From Proto Indo European gal, “to shout, shriek, call out”; it’s the ancestor of clatter as well, and, oddly enough, glasnost (which is derived from an obsolete Russian word for “voice”). In Old Norse gal became kalla, “to cry loudly”, which became ceallian in Old English.

Once in English it began a strange adventure in meaning shifts. From 1250, it came to also mean “to name”, and the meaning “to visit” shortly afterwards. The sense of calling as a vocation is derived from the King James bible, I Corinthians ch. 7 v. 20: Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called.

In clairvoyant we saw that “cl” is a container filled with light or air; the addition of the short “o” attaches that container to the spiritual Source energy. It’s perhaps a metaphor for the large, energy-filled, vibrating volume created by our mouths, throats and lungs when we call out — and the sense that these self-created vibrations expand to fill the world around us, as well.

Thanks to Ali for suggesting this word of the day.

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