Mediumship

A Guide to the Basics

What is Mediumship?

The following content is from sherylwagnermedium.com website/blog published online on 11/11/2022 ** Pick what is most important and write aspects of content in my own words Mediumship is the communication between Spirits of the deceased and those who are still living. As a Psychic Medium, I will communicate with those who have passed to the spirit world through seeing, feeling, hearing, and knowing and act as a bridge between the spirit world and this world. My goal is to deliver messages and evidence to my clients that their loved ones are very much alive and present in their lives. Mediumship became popular in the 19th-century after the rise of the religious movement of Spiritualism in the UK. Spiritualists believe the each of us has a Spirit that lives on in the afterlife to progress and evolve and that the Spirits of the deceased wish to communicate with the living. In the United States, Modern Spiritualism is said to have begun from practices and lectures of the Fox sisters in New York in 1851. From there, cultural popularity began to rise through seances and ouija boards, with Hollywood portraying mediumship as a source for entertainment. Today in the U.S., mediumship is more closely linked to the wellness industry and the practice is used as a healing modality to bring peace and comfort to the grieving or those who are looking for life guidance. Most Mediums today are not concerned with the entertainment value of what they do and are focused on the healing and well-being of their clients. The majority of those seeking a mediumship reading have some spiritual beliefs. A recent survey by the Pew Research Center found that overall, roughly 6 in 10 American adults accept at least one of these New Age beliefs: reincarnation, astrology, psychics and the presence of spiritual energy in physical objects like mountains or trees. Specifically, 4 in 10 believe in psychics and that spiritual energy can be found in physical objects, while somewhat smaller shares express belief in reincarnation (33%) and astrology (29%). What are the different types of Mediums? The spiritual community is vast with practitioners from all cultures and varying beliefs systems. Some common types of Mediums that serve the public today are Evidential Mediums, Animal Communicators, and Trance Mediums, to name a few. Evidential Mediumship Often referred to as a Psychic Medium, Intuitive Medium or Spirit Medium, Evidential Mediums will offer evidence to clients of their passed loved ones to provide evidence that they continue to live on and be part of their lives here on the Earth plane. Animal Communicator Someone who specializes in animal communication will typically be able to communicate with both living animals and pets that have passed. Many Evidential Mediums will also communicate with animals, it is common for me to connect with all types of animals in my sessions with clients. If you are interested in connecting to pets you’ve lost, be sure to ask the Medium you're thinking about working with if connecting with pets is a specialty of theirs. Trance Mediumship A Trance Medium is less common and refers to a Medium who is so blended with a Spirit Person, typically their Spirit Guide, that their guide may provide healing or speak through them. This type of mediumship is perhaps the most misunderstood and is often portrayed in Hollywood more as possession where the person acting as a Medium has no control or recollection of their actions. This often comes across as frightening or ridiculous. Genuine trance mediumship is a beautiful blending of the Medium and their guide to share healing and wisdom with their recipients. This type of mediumship takes years of practice to achieve authenticity and many Mediums practice solely for the benefit of having a closer relationship with the Spirit World. Mental Mediumship Mental mediumship is communication to spirits through the mind of the medium. Much like evidential mediumship, the medium will blend their mind with that of the spirit communication to relay evidence and messages to their loved ones that are still here on the earth plane. Many people use this term to differentiate mental mediumship and emphasize it’s conversation like nature from trance mediumship or physical mediumship. I dislike the term mental mediumship and feel it’s not accurate because this type of mediumship although it may seem “mental” is an expression of the soul and mediums actually work very hard to keep their conscious mind from interfering in their mediumship. The term evidential mediumship or psychic mediumship I find much more helpful in explaining how I work. Physical Mediumship Physical mediumship is a rare type of mediumship and is often defined by changes that occur in our physical environment brought by communication with the spirit world. These changes may be a hot or cold feeling in the room, apparitions appearing, objects being moved, or in some cases may take the form of automatic writing in which the medium’s writing is controlled by a spirit communicator. There are also forms of automatic writing which are not physical mediumship, but more an influence of the spirit communicator or influence of the medium's soul. Direct Voice Mediumship Direct voice is another rare type of physical mediumship that gained popularity in the 1850’s with the rise of the spiritualists movement. Typically at a seance a highly trained trance medium would sit and at times the voices of the deceased could be heard by attendees of the seance. Oftentimes the medium would use a trumpet (a cone made of heavy paper or metal used in physical mediumship) and this was meant to amplify the sound. Channeling Channeling can have different meanings but typically refers to the blending of someone here on the earth plane with a divine being, energy, or Spirit Guide. Many creative people report feeling as though they are channeling or being influenced by a higher power when they are in the flow of creating artistically. Being open to channel means being open to the influence of a higher power and welcoming that influence into your space. Seance Tables Seances became popular in the 19th century in the United States and the Uk as a way to contact the deceased. Mediums would host small gatherings, usually in their homes and sometimes sit around a seance table to ask the dead questions. Seance tables often have three legs or some type or pointer to answer questions. In the case of table tipping everyone present (typically 6 or less participants) puts their hands on the table as contact is made with the spirit communicator. The spirit world is then able to use everyone's energy to move the table to spell out answers, messages, or answer yes or no questions. Because of the human factor, this type of mediumship can be less reliable in its evidence although there are some ethical practitioners of table tipping today. Ouija Boards Ouija boards originate from early spiritualists' use of spirit boards which were often used during home seances to contact deceased loved ones or Spirit Guides. The first ouija boards were sold in novelty shops as a harmless game or way to contact the deceased. Hollywood has propagandized ouija boards as evil or dangerous in modern times and many people fear them. While most Mediums I know do not use or fear ouija Boards many people would liken using them to using a board game or toy to facilitate spirit communication. There are spirit boards that are made with intention and used in spirit communication today in a much more intentional and loving way that Hollywood depicts.