Hello

Good evening all,
Where do I start... I've joined this forum because in light of recent events I feel I need to know more about medium-ship, I'm curious.
Before I post again I have a serious question to ask, I've read about people able to receive readings via post or an forum such as this? - is this possible? or is this something to avoid.
I'm sorry if I sound like I'm quizzing,I'll give more of an introduction soon..Please be patient with me.

Hi Bluebird and welcome

Hi Bluebird
Which route you take depends perhaps on what your objectives are. You may have to look for quite a while before you get good personal evidence of survival. On the other hand you may be lucky and find a good medium quickly. There are other ways to get evidence of survival and build up a reasonable level of understanding on the way to your own personal conviction if you are prepared to do some research/reading.

Personally I'd be surprised if you got any real personal evidence on a forum. You might via email from a good medium but I suspect you'd be very lucky if you did - not least because there don't appear to be many and the ones that are any good are hard to find and harder to access through this route IMHO.If you decide to try it out via email or a forum be prepared to be disappointed many times unless you manage to find a good medium online (if you do,please let me know!).

On the other hand, you could find this forum a great way to access a lot of useful information on the subect as one or two posters have significant experience.

Thank you for your welcome. The thing is I went to see a medium over the weekend but its left me feeling confused and a little unsettled.

How so?

Well, on Saturday we, that is my mother, brother and I had two readings , one together and one individually, we had these sittings taped because obviously you don't remember everything thats been said throughout.
Now the first reading (all together was accurate) in that my maternal grandparents came through, much to my surprise.This wasn't the reading that bothered me, my individual one did. You see, I saw the same medium as my mum apparently and straight after she'd seen her so I felt as though the reading was perhaps a little biased? She did things like ask me my star sign and then told me a load of typical "leo traits" to which even my family agree I don't fit. Like being the centre of attention etc- I'm shy!

She said my father came through, but there have been a few significant events in my life since his passing and there wasn't a word of congratulations or even an acknowledgement?- this part doesn't sound like my dad.
During the reading she said my dad used to sing to me when I was little, which he did (but there wasn't any evidence such as the song he sang), she got the part about his sense of humour right and she mentioned walking by water with my dad and a dog, which I did.She also mentioned dog spirits which also fits.
In both readings the mediums said I sense things, which sometimes I do.
I felt okay on saturday about the reading but in the last couple of days I've started to feel really down,sad. I feel completely and utter lost with this...

bluebird wrote:Well, on Saturday we, that is my mother, brother and I had two readings , one together and one individually, we had these sittings taped because obviously you don't remember everything thats been said throughout.
Now the first reading (all together was accurate) in that my maternal grandparents came through, much to my surprise.This wasn't the reading that bothered me, my individual one did. You see, I saw the same medium as my mum apparently and straight after she'd seen her so I felt as though the reading was perhaps a little biased? She did things like ask me my star sign and then told me a load of typical "leo traits" to which even my family agree I don't fit. Like being the centre of attention etc- I'm shy!

She said my father came through, but there have been a few significant events in my life since his passing and there wasn't a word of congratulations or even an acknowledgement?- this part doesn't sound like my dad.
During the reading she said my dad used to sing to me when I was little, which he did (but there wasn't any evidence such as the song he sang), she got the part about his sense of humour right and she mentioned walking by water with my dad and a dog, which I did.She also mentioned dog spirits which also fits.
In both readings the mediums said I sense things, which sometimes I do.
I felt okay on saturday about the reading but in the last couple of days I've started to feel really down,sad. I feel completely and utter lost with this...

From what you state above there doesn't appear to be a scrap of survival evidence.

What has astrology got to with it?

Personally, I wouldn't take any notice of it whatever.

Thank you.
The other medium that we attended together was much better and very accurate. Not only that but during my brothers private reading with another medium a dog in the spirit world was mentioned. She described him and named him - all correct.

Bluebird
You can trust Zerdini's advice - he has a great deal of experience. It is good that you have had some positive experiences and it was a good idea to record the session. The key word you and Zerdini have used is "evidence". There seem to be quite a few people who claim to be mediums and mix astrology and goodness knows what else up with it. The bottom line it seems to me is what is the actual evidence that they are what they claim to be and that messages are from who the medium says they are from. Assessing evidence is not always the easiest task but it becomes easier with practice and an open mind.

It is sometimes difficult to assess the value of what is being said (or lack of it) in the middle of a sitting or reading. On the positive side, there is a great deal of evidence through mediums over the last 150 years or so that we survive, on the downside, the number of people able to provide good personal evidence now seems to be small.

Having said that even the best mediums of proven ability had bad days too.

Thanks. I must admit I was disappointed in my individual reading I didn't want a fortune type reading, what I wanted was spiritual. Thinking carefully there is something she said that I cannot explain. She asked "whose is the red car", I replied we (meaning my family) own a red car. She then said "i'm not saying you're going to have a smash, but have you had some problems with it? the steering, brakes or maybe gear box- something like that?" I replied that we had problems the previous week with the clutch. She asked if it had been fixed, which I replied yes. I can't explain how she'd know that? It wasn't on my mums reading either, she played it for me..

That's a question really isn't it? Your answering a question she isn't telling you. Many people own a red car and how many people have problems with it? I know I have problems with mine all the time (its black tho lol). At best it may be an element of psychic reading which isn't mediumship really IMHO.

Thanks I think you're right. All of you really have made me feel better and I want to thank you for your input. I think If I decide to have a reading in the future I'll look into it more.

It might be worth doing a bit of reading around the subject so you know what is possible.

bluebird wrote:Thanks. I must admit I was disappointed in my individual reading I didn't want a fortune type reading, what I wanted was spiritual. Thinking carefully there is something she said that I cannot explain. She asked "whose is the red car", I replied we (meaning my family) own a red car. She then said "i'm not saying you're going to have a smash, but have you had some problems with it? the steering, brakes or maybe gear box- something like that?" I replied that we had problems the previous week with the clutch. She asked if it had been fixed, which I replied yes. I can't explain how she'd know that? It wasn't on my mums reading either, she played it for me..

That sort of statement is typical of a psychic reading - it has nothing to do with the spirit world nor is it evidence of survival.

This is what I mean by evidence of survival:

Here are some verbatim snippets of Helen Hughes's remarkable clairaudiently-received spirit messages, which she delivered in the late 1930s:

Pointing to a woman in the auditorium, Helen began:

Helen: Is your name Nellie?

Recipient: Yes

Helen: Well, then, you knew a Mr Bramwell; and I have to tell you that Mr Bramwell is here and he's brought Harry and Mrs Wilson. She says she's all right now, and thanks you for what you did for her. She suffered from a weak heart. She tells me that your name is Boynton.

Recipient: Correct.

For another recipient, Helen Hughes received a message "from someone called Eva, who was a musician." She then singled out a woman in the crowd and added: "You are Eva's mother. She played the piano; and she had a companion, Elsie, who has also passed over. Her full name is Eva Huxley."

Recipient: Yes

Helen: (pointing to a woman in the circle) There is a Mrs Richardson in the gallery. I get the name Jimmie Richardson. He worked in an office by himself. He brings Robert and Lizzie, and also Mary Bewick. He tells me that your godmother was Mary McIntyre, and that she was in some way connected with an off-licence for the sale of beer when you were fourteen to seventeen years of age.

Recipient: Quite right!

In a private consultation which was attended by a Mr Hogg and his family, all of whom were perfect strangers to the medium, Helen Hughes delivered the following clairaudiently-received information:

Pointing to Mr Hogg she said, 'There is a young airman here. You are his Dad.' Turning to Mr Hogg's son-in-law she added, 'This boy calls you Ian: and he calls himself Douglas.' And to the two girls who were present she announced, 'And you are his sisters, Isobel and Mary.'

Each name and tie-of-relationship was perfectly correct.

Helen Hughes passed in 1967 aged 74.

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As Z's example shows, a competent medium in good form has no need to ask questions. Yet how many so called mediums these days get more information from asking their client questions than they do from the spirit they are supposedly in touch with?

Thank you for your responses, I know now a little more of what to expect. I'll put my private reading down as a bad experience.

It's the bad experiences that make you appreciate the good experiences even more

Thank you. I went with open mind , but the second sitting (my private one) wasn't very good. However my brothers reading was better and convincing, also the sitting with me and my family was accurate, so that part I was pleased about.

True Wes but its just as well my first experience in a Spiritualist Church was so good

Hm, it's the bad experiences that cause so much damage IMHO. It is the bad experiences that give ammunition to materialists and cynics. It's the bad experiences that give many the impression that spiritualism is moribund. Those same experiences perhaps dissuade many from enquiring further.

Bad experiences with mediums/psychics are inevitable, and I have no doubt that spirit is helping people like bluebird to persist and learn the difference, so when a good reading does arrive it will be something precious and worth the journey to find.

Bad experiences in the sense under discussion are perhaps only inevitable because of the poor standard of mediumship. I would not expect a genuine medium to be doing what bluebird describes. It is true that apparently genuine mediums have been caught in fraud in the past but this has been damaging I would say.

Everyone can have a bad day but I would expect an honest person to say that and not give a sitting, not spout the tripe bluebird describes. Unless of course they think what they are doing is mediumship. This is precisely the type of thing the law is there to protect the public from.

Personally I think we will have to agree to differ on this. I don't think it has anything at all to do with genuine mediumship and is shameful.

Thanks for your responses. I know the second reading wasn't genuine I just feel a bit.. stupid, I suppose. I'm glad I attended the first reading because as I said that seemed accurate.

I can't see why you should feel stupid. You may want to do some research on the types of mediumship and what has been reported in the past. I think you may be surprised. I was astonished,