Spiritism: Mediumship Guide

A Spirit	Spirit/Material Worlds	A Medium	Spirit Communication	Spirit Evolution	Communication Workings
Physical Phenomena	Intelligent Phenomena	Medium Types	Mediumship Evolution	Child Mediums	Medium Evolution
Mediumship Improvement	Spirit Hierarchy	Spirit POV	Spirit Obsession	Historic Mediums	Other Topics

PRACTICES FOR IMPROVING THE MEDIUM AND THEIR MEDIUMSHIP

Beyond the previous guidelines (from the Evolution Of The Medium section) that every medium should strive for, what we have below are other methods, attitudes and habits that should be followed by both mediums and non-mediums alike.

Study of Spiritism: There isn't a time in our lives when we don't need answers. Life is filled with trials, obstacles and suffering that make it seem like we are alone, helpless and living a pointless life. In the times of great tragedy and loss in our lives we are filled with doubt about the existence of God, the afterlife and if trying to be a better person has any real reward or is just idealist folly. Spiritism provides a way of thinking, a way of living, a way of clearly understanding these crisis and doubts that seem to plague our lives. Most importantly, revealing our continued existence after our deaths, and how learning, growing and personal progressing continues until our fullest potential is achieved.

Unlike any religious dogma, Spiritism does not demand blind faith; on the contrary, it asks students to always use reason and good sense, and to ask questions. It also tells us why we should strive for an ethical way of living. Most importantly, Spiritism proves the existence of God, God's laws and God's role in our lives not with myth, fear and ritual, but under the light of science. Finally restoring to us the divine, loving creator revealed to the messengers of ancient history, but lost to us under the cloud of materialism and ecumenical self interest.

Spiritism is a critical tool for living, for anyone who looks at human life, their own lives, and dares to ask why?

The base of Spiritism consists of 5 books of spirit teachings put to paper by the French educator Allan Kardec in the 1850s. These books contain detailed explanations for every spirit and mediumistic phenomena, the ethical laws God has established for our spiritual growth, the methodology of life's daily trials, the different levels of spirit evolution, a rediscovery of the misunderstood ethical truths taught by Jesus, details of how the universe and Spirits were created and what God has in store for all of us.

Since the 1850s until present times thousands of books have and continue to be published about Spiritism and all its implications in every aspect of modern life from human psychology to genetic research. Most books are transcribed by a Spiritist medium and come from spirit teachers in the noble service of God.

Frequent Prayer: Since the moment of the creation of our Spirit, we have been given the tool for communicating with our Creator. This tool is called prayer. It does not matter how prayer is carried out, through ritual, inspiration, conversation or meditation, the act of praying should be one of the most important parts of our lives. With prayer not just do we connect with God, but we also open ourselves up to healing energies, to the guidance of Spirit teachers, to mental clarity and self evaluation. But most importantly, prayer is a tool of love, charity, compassion and even for protection.

When we pray with honesty and depth we reach a state of mental tuning in which we are transmitters and receptors. As transmitters we give thanks, forgiveness, help, council, healing, and positive vibrations. And as receptors we receive guidance from God and spirit teachers, healing energies to strengthen us, inspirations to share with others, answers to dilemmas that plague us and most importantly hope and clarity of mind that we can carry with us every day.

Prayer is truly one of God's greatest gifts; it is merely up to us to have the courage to use that gift.

Self-evaluation: In every life there comes a moment(s) in which we find ourselves forced to confront our faults and ethical limitations. For most this moment is met initially with anger, then contemplation, doubt and finally resignation that self-improvement is beyond their reach.

What we do not realize is the immense importance of these moments. As we continue through the long path of intellectual and ethical evolution we all reach many moments of impasse. These evolutionary impasses come when we are unable to recognize our personal faults and/or lack the clarity, willingness, or method for changing these faults. As humans and as spirits we live in an ironic paradox, every aspect of our existence is based on change yet we seem to instinctively despise change.

In order for us to be spurred on to deal with these impasses we repeatedly choose trials and obstacles in our reincarnations so that we are forced to again face these faults and again strive to the needed change. So when a person reaches one of these moments and chooses to remain unchanged they become the authors of their own tragedy. Placing themselves once again in the cycle of trial, mistake, contemplation, stagnation and then choosing to try again with even tougher trials in the next reincarnation.

Through self evaluation we provide ourselves a tool that we can use every day to help gain clarity as to our faults and virtues, failures and successes and as what we need to concentrate on to improve. An excellent exercise in evaluation is to take a half hour every evening, find a quiet secluded space, meditate and start to ask yourself a series of questions like the ones below.

"Have I learned anything today?"

"Have I harmed anyone today?"

"Have I helped anyone today?"

"Have I done anything unselfish today?"

"Have I made a friend today?"

"Have I made an enemy today?"

"Have I tried to make amends to someone I wronged today?"

"Have I shown compassion today?"

"How did I treat my family today?"

"How did I treat my friends and coworkers today?"

"How did I treat strangers today?"

"What mistakes have I made today?".

It's important to be honest in answering these questions and let the answers be your guide for the next day. In addition it might be useful to keep a daily or weekly journal to write down your thoughts, ideas, questions and to record your progress.

Below is an anonymous commentary on the method and value of a more profound self-awareness:

"Truth is relative. But the divine law from which a personal, social and universal truth can be derived is not.

There are clear laws and methods through which a rational truth can be defined for every individual depending on their level of evolution.

For this process to occur the individual seeking awareness must enter into a relaxed meditative state where all outside worries and distractions are blocked. Once such an environment is established an individual or groups of individuals can enter into a personal question and answer session beginning with the basic questions "Who am I?" and "Why am I?"

This progression of questions and answers must be honest, personal and self-critical. Its purpose is to help the individual realize that they are the definer of their own immediate world. And once the individual realizes this, they will begin the journey to answer even more in-depth questions, which will lead to more questions and even more insightful conclusions.

Eventually leading to a truer and more aware definition of self. As this process continues the individual or individuals are now developing the emotional and psychological tools for effective personal improvement. "

In the environment described above spirit friends and teachers are able to more easily provide guidance, energy and healing to those genuinely seeking enlightenment. The same happens when any individual repeatedly seeks self-awareness, in whatever positive and effective method they use.

The very act of seeking self-awareness in itself is a form of self-improvement. Waking us out of the denial and blame that cloud our ability to understand why we continuously stumble under similar circumstances, making it possible for us to start looking for solutions instead of excuses. And this is a huge step in our evolution.

Attending a Spiritist Center: The study of the Spiritist codification is more effective when done in groups of like-minded individuals. The purpose of this study is not just to answer people's questions but also to encourage the asking of new ones and the sharing of the conclusions each individual reaches from the studied material. None of these benefits can be achieved when the student is always alone during the study sessions.

In terms of personal growth, working in groups is essential. The Law of Society means that only by sharing , helping others and receiving the same can any learning be applied. The obstacles, trials and conflicts that can result from groups are critical to practicing indulgence, cooperation, awareness and learning from others. And certainly charity, compassion and love cannot be learned, taught or practiced in an environment of isolation, and these three virtues are vital to any personal progress.

For mediums a third benefit comes from Spiritist centers as discussed in the section on the evolution of mediumship. Attending a center's general meetings, study groups and mediumship development sessions is critical to the development, refinement and control of a mediumship gift. And only through this refinement can this tool be used to its full potential as a tool for good and enlightenment of others.

Careful consideration of your choices of environments: This certainly may seem simple and intuitive but actually it is neither. As an individual trying to progress ethically, it is perfectly reasonable to avoid environments where one will be confronted with the most destructive elements of human nature. Yet as individual trying to progress ethically to show prejudice, to be unsociable, act with superiority over others or to live in isolation are as destructive as material obsessions. So a balance needs to be reached between the choices a person makes in their daily lives and a frank awareness of the environments where certain temptations found there cannot be resisted.

As a developing medium the answer is no less complicated. Mediums absorb vibrations from environments and are vulnerable to the spirit influences found in such enviorments. Yet a medium cannot be a tool for helping others when they are living in isolation. Again it is a matter of frank awareness of the environments where certain temptations there cannot be resisted. Also as the medium develops they should gain the ability to isolate chaotic and destructive vibrations in any environment they find themselves in, and this too cannot be achieved in isolation.

This ability to isolate themselves is vital to any medium who has the potential to heal. Since it is easy for the untrained healing medium to become effected by the negative vibrations that they are cleansing from the person they are helping.

Respecting Your Physical Body: Good health and clean living are vital to a long life and the quality of that life. This is true no matter who you are, but for a medium it is especially important. When a medium uses their ability, especially healing mediums and mediums of physical phenomena, they use up a lot of their own energy. A medium suffering from poor health becomes vulnerable to the effects of this energy loss, has greater difficulty in regaining the lost energy and as time passes and the health worsens looses much of their effectiveness as a tool of communication.

In general, the person who is learning about Spiritism needs to realize that their life along with all life is sacred. The opportunity they have been given to reincarnate and continue their evolutionary progress may be assured by divine law, but is in no way to be taken for granted even for an instant. For every one Spirit who is able to reincarnate countless others wait in the Spiritual world for their opportunity to do the same. This is the reason why Spiritism is so critical of suicide (or slow suicide) Along with the taking of another person's life, are the most selfish and destructive acts any person can commit.

A Spirit	Spirit/Material Worlds	A Medium	Spirit Communication	Spirit Evolution	Communication Workings
Physical Phenomena	Intelligent Phenomena	Medium Types	Mediumship Evolution	Child Mediums	Medium Evolution
Mediumship Improvement	Spirit Hierarchy	Spirit POV	Spirit Obsession	Historic Mediums	Other Topics

A History	Fundamentals	Teachings Outline	Teaching's Precepts	The 5 Book Codification	Spiritism Topics
Spiritist Movement	Mediumship Q&A	Mediumship Guide	Myths And Misconceptions	Spiritist Centers: Guide	Spiritist Centers Locations
Further Study	Biographies	Modern Topics	Term Glossary