What is clairolfaction?
Clairolfaction, also known as psychic smell, is the psychic perception of scents, odors, or aromas without an identifiable physical source in the immediate environment.
The word combines clair, meaning “clear,” with olfaction, the sense of smell. It belongs to the family of psychic perception terms that includes clairvoyance, clairaudience, and clairgustance.
People who experience clairolfaction may suddenly perceive a distinctive perfume, cigarette or cigar smoke, flowers, food, chemicals, incense, or another recognizable scent when there is no obvious physical explanation for it.
In mediumship, these scents are sometimes associated with a deceased person. A medium might, for example, perceive the perfume someone wore while alive or the smell of tobacco associated with that person. Clairolfaction can also occur outside mediumship as a spontaneous psychic perception or impression.
Is Clairolfaction the Same as Clairalience?
Clairalience is another modern term commonly used for psychic smell, along with less common variations such as clairolfactance, clairolfacience, clairscent, and clairosmesis.
However, the linguistic origins of several of these alternative terms are unclear. Clairolfaction is the more sensible and preferred term because olfaction is an established word for the faculty of smell.
Clairolfaction vs. Phantosmia
Clairolfaction should not automatically be confused with phantosmia, the medical phenomenon of perceiving an odor when no external odor is present.
Phantosmia can have various physical or neurological causes. Persistent, unexplained, or concerning phantom smells should therefore be medically evaluated rather than automatically interpreted as psychic phenomena.
Learn More
For a more in-depth discussion of clairolfaction, including actual mediumship experiences, historical cases, medical research, competing terminology, and my own lived experiences as a psychic medium, read:
Clairolfaction - The Gift Of Psychic Smell >>>