Tiff the Eclectic Witch here!

Welcome TIFF. Great to meet you! I'm Shane...or Hickory, as you prefer.

I do divination - pendulum, Tarot, and runes.

Welcome Tiff! I'm clairsentient too!

I have some empathic abilities but my anxiety sometimes interferes with it. Also totally an RPG fangirl too

Kris - I totally understand where you're coming from. I have depression, and when it gets bad it's like a wet blanket's been thrown over me and I can't do anything psychic or "astral-y"

Askele - Nice to meet you! I haven't really had a chance to get into runes yet, but I want to! What kind are you using?

Well, clairsentience is kind of hard for me to describe, and mine works with my claircognizance, which makes it more difficult! But I'll try to write down a description or something after I get off of work (in about 4 hours)

The lack of illustrations is one of the things that has been keeping me from starting with runes... I'm still trying to get down the meanings of Tarot cards! I tend to be more intuitive with my readings anyways, but learning the meanings (and the history behind the cards) has been helpful, especially when the "historical" meaning matches up with what I was getting via intuition.
Do you do readings for yourself or others? I've only really read for myself and my girlfriend. I start doubting myself when it comes to reading for people I don't really know...

Ok, lets see if I can actually describe my clairsentience...
Have you ever walked into a place and reacted to it in some way? Like how some churches are awe-inspiring and people don't want to speak above a whisper, or how walking into a sports stadium fills people with excitement, even if there's no game going on.
Well, that's pretty much how I sense spirits/entities. I don't pick up their emotions (which is why I don't call myself empathic), but how they make _me_ feel. It could be a feeling of awe or fear, or it could be an association with an item or a place. For example, one spirit I speak with on occasion always appears to be in a misty swamp during sunset or sunrise, because they feel gloomy and slightly dangerous to me. But it's a different type of gloomy than, say, an abandoned house at dusk feels...
My claircognizance is like a spark of intuition or a gut feeling that the spirit isn't harmful (sometimes despite the feeling I'm getting), or they're okay but I need to watch my words, or behavior, or something. I usually pick this up in the first few moments of meeting a new spirit, and it's not really a thought that runs through my head, but more like an automatic adjustment of how I act/speak that I dissect later.
So, my clairsentience is basically how I feel around them, and my claircognizance is a flash of information about their intentions towards me.

Thank you for asking, and I hope my explanation makes sense. I'm still trying to figure out this for myself, since I've only recently been told by a spirit teacher that I'm not actually clairvoyant (which I thought I was), and my brain's been interpreting the "feels" into pictures so my conscious mind can comprehend what's going on.

Are you steadying your arm when you hold it, like with your elbow resting? Some folks think you can't do that and it's hogwash. If I'm sitting in my chair, my forearm is resting on it and I get clear readings. If I'm not sitting, I keep my elbow tucked close to my side. Keep your wrist relaxed - don't try to hold it straight.

I use the Elder Futhark. I'm still very much learning how to read runes - it's a different feel than Tarot to me and I've only been at it about a year.