CONDITIONS FOR MEDIUMSHIP

[This article is also in the 'Mediumship' section]

Question: What about the room conditions?

Good mediumship is always held in a clean quiet place, which has been well ventilated, if it’s possible. It’s best if possible that a public meeting room should not be used for some hours before the sitting takes place, except perhaps for quiet meditation or the playing of some music. We’re told that the spirit helpers often come to cleanse the atmosphere of a room before a circle is held, and their work will not be obstructed if the room is kept free of arguments and of the thoughts associated with mundane affairs.

The comfort of the room is a matter governed by individual taste, but it is sensible to remember that it is easier to remain mentally alert while sitting upright on a chair in the dining room, rather than if one is sunk into the depth of a padded lounge chair. The aim should be a state of bodily restfulness and mental alertness. All conditions should by adjusted to this purpose. A comfortable room temperature should maintained (say about 64 degrees Fahrenheit) and exclude strong perfumes as for as possible they have a strong effect upon the physical sense of smell and indirectly affect the emotions. A little thought will show that if a room is too hot or too cold the body will be uncomfortable and the mind will be occupied in trying to shut off the sense of bodily discomfort. The use of incense / joss sticks are not advisable - because the blending of aromatics which comprise them may cause different emotional responses in individual persons. The aim of the circle is unity. Anything, which disturbs that unity, should be eliminated.

Question: Is there anything that the individual member of the circle should do to facilitate the development of mediumship?

The answer to the question can only be that a strict control of the appetites prior to sitting will previously help towards a harmonious state of being: a very light meal, taken about three hours before the sitting, will mean that the stomach is not uncomfortably full. A heavy meal should never be eaten prior to sitting, as this induces sleepiness. An empty stomach may help the mediumship of some people, but it is my experience that the majority of sitters become self-conscious if their stomach begins rumbling, and they find it difficult to detach their thoughts from the feelings of hunger and the expectation of satisfying it.

Treat the body as an essential part of the mediumship; so not pamper it, but see that it is comfortable. The demands on the body for alcohol and tobacco should be regulated. [Not easy I have found for my students.] It would be good if all smoking and alcoholic drinking be avoided on the day of the circle, in order to facilitate a more harmonious blending with the other sitters. The heavy smoker will find it hard to believe that the smell of tobacco will cling to his clothing, and will scent his breath. Mediums develop an intense quickening of all their senses, including the sense of smell, and breath from another sitter, which is loaded with the smell of tobacco or alcohol, can be absolutely nauseating.

Strenuous physical exercise should be regulated, so that the prospective medium does not attend the circle with any sense of exhaustion. These simple rules should be easy to follow. If sitters cannot control the appetites sufficiently to follow them, then they should cease to strive for development. A person who cannot control the appetites of the body will be unfit to control the more subtly powers associated with mediumship.

Question: Is clothing important?

The early spiritualists made it a rule to bath the body and wear clean clothing before they attended their circles. Unfortunately, this is not possible today when numbers of sitters leave their places of work and go straight to their circles. I would urge sitters to make sure that their clothing is comfortable, and upon the day of the circle to see that no tight belts will hamper the breathing, nor yet uncomfortable shoes affect the feet. Like the temperature of a room, small bodily discomforts quickly become accentuated when the psychic power sensitizes the medium. You want to be able to forget the body and turn your thought to other things. The best way to do this is to make the body reasonably comfortable.

Question: How should the circle begin?

Some start with the singing of a number of hymns, some begin with the reading of an extract from a favourite book. Other circles listen to music from a tape or disc. The leader will sometimes begin with spontaneous prayer; at other circles the leader will use a set prayer. This is all a matter of individual preference: in the same way that the regulation of lighting is according to the preference of the person in charge of the circle. Direct light falling straight on the eyes of a sitter will not allow the sitter to relax very easily. Subdued lighting is to be preferred to bright light. Darkness is not essential except for the development of special forms of physical mediumship, though even this form of mediumship is produced in some parts of the world in full daylight.

Question: How can I quiet my mind for sitting?

I think that an inrush of thought is nothing different to that which is happening at other times when we would rather be quiet. The difference is simply that you have become sensitively aware of what your mind is doing. If you want to control your thoughts, you know the phrase: “Nature abhors a vacuum?� Well, many people seem to have the idea that to meditate, or quieten the mind, means to think of nothing. True meditation means thinking of something to the exclusion of all other things until the mind is saturated with the subject of its meditation, and to think of one thing in this meditative way means that a person has to learn how to concentrate.

I would therefore advise the new sitter to try to visualize something simple during the time of meditative quietness. Some find it helpful to visualize a pool of still water: others prefer a cross, or a few words from a hymn. The subject is unimportant except as an aid to the concentration, which will lead on to meditation. When the thoughts wander away from the chosen subject, bring them firmly back like little children, until the time arrives when you find yourself sitting with your mind like a clear pool, unruffled by any ripples of your own thought.

The habit of training yourself to concentrate can be carried into the common tasks of the daily life. Learn to watch yourself. While you are at work do you suddenly become aware that you are thinking of something in your home? When you are reading a book do you sometimes find that you have scanned a whole page while you were thinking of your next meal, and then discover you are quite unaware of the contents? Make yourself think of the job in hand, so that you so it really well. Concentrate on one thing at a time, and you will find it much easier to control your mind when you are in the circle. Good luck, and don’t forget to ask for help from spirit friends, they are waiting to help!

End.