Jock Brocas is a spiritual author and teacher with books published internationally. Jock is also the president of the charity organization assmpi and works tirelessly to he others develop spiritually and live a more rewarding life. Join Jock Brocas on a spiritual journey.
http://jockbrocas.us
To attract and create more abundance into your life, you need to know that it’s an inside job. By that I mean it’s a transformation of consciousness because of subtle, yet profound shifts in one’s own perceptions.
A shift in perception can make all the difference in how we see and interact with the world in which we live. When we take the time to gently observe the areas of our life where we are currently limited and feel totally stuck, where we struggle or come up against resistance, then we can use my simple three-step healing process towards allowing in greater abundance.
The transformative power of love is the force that brings healing change to our thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and actions. When our daily thoughts are dominantly aligned to fear, lack and limitation, then the transformative power of love is missing.
This is how we unwittingly separate ourselves from love – our true nature, and in doing so we subconsciously feel guilt and shame. We unintentionally block our creative energy from flowing outwards without restriction. Our heart energy creates unnecessary energetic blocks which are typically manifested as energy walls of resistance that prevent us from attracting and creating a greater good.
Abundance is a free-flowing energy that has no resistance when in perfect harmony with the energies of love, generosity, gratitude, kindness, compassion and all of the high-vibe attributes of Spirit.
Blocking the Abundance Flow
Image: John Hain, Pixabay
The truth is that most people block their flow of abundance, which is simply an abundance of all of the good that the Universe has for them, such as – improved health, increased wealth, balanced and loving relationships, and true heart-centered romantic love. Not to mention our work or social life that is aligned with passion and purpose.
People block their flow of abundance in many different ways. Here are three main ways, in no particular order:
First Block: Ongoing Resentment
Deep-seated hurts create trauma energies. Our trauma memories continue to stir up the energetic resonance of the pain we still carry if we aren’t willing to clear it and let it go.
Resentment of others involved in our pain, or just plain old resentment of others simply because they have something we want, but don’t have, will cause energetic disarray within our heart energy center and hinder our ability to attract and create more abundance.
Second Block: Self-loathing
The second way in which a person blocks or interferes with the natural flow of abundance into their life is self-loathing.
If a person judges themselves as being less than another and continuously compares themselves to others in a negative and judgmental way, where the other person is observed as being so much better than, will once more block a person’s heart energy flow and create energetic walls of resistance that block the flow of good.
Third Block: Selfishness
The third block or interference with the natural flow of abundance is selfishness. In other words, an attitude of what’s in it for me? How am I benefiting? How can you or the world help me without me needing to give anything back?
When the energy behind a person’s intentions is selfishly based, they unwittingly create shifts in their energetic vibration that matches their selfish intent. When a person has needy or greedy energy, with little thought to helping or blessing others, or in adding light to the world in some way through their own creative expression, they hinder the free flow energy of abundance into their life.
My Three-Step Healing Process
Image: Jill Wellington, Pixabay
Use the following simple yet the powerfully transformative three-step process to help clear your energy and create subtle shifts in consciousness, that over time, can lead to profound and even miraculous changes. Shifts that help to align you with the greater good of the Universe and to open your heart energy to give and receive love and abundance.
Step One: Observe any time you have a fearful or limiting thought. A fearful thought can easily become a negative word spoken and then turn into a non-beneficial behavior or action. Creation begins with your thoughts.
Simply notice yourself when you are stuck in a negative or fearful thought and do so from a point of non-judgment. You are not to criticize yourself for having this negative thought pattern.
Step Two: Understand that your real nature is Love. God is Love and anything other than Love is therefore not real. In this sense, fear, lack and limitation do not originate from the Divine Mind of God, or Source, or Creator. They originate from the fearful collective consciousness of mankind.
You have a free will choice to live in separation by turning away from love, or by choosing to return to love and the energy source of your true-self. This step simply asks you to understand that your real nature is Love and that Love didn’t create these thoughts. This contemplation is life-changing.
Step Three: Clear the negative thought by sending it to the Light of Ultimate Truth. Simply say the following: “I send this (state exact fearful thought) to the Light of Ultimate Truth to be transmuted into Love. I willingly choose to return to Love. I allow the energy of abundance to flow to me and through me.”
These subtle shifts in perceptions will begin to take energetic root in your consciousness for transformative changes to take place in your health and life experience. However, this path of spiritual growth requires you to be consistent.
Photo: Gerhard Gellinger, Pixabay
Golden Key to Transformation
You have been given an easy yet amazingly powerful three-step process to help you but being consistent is the golden key to real change.
It means that you take the time and the conscious effort (a few seconds) so that every time that you become aware of being stuck in low-vibe patterns, such as feeling resentful, being judgmental of self, others and the world, and being self-centered in any way – you simply realize and understand that this does not originate from Love and therefore isn’t true for you.
Remember that the energy behind these negative patterns blocks all the good that Love and the Universe have in store for you. It makes perfect sense to incorporate this three-step healing practice into your daily life.
Blessings & joy,
Joanne Brocas
Healer, Intuitive and the #1 Bestselling Author of Angel Prayers. Visit Joanne’s website to find out more about her online healing classes, courses and personal appointments.
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in the Afterlife Magazine by The Otherside Press which has since joined the PDN family.
A common question asked by many people who are new to the idea and practical reality of mediums being able to communicate with and relay evidence from people in spirit who previously lived on this Earth, is: “How can you really be sure that the communications and messages you receive through a medium are actually coming from a spirit person or a specific loved one or relative who has had a life in this world, and then died?”
The answer is always: “Through the actual accurate and ‘real’ evidence of Post-Mortem Survival which you obtain personally during a sitting with a Mental medium, or through a séance with a Physical medium or group using either the classic ectoplasmic-based or energy-based way of working.
‘EVIDENCE’ is the KEY to it all, just as during any court case, innocence or guilt is deemed to be ‘proved’ or ‘not proved’ by carefully and personally weighing up the evidence.
It is now almost 19 years since ‘The Scole Experiment’ finished in November 1998 but public interest in this unique experiment continues, and grows on a weekly basis. I am frequently being asked, “OK – so we have read about the amazing phenomena you obtained at Scole, but what about the ‘real’ evidence to show that an Afterlife exists? What did you receive during that time by way of actual proof?”
Well, I can definitely set everybody’s ideas straight on that score! Over the years at Scole and in other places we demonstrated the Scole Phenomena, we did receive – for ourselves personally, as well as for guests and visitors who shared our sessions – a massive plethora of messages, information, evidence and proof that life exists after we die. There is no doubt that Post-Mortem Survival is a FACT, for all of us.
When the ‘The Scole Experiment’ started in 1993, I was already a veteran of ‘Psychic Research’, with 20 years experience behind me, including over 250 private sittings with professional ‘Mental’ mediums, plus numerous Seances with Physical Mediums such as: Leslie Flint, Gordon Higginson; Stewart Alexander; Colin Fry; Geoffrey Jacobs; John Squires and several others (and that is not counting the many personal physical circles that Sandra and I had started and/or been involved in). I had received a real abundance of personal evidence myself which added up to absolute proof; so that I could state with all honesty – and well before the era of Scole – that the case for ‘survival’ had long since been ‘proved’ to me as far as I was concerned.
It would be pointless for me to simply write here that ‘Life After Death’ is a fact, without providing suitable ‘evidence’ to back up such a statement. Proof is a very personal thing, and each of us needs to research the pros and cons for ourselves before deciding on our personal verdict. That involves making our own effort to seek out personal evidence for ourselves. After all, whether we live on after our death or not is a very important issue for mankind! In my case, when people say to me, “After 44 years’ intimate involvement with Psychic Research, clearly you must now ‘believe’ in Life After Death”, I always say, “No – I do not believe in Life After Death, because I know it to be a fact!” There is a massive difference between belief and knowledge.
The Scole Experiment itself was something really special, and unique. If, by the time it started, I had received no personal evidence of Post-Mortem Survival, then it would have been impossible (after the 5 years of involvement at Scole) for me not to know for sure that for all of us, life goes on after we pass to Spirit. Our loving Spirit Team at Scole immediately recognized the need to provide personal ‘evidence’ of life after death for every member of the Scole Experimental Group. It was not just a need, but a vital requirement, in order to establish the necessary, total trust, partnership and cooperation between the Spirit Team and ourselves for the important pioneering work ahead.
Evidence from Spirit Team member Emily Bradshaw
Right from the start, the members of our Spirit Team at Scole made a great effort to bring us personal ‘evidence’ of survival from our loved ones in Spirit, but it was not until April 25th, 1994 that the ‘evidence’ started to flow in profusion. That was the day when a new member of the Spirit Team – Emily Bradshaw (a Victorian Lady) joined us, and stayed with us every time that we sat thereafter. To begin with, she was simply known to us as ‘Mrs. Bradshaw’ (a pseudonym, like most of the Spirit Team). Mrs Bradshaw (speaking through our medium ‘Diana’ who was in deep trance), introduced herself and appeared to be a very refined, but quite severe lady from the ‘upper classes’. In those early days, we would never have dreamed of calling her by her Christian name! She was simply Mrs. Bradshaw. Her speech was only in the best ‘Oxford English’; her diction clear and precise.
Emily seemed to have a dual function within the Spirit Team, in that she remained ‘in situ’ for most of each session – acting as a sort of ‘compere’ in that she joined all the threads of the team’s activities together; keeping us advised as to what was going on behind the scenes; predicting exactly what phenomena we could expect before it happened; issuing instructions and guidance to us wherever necessary. Her other vital function, was to provide real and personal ‘evidence’ for the Scole Group (in the beginning), which established the Spirit Team’s bona fides and two-way trust with us. In this, Emily was an amazing ‘expert’ in the quality of the ‘evidence’ we experienced from her. As we got to know Emily and her abilities intimately, we came to love and respect her to the point that she became – to us – almost a ‘surrogate mother’. It is true to say that although we came to love every member of the Spirit Team who worked with us at Scole, it is perhaps Emily that we have missed the most since the end of ‘The Scole Experiment’.
Sometimes little ‘throwaway remarks’ (given as amusing asides) from Emily to our group proved to be very accurate and verifiable, such as the time that the four of us sat together and Emily confided, “Did you know that Monty Keen wears red long johns?” Monty was one of the three SPR investigators who sat regularly with us in the Scole Group. The next time he and his two colleagues visited Scole, we mentioned this amusing remark of Emily’s to him. He thought it hilariously funny and – immediately – rolled up his trouser legs to confirm that Emily was indeed absolutely correct! Not even his colleagues had any inkling of the fact that Monty wore red long johns when he sat with us at Scole! Sometimes, our own inner thoughts (unknown to everybody else in the room) were fed back to us in an amusing way by Emily to show us just how much she was personally in touch with each of us.
Many pieces of evidence created a jigsaw puzzle of proof
I do not have the room here in this article to detail every small piece of the evidence we received during our sessions at Scole. However, every small instance was like a small piece of the jigsaw puzzle called ‘proof’ which, when added together, leeft us in absolutely no doubt whatsoever that life exists beyond death. During the very first sitting that Emily introduced herself to us (25th April 1994), she started to give us quite amazing ‘evidence’. Sandra was told that her grandparents ‘named Glynn’ were there on that occasion, as well as her first mother and father in law – Mr and Mrs Hutson. Emily went on to say that my mother was also present but was at that time, too emotional to speak. However, Emily correctly gave her name as ‘Constance’, and accurately stated that she had passed to Spirit eight years previously.
Through Emily, my mother was able to correctly communicate the fact that because of her long illness, she had been rather a burden on my father in her latter years. My father was, said Emily, also present at that session. She accurately named him as ‘Hubert Stevenson Foy’. He communicated the fact that he had passed to Spirit not long after my mother, in 1987 (most evidential). None of these facts were known to anyone else in the group apart from Sandra and me. Emily went on to remind me of (by giving me extremely accurate and intimate information unknown even to Sandra) concerning my dearest childhood memories of happy days spent in Scarborough with my grandparents. These were very special and emotional memories for me of wonderful times from the past.
The personal ‘evidence’ for all members of the Scole Experimental Group, as relayed in these messages by Emily Bradshaw continued to flow, week by week and month by month, so that (even just in itself) it presented a pretty strong case for the existence of an Afterlife! Little nuggets of information – unknown to all the other people present – were unbelievably accurate in their content. On May 9th, my mother was able to speak to me personally through the deep trance mediumship of Diana. We exchanged many memories, known only to ourselves (wonderful evidence!) such as her date of birth – March 30th 1915.
Through Emily on May 16th, my mother gave her correct maiden name as ‘Grimble’. My father, at the same session, confirmed his own date of birth as January 31st 1912, and my own place of birth as ‘Blackpool’. The deceased husband of one of the other group members passed her a message in similar fashion, through Emily, confirming his full name and date of passing. On May 23rd, via Emily, my parents were able to state accurately that they would have been married for 53 years then (had they both survived), having been married in March 1941 (this was extremely evidential).
The Case of Caroline Rochester
During our session on May 30th, Emily excelled herself by providing what became some of the most evidential information of survival received in the whole 5 years of the Scole Experiment. Bernette, one of our sitters, was asked by Emily if she was aware of a spirit presence in her home. Bernette lived in an old Post Office in the village of Stansted Mountfitchett, and had been involved in psychic matters for many years. She was herself very sensitive, and had indeed noticed a ‘presence’ in her home. In fact, on many occasions both she – and other members of her family – had seen heavy hanging copper pans and objects in her kitchen and in other places in the home apparently moving and swaying on their own (without being touched, or being influenced by any kind of breeze). So she was happy to tell Emily that indeed she was aware of this. Nobody else in our group knew anything about such a presence in her home. Emily told Bernette that the spirit person involved was called ‘Caroline Rochester’ and went on to say that this lady, with her brother, had lived in Bernette’s house about a hundred years previously. Since Caroline was present at our Scole session, Emily described her to Bernette as ‘having ringlets’. Bernette was told that Caroline apparently wished to become closer to Bernette – and to help Bernette with her healing work.
Needless to say, Bernette wanted to see if these facts could be substantiated, as none of her family knew anything about the history of their house. Bernette and her husband David spent much of the next week trying to track down local records, but they had great difficulty in finding any information at all locally, and had no success with their initial enquiries. Finally, whilst the Scole Group were sitting again the next week on June 6th, Bernette’s husband had gone to the County Records Office to try and see whether he could find out more about ‘Caroline Rochester’ and her brother. Whilst we were sitting, Emily spoke to Bernette and said, “By now, you will have the proof of the Rochesters who previously lived in your home”. We noted the time that Emily had given this message, but Bernette was not able to reach her husband by telephone immediately after our sitting, as he was still out.
The next day there were smiles all round. Bernette was able to confirm that her husband had been able to trace the Rochesters as the very first residents after the house had been built in the 19th Century. Furthermore, it transpired that her husband David had actually come across this information at the Records Office just moments before Emily had stated that, “Bernette would have had her proof by that time”. What an amazing piece of Evidence!
‘Evidence’ captured on film
On Friday 13th January 1995, we were well into our photographic experimental work with the Spirit Team. At this particular sitting, we had a real breakthrough with the photographic work. Before the session, we had placed a still shop-wrapped, unexposed, Black and White 35mm Polaroid Slide film on the central table. During the session, our evolved Spirit Team Communicator ‘Paxton’ (a member of the ‘Council of Communion’) spoke to us to tell us that the photographic experiment had been very successful. He predicted that we would see on the film ‘the likeness of someone well known to us who was a member of the Spirit Team’; ‘the signature of a Spirit person who was very interested in our work’, together with some writing in a foreign language, which we must make the effort to get translated.
Paxton’s statement in itself proved to be very evidential! Immediately after the sitting, we developed the Black and White 35mm Polaroid slide film in the special processing unit we had been given by Polaroid. There were two clear photographs of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (who had already proved his presence to us as a permanent member of the Scole Spirit Team under the pseudonym of ‘Edwin’). On another frame of the film, there was a clear signature, which read ‘Ivor Novello’. It took us several weeks afterwards to get hold of a copy of Ivor Novello’s signature during his lifetime from an item of old sheet music but – guess what? The two signatures (from his lifetime and from the film at this session) were virtually identical. That evidence was quite special. There was also – as predicted by ‘Paxton’ – a clearly written verse in what was indeed a foreign language.
At our next session, we were told that this verse was written in ‘Romanised Sanscrit’, and came from the Sacred Book – The ‘Scrimad Bhagavatam’. We discovered this to be a very ancient book of Sacred Hindu texts, originally written in ordinary ‘Sanscrit’. About 35 years previously, it had been carefully translated into ‘Romanised Sanscrit’ for the first time by a Krishna devotee, and then published by the ‘International Society for Krishna Consciousness’ in that form, which is exactly how we received it on the film.
‘Paxton’ had asked us to get the verse translated but – at this point – we had no idea at all where we might find this book, or its more modern translation. However, a few weeks later, one of our Scole mediums, Diana, was walking around Norwich, bemoaning the fact that there was no longer a local library in the city to consult, since the beautiful new Norwich Library had burnt down not long before. At this point (clairvoyantly), Diana received the message to ‘get the book. “That’s all very well”, thought our medium, “but where can I find it?”. Immediately, the answer came back clairvoyantly: “Go to the Oxfam shop”. Diana did this. She was amazed and stunned to discover a single copy of just one of the 18 volumes of the ‘Scrimad Bhagavatam’ on the shelf. It just so happened that this was the VERY VOLUME out of the 18 volumes that we needed, and it contained a complete translation of the photographic verse we had received during our Scole sitting! Coincidence, or what?
The Sanscrit poem we received on film reads:
‘yad atra kriyate karma
bhagavat-paritosanum
jnanam yat tad adhinam hi
bhakti-yoga-samanvitam
The simple translation of this verse is as follows:
‘Whatever work is done here in this life for the satisfaction of the mission of the Lord, and what is called knowledge becomes a concomitant factor’.
Spirit Team member Kingsley Fairbridge
The final piece of evidence I want to deal with here (I would have to write another book to cover all the examples) is the saga of Kingsley Fairbridge. At a session on 10th March 1995, as part of one of our photographic experiments, we received a clear picture of an old-fashioned but good-looking young man on an unopened and unexposed 35mm Black and White Polaroid Slide Film. There was an amazing catalogue of evidence, consisting of several ‘coincidences’ that occurred afterwards which confirmed his identity.
We were told by our ‘Spirit Team’ that this gentleman was working with our group from Spirit, and that he had a big heart for helping others. His name was Kingsley Fairbridge and he had been born in South Africa. Educated at Oxford in England before moving to Australia, he set up the ‘Fairbridge Farm Schools’ for underprivileged children to teach them a trade. His health had not been robust, and he died young from cancer. We had never heard the name before, and made a great effort to try and trace some more details about this man. Regrettably, our efforts were initially unsuccessful and were unable to find out any more about him.
In frustration, we published the man’s name and details that we had been given, in one of the issues of our bulletin ‘The Spiritual Scientist’, asking subscribers to help us in providing any more information about this interesting person. One of our bulletin subscribers was a crop-spraying pilot in California, USA. He had a friend in Australia to whom he just happened to send his copy of ‘The Spiritual Scientist’ once he had read it. What a surprise it was for us to ultimately discover that the lady in Australia who had received his copy of the bulletin just happened to know the daughter of Kingsley Fairbridge, who was still living in Australia!
Kingsley Fairbridge’s daughter subsequently wrote to us and after we had sent her a copy of the photograph we received during our experimental session, together with the limited information we had about him, she was able to confirm that yes, that WAS a photograph of her father, and the information we had been given by our Spirit Team was 100% accurate and correct!
Editor’s Note: Robin Foy’s article The Importance of ‘Evidence’ in Spirit Communication was originally published in the Afterlife Magazine by the Otherside Press which has since joined the PDN family.
Ok, so it may shock you a little to hear a medium say that they don’t believe in life after death and the reason that I don’t believe is because I know there is life after death. You see, to believe in something implies following a pattern of someone else’s perception, but to know is divine.
In our society there are many perceptions and often when we grieve, the question of, “Is there life after death?” or “Where do they go when they die?” is often the mainstay of someone’s thought process, or a thought that occupies every second of every day. There’s an inherent fear that suffocates you and that is, “What if there’s nothing, what if my loved ones are gone and that’s it?” The very thought that you will not see or feel your loved ones again is unthinkable, a spiraling unending pain that is often too hard to face and deal with. The very point of life seems wasted and so we stop valuing ourselves. We retreat into our shells because that’s the place where we feel safe and, of course, no one really understands our grief. We believe that our grief will always exist, but in reality that is not the case.
Impermanence and Life After Death
There is a philosophy in Buddhism that suggests that life and everything within life is interconnected and at the same time – impermanent, meaning that everything is a conditioned existence, transient and in constant change. In reflection, this can also help us to understand that grief is also impermanent and will not always exist in its current form, but will of course change in continuous motion. This Buddhist perception is also called Anicca or Anitya,which is ancient sanskrit and asserts the idea of transience.
It is a fact that when we grieve, our emotions are in a state of transience, always changing and moving from one state to the other. No-one can say how long or how fast you should move through these states of being and how you should react. Nevertheless, understanding and having an awareness of the impermanence of grief can actually help you to understand how to move through it and how you can begin to experience a new energy that will allow you to reach into the state of harmony between yourself, your grief and your loved ones. It is time to learn the language of the soul.
Language Of The Soul
Soul Flight
You have language, you understand your language in your current form but you have forgotten your true language. This is the language of the soul, the reality of your existence and part of the divine essence that is you and animates you and has brought you into being by natural spiritual law. So how does this have anything to do with grief? The answer is very simple. Learning the language of the soul will help you not only move through the grieving process faster, but also help you touch the void of the spirit to cross the bridge between the material and the spiritual and meet your loved ones on the other side of life.
So this language is not one that anyone can teach you. It is already within you and is as simple as awakening to the spirit within. We have all heard of those signs that are around you that help you to understand or recognize the connection of your loved ones such as:
Animal signs
Dreams
Smells
Energy
Music
Synchronicities
Visual Awareness
Auditory Awareness
Of course, there is much more, but that’s a start. The truth is that in order to change anything in life, one must have an awareness. However, that awareness is only scratching the surface between the physical and the spiritual. One must learn to become aware of the awareness and though that may sound rather strange, it is easier to understand it from recognition of the divine authority and power that you hold. Becoming aware of the awareness is going beyond your breathing, which is actually one of the best techniques to learn how to deal with grief and connect with your loved ones – learn how to breathe.
There is a subtle change that happens when we awaken this awareness and one begins to find that knowing the reality of spirit and divinity becomes very real. You begin to notice those subtle nuances that are manifested from the world of spirit and in that recognition you get one stage further in becoming even more aware of spirit and the power you hold.
Breakthrough In Knowing
At this juncture, you have taken a massive leap forward and experienced that spiritual breakthrough and awakening of the soul. The signs that you now experience and the interconnectedness between you and spirit means that you now know the reality of life after death. How communication and language of your divine being is a right and a divine truth – even a purpose. You now do not believe in life after death, you know there is life after death because you understand the language of the soul.
Mental Mediumship is the most common of the two basic types of mediumship that are practiced today: there are literally hundreds of thousands of competent and genuine ‘mental’ mediums throughout the world. Although a few people do have naturally inborn early experiences of their own mental mediumship during childhood (and go on to develop such mediumship in adult life), virtually everybody (if they have the desire and patience to do so) is able to develop one or more of the four main forms of mental mediumship to some degree if they train regularly, and sit with a development circle in a dedicated way under the guidance of a good teacher. This way, it is possible for any individual to develop the first signs of mental mediumship in a relatively short space of time; sometimes within weeks of starting their training – but after such a short period, they are not ready to work in a professional way.
A much longer period of development is really necessary and vital for the ‘fledgling medium’ to achieve an acceptable standard of mediumship. The role and ultimate aim of of the ISSMPI (International Society for Scientifc Mediumship and Parapsychological Investigation), is to ensure that all of our accredited mental mediums are working to the very highest possible standard.
The four main forms of mental mediumship are Clairvoyance, Clairaudience, Clairsentience and Psychometry:
Clairvoyance: Is the ability of the medium to ‘see’ spirit personalities. Sometimes the medium sees these spirit people as though they are real people, moving about in a normal and natural way. At other times, the medium might ‘see’ them on the ‘mirror of their mind’ within their head. What distinguishes this as mental mediumship, however, is the fact that only the medium sees these spirit people. Anybody else who is present does not. The medium can then verbally pass on to his or her ‘sitter’ or audience member exactly what they are seeing, by way of evidence.
Clairaudience: Is the ability of the medium to ‘hear’ what the spirit personalities are saying. This gift often goes together with clairvoyance. Sometimes the medium hears these spirit voices as though they are real and coming from another real person in the room with them – or from mid-air. At other times, the medium ‘hears’ the voices within the ‘the mirror of their mind’. The medium is the only person who hears these voices, and can pass on to their ‘sitter’ or audience member exactly what the spirit person is telling them, by way of evidence for the existence of ‘life after death’. Such a ‘message’ can provide great comfort for a bereaved friend, relative or loved one.
Clairsentience: Is the ability of the medium to ‘sense’ the presence of spirit people, and to ‘sense’ what they are saying. Again, the medium is the only person who can (through their training) sense the presence of these spirit personalities, and sense the ‘message’ from a specific spirit person that they then pass on to their ‘sitter’ who has gone to them for a ‘private’ reading, or who might receive such a message as an audience member in a Spiritualist church.
Psychometry: Is the ability of the medium (whilst holding an object associated with the ‘sitter’) to tap into the ‘energy’ contained in that object to relay its ‘history’ with regards to its owner, and previous owners. The connection the medium receives mentally from that object can often lead into the medium receiving a further clairvoyant or clairaudient ‘message’ for the ‘sitter’.
What is Physical Mediumship?
Physical Mediumship is totally different from Mental Mediumship. Firstly, it is extremely rare at the moment, with only a handful of competent and genuine physical mediums giving public demonstrations. When physical mediumship is taking place, everybody who is present is able to witness it. It is real, and it is objective. It is indeed PHYSICAL. The actual ‘evidence’ of post mortem survival, however, which can be obtained through Physical Mediumship and its spectacular phenomena, can be truly life-changing.
The two main forms of physical mediumship and physical phenomena are:
Ectoplasm-Based Mediumship
Energy-Based Mediumship
Ectoplasm-Based Physical Mediumship
Physical Mediums working in this traditional way with ectoplasm are sometimes ‘born’ mediums, although in most cases, their rare mediumship comes about only by hard work, dedication, commitment and passion to be of service to Spirit and Mankind on the part of these mediums, who are prepared to sit week in and week out in a dedicated physical home circle for many years to develop their gifts (in constant liaison and co-operation with their personal Spirit Teams). It is not unusual for the development of some physical mediums to take 10 to 15 years to fully achieve an acceptable standard that delivers superb physical ‘evidence’ of survival that can be witnessed by everyone who is present.
Not everybody can be a physical medium and work with ‘ectoplasm’. Ectoplasm itself is an elusive and fascinating substance that is produced in the body of one single medium by their Spirit Team. The ectoplasm-based physical medium is very often in deep trance whilst the substance (a living, constantly moving, pulsating mass that has been likened to a cloud of ‘cotton wool’ or ‘cheesecloth’) is extruded from the medium’s body by the ‘Spirit Chemists’ and ‘Technicians’ to be used by the Spirit Team for the production of phenomena that has many different forms. The ectoplasmic substance is easy for the expert Spirit Team to manipulate; thus producing ‘Levitation’, ‘Independent Voices’ (speaking from mid-air) and indeed ‘Full-Form Materialisation’ (eventually in lit conditions).
However, Physical Mediumship can be extremely dangerous for the medium concerned (who is often in deep trance). Each time they sit in a ‘seance’ they literally endanger their own lives, with the unpleasant possibility of a ‘sitter’ doing something stupid during the seance, such as putting on a white light, or attempting to ‘grab’ a materialization during a seance. This has caused serious injury to a number of mediums in the past, when ectoplasm has shot back into the body of a medium extremely rapidly – causing (at best) burns to the medium’s body or (at worst) severe internal injury. In some cases (such as that of materialization medium Helen Duncan), this has actually led directly to the death of the medium.
Energy Based Physical Mediumship
In the 1990’s – over a 5-year period – a newer, more modern form of Physical Mediumship and Physical Phenomena was pioneered by a dedicated group of psychic researchers (including my wife Sandra and me) in the small village of Scole (on the border of UK counties Norfolk and Suffolk). We became known as the Scole Experimental Group and, whilst working in full cooperation and liaison with a wonderful team of spirit scientists, guides and helpers, conducted experimental sessions with astonishing results that included over 1,000 hours of direct communication and spectacular physical phenomena produced without ectoplasm. The phenomena that was developed through this group was Energy-Based and the results proved to be breathtaking. This phenomena did not require a single physical medium (as in the case of ectoplasm-based phenomena), although two of the group members remained in deep trance throughout the sittings for the purpose of direct communication with the Spirit Team. However, it could be said that the ‘medium’ for the phenomena at Scole was the ‘group’ itself, since every member of the group contributed to the ‘energy’ required to produce it.
Witnessing Star Trek-styled teleportation of spirit visitors
We learned very quickly from the Spirit Team of the now famous ‘Scole Experiment’ that the technology used to produce the ‘energy-based’ phenomena was totally different from the ‘ectoplasm-based’ work. For instance, when solid (or partially solid) spirit people were present in the room, their spiritual essence (or spirit body) arrived by a process of ‘teleportation’ similar to that used in the TV programme ‘Star Trek’, and the spirit visitor was able to increase or decrease the density (solidity) of their body by mentally drawing on a reservoir of ‘creative energy’ stored in a glass dome.
Three different types of energy are blended together by the Spirit Team to produce this ‘Creative Energy’:
Energy from the Spirit World, brought by the Spirit Team
Spiritual Energy from the sitters
Natural Earth Energy that is found in columns or spirals in certain geographical locations around the earth
Importantly, this ‘energy-based’ newer way of working has several advantages over the more traditional ‘ectoplasm-based’ phenomena:
There are NO physical dangers whatsoever to the health of the mediums or sitters working with energy. If somebody does something stupid whilst phenomena is taking place, such as putting on a white light, or ‘grabbing’ a spirit person – then the phenomena simply stops.
A limitless variety of physical phenomena can be produced in this way, including ‘new’ types of physical phenomena that have never been witnessed before.
In most cases, the development of phenomena within a group working in this way is generally faster than that of ‘ectoplasm-based’ phenomena. Sometimes happens within just months as opposed to years.
Editor’s Notes:
This article was originally published in the Afterlife Magazine by The Otherside Press which has since joined the PDN family.
Attribution for Star Trek image used in the header of this article:
NBC Television, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
From time to time, we come across wonderful evidence of Spirit, most of which is familiar to us as mediums, psychics and those newly initiated to the great reality of life after death.
Mediums become accustomed to the fact that, “Yes, of course, this is real” and can, on occasion, miss the real and far-reaching impact, the total wonderment and huge effect this realization can have on a person’s life. In the sharing below, we experience the fantastic moment of the bliss that arrives when we KNOW that we do survive death and it comes with such impactful evidence that we cannot ever dispute it.
It is the wonderful gift of Spirit that takes away all fear, as in this case. The evidence cannot be contradicted, although sceptics have certainly tried in the past. If you have ‘an interest’ but feel that you have not had proper evidence, then take heart. This story is a wonderful recounting of an incident that has many values.
The evidence presented in the following story shows that when we pass over, we can see and understand the impact of our actions, their full repercussions, and how we are driven to try and fix them. In this case, the need for love and forgiveness was demonstrated (by the person in spirit) with good evidence.
This is, to my mind, as great a story as you would ever hear; a story of our times. My thanks go out to the wonderful soul who has shared this very personal account of events that are often played out with a very different ending.
Jane’s Story - Evidence of Spirit
(Image: Canva)
Has anybody experienced anything similar to this? In 2010, I experienced something that I’ll never understand; an experience I will never ever forget but also an experience that has taken away all of my previous fears and anxieties around death and dying.
Just a typical night and I took myself off to bed, got comfy and started to read my book. After around 10 minutes, I noticed a dim orb-like light to my right. I remember not really taking that much interest in it and just carried on reading. After around an hour, I turned my lamp off and lay down.
It was only around 2 minutes after turning the light off that I noticed the dim light again. So I peeked over my duvet and to my astonishment, my dad was at the bottom of my bed! I couldn’t believe that I was actually seeing my dad and remember questioning myself, was I dreaming this? But nope. I was 100% seeing him. I really wasn’t too worried by his presence, but the strange thing was that he appeared to me with no waist or legs, just him from his belly up.
I could see every pore on his face. It was so surreal. A brightness glowed around him and he looked so very young; he held his hand out to me and even though his lips never moved, I knew he wanted me to take his hand. He never smiled once whilst he was with me and I never leant forward to take his hand either. I can’t explain why I didn’t but I felt so guilty and upset when he left that I hadn’t.
Mum said there was no way Dad was dead
Eventually, I managed to fall sleep and the first thing I did the next morning was call my mum who lived in France at the time. I told her about my experience of seeing dad standing at the bottom of my bed and at the same time, I told her that my dad must be dead! My mum told me that there was no way my dad would be dead, the reason being, my mum and dad divorced when I was 11 years old. Poor mum found out he was having an affair with another woman and he would stay with this other woman till the day he died.
Dad was never a good dad; mum said they married too young and that he worked all day and spent all night in the local pub. This upset mum, as he often came home in a state, never took any interest in family life at all, never gave her a penny and my sister and I were almost non-existent to him.
Mum said he wouldn’t have died because she had always kept in touch with a member of his family and each year they sent each other a Christmas card and would write the occasional letter to each other too. She told me, “If your dad was very poorly or had even died then I’d have been contacted.” She said she had always asked about my dad and was always told he was well.
Dad’s new wife didn’t want me around
I tried for years to be in his life and thought that when he remarried, I’d be accepted more. The woman he married was Scottish and already had five girls from her previous marriage, so I thought I’d fit in fine. But I didn’t because dad’s new wife didn’t want me around for fear of dad returning to mum one day. Well, that’s what I believed the reason to be – fat chance of that ever happening. Dad’s new wife was an absolute bitch! I never received a birthday card, nor a Christmas card ever, and after years of trying, I decided it was time to let go. I eventually gave up, but thought about him often, with a tear in my eye.
Anyway, getting back to where I left off, after speaking with mum about my experience with dad, I thought she was more than likely going to be right, so I just brushed it off and tried to forget it ever happened. I went to bed the next night but nothing out of the ordinary occurred, although I actually whispered to him in my mind as I so wanted him to appear to me again. I missed him and wished I’d taken hold of his hand.
View from the Isle of Cumbrae
dan kearney, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
My second visitation from dad
I had an invite to my sister’s place for tea, so went along with my hubby but never mentioned anything about seeing dad. My sister’s husband said he’d got something for me; turned out to be a brochure-like magazine relating to Scotland, not that I’d ever visited Scotland. I was a little intrigued as to why he’d be giving me this and when I asked why, he replied, “I thought you’d be interested as it mentions a few historical places.” And he knew I loved history.
I remember opening up the magazine somewhere towards the middle and for some odd reason I felt a really strong connection to the island that appeared on that page. It was Cumbrae, on the Ayrshire coast of Scotland. The feeling was so strong that I turned the mag around and told everyone to look at how beautiful it was. I even told them I felt a really uncanny connection to the place and that I needed to go! They just laughed.
Five days after dad’s visitation, it got to night time again so I retired to bed. Again, nothing unusual, just the same. Got cosy and read my book. I must have been reading for near on an hour when I suddenly felt I wasn’t alone, but I never experienced a bright light. I looked around but couldn’t see anything unusual. I just had this feeling of being watched. Then I put my book down and turned off my lamp.
As I lay there for about 15 or so minutes, I felt the need to look towards the bottom of my bed and omg! Dad was stood their again. I immediately sat up. He looked exactly the same as five nights previous and he held his hand out to me again, only this time, I leant forward and held his hand. I looked on as his hand grasped mine, but felt nothing. I looked at him and he was smiling, and within seconds he was gone! My heart was absolutely broken. I cried myself to sleep but I knew for sure my dad was telling me he had died.
The next morning, I got back on the phone straight away to mum and told her that my dad was dead and that he’d visited me again. I couldn’t stop crying and she said, “Let me go, Jane, as I’m going to ring your Auntie Pat.” She was my dad’s adopted sister and the family member mum had always kept in touch with.
The last time I saw my dad was 1992, when I was 26 and married with two children. He never bothered with either of them, yet in 1991, whilst living around 30 miles away from dad, my youngest child became very poorly and was rushed to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool.
Me and my hubby stayed at the hospital and one morning on arriving at my daughter’s ward, I was astonished to see my dad sat by her bedside. He saw us approach and left in the other direction. I shouted over to him but he never turned around. I’d never done anything to this man. I just wanted to be loved by him and to be part of his life but it wasn’t to be.
The uncanny Cumbrae connection
The telephone rang and I knew it would be mum calling, so I quickly grabbed it. I immediately asked if she’d managed to contact Auntie Pat and her reply was, “You were right Jane, your dad passed away on 18th February 2007”.
So I had for sure received a visit from my dad not once, but twice! Mum also told me that she had strong words with Auntie Pat over the phone and told her how utterly disgusted and upset she was that she had not contacted her over his death back in 2007. She also asked how she could have written back in past letters stating that he was well, when all along he’d been dead for the last 3 years!
Mum said that for the entire time she ranted down the phone to Auntie Pat, there was just silence, until she told her to at least tell her where he was buried, so then at least her girls could go and pay their respects to their dad. “The thing is, Linda,” came the reply, “he’s not buried, he’s cremated. But his body isn’t close enough for the girls to visit as his wishes were to have his ashes scattered on the Island of Cumbrae, Ayrshire in Scotland.”
Omg! Omg ! The magazine, the connection I felt with this Island of Cumbrae; an island I never knew existed but felt such tremendous connection with because it was my dad’s final resting place. He found a way to contact me to let me know of his passing, something his wife should have done, and Auntie Pat. But they chose not too and I cannot forgive them for that; even my mum cut ties with Auntie Pat because in her eyes, what she did was so unforgivable.
It’ll be like finding a needle in a haystack
Although he was never around for me, he’s still my dad and always will be. I love him very much and I’m happy he came to let me know he had passed, as that proves to me his love and I know wholeheartedly that he’s sorry for the past because I just get that feeling. I’ve never seen him since that second visit but know he’s around very often.
This experience wasn’t a dream. This experience was real and has taken all the fear out of dying. I know there is more to come after this life because since my two visitations from my dad, I’ve had a few more experiences that didn’t involve seeing him.
I’ve also since been up to Scotland and took a short ferry ride over to the island with my hubby. That in itself was very odd as I had no idea where dad was resting. Auntie Pat had only told mum he was on the island. Once I’d driven off the ferry, I turned left, which took us down to the beach.
It was so very quiet, not a soul to be seen and my hubby said there was no way I’d find my dads resting place. He got out of the car to ask someone in a local shop if they had any idea where most of the resting places were to be found, but they didn’t know. They just told my hubby, “It’ll be like finding a needle in a haystack.”
(Image: Canva)
As we turned the car around to go the other way, a lone bagpiper came off the beach playing the bagpipes. It was so odd because nobody was around except for me and the hubby. We sat and listened as he played, and I just cried. Then we carried on and after travelling for around two miles, I abruptly said to my hubby, “STOP! He’s here.”
There were stone steps to my right and I felt he was at the top of those steps. My hubby said to me, “You’re mad, Jane”, but I got out and once I reached the top, there he was. I found him. The feeling was so overwhelming. There I was, finally with my dad and at peace with myself.
Leo Bonomo’s Response to Jane’s Story
This is a fantastic, beautiful story that mediums are very familiar with. Your Dad had given you clues to his passing at a time when you were open, and guided you to the very spot he was laid to rest. Not only that, he has acknowledged that he had wronged you and wanted your forgiveness which you had given him. He was aware of your regret and persistent enough to come back and try again, giving you the encouragement you needed. I think it is a wonderful thing. I, myself, have given evidence of a need to forgive someone who has passed but sometimes, such terrible things have been done, that people are still unwilling to forgive.
When we experience something like this, it is a forceful awakening to the ‘real life,’ that the personality survives death. Death is only of the body, the gross material we have created for our means, that is all. You have been blessed and your Dad has given you the greatest gift anyone could ever give.
Evidence that we are eternal
The realisation that we are eternal, the realisation that death is nothing to fear, that we do survive and that ‘we shall meet again’, I am so very sure that this story will encourage so many others who may not yet have found that comfort you have and are experiencing. While you have shared this, I do not think you have realised the full impact it will have on others.
There is a reason you have shared beyond what you know with great evidence, too. Thank you for sharing this light, love and experience for all to share. It is wonderfully touching.
From Hobbit-like ‘Beaker People’ to ancient guardian giants
There was once apparently a time when giants strode England’s green and pleasant land; actual behemoths, not simply lanky folk, especially when they’re compared to the swarthy, furtive, hobbit-like, and meanly acquisitive Basque-descended ‘Beaker People’ of the time - who to this very day, constitute a fair percentage of the country’s indigenous population. Quite obvious when one wanders down the streets of many an English burgh, where these shuffling, unwashed, gimlet-eyed figures are common.
Gog and Magog: The Giants in Guildhall (1859)
Frederick William Fairholt (1814 – 3 April 1866), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
You want further proof? Aye, our ancestors were not Celts, Anglo-Saxons, Picts, Vikings or Normans, but Basques from Northern Spain:
There are few, if any contemporary sightings of giants in the UK; aside from Northern Ireland, where genetically mutated AIP-gene* ogres still abide in Sperrin mountains of Mid-Ulster, some of their forbears having reached 7ft 6in tall.
*AIP - Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Interacting Protein. Gene which causes pituitary adenomas in some families with acromegaly (a rare disorder that occurs when the pituitary gland produces too much growth hormone after the skeleton has finished growing) and occasionally prolactinomas (noncancerous (benign) pituitary tumors that produce a hormone called prolactin, that triggers breast milk production), and very rarely with other types of pituitary adenomas.
Patrick Murphy (1834–1862), from Ulster’s County Down was a fairground performer, possibly the tallest person ever recorded at 8 feet 1 inch.
Patrick Murphy, the Irish Giant (1857)
See page for author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Legendary Giants
But in England, the giants are (mainly) the stuff of legend, figures such as Avon-Gorge creating brothers Goram and Vincent (Bristol),28ft tall Jack o' Legs (Hertfordshire, some factual basis - perhaps), Blunderbore, Cormoran, two-headed Thunderdell (all Cornish), Ascapart (Hampshire), Colbrand (Winchester), the Penhill Giant (Yorkshire), William of Lindholme (Doncaster, also Yorkshire) and Yernagate (The New Forest).
No doubt there are other Welsh, Scotch and Irish (as we have seen) giants, but for the purpose of this investigation, I will concentrate on English - and more specifically London leviathans.
Sculpture of Goram the Giant in the grounds of Ashton Court
BristolIcarus, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
David Lowery’s excellent The Green Knight (2021) contains a very evocative scene where a questing Sir Gawain (Dev Patel) encounters a group of giants:
Gog and Magog: London’s Protectors
The names first appear in the Old Testament's Book of Ezekiel. Gog is a landowner and Magog is the land’s name. In Revelation, they become one single being — representing the hostile nations of the world.
In London lore, Gog and Magog (or possibly Magog and Cornelius) were supposedly the gigantic product of the thirty-three naughty daughters of Roman emperor Diocletian (242/245 – 311/312 AD) and the demonic imps they'd been enjoying frantic carnal congress with.
When Brutus (not that one) founded ‘New Troy’ (which would later become London), he brought to heel the pair, indenturing them as guardians of the city, chaining them on leads outside his palace, which is now the venerable London Guildhall.
Gog and Magog live on
Nonsense? Probably. But the legend lived on, with the two fearsome colossi continuing on as the city's guardians. Effigies appeared at the coronation of Elizabeth I in 1558 and made recorded appearances at the Lord Mayor's Show over the years preceding the enthronement.
The custom of carrying effigies and images such as Gog and Magog at festivals is a hangover from the good old days of human sacrifice, when the victim was replaced with a symbolic representation. The custom of carrying figures at festivals was common during the Middle Ages in England and the giants of myth were among them. Just 20 miles up the road in Hertfordshire, there is an annual St Albans Pilgrimage, where ‘12ft tall carnival puppets, representing figures from the story of St Alban, take to the streets to re-enact his historic story. The puppets are accompanied by people of all ages dressed as lions, Roman soldiers, angels, chariots and more.’ (Source: St Albans Cathedral website)
Made by the Worshipful Company of Basketmakers, wicker figures of Gog and Magog are the latest incarnation to take part of the London Mayors Parade and have been part of the show since the reign of Henry V.
From 1839 until the late 1920s, figures of the two were displayed at the front of Sir John Bennett's Clock Shop on Cheapside. Bizarrely though, they now live in the Henry Ford Museum in Michigan.
Other Gog and Magog statues have been in Guildhall for centuries; the current ones date from 1954, replacing 18th century statues destroyed in the blitz, which in turn, replaced the wicker and paste 17th century ones, which were eaten by rodents. A still earlier set were burnt in the Great Fire in 1666.
Charles Dickens describes statues coming to life
Cheeky Cockney kids were told to behave otherwise the pair would eat them for supper; Charles Dickens in Master Humphrey's Clock describes the statues coming to life and necking large quantities of wine.
‘The statues of the two giants, Gog and Magog, each above fourteen feet in height, those which succeeded to still older and more barbarous figures, after the Great Fire of London, and which stand in the Guildhall to this day, were endowed with life and motion. These guardian genii of the City had quitted their pedestals, and reclined in easy attitudes in the great stained glass window. Between them was an ancient cask, which seemed to be full of wine; for the younger Giant, clapping his huge hand upon it, and throwing up his mighty leg, burst into an exulting laugh, which reverberated through the hall like thunder.’
Earliest surviving representations in the UK - Possibly
Figures of the duo are also to found at the church of St Dunstan-in-the-West; the statues are, I believe the earliest surviving representations in the UK, dating from the 14th century. Probably, unless they are instead of Old King Lud, flanked by his two sons Androgeus and Theomantius. They previously were mounted at Ludgate, until it was dismantled in the 18th century, finding a new home within their niche at St Dunstan-in-the-West.
The Fleet Street frontage is noted for its clock where definitely Gog and Magog beat the hourly bell with their clubs.
The Biblical take on the names:
I loved this as a kid:
The Selfish Giant (1971)
Stephen Arnell’s novel THE GREAT ONE is available on Amazon Kindle:
When we speak of the birth of spiritualism, we often think of the Fox sisters as the start of the spiritualist movement, and tend to forget that both spiritualism and mediumship, have their roots in the dawn of mankind.
“The Witch of Endor Calling Up the Spirit of the Prophet Samuel” Painting by Nikolai Ge, 1857
Nikolai Ge, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
There are many accounts of mediums within the world religions. A prime example of an early séance, the Hebrew Bible tells of the Witch of Endor, a medium who apparently brought forth the Prophet Samuel’s spirit in her home at the behest of King Saul of the Kingdom of Israel (I Samuel 28:3–25). Even now, scholars argue that Moses was a medium who had the ability of automatic writing in connection to the Ten Commandments. These small examples remind us that mediumship and spiritualism are deeply rooted in the history of mankind. With that long history in mind, we must consider the Fox sisters as the birth of Modern Spiritualism and the spiritualist organizations that exist today, rather than spiritualism as a whole.
Solutions to a Common Problem in Spiritualism
When I first came into mediumship in the spiritualist church, I did attend development circles, but I felt something was not right, especially after being taken onto the rostrum by a medium far too soon, which I now find is an ongoing occurrence within the movement today. Although I could not put my finger on it at the time, I realize now that with the lack of good mentors, teachers, and development circles, I faced a lack of knowledge around the subject that I needed.
So I decided to do what many of our great pioneers did in the past and find the right direction with spirit via the old ways. This incorporated setting aside time to study, read and research – especially the many great literary works that were written by Maurice Barbanell through his guide Silver Birch; Ivy Northage and Chan; and Arthur Findley. And the list goes on.
The time and effort required for self-development, unfolding and understanding ourselves and the spiritual side of self also seems to be a forgotten part of mediumship development. Gordon Higginson once said: “Development should be split into three areas: theory, getting to know one’s self, and then the spirit world.” It takes time, effort and discipline to nurture such qualities. This should be pointed out by all tutors to their students.
Our Home Circle put so much time and effort into this when we developed Trance and Physical mediumship. Sitting with spirit and sitting to build the energy, is not carried out by many within the movement or not relayed by tutors to their students. Attending Open Circles – not just at your regular church or center but further afield – is important for your development because it is within these groups that you gain valuable experience by working in a different environment.
We have personal responsibility to other people, ourselves, and of course spirit.
“Newisms,” Practices, and Rituals in Spiritualism
The teachings that were once presented by many mediums of the past have now either been forgotten or watered down to the point that true mediumship is but a shadow of its former self. Stardom and fame seems, to many, more important than proving the continuation of life through concrete evidence.
I am seeing that, instead of evidence, time and time again counseling is being offered during demonstrations by mediums who usually have little or no knowledge around this area.
But look also how we have brought into mediumship what my team called “newisms” – or in layman’s terms, new age practices and rituals. Look at the mediums of the past and you will find that things such as grounding, chakras and protection were never mentioned. Yet these are being taught in many development groups. Chakras are connected to Eastern practices and especially Reiki. The term grounding just means bringing yourself back from the spiritual side of your work to your physical life which can be achieved by participating in normal every-day activities, such as spending time in nature, housework, going out with friends, to name a few.
Evil Spirits or Just Negative Energy?
One area which seems to cause a lot of controversy is the “new-age” idea of protection. But what are we truly protecting ourselves from? Being a highly-advanced species, the question is, why would we revert to bygone practices created by mankind during their infancy of evolution?
Of course the finger of suspicion can be pointed at orthodox religion which created evil, demons and hell. But can it not be argued that we make our own heaven and hell here on the physical plane? We talk about spiritualism being a religion? This comes once again from man and not spirit. In fact, Silver Birch – speaking to us from spirit – states “Spiritualism means nothing in the spirit world for it is but a name.”
Religion, Science and Spirituality
Look at how new age practices have ingrained themselves into mediumship. They have nothing to do with mediumship and the development of individuals, and should be kept separate. Many great spiritualists were scientists and carried out some amazing and fantastic work around the whole subject, such as Sir William Crookes, Sir Oliver Lodge, and Arthur Findley. But the scientific research in spiritualism is not highlighted like it once was. For example, the great scientific work over a five year period by Arthur Findley with John Campbell Sloan (Where Two Worlds Meet) brought so much information to the forefront in regards to spirit and the spirit world, why is work like that not being taught, not being emphasized, and worst of all, not continuing?
If we were to look at the spirit world through science instead of religion, we would start to understand more about energy. Like electricity, which is energy, there is a positive and a negative. Our actions, thoughts, and words create a vibration or energy. If we are positive in such things we create a larger amount of positive energy, and vice-versa when we are negative in such actions. These negative energies can be picked up by sensitives and mediums, but problems can arise where some see this as a negative or evil spirit. Negative energy can often be felt in buildings where some traumatic past event occurred and it is really easy to disperse by counter-acting this energy with positive energy.
In 1947, John Butler wrote in his book Exploring the Psychic World:
“Many people were aware of the existence of Spiritualism even before it was generally discovered, but they could not explain it scientifically. Now, however, with our deeper knowledge of the constitution of matter and our increasing knowledge of energy, wavelengths, and vibrations, we can, in the main, do so. We can show that the claims of Spiritualists are more and more confirmed by every advance in our knowledge concerning the nature of matter.”
If you walk into many spiritualist churches and centers, you find that crosses, Bibles and other Christian artifacts adorn the walls. We have adopted Christian scriptures and hymns. Not to mention the new trend where some people wear Christian uniforms such as dog collars and vestments. We are seeing the spiritualist movement following the same path as the Christian Church, branching off into sub-groups and following Christian ideology or their own ideology.
Too often now within mediumship, it comes down to money, stardom, and fame. We no longer explore the spiritual nature of ourselves, nor take the time to spend with those who work with us from the spirit world, those invisible friends who never judge us and who unconditionally love us at all times.
Returning to Our Roots
Let us get back to how spiritualism and mediumship were first presented to us in their simplest and purest form. We just need to remember that it is about Dedication, Discipline, Commitment and Perseverance which were the words spirit gave to me when I first started. There was a line in an old book about spiritualism I will never forget: “Spiritualism is not a religion, it is a discovery of an actual fact in nature. Like other facts in nature, it always existed and operated, even before it was discovered.” (John Butler, Exploring the Psychic World)
