One of the more useful abilities of being an Empath that I’ve found over the years is the ability to read people.
Now, this is a skill everyone has to some degree, and this can be seen in movies that have been well casted. You can immediately tell the type of person, and their personality, on sight. You know if they are a villian, the hero or someone who is sleazy.
Empaths can often take it a step further in real life, as they can see, not only the type of person they are dealing with, but how that person is likely to react, and if they are dangerous or not.
The Face
For instance, just by looking at a face, you can normally tell someone’s history, their personality, and their disposition. If they have suffered trauma, what their mood is, and so on.
There are books dedicated to how to read faces, but I never felt a draw to them and over time, I started to become more in tune and sensitive to what a face was telling me.
The Voice
A person’s voice also reveals a lot about someone. I know that when I pick up a phone at work, the moment the person speaks, I know if they are going to be demanding, friendly, difficult or clueless. Rarely I’m disappointed in what I am picking up, and can pre-empt a lot of issues by adjusting accordingly.
It’s generally in the tone, the pitch, the forcefulness, and the words which gives it all away. It’s not what they say, it’s in the voice they are using that reveals it all.
The Name
Even a person’s name will tell you a lot about their character. It is possible to pick up the vibration of names and sense the energy behind it. Names are very important, and you can change your personality by changing your name. People will also react differently to you, depending on what name you decide to go by.
I found these abilities developed naturally as I got older and gained life experience. There are nuances you come to recognize, and certain patterns that occur time and time again.
While I’m sure that anyone with experience can read people, I believe that there are levels that Empaths pick up that the average person does not.
The problem with most people is that they ignore this information. They dismiss it, figuring that they must be wrong, or if others can’t see it, then they are just imagining it.
Personally, I have felt frustrated time and time again because no one listens to me, or says, hey, you can’t say that without knowing someone. And yet, I’m rarely wrong.
When someone asks me for help, I often ask for a current photo as that tells me a lot, and a sensitive person will also see the energies connected to the person at the moment. And they will also see when the energies change. For instance, if someone is under attack, there will be a greyness around the face, but if it clears, the greyness will also go.
If you have the ability to read others, and you know you have it, listen to what you get. Trust in it. It could even save your life and a lot of distress one day.
Related articles
- Empath Series: The human lie detector or fool me once, shame on me. (areyouanempath.com)
- Empathy 101: So You Think You Might Be Empathic (heirdha.wordpress.com)
- Empath Series: Three tips to help cope with being an Empath or I have to do what? (xeraphax.wordpress.com)
- Should we use labels to define others or Don’t call me human! (xeraphax.wordpress.com)
As an empath as well, I have always been able to accurately gauge a person’s persona whether or not I knew why at the time. Great post!
I like your blog. It is very interesting topic to explore but I got impression that reading all those signs is a bit too subjective. You might think that somebody is the way you think he is while that person might be completely different. How do you know you guessed right?
You don’t know, to start off with, but you get to know after a while. You get to know the people you deal with on a daily basis, and you start to see how right (or wrong) you are.
Of course, no one is absolute, and we’re just talking about their general personality type. How they are likely to react, and how circumstances are likely to affect them.
Having said all that, often I just go on what I’m feeling about someone, and I’ve yet to be wrong. I’ve a friend at work who constantly remarks on that.
Feelings are your truth, and they will steer you right. Just remember to listen to them if they change.
Feelings can be very deceitful. Well, I tend to have depressive moods and it is hard for me to ‘asses’ others’ behaviors.
Well, I guess it depends on the type of feelings we’re talking about. I guess I mean intuition.
For me, when I get anxiety about something, I know that something isn’t right. It’s been that way my entire life. The stronger the anxiety, the more ‘wrong’ it is for me.
Trick is finding the source. It could be a small thing, I could be a major thing. It might be a thing of the moment, such as timing. But if I get that feeling, it’s never been wrong for me.
I ignored it for many years until I finally had to admit to myself that ignoring it because it wasn’t what I wanted to hear was not going to change the outcome.
Hence, when something feels right, it feels good and the flow is there.
I’ve always had this, regardless of my mental state.
Or am I the only one who gets those feelings?
This is a great post; I’m empathic also and I agree with you – you just know, its an internal settling of “this is true”. I find a lot of empaths tend to have gone through some ordeal or turmoil when very young…I myself did. Would you agree?
Yes, indeed. I think many empaths are the product of traumatic events, where they needed to be aware of dangers on higher levels.
Yes, I think this is why also. Although it comes to many people through trauma, it is a very useful trait and I’m grateful to have it.
Yes, it can be a real blessing. It’s amazing if you can use in day to day life.