Brief Overlay - How Mediumship Started.
Psychic predictions and phenomena can be traced back throughout history, but the first professional mediums date back to 1848. This was the Fox family of Hydesville, New York State, USA. This family was visited by the spirit of a peddler who had been murdered by the previous occupant of their house and claimed that he was buried in the cellar. It was proven some time later, when they dug the cellar floor up and found his remains as their spirit visitor had stated. This proved beyond doubt that life did continue beyond the veil we call death.
The two daughters, Margaret and Kate, realising their talent for this type of communication, hired a hall to demonstrate their abilities. They also travelled around further to demonstrate what was then a unique talent. But it wasn't long before other groups sprang up across the country. This single event is what is considered to have been the start of the Spiritualist Movement.
There was in fact, previous to the Fox sisters, other who had taken up the gauntlet of studying psychic phenomena, and long before the fox sisters. Emmanuel Swedenborg, who holds claim to being the father of the discovery of our supernatural powers, and others, also before the Fox sisters were Edward Irvine a Scottish Presbyterian Minister and Andrew Jackson Davis.
During
the 1850's a new ambassador emerged in the form of Emma Hardinge Britton. Born in England but moved to America to
work. Emma became famous as a trance
medium, (see mediumship skills). She
toured America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand spreading the message of
spiritualism.
Mediums of this era were subjected to ridicule not only from the church but also the scientific community and other sceptics.
The first medium to operate in Britain was Mrs. Hayden, who took up residence in London and held seances. But it was a group of Cambridge scholars who in 1882 founded the Society of Physical Research that pushed the subject further into recognition. Their aim was to investigate debatable phenomena without prejudice, even though that claim in itself was debatable.
How do Mediums Work?
If we can accept that dying is not the end of our existence, and that our body was just a vessel that carried our consciousness, and that our soul survives the bodily death and exists somewhere else, then it might be possible to make contact with that consciousness and all the memories and emotions that make that person what they were.
But where are they? Not as far away as some might think! The world of spirit exists all around us, but just out of reach. It might be better to think of it as a dimension rather than a place. Most believe that this spirit world exists on a different vibration to our own. It might also help to think of it as a frequency, much like that of a radio having different frequencies. The medium learns how to adjust themselves and tune into these different frequencies and vibrations. While those in the spirit world lower their vibrational level to tune into our frequency, so must the mediums higher their vibrations to link and tune into the spirit communicators vibrational frequency. It has to be a two way agreement between the medium and the communicator.
When a medium sits with a client, or stands for a services be it church or otherwise, they have to put themselves into a receptive state by raising their vibrational level to meet that of spirit who are in turn lowering theirs to make the link or contact possible.
Our spirit family and friends can see and hear us at any time they feel a need to watch and listen to us. They may follow or accompany you to your meeting. But it is the mediums ability to slow down and alter their perception, and raising their awareness to a subtle energy level that allows them to perceive the message from spirit.
The contact is conducted through thought; these thoughts are then transmitted by the communicating spirit person to the medium. Although mediums in the main, give the messages that they are given, it is possible for the medium to ask the spirit questions and receive an answer. After all it is a live communication. It is also important to realise that spirit people have a choice as to whether they communicate with us or not. A medium can in no way force a communication with a spirit person to make them known.
The initial contact is referred to as "Making the Link". The medium has made a request, by thought, to his/her spirit guide or helper for a communicator to come forward. Just how successful the communication is depends on the experience of the medium, although other factors can come into play. Once a link is established, the spirit person will want to prove their identity. The spirit communicator will transmit thoughts about themselves to the medium. The medium should be able to interpret these thoughts and describe the person back to the client.
As previously stated, to interpret any information a medium must learn how to attune and link to the spirit world. While some mediums have grown up with this ability, others have to learn to train their minds to accept information in this way. This is often done by means of meditation, a process of calming the body and allowing the mind to become receptive. This can to some extent be taught to anybody, but not all who try will become mediums.
Our scientists, who have studied the human brain, insist that we see more with our brain than we do with our eyes, the eyes being just a window. This might help explain how mediums can 'see' our friends, the data has simply arrived in an alternative way, the brain processes the data and 'sees' the information.
What are the Different Skills of a Medium?
A medium usually has a variety of psychic skills, but the underlying purpose behind them is threefold; (1); to prove the existence of life after what we term death. (2); to advise and console others. (3); to further develop their own spirituality. (Personally, I believe that there is a fourth and that is to help develop these skills by teaching methods to those who are interested in learning.) How a medium comes to be is, governed by a number of factors. Some are born to it, having been able to see and converse with spirit since early childhood and simply developing those abilities in adulthood. Others come to it later because of a number of reasons. It may have just been curiosity, to find out what goes on. Others may have suffered bereavement and felt the need to speak to a medium which has then stirred the interest within them. Then they could just simply have this urgent desire to learn the abilities for them selves feeling that they could help others.
A medium may have any number of skills, although it is usual for them to excel in just one or two. Generally, most mediums working mentally, work by seeing pictures in their mind, it is this initial image that allows the medium to describe a person in spirit. Often it is a combination of senses that makes up the whole picture. Spirit communicators are also able to send feeling, known as clairsentience to the medium; this is particularly useful if they are trying to indicate what ailment caused them to pass over. These thoughts, feelings, voices and pictures can all be used together and can be used in varying intensity. Sometimes the information flows so easily that the medium has no doubts about the information being given. On other occasions the information might seem a little sketchy and the medium will have to work harder to resolve what comes through. This can be caused by a number of reasons; such as, how well the spirit communicator has learned to communicate, or it could be down to the mediums inability to "tune in" or lack of experience. Or the rapport with their spirit guides who play a very active role in all communication at this level. Even the health of the medium at the time has to be a consideration.
It is commonly believed that pictures are the best form of mental communication and the easiest to recognise, after all, we are all used to seeing images everyday of our lives. But many mediums work with symbolic images, and these images represent what the spirit communicator is trying to say, but often not directly. You could think of it as a cryptic visual puzzle. The medium needs some interpretation skills when passing on messages of this kind.
It is common to find Tarot Cards, Crystals, Candles, Native American Symbols, Coloured Ribbons even Runes on the table of a working medium. These are what could be described as aids. (Some are just props for show.) Although mediums work on a spiritual or psychic level, these aids are also used for readings, and can help the medium to tune in and therefore give a better reading.
The Role of the Medium:
Their main roll is to prove the continuation of life beyond the veil we call death of the physical body. Even though mediums and psychics are believed to have an eye that can look into your soul, and are "sometimes" able to see some future events and advise you in a general manner, they are not there to tell you what to do. The task of mediums and psychics is to help you take direction and control of your situation, and sometimes the advice may seem a little vague, but they may simply be suggesting a new set of experiences that will be of benefit to you.
