Mental & Physical Mediumship
Explained
A Medium is an individual who claims to have the ability to receive or channel messages from spirits, ghosts, or other discorporate entities. There are many various forms of mediumship catagorised into two groups - Mental & Physical.
Mental Mediumship
Mental mediumship is the most common form of mediumship practised. A demonstration of mediumship at a Spiritualist Church is likely to be a form of mental mediumship. Mediums see, hear or sense spirit and relay the information to the sitter. Mental working mediums can operate in a fully conscious state in which they are in control of their words and actions. There are many different approaches to mental mediumship which include:
Clairvoyance - Seeing
Clairvoyance is the psychic ability or power to see objects, visions or to gain information regardless of its distance. The visions may also be relating to the past or future.
Clairaudience - Hearing
Clairaudience is perception of messages in thought forms from an entity that exists in another realm. You 'hear' what they are saying in in your mind. There is no audible voice.
Clairsentience - Sensing
Clairsentience is having the ability to ‘know’ information without the experience of seeing or hearing. It is an ability traditionally known as intuition or 'gut feeling'.
Clairalience - Smell
Clairalience is having the ability to experience distinct smells that others may not experience within the room. It is validation of smell by association with the spirit before they passed away.
Clairambience - Taste
The ability to use the sense of taste to receive a message from the communicating spirit. This is commonly experienced in conjunction with Clairalience (smelling).
Trance
Working in various degrees of trance, where a spirit speaks through the Medium. In most cases the trance state is light enough for the medium to remain conscious of what is being said through his/her vocal cords.
Psychic Walk/ Remote Viewing
This phenomenon involves a belief in the projection of consciousness to remote locations. It has similarities with Astral Projection which is an out of body experience. Any information can be gained by the visualisation of leaving the physical body. The Psychic Walk or Remote Viewing is then undertaken by using the consciousness to obtain information on a psychic level.
Automatic Writing
Automatic writing is the process of writing something that does not come from the consciousness. The hand writes the message by itself, and the person has no idea what it is going to write. It is sometimes practiced in a trance state.
Psychometry
Psychometry involves the reading of an object’s history by handling it. It appears the object acts as a link between the medium and spirit. An alternative view is that the object somehow records impressions from its owner and events in its history.
Psychic Artist
Psychic Artists are able to sketch or paint people in the spirit world who are then recognised by the sitter. Psychic artists usually accompany their drawings with some information about the subject drawn.
Physical Mediumship
Physical mediumship demonstrates the reality of spirit through the production of various physical phenomena. Now a very rare phenomena, Physical mediumship was common during the Victorian era. Physical mediumship can take more time and patience to practice. The conditions have to be right for spirit to appear in whatever form. The energy used by spirit is a lot greater in this form of communication than with mental mediumship. Again there are many different approaches to Physical mediumship including:
Ectoplasm
Ectoplasm is said to be an energy matter taken from the mediums body. It is extruded from the medium through any opening, very often through the mouth, ears or nostrils. It is a seemingly life like substance, solid or vaporous in nature and can be transformed into visual limbs, faces and even entire bodies of spirits. Ectoplasm can be created in different forms. It can appear to be milky white in colour, be visible and invisible. It can be drawn from the medium, sitters or even materials in the room - for example clothes, carpets or furniture. It is believed that if a spirit suddenly appears to a person with no medium present, the vision is made possible from ectoplasm drawn directly from the room. Ectoplasm is now a rare phenomena demonstrated amongst mediums.
Transfiguration
A transfiguration medium has a 'mask' of ectoplasm formed over or just in front of their face. This may be moulded into a face of a spirit person that should be recognised by a person present within the séance.
Materialisation
This is reportedly one of the most controversial of physical mediumship. As with transfiguration, materialisation can occur with the use of ectoplasm from the medium. A link appears to be formed between the medium and the materialised spirit person which is likened to an umbilical cord. The ectoplasm is said to be continually fed through the chord until the spirit dematerialises. Materialisation involves the communicating spirit appearing in physical form allowing physical contact with the sitters. Materialisation has also been reported as an invisible form only known when ‘touched’ by the communicating spirit - examples being; tapped on the shoulder, holding your hand or being pushed, the sense of the physical but yet invisible, hence the controversy surrounding this subject.
Levitation
Levitation is the movement of objects without normal means of support. This can be done by either psychokinetic (pk) energy (telekinesis) or by the use of ectoplasm.
Apports
Apports are reported to be materialised objects produced by mediums during séances. The objects vary in size, are both inanimate and animate, and seem to suffer no ill effects from their strange mode of travel. The behaviour of the objects varies from flying through the air, to hitting the sitters in their faces, to landing on the table or in people's laps.
Direct Voice Phenomena (DVP)
Direct Voice is a rare form of psychic phenomenon. It is the hearing of voices spoken during a séance. The Direct Voice is not the voice of the Medium or of any of the sitters. The voices can be heard coming from near the Medium or out of a megaphone known as a horn or trumpet. The voices are heard from the air within or around the circle during a séance (see Independent Voice).
What follows next is an extract of a Paranormal Investigators report of a Medium at work with Direct Voice Phenomena.
6 January 1909.
The Medium does not fall into a trance. She often joins in the conversation between the sitter and her spirit visitor. As a Paranormal Investigator I am puzzled to know what she has to do with the manifestations, all I am really sure about is that her presence is essential. The phenomenon that occurs is Direct Voice, the voice of a spirit through a trumpet. The trumpet is placed upright on the floor between the medium and the sitter. Softly spoken voices are heard when placing your ear by the small end of the trumpet although voices can be as loud as any mortal. The operation is like communicating with a relative or friend through a long-distance telephone.’
Independent Voice
Independent Voice is a phenomenon where voices are heard from the air within or around the circle during a séance. It is believed that a ectoplasmic voice box is created. The difference between Independent Voice and Direct Voice is the use of a horn or trumpet which is not needed for this form of communication.
Audible Phenomena
A common form of phenomena which is the communication of spirit through knocks, raps, and taps. It is a natural progression when knocks are heard for the communication to begin although ‘rules’ should be set out for a spirit to communicate. For example one knock for No and two knocks for Yes. It is certainly the most simplest form of communication with spirit and is often practised in addition with table tapping/tilting.
'I did not say it was possible, I said it happened.'
Sir William Crookes