Are Empaths a product of their life or are We born that way ?

[Teresa]

I have been doing alot of thining about this and wondered what everyone at MW's views are on this subject. Do You think empaths are a product of the life they live or were they born this way? Some of the things that happened as I was growing up have made me wonder if it is a product of what happened to us along the way.I do recall being like this at a very young age though.

[misschief]

both.. or either one. i think it depends.

[Terestai]

That's tough, because I remember being like this at a young age as well, but went through so much in my childhood that I can't tell if it's a product of environment.

Color me confused as well! :whatgives

[Charms_91789]

both.. or either one. i think it depends.

I am new at this empathy....i have kow idea how to controll it..how to use it to my benifit or anything and i am 15...i dont remember anything when i was younger about it...but i am also and astro-projector and dont remember anything about that either..i think it grows while you grow...

[Lady Avalon]

FYI: There are three ways in which Spirit communicates with us. 1. Clairvoyance: clair means clear and voyance means to see. Clear seeing. 2. Clairaudiance: Clear hearing. 3. Clairsentience: Clear feeling.

Today, people who are clairsentient are often called empaths. We can thank Star Trek for that.

These abilities are things that all people are born with to a greater or lesser extent. All are called psychics.

Hope this helps.

Bright Blessings,
Lady Avalon

[Teresa]

I am new at this empathy....i have kow idea how to controll it..how to use it to my benifit or anything and i am 15...i dont remember anything when i was younger about it...but i am also and astro-projector and dont remember anything about that either..i think it grows while you grow...
I am 40 years old and still struggle with trying to control it.

[ravynbynorthwynd]

could someone post something clarifying what you guys mean? because i have no idea..

[OKmagnolia]

I have been this way for as long as I can remember. As a child everytime I watched a show with someone swimming I couldn't breathe myself. I am still this way. But, I just learned a year ago that there is actually a name for it. I think that yes we are born with it, but it also grows and matures as we do.

[Raivynne]

I think that everyone is born with psychic abilities, we just have to learn to hone them and use them constructively. Some are born with more advanced abilities than others, but we all have psychic capabilities. Some people can always remember being empaths, some people's abilities were triggered by events in their lives, and some people have to work on developing empathy(this applies to all other psychic abilities, as well.) So I think that sometimes, how strong it is, or whether is surfaces or not, can be due in part to the environment one grows up in and how much one is willing to develop their abilities.

[Teresa]

could someone post something clarifying what you guys mean? because i have no idea..
For me I was born with strong gifts of Clairvoyance(clear seeing) and also strong in Clairaudience( clear feeling) .There is also Clairsentience(clear hearing) I am not strong in that area. What it boils down to for me is that I get glimpses of others lives and feelings.I try not to shake hands or have alot of physical contact with people because of the Clairsentience.I can just be around someone and pick up on that but physical contact impacts it greatly for me.Thats like a magnifyer for me.As for the Clairvoyance it has been a struggle to control even after 40 years.I can have it happen at the most inopportune times.I hope this helps You understand what we are talking about. I work with the public and I feel so many emotions and see so many things sometimes its overwelming for me.

[Writer_Waif]

IMO I think some are born that way, others acquire the ability along the way (NOT saying they don't already have it, because I too believe everyone has the ability) just not sure how to use it or if it is awake in them.

I personally am an empath (clairavoyant) ... take your pick of words. I was born with it. I remember (under the right circumstances) things that happened as a child and as I grew up.

[Writer_Waif]

FYI: There are three ways in which Spirit communicates with us. 1. Clairvoyance: clair means clear and voyance means to see. Clear seeing. 2. Clairaudiance: Clear hearing. 3. Clairsentience: Clear feeling.

~~~~~~~~
IMO I think some are born that way, others acquire the ability along the way (NOT saying they don't already have it, because I too believe everyone has the ability) just not sure how to use it or if it is awake in them.

I personally am an empath (I have the ability to do all three above, depends on the situation rather it is more or less per situation though) ... take your pick of words. I was born with it. I remember (under the right circumstances) things that happened as a child and as I grew up.

[Erebus]

It's hard to say, since I have yet to see any display of empathy that was not in fact attributable to reading body language. Nobody I've ever met yet has been able to tell me what a person who's face and posture they could not see was feeling.

[-Ember]

I know there is definately an enviromental factorto empathy: if it is nurtured or shut down. I believe many who later "learn" to be empathic are just reclaiming it. I don't know if everyone is born with empathy or not, or if someone who wasn't could later acquire it. In fact, it doesn't really make sense to me to speak of it that way. A potential perhaps could be born, but practice has to be done. Is a person born with the ability to play a musical instrument?

[Danustouch]

Upon some deep thought, I have come to the conclusion that we are all born empaths. Life simply robs some of it, while making others more keenly aware of it.

MHO is that we are created to be empathic, compassionate, loving creatures. Empathy is the gift we are given in order to acheive that. To FEEL someones emotions, or to FEEL the energy of a place or person, is a manner in which we are able to connect with others, and a manner in which we are able to protect ourselves, and others.

As one grows, lifes worries, trials, and tribulations bog down that sense. Surely, ones environment can also impact that. Whether ones parents are compassionate, empathic, etc, and nurture that in their children, or not. Parents in ignorance, will often ignore the feelings, and "flashes" that their children have, often scoff at them, etc, instead of paying attention to them, and teaching a child to trust what he or she feels. A child who is consistantly taught to ignore his or her feelings, will not believe in his or her own powers of intuition, empathy, etc. Unfortunately, this creates problems for the child, in his/her own adulthood. Parents will often decry the inability of their child to make positive decisions for themselves, will often decry what they call a "Lack of common sense", and yet, through constant ignoring, or even ridiculing the childs "Sense", they have hindered the developement of it, and perhaps in many cases, destroyed it.

I do not believe empathy to be a singular gift. I believe it to be a universal ones. Some bury it, or have it buried, but it is a universal gift.

[Faelon_Moon_Hawk]

I think, that with all other skills everyone is born with the ability ::to some extent:: So of course some may suck at it, while others are really really good. But with some practice i think most people can be empathetic on somelevel...that level is probably determined by there inherent ability. and i'm sure that environment plays a part in it, if it was one where the ability was enourage they might have an easier time of things, on the other hand if it was not encouraged, or actively supressed i think they might have a harder time.

[Thundermoon]

Well in my opinion, I believe everyone is born with some aspect of it. I really think it is the enviroment that makes it stronger or weaker, our own path that we take, that will change it.

FYI: There are three ways in which Spirit communicates with us. 1. Clairvoyance: clair means clear and voyance means to see. Clear seeing. 2. Clairaudiance: Clear hearing. 3. Clairsentience: Clear feeling.

One question, I have the ability to feel people's emotions (Clairsentience). I also can take on people's pain, which sometimes I think it isn't a gift. My boyfriend likes to share his headahces with me, and I'm telling you some are a trip and a half. I have also taken pain away from a friend of mine so she could rest, and I don't even try? Would that all be lumped under Clairsentience also? I am kinda lost when it comes to putting words to things, usualy just gone with what I felt without putting a lable on it lol

[Sister of the Wind]

I have been doing alot of thining about this and wondered what everyone at MW's views are on this subject. Do You think empaths are a product of the life they live or were they born this way? Some of the things that happened as I was growing up have made me wonder if it is a product of what happened to us along the way.I do recall being like this at a very young age though.

I think everyone has the talent to become an empath but it's whether they decide to use it or not that matters.

-Luv, Sis

[frigga]

Roger dodger, I think we're born with it, but perhaps not everyone. Just like some can dance and others can cook, so can one feel empathy. i remember getting "jolts" of insight at a very young age. But then it all went away until recently when a random woman walked by and bang! I was feeling stuff and getting stuff that wasn't mine. Nothing was repressed or nurtured, so why did it go away and then come back? Who knows, who cares, I have to deal with it either way.

[Teresa]

I think everyone has the talent to become an empath but it's whether they decide to use it or not that matters.

-Luv, Sis
Hugs!! There was a time I tried to run from this,turn it off ,fight it,act like it wasn't happening etc. In the last 7 years ,I began relaxing and just letting what happens happen. If I get a glimpse of something that can help someone I try to find a way to inform them.People that are close to me know that 99% of the time if I warn them about something its for good cause and They seem to respect me enough to adhere to the warning. A few have come back and said wow how did You know that something was going to happen today? etc.I wanna share something that I think is a bit humorous. I put in a previous post that I was not strong in the clairaudiance area. Why on earth did I do that?? Only the Godess has a clue I do not. All day long today I have had example over example that I do posess this talent too and somewhat decent at it.Perhaps I was trying to convince myself that I didn't posess this gift,only to have it pointed out to me blatantly that indeed I do.

[~*Ginger*~]

I've been thinking about this...
I believe that all my past lives have brought me to this life, the way I am, the way I feel, the way i see, and feel things.
Step by step, understanding by understanding, lesson by lesson...

Yes, all my life my feelings have been able to feel other's besides my own self.

Heck, tiny babies do it all the time!

It is possible to feel what someone else is feeling, even if they are miles away from you. (at least I've had this type of experience, can not speak for any other than myself...)

[Jimdragontek]

O.K. Folks here first is the problem: What exactly is an EMPATH. An Empath is an EMOTIONAL TELEPATH, that is to say someone who can read either through body language or actual forms of psychic ability the psycho-emotional or physical state of a person/animal on an emotional level. At times this type of 'telepath' or 'mind reader' can aid in the healing of this person physically by affecting the emotional state of that person. Anything else-reading body language or 'just knowing what is going on in thier life is a form of clairevoyance. Being an empath is not empathy in the lingusitic sense, it is more akin to a form of paychic healing ability. Being a true Empath is rare.
Empathy is the ability to extend one's own psychic and emotional abilities into the state of the other person and understand more clearly where this person's mindset is coming from. Mathematically empathy is the ability to compare the psycho-emotional state of one person to yourself and find the analog or situation similar to that person. You are not a true Empath if you cannot reach into the injuries a person or animal has and aid in the swift healing of those physical and psychic injuries.
Being an Empath is difficult to identify precisely because psychic healing is very similar. The two work on different areas though. Psychic healing can be used to manipulate the energy matrix around a living body and focus that energy into affecting the form and shape of the energy field within the body. In other words, One is not an Empath if one can reach into the energies of the brain and stop or slow-carefully, epileptic-syle siezures. One is an Empath if one can reach into the mind-energy of a child molester, find the emotional scars and trauma of what created that molestation emotional/mental mindset and correct it through a kind of shared experiencing of that trauma. However, being an Empath is an emotional experience and so a concious will to correct this-as in reaching in and finding the correct switches or altering memory forms by will is not in that realm of possibility. As an Empath you can aid in the manner of finding the needed energy and thought forms-on an emotional basis to aide someone in healing themselves, but you are a conduit to the cosmic if you will, on an emotional level, not a trigger or magic bullet to a cure.