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Prescient abilities are (mostly) psychic talents that involve predicting future events. Precognitive psychics naturally capable of foreseeing the future and Oracles that are spiritually inclined to interpreting the patterns that predict the future both have a strong connection to the Collective Unconscious.

Prescients are commonly called seers, soothsayers, augurs, heralds, and many other things. "Seer" is a common default frequently used.

The Collective Unconscious

Both prescient abilities tied to foretelling the future (oracles and precognition) require a certain degree of whimsy and introspection on behalf of the one foretelling. Being able to daydream and fantasize within one’s self opens one to the Collective Unconscious, which is an ocean of thought from all sentient beings in Aserra.

The Collective Unconscious is hard to quantify, and nearly impossible to consciously reach out to. However, the information provided from the Collective filters into the minds of precognitives and oracles alike, and manifests in their ability to foretell the future in one way or another; whether that is through dream-like visions or the comprehension of Fate’s will that oracles possess.

Gender and the Collective Unconscious

With any form of prescience, the ability to foresee the future manifests more frequently in females than males (approximately four females to every one male) in the general population. Precisely, young virgin females between the age of thirteen and twenty one tend to be the strongest in the ability, but this is not to say that males, older women, or non-virginal women cannot be seers in their own right. The reasons for this are a complicated web of social conditioning (depending on culture), hormonal development in youth, and reproductive cost.

The natural talent for precognition emerges in puberty and is best nurtured by an individual with a mind unburdened by responsibilities and freedom to daydream that connects them to the Collective Unconscious. In many cultures, young men of the same age are drawn into preparations for duties and social responsibilities that rob them of this opportunity, while young women are allowed more opportunities for whimsy until they are married. In populations where youths have less constraints, the gender gap narrows or even disappears.

Without practice, natural talent for prescient abilities often fades with time. Most prescients require training. Oracles maintain temples and frequently seek out young women with talent. Cultures that revere seers give them honored positions in their community. Circles of magic practitioners readily accept those with talents that make them outliers to society. In these places, prescience can thrive and be trained. Without such support systems, the burden of the responsibilities of one's own existence can numb their connection to the Collective Unconscious and lose their talent.

Visions

Visions typically occur in a sleep or meditative state. They may be confused for dreams by the uninitiated, but they are not dreams. Visions feel absolutely real for the seer, as if they are experiencing it in that moment. Many visions reoccur night after night, increasing in frequency as the event is approaching. These recurring visions typically do not change, unless an alteration has been made in response to the knowledge gained from previous occurrences of the vision.

Visions will occur naturally in sleep to those with the ability, and the seer will wake upon completion of the vision to remember it. It is often such a jarring experience that they will not easily forget it or be able to return to sleep and override the memory of the vision with fresh dreams. Precognitives will learn better mastery of when and what they foresee with dedication to focus and meditation, but no matter how powerful their ability becomes, they are bound by Fate and the gods with what they are allowed to see.

Rules of Visions

1. The future is never certain, even when it has been foreseen. The very act of knowing what will happen may completely change the outcome. In many cases, precognition acts as an early warning system, notifying the seer of an event in the future that they can change (for example, foreseeing a deadly accident and then avoiding the circumstances so that it never occurs).
2. Fate-bound events are harder to avoid than normal events. These events seem to have a mind of their own and it becomes nigh on impossible to avoid the outcome. A seer can see this event and try to stop it, but by trying to stop it they create the circumstances that make it happen anyway. This rarely happens, and when it does it is often a part of a crucial series of events that the Fates have laid out.
3. The Fates and gods allow people to foresee only what they want them to see. While visions pertaining to a seer’s everyday life are not regulated, visions on a world or regional scale (such as an impending disaster) may be blocked, depending on the outcome the gods or Fates want. Some individuals may be allowed to see visions of these events if the Fates have allowed it, thus making it a “Fate-bound” vision.
4. Visions are always seen through the eyes of an individual while the event is occurring—not from a bird’s eye view, nor is it viewed like a movie. It is always experienced through a person’s perception. Typically, it is the seer themselves, but it can also be through the eyes of another person with whom the seer has somehow connected with—either by the will of Fate or from a personal or spiritual connection.
5. Visions feel absolutely real. It is not an “almost” real sensation, nor is there any lucid knowledge that this is a premonition while it is occurring. The seer feels as if they are actually there so long as the vision lasts, basically existing in that time frame for a brief period. Only when the seer wakes can they address the fact that it is a vision and not a dream.

Precognition

Precognition is the ability to foresee the future, usually through visions had during sleep or meditation. Individuals with precognition have varying degrees of natural talent, which can be honed through focus and understanding. It is typically inherited, and approximately fifteen in every hundred people have the ability to varying degrees. Though, just about anyone can have a fluke premonition once in their life. This can be chalked up to either the will of a god or the Fates, a spiritual connection, or other causes. However, recurring premonitions or visions are traits of those with the natural ability.

The gene for precognition is co-dominative, meaning that if an individual has a parent with the gene for precognition and the other parent doesn’t, both genes will be dominant. This leads to only a decrease in the precognitive ability in comparison to the precognitive parent. If there are no fresh infusions of the gene into a family’s bloodline, the ability will often weaken over each generation and could eventually become non-existent. However, sometimes the gene will present itself strongly as a random mutation, even in bloodlines with no history of it. Some bloodlines may attempt to practice “pure breeding” by paring precognitives together, even close relatives, but while this may sometimes result in a generation or two of strong seers, it inevitably becomes detrimental to the trait and can lead to unintentional dilution.

Oracle

The ability of an oracle, while similar to precognition, is actually unique. The ability to have visions of the future is not a prerequisite to being an oracle. Though some oracles are also seers, the true ability of an oracle is a profound comprehension of the workings of Fate, giving them the talent to interpret Fate’s course, and even to affect it to a degree (beyond simply making different choices). The source of the oracular talent is a trait in the soul, so it is an ability that is inherited by every incarnation of the same soul.

Foretelling

Oracles often foretell the future by using an object as a medium. Items such as bones, dice, cards, or stones are cast down and the oracle interprets the meaning from the results. Only the oracle doing the casting can interpret the result, as the items she uses are infused with her unique spiritual energy, and she has her own perception of what the results mean. Even to another oracle, a few bones cast by another may be as meaningless to her as it is to a non-oracle.

Oracles may have visions if they have the ability for precognition as well, and visions may occur during sleep or meditation. An oracle with precognition will likely rely on this as a means for her fortune-telling, and with focus and training can bring forth visions through a meditative state. Other oracles without the natural ability for visions may turn to intoxicants that will induce visions. Some temples are built in the mountains where ethylene gas seeps out of the ground. Breathing in this gas can cause visions, as can a few other natural compounds. Ethylene gas and other drugs are often dangerous to the health of the oracles in the long run.