have Geomantic, Precognitive and Telepathic.. I have history of feeling when an earthquake would occur, at least 2 days in advance, also, I have regular dreams which kind of predict the idea of what will happen, though not the specifics, it is in the symbols. And Telepathic, because I can finish other people sentences and when provoked, even say what they wanted to say before they express the idea or the news. To me it’s like “guessing” but it’s what I am feeling in that very moment that I should say.
To be in touch with the energy of the earth, and the energy of people is an amazingly useful skill Simon, one which I’m sure as time progresses you will be able to hone and refine. I have never personally experienced any type of Geomantic skill, but I can relate to you in the Telepathic aspect. If I’m not wrong, you most likely feel tired with most conversations, as you can easily predict what the people will say before they say anything. But it is very useful to have insight into people’s motives and undercurrents of mental chatter.
Thank you for sharing here :)
-Luna
Quite true, when you’re blessed with good memory, things become so much easier.
Anyway, Geomantic Empathy is quite new with me, I noticed it, after some meditation practices, and when came first big Earthquake in Italy last year (or 2 years ago) I didn’t yet notice the feeling, but the next big one, when I was in bed, I started to feel the shaking (I was away around 500km away – air distance), but I didn’t understand what it was, and went to ask parents if they felt it too, they didn’t… I was sad, when I returned to bed, the feeling repeated, but eventually went away. The next day the earthquake happened, and I found out, that I can predict earthquakes. I felt it more times during the year, and I noticed that Earthquakes were happening, when I felt it before lying down to bed. And once when I felt it… I texted my friend that earthquakes gonna happen, and she was all “scared”, but then it really happened, it was a small one, normally you hear about it in the local news portals, because it’s so small, but they do come to front page though! :)
I’ve heard that meditation assists greatly in developing new abilities, particularly in regards to the psyche – seems to open new pathways in the mind, or new doors of awareness and perception. It’s exciting to think that the possibility of developing and sharpening new gifts is actually possible. Fascinating Simon!
Is it ok not to feel connected to any of those points? I sure am an empath but just don’t feel connected to any of the sub points
You mean the gifts Rist? Or the symptoms of being an Empath?
I already know I am an empath, the trouble is learning how to limit the negative effects of feeling my clients’ emotional hurt, pain, confusion on my own mind and body – in a healthy way, of course! Thanks for the article, it just clarifies and confirms things for me….
I understand Penelope, and it’s still something that I deal with as well, particularly in crowded places like shopping centers, or city squares. But I’ve made quite a bit of progress doing the following exercise:
While meditating, visualize an impenetrable clear crystal wall surrounding you. Build the image up in your mind, and focus on suggesting to yourself that nothing can harm you, or disturb your peace while this crystal wall surrounds you. Repeat this exercise each time you meditate, and soon you will have no trouble bringing up the wall of protection.
Self-hypnosis can also help if you’re an auditory person like me. Repeating words to yourself (in your mind) such as “I am full of energy, I am strong, I am at peace”, really helps amazingly.
Hopefully something I said can help.
-Luna