Mediumship and Beyond

Maybe you, like myself, didn’t know what to expect when you went to your very first psychic circle.  I was nervous and wanted so much to make the most of it and develop any gifts which I might have.  But no one told me what to expect or what mediums really did! I was so green but very eager.

The reason I began writing this blog, was so that I could explain the ins and outs to people. Explain in simple terms what mediums and psychics are all about.  Also. to explain what really goes on in circles and in Spiritualist churches. If you go armed with some knowledge then you are half way there.

My first foray into a psychic circle was wonderful, but at the same time it was very bewildering.  Mainly because the lovely medium who ran the circle did not teach. Not as such. She always gave a little talk. But when it came to the actual sitting, she did not lead you at all.

Her idea was not to put things into the minds of her students, so as not to pre-empt what they were going to experience or say about it all.  That may seem like a good idea. But I know now that it was certainly not. Though some people do let their mind follow the others and are easily fed.

The medium would open in prayer. Then she gave her little talk. After which she told us we should meditate.  I had never meditated before and hadn’t a clue what to do.  So, I would spend my time trying my hardest to ‘see’ or ‘hear’ spirits talk to me.  I tried so hard,  I would end up with a very bad headache. (I now know the headache was caused by building up the power and not using it.)

I thought that spirits would use an objective voice.  And that I would see spirit objectively. When in actual fact, for most mediums, it is all subjective.

I thought spirit would start up a conversation with me!  I thought they would show themselves to me and hang around long enough for me to take it all in. How wrong I was. There is so much more to it than that. It is hard work at its best and almost impossible at its worst.

After the meditation, the medium would go round the circle, of 25 or more sitters, and ask each of them for a run down of their ‘journey’. What they had experienced during the meditation.

My goodness, what the others didn’t see, hear, or feel, was nobody’s business. I was overwhelmed by it all. But when the medium got to me and asked me what I  had seen, I would answer truthfully and say ‘nothing’!  The medium would say ‘What again?’ and swiftly move on!

I was always embarrassed and felt lacking, as I was the only one who gave nothing. Or so it seemed to me. Maybe it was just that I was honest! Who knows.

I sat in the same circle for a year and never got anywhere.  Though I did learn things from others in the group.  But it took another medium’s input and a home circle to get me started on my pathway.

More on this subject to come.

In today’s fast moving, throw away society, some people find it hard to cope. Not everyone fits into the same slot as others.  Not everyone can cope with emotional problems.  Even though it is often expected of us to “jump up, dust yourself down, and get on with it”!

The doom of depression is ever near for so many. In all walks of life.  In all age groups. All sexes. Through all the spectrum of the rich and the poor. It matters not where in life you are.

If you are an emotional, compassionate person, you may suffer the most. You may feel it harder than some to deal with.  But yet the stigma of being in depression is all too obvious.  The culture of ‘get on with things’, does not take into account those who suffer from the black hole that depression is.

I can talk about it, as I have suffered from it at many times throughout my life. Even having a full break down at one stage. It is no picnic. Either for the sufferer or for those who love them and have to deal with it all. Loved ones feel pathetic and helpless. The sufferer feels exactly the same.

Please show compassion if you know anyone suffering depression. Do help them find the right care and attention. It is essential they get the right help. They may resent your involvement at first, but will be glad later.

There are many ‘councillors’ out there. Most have been on a short course and know how to listen.  But that is all.  In the UK this seems to be the latest and easiest course to get on to.  Yes, it helps if you just need an ear, or if you are just fed up. But depression needs specialist help. Not someone fresh out of school with a listening certificate.

I am talking proper depression here. No sleeping, no eating, lots of crying, lots of self punishment and shame.  Agoraphobia, claustrophobia. Wanting the world to let you die and swallow you up, type of depression.  It’s not a game.

Get help finding a proper psychotherapist, psychologist, or other specialist help.  But first of all your GP, Regular medic, who knows you and can point you to the correct person for you.

I wish you well and freedom from depression. I will put your name on my website healing list if you send me an email. Every little helps. May you be forever in love and light.

This  title may remind you of my feelings on the difference between spirits coming close, and that of the images of a traumatic event trapped in time.

Those of you who read this blog regularly, will know how I feel very strongly that these are indeed two different events.  The ghost replaying the same trauma over and again, draws the attention of the public, who seem to become aware of it at the same time of day or night on each occasion.

You will hear people say things like:  ‘it walks through that wall every night on midnight’!  Or ‘ it rides on a horse across that road at 10pm each night’!  And so forth. These are sightings of ghosts. They are images trapped in time. Not spirits trying to haunt.

When it is spirits, they  draw close to prove that there really is a continuation of the human consciousness and therefore, life after death.  The spirit will not only bring comfort but will bring advice and give a brief history of their earthly existence.  Some more than others of course.

For communication with spirits you usually need a medium. The medium will sit and wait for a spirit to ‘come through’. They cannot call one up.

Communication with a spirit is just that. A communication. You cannot have communication with a ghost. As I have said, it is just an image trapped in time.  Haunted houses should not really scare you or anyone.

Think logically about this subject and you will soon see the difference.

It amazes me that people who have been in Spiritualism a long time still don’t understand some of the phenomena that is produced. Ignorance is rife, even in the Spiritualist movement.

The main thing they don’t understand is Physical mediumship. What is physical and what is not.  What can be seen and what cannot.  They don’t seem to grasp that physical mediumship phenomena should be seen with  physical eyes.  Everybody’s physical eyes. Not just a select few.

What constitutes physical mediumship?  All the gifts that need ectoplasm to allow spirit to be seen and heard physically.  Transfiguration, Direct Voice, Physical Mediumship, where the medium sits in a cabinet and produces spirit forms.

A medium has to sit for years until they produce the ectoplasm that is essential for physical mediumship. Without it there is no physical mediumship.

Transfiguration, involves spirit moulding a mask with the ectoplasm. This mask is placed over the mediums face whilst the medium sits to accommodate them.  The actual spirit face will appear to the sitters present, for recognition. It is wonderful to behold when done properly.  All the audience will see this. It is physical.

Direct voice, involves spirit manipulating the medium’s voice box, physically, so that they can use it to produce the voice of a spirit loved one.  There is also a way in which spirit use ectoplasm to produce direct voice via a trumpet.  Spirit lift the trumpet with the ectoplasm and carry it to the recipient. Then the actual spirit voice comes through that trumpet.  Again, wonderful to behold.  All the sitters will see and hear this. Not just a few. It is Physical.

For physical mediumship to work, it is best for the medium to sit in a cabinet. When the ectoplasm is produced by the medium, the cabinet helps to contain it, so that spirit can use it at its best. Spirit mould the ectoplasm, so that it shows the spirit as he or she was when on the Earth plane. Again, physical. Everyone can see it. Not just a few.

I am always surprised when a medium tells me that they saw transfiguration and that each person saw something different. This is impossible. If it is physical then everyone should see exactly the same thing.  If the transfiguration medium is portraying Elvis, everyone should see Elvis, not half Elvis and half Michael Jackson! It is not possible.

It is even more amazing when mediums believe that only those with clairvoyance can see it!  What utter rubbish. I am really concerned that there is not the proper teaching in the development circle. The sort of teaching there was when Gordon Higginson was around.

It is all down to ignorance and also the laziness of committees, members of which don’t bother to find good teachers for their novices.  Send them all on specialist courses. Make them learn all about it. We have to start somewhere!

As always, I value your feedback and your views. Please email me at the link on this page.

I am often amazed at the amount of guides some budding mediums appear to get. Or believe they get.  Maybe believe is the operative word here.

We all have a doorkeeper. That is one doorkeeper. Not two or three of four.  We only need the one guide to protect us and this is the doorkeeper. This guide brings us here from the spirit world on the day we are conceived. This same guide stays with us throughout our Earthly life. On the day of our passing, this same doorkeeper takes us back home to the spirit world.

Whilst we are developing our mediumship, our doorkeeper looks after us. It is this guide who decides who to let through and who to bar. This guide may sometimes step back and allow another guide, inspirer or helper, to come through and help us with a particular project.

We may be learning a new aspect of mediumship and need another’s input. It may be for healing or another new aspect. The doorkeeper does not stay back though, its just for a short period of time during development. The doorkeeper will never leave you.

The guide, your doorkeeper, is real.  They may not be solid, but they are real.  They are not aliens, not mythical creatures and not magicians. They are very knowledgeable souls who have been in spirit for a long long time. They have been specially chosen for you.

We cannot allow mythical creatures to become part of our development. They were never real. They cannot help us develop our spiritual gifts, because they NEVER EXISTED.  They have NO KNOWLEDGE.  They are useless to you and to spiritualism and have no place in it.

The same with aliens.  There is no proof that aliens, ie creatures who come here to Earth in space ships., exist. Even if they did, and I am open minded here, they cannot help us develop mediumship. They are not from the spirit world.

There are names from our childhood that we remember and maybe thought were real, at the time, such as Father Christmas and Santa.  But once grown up we realise such names were only pretence or myths. There was no King Arthur, Camelot and Merlin the magician. They are all myths. So they cannot possibly come back as spirit guides.

Please consider this subject using your common sense. If something insults your own intelligence then please reject it. As I will reject it from my circles.

At Spiritualist churches, during the divine Sunday service, there is always a section given to philosophy.  It is usually done by the evenings speaker, the medium.

Philosophy should be just that.  The Spiritualists philosophy. Not a story about the medium and their life. Unless of course this contains some philosophy.

Too often mediums/speakers use this time to talk about them self.  They often ramble on giving little to the service or the congregation.

The whole point of the philosophy section is to talk about Spiritualism and what it is all about. What it it means to the speaker and what it means to the world as a whole.

We should not miss out on the opportunity to be able to spread the word about our work and our beliefs.  After all, some of the congregation will be just there for the message and may not understand Spiritualism. This is our chance to change things.

Lets not waste it!

If you thought that table phenomena was dead then you are wrong. It is definitely alive and floating as I write.  In fact, at the psychic fair at Attercliffe Spiritulaist Church in Sheffield,last weekend there was a display of it.

Whilst mediums and psychics were giving readings in the main hall, visitors were invited into the room at the back, where the table phenomena was displayed.

In the past I spent many an evening with the mediums there, working at the table. Getting messages and being given a wonderful display of what the table could do.

The visitors this week enjoyed the spectacle. I had feedback from some of them who had not witnessed it  before. They were thrilled.

Of course, it has to be remembered, that unless there is a ‘physical medium’ in control of the table, it is only working on the sitter’s psychic energy. Not Spirit.

Psychic energy is surprisingly strong and comes from us all. Together in a confined space it can be utilised to move the table.

For spirit to work the table there has to be a medium who has developed physical mediumship to a good extent. Then the medium will produce ectoplasm which spirit can use to control the table. That way the messages you get from it will be from spirit.

If you get the chance to witness it, have a go and enjoy.

The great thing about going on psychic seminars and workshops, is that you learn new exercises to do within the circle and awareness group.

We all use exercises to help us find new ways to contact spirit and to help us improve our psychic and mediumistic skills.  There is always a new way.  Going away from our group base is often all that is needed to refresh you and your ideas.

This weekend was all about exercises to help make your mediumship more lively and energetic.

Not all the exercises worked for us though, in this instance.  There was the odd one that just didn’t work for any of us.  Asking the spirit for even more and more intricate information is not always fruitful. I personally believe that spirit choose what information they wish to impart.  Not us!  They do seem to like the fact that seekers have to do some of the work too.

As always, I personally do what I recommend you do. Take from any workshop or seminar, that which you find sits well with you and your work. Consider it all but leave what does not gel with you and your guides.

After 30  years developing my gift you might be forgiven for thinking that I had done enough.  Or that I was developed enough.  Or maybe, that I was by now satisfied, with my mediumship.

Not in the slightest. I will carry on developing and improving my mediumship until my time here is done. Then I will carry on my development in the spirit world.

I love developing my gifts. I also love passing on my knowledge to others so that they may develop to their very best.  It is quite hard work sometimes but worth every moment.

Once again I have been with my sister and a friend, to a weekend medium’s seminar. We had a wonderful time with 40 other like minded people. All of whom were at differing levels of their development.

Our tutors were excellent mediums, who gave us new food for thought and put us through the paces of exercises, which were aimed at making our mediumship more lively.  What fun we had.

Being with a large group, all of whom are very spiritual people, can be very emotional. And it was at times.  At other times it was hard work and yet others amusing.  We travelled the whole gamut.

It was more interesting because we were not all at the same level. Some of the group were absolute beginners. They enjoyed it as much as the rest. I cannot recommend going on such courses, enough. Please do try it.  But make sure you know the experience and integrity of your tutors. It is so important. A bad experience with a clueless tutor can put you off forever.

If you would like any recommendations, please email me.  More on this subject tomorrow.