Excited to be here!

Hello everyone! At last I have found somewhere to speak to other Spiritualists!
I went through an awakening 7 years ago after a pregnancy lost. I reached out to spirit for reassurance that my little girl was still around. I had a series of amazing experiences. My favourite being when my guide lifted my arm and my body filled with vibrations and another time I was shown a glimpse of the spirit realm, and felt the pure love.
I have a 3 year old Son who has many gifts, we are just starting to see them developing.He has abilities that I can only dream of having! He can communicate with animals and sees and hears spirit so clearly. My other children are spiritually aware but do not have the same gifts.
I am an empath and have recently discovered that I can use that gift to help any spirit who has not crossed to the realm. This has happened twice recently. My abilities to hear spirit are not fantastic but my empath abilities are strong. I used to feel it was a curse.
Sorry for the rantings but I'm excited to have found somewhere to connect with other spiritualists!

I don't want to be a wet blanket (although I feel I often am!) but 'Spiritualist' here means individuals whose persuasion is based on the philosophy and religion of Modern Spiritualism.

That's not to say we don't understand a good deal more than only that about matters-spiritual but it's not 'spiritualism' with a lower-case 's' which can mean a very different thing.

I'm a little confused by the importance of the capital S! Sorry if I'm being dim!
I am a Spiritualist. Are my beliefs and experiences not compatible with this forum?

IamLOVE wrote:I'm a little confused by the importance of the capital S! Sorry if I'm being dim!
I am a Spiritualist. Are my beliefs and experiences not compatible with this forum?

I'm sorry - I should have read much more carefully what you'd said about yourself - your 'awakening' wasn't so very different from my own.

Taken in conjunction with your other posting Mac this is a strange affair. Its clear from your other post that there are differences between what we would regard as Modern Spiritualism's position (and I know what we put on here is very consistent with my very long term friend, Rev Marilyn Awtry an NSAC Minister of many years standing & with the position expressed by the SNU people who have been here) and that wher IamLove is coming from.) .

However, we have always allowed people to express their own views even on reincarnation. My own position on that is it may, by personal choice, occur but is not mandatory. We deal with our life issues when we return to Spirit and do not return to deal with Karma or past misdeeds that wold be punishment.

Hopefully IamLove will return because there is always much to learn and it may be a shock to realise that, by definition, Spiritualism is not a totally free form philosophy but one built up from 169 years of shared knowledge. Many seekers may browse by, leave on their journey but come back later.

I was wrong to respond so hastily when she wrote her first posting but I apologised for that pretty quickly.  In-between time, though, she'd been reading other threads here and reached conclusions based on what she found.  While I was addressing some of the points she had made she must have deleted the actual posting to which I was responding!  Presumably she then left the website.

I know I shouldn't generalise but I do actually engage with quite a few Americans and I'm familiar with what many call spiritualism (sic)  It ain't what I understand it to be and what the new member was writing didn't look to be either.

The other thing I find so often nowadays is folk taking umbrage if anyone has the temerity to disagree with them and 'stomping out' because you're not 'respecting' them.

Labels, labels, labels.

hiorta wrote:Labels, labels, labels.

It's human nature to attach labels but they don't alter anything.

Hi Mac, Interestingly I believe our visitor woulsd appear from the UK. The views she was spresenting are much in line with Australia and people who find their own way by websites, reading broadly and not through a Spiritualist path. They are often dumbfounded to find those views are not part of Modern Spiritualism because all to often when we say they are not there is never an adequate explanation of why.

Large parts of the post you were replying to actually fir Spiritualism and teh others were, as you did, explaining the differences.

In fact I wonder if our shared view is now obsolete. I believe that few people have the time or interest to learn about it and spend the hours needed to hone their skills to be an accurate and ethical Psychic let alone build the link to deliver accurate, meaningful and emotionally valid messages from loved ones in Spirirt.

Feedback is that if you want to be a church make the meeting a meaningful, enjoyable and uplifting event (Paradise Church with multiple auditoriums and restaurants, age specific services music family fun and eating together can get 4,000 on a Sunday the Reverend (think owner) has a very succesful Religous business which he has become wealthy through). Traditional churches where people are talked at and theur is no buzz are not a welcome part of the day. They want personal Spirituality, their own interpretation, instant everything amd something that is quick and fun because life is far to busy and demanding (Couple working, children in child care weekends trying to catch up work through the implications, got to watch teh reality shows etc etc. It is not that they are in any way wrong its is what life is today.

To reach people and then share the valid knowledge available from the philodophy and Spirit communication within Spiritualism is quite a challenge to us all. With falling numbers more and more centres will be closing. I noticed that post teh Mayan calndar non event we have hardly seen anyone under 30 in our centres and I believe that is common. Equally common is teh fact we do not seem to be drawing many new people in (mark you if I saw some that happens now my rational brain would reject it and I would never have been drawn in but then neither would Lis).

So IamLove was expressing views I am familiar with from newcomers to the Centre I am leader of. We find a way over time to help them short term and they then move on to explore on their own or they become interested in Spiritualism and True mediumship when they realise it has a valid philosophy.

On the other hand it appears she took a judgement about us without really enquiring about the why's of some of the posts.

Hello Jim

You can see her IP address but I didn't know where the new member lives. She was online at the same time as I but that can be the case when Americans are online in the very early hours of their morning.

It was mostly the words she was using that led me to think she might be in the US but many trans-Atlantic words and phrases appear in Brit-English anyway.

You make some interesting observations about Paradise Church and if that's what folk enjoy or are still seeking there's little surprise that Modern Spiritualism and its churches and centres won't suit them.

Hi Jim /Mac

Based on my own visits to Spiritualist churches, I couldn't see much, if anything, distinguishing them from non-conformist/protestant churches really. I can see how the average person, with no real religious knowledge might view Spiritualist Churches as simply 'different churches' of undefined denomination but with Christian overtones.

Couple that with the fact that (at least the ones I visited) didn't offer good evidence of survival and presented a wishy-washy philosophy, I can see how there's not much to attract younger people. That said, about half the churches I visited were very full so they're certainly offering something some people want. There's definitely a need however what is filling that need, whilst comforting, doesn't seem very nutritious to me.

In my experience, most people don't give a great deal of thought to religious philosophies unless they're already committed to some sort of belief system, and even then they seem to look at things through the prism of their established beliefs, which seldom rest on an evidential foundation.

I suppose it depends what people want. If they're ok with nebulous beliefs that make them feel better and comfort them then that's their choice. I doubt in the long term, if survival is a fact, it will set them back too far, if at all. In other words, generally I suspect it does no harm.

To reach an informed view though, it seems to me, takes effort and an open mind eager to learn.

If attendances are falling in an organisation I would suggest it is because that organisation isn't offering what people want. It may be offering what they need of course

As I've mentioned many time before I rarely attend Spiritualist church so what I remember of them is decidedly historical.  When I did use to go occasionally, many years ago, I went for philosophy and demonstrations of mediumship.  

I HATED, and still do hate, the concept of so-called divine service on Sundays.  But other than in a church or centre where can Modern Spiritualism's message be heard? So I accept they have a purpose and I believe there's still a need for them.

BUT if churches and centres do not routinely provide stimulating philosophy and solid, dependable mediumship I will continue to have real doubts about the future for the philosophy and religion of Modern Spiritualism.

mac wrote:

BUT if churches and centres do not routinely provide stimulating philosophy and solid, dependable mediumship I will continue to have real doubts about the future for the philosophy and religion of Modern Spiritualism.

Now there is the rub Mac finding enough mediums to do this on a weekly rotation would be hard anywhere, if you want to rebuild attracting thinkers and those seeking consolation after bereavement its vital. We try and the gaps are filled by circles or alternate like using flowers for proof of survival readings.

However, the best attended centre here rarely does it and people come for life messages, upliftment, a community and fun. A medium who works there said in the whole meeting he was the only one who mentioned Spirit. I often find the people who go for that are not really interested in proof of survival, they already accept this. However, you are right, when they see good mediumship and a talk they are still wowed. Even then I get the feeling they only want that occasionally (just as well there are not yet enough mediums here who can do it that well, I hear its similar in the USA, is the UK really that better off for speakers and mediums).

Its not that our centre does not get good reviews, touching on 1400 likes on Facebook and 1370 followers, we just cannot get them to attend.

[quote="Admin"]

mac wrote:

BUT if churches and centres do not routinely provide stimulating philosophy and solid, dependable mediumship I will continue to have real doubts about the future for the philosophy and religion of Modern Spiritualism.

Admin wrote:Now there is the rub Mac finding enough mediums to do this on a weekly rotation would be hard anywhere, if you want to rebuild attracting thinkers and those seeking consolation after bereavement its vital. We try and the gaps are filled by circles or alternate like using flowers for proof of survival readings.

I don't know how important it is to have a visiting medium every week but if that's what's needed then I readily accept how difficult it would be anywhere that doesn't have a good supply of willing, experienced mediums.  I'd think, though, that there are alternative ways to schedule activities at a church or center.

Admin wrote:However, the best attended centre here rarely does it and people come for life messages, upliftment, a community and fun. A medium who works there said in the whole meeting he was the only one who mentioned Spirit.

Maybe there's a strong pointer towards having centres rather than traditional church?

Admin wrote:I often find the people who go for that are not really interested in proof of survival, they already accept this.

A very interesting observation that reflects my position.  If I were to go it would be for something else - I don't need evidence of survival.

Admin wrote:However, you are right, when they see good mediumship and a talk they are still wowed. Even then I get the feeling they only want that occasionally (just as well there are not yet enough mediums here who can do it that well, I hear its similar in the USA, is the UK really that better off for speakers and mediums).

 As you know here in the UK we have a large network of churches but I have no idea if there are sufficient experienced speakers and mediums to service them all.  What is most important in my view is that the mediums that do serve the church network are able to help those new to the Spiritualist Church.  I realise that when mediums are on the platform they can't just summon the loved one of someone in the congregation who is recently bereaved and grieving.  But with training and experience perhaps they can avoid 'picking up' mostly the regulars, discarnates who have learned how to get the attention of the medium?  That's sometimes how it used to appear when I went on mediumship nights.

Admin wrote:Its not that our centre does not get good reviews, touching on 1400 likes on Facebook and 1370 followers, we just cannot get them to attend.

I don't know what you take from social media statistics, Jim, but I'm cautious of numbers.  I'd much sooner hear why someone likes - or dislikes - something rather than their being able just to tick a box.  Similarly with 'follower' statistics.  

On a related matter another of my regular websites has several thousand 'members' but no more than a handful who are active on that website. If they're not heard from, if they don't engage with anybody, what should one take from such website figures?  My guess is that many may register because a) they think they have to or b) they think it will provide something not available to non-registered members.

Once they've taken a look around they may not return yet they still show as registered members.  Perhaps reassuring for a website owner but what does it really show?