New Mediumship Course on DVD

obiwan wrote:

Azur wrote:
No medium can train you, they can advise and nuture. It's the spirit that do the training.

That sounds reasonable to me however many describe themselves as 'trained by' and some of the courses look exactly like that.

Why don't they start saying Spirit-trained medium

I agree you hear oh such and such medium trained me but you never hear them saying spirit trained me.

To be honest I have no real interest in how they are trained. As far as I can see, if a person has any ability they may get some benefit from a DVD. If they decide to join a circle great provided a) they can find one, and b) they can find someone who has a genuine ability and c) that person is capable of being a mentor of some kind.

There certainly seem to be plenty of people offering course of development. I don't see many of them demonstrating around here and the ones I have seen were not very impressive.

obiwan wrote:To be honest I have no real interest in how they are trained. As far as I can see, if a person has any ability they may get some benefit from a DVD. If they decide to join a circle great provided a) they can find one, and b) they can find someone who has a genuine ability and c) that person is capable of being a mentor of some kind.

There certainly seem to be plenty of people offering course of development. I don't see many of them demonstrating around here and the ones I have seen were not very impressive.

Training is foremost, it speaks for itself.

You don't see many good ones anymore due to the demise of the home circle.

Estelle Roberts during a Leslie Flint seance, encouraged people to sit in the home circle.

Nowadays people are looking for quick fixes, they want to be mediums yesterday. They do a weeks course and they think they are wonderful, and the sad thing is the tutors are allowing them go out and demonstrate.

What more can you say about that.

Training for any specialism is important however I could train at football or the piano for a hundred years and never be able to earn a living from it or even entertain an audience (other than inadvertently of course).

You mention Flint - a good example. I don't get the impression that Leslie Flint 'went on a course and somehow developed as a result of this'. Rather he appears to have had a significant ability from the beginning and then to have been directed to by some means to the appropriate places at the appropriate times.

I think the point about Home Circles must be correct. Perhaps when an ability materialises (pun intended), then it may be time to consider 'training'.

I suspect that many of those purporting to be mediums, and in a rush to 'perform', may have an eye on material gain (either perceived kudos or money) and less on service and whether that actually have any ability worth developing.

From my own reading many famous mediums had some significant intuition that they had an ability early on in their lives (I don't say all because perhaps that is not universally true). Often they had no desire to explore this apparent ability.

Where are all these superb mediums who are going to do this training?

Hi Obi,

The issue is very much about training and learning the discipline to use your abilities. That includes understanding the process you are working with. Knowing when you work psychically and when you are working with Spirit. Even the best natural Mediums benefit from and need that. Lis spent years in circles and continued her development even when she was an established platform medium, by a weekly circle of other platform Mediums under the leadership of a martinet of a teacher.

A natural ability with no understanding is effectively nearly useless because the individual will tell you it all comes from Spirit and wander between getting a loved one and the colour of your aura.

Can you train people, of course you can and while you at a physical level help them Spirit wuill also join the training to help. It takes time; instant mediumship from a book, course of DVD's or a week of Mediumship training will not cut the mustard. These things help those trying to find Mediums to identify the potential. Then if the individual is willing to learn the serious work begins in either a home circle or a dedicated development circle within a Spiritualist Church.

Courses will never do other than provide extra tools and help. people arrive with pre conceived notions of their ability and leave after one or two courses that they have invested enough so now should get their return on the investment. They are off and running performing at the very time they should begin the slog to really develop.

That takes time and dedication from student, from the very few teachers prepared to devote so much time ( effectively on a voluntary basis) and from Spirit. In the 70's and 80's mediums went to the AFC to learn new skills to add to the one's they had already developed not to become instant Mediums.

The problem is that because we have shortages in Mediums we seem willing to create instant Mediums by Fast Tracking people to platform. This is ridiculous, Spiritualism is a truth proven by Mediumship. Instant Mediumship, in the way which seems to be the new path to the platform, will give bad mediumship. Bad Mediumship and Psychism will drive any deep thinkers and the bereaved from our centres.

Jim

[quote="obiwan"]Training for any specialism is important however I could train at football or the piano for a hundred years and never be able to earn a living from it or even entertain an audience (other than inadvertently of course).

You mention Flint - a good example. I don't get the impression that Leslie Flint 'went on a course and somehow developed as a result of this'. Rather he appears to have had a significant ability from the beginning and then to have been directed to by some means to the appropriate places at the appropriate times.

I think the point about Home Circles must be correct. Perhaps when an ability materialises (pun intended), then it may be time to consider 'training'.

I suspect that many of those purporting to be mediums, and in a rush to 'perform', may have an eye on material gain (either perceived kudos or money) and less on service and whether that actually have any ability worth developing.

From my own reading many famous mediums had some significant intuition that they had an ability early on in their lives (I don't say all because perhaps that is not universally true). Often they had no desire to explore this apparent ability.

Where are all these superb mediums who are going to do this training?[/

quote]

Mediums are born not made, as Gordon Higginson once said.

A reputable home circle would be an idea.

Most the great mediums of the past sat in the home circle.

Where are all these superb mediums who are going to do this training?

Obi unfortunately no one is looking at the general population to establish who may be a Medium. Had I not met Lis I would have moved through life without ever developing my own work. There are probably far more people with ability out there than we know of. They probably exercise their creative potential in some other way. Because in the general world Spiritualism is a minority movement, less than 0.1% of the population, it passes by unnoticed by the many.

Traditional religion scorns our belief and psychics are often seen as weird (all too often a true view). In what way can we get to all the natural talent that will never enter our doors. Indeed in the face of what we all to often seem to be serving up why would they bother.

Hi Jim

I am not averse to training and development in the context you describe at all; understanding the process and determining what is a genuine communication is clearly sensible. I presume you are referring mainly to clairvoyance as mediums such as Flint didn't do any interpretation as far as I understand it.

I am not saying one can't train people who have the fundamental potential to be a competent medium but this in itself seems to me to be a rare commodity. As I have not witnessed Lis's mediumship I cannot comment on it.

If you position such courses as 'trying to find mediums and identify potential' then I have to say that sounds a lot more reasonable than simply offering a development course.

I am sure you are correct that some identify that they may have an ability and go straight out to 'get a return on their investment'. I don't think there is much that can be done about that other than insisting that only mediums who can demonstrate good evidence are allowed to demonstrate in venues over which you have authority (which I am sure you do - but many don't seem to).

The problem is that because we have shortages in Mediums we seem willing to create instant Mediums by Fast Tracking people to platform. This is ridiculous, Spiritualism is a truth proven by Mediumship. Instant Mediumship, in the way which seems to be the new path to the platform, will give bad mediumship. Bad Mediumship and Psychism will drive any deep thinkers and the bereaved from our centres

This is I think spot-on. It also gives cynics a field day and may prevent those who might benefit, from even considering what evidence may be available.

I am not saying one can't train people who have the fundamental potential to be a competent medium but this in itself seems to me to be a rare commodity. As I have not witnessed Lis's mediumship I cannot comment on it.

My point concerning Lis is the unfortunate change in the way people seem prepared to train and develop. It was a tough time for Mediums, if they did not maintain their standards in those days they lost their spot at a Church in the circuit.

Admin wrote:
My point concerning Lis is the unfortunate change in the way people seem prepared to train and develop. It was a tough time for Mediums, if they did not maintain their standards in those days they lost their spot at a Church in the circuit.

Quite right.

Admin wrote:

I am not saying one can't train people who have the fundamental potential to be a competent medium but this in itself seems to me to be a rare commodity. As I have not witnessed Lis's mediumship I cannot comment on it.

My point concerning Lis is the unfortunate change in the way people seem prepared to train and develop. It was a tough time for Mediums, if they did not maintain their standards in those days they lost their spot at a Church in the circuit.

Well said, very true Jim

Why do people want to be a medium?
Seems to me that the best mediums never really wanted to be mediums, but somehow their abilities were recognized and they got directed into circles where they developed.

what theory is there underlying mediumship? Either you are born sensitive to the world or you are not. All my life I saw visions or spirit people but thought everyone was able to experience them. Mediumship is a precious gift and who is to say that those who buy said dvd course are going to mediumistic?

ov=bviously meant to say spirit world