An Extraordinary Journey: The Memoirs of a Physical Medium

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Taves, A. (2006). ‘Where (Fragmented) Selves Meet Cultures: Theorising Spirit Possession.’ Culture and Religion, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 123-138. Halloy, A. (2010). ‘Comments on “The Mind Possessed: The Cognition of Spirit Possession in an Afro-Brazilian Religious Tradition” by Emma Cohen.’ Religion and Society: Advances in Research, Vol. 1, pp. 164-176. AmnesiaThe altered states of consciousness associated with spirit possession are frequently associated with amnesia. Thankfully, there are perks, different kinds, and different ways you can use the gift.Mediums are good at reading the energy of a room, artistic creations, and can be very energetic. Kehoe & Giletti suggest that spirit possession cults represent ‘institutionalised recognition of class endemic symptoms of nutrient deficiency’. 44 However, the idea has been subject to much criticism, as it is easy to see instances where the hypothesis fails to stand up to scrutiny, for example within the modern Euro-American Spiritualist tradition. Bourguignon et al. (1983) have provided several counter-arguments to the nutrient deficiency hypothesis; for example they highlight:

Maraldi, E., Machado, F.R. & Zangari, W. (2010). ‘Importance of a Psychosocial Approach for a Comprehensive Understanding of Mediumship.’ Journal of Scientific Exploration, Vol. 24, No. 2, pp. 181-196. Rogo, D.S. (1988). The Infinite Boundary: Spirit Possession, Madness, and Multiple Personality. Wellingborough: The Aquarian Press. Cohen, E. (2008). ‘What is Spirit Possession? Defining, Comparing and Explaining Two Possession Forms.’ Ethos, Vol. 73, No. 1, pp. 101-126. If you’re not familiar with PM, it’s worth my briefly explaining what it’s all about, and why it matters. It is also clear that the term ‘mediumship’ refers to different phenomena even within the Western context. Indeed, Spiritualist mediumship, as the above definition suggests, can be broadly split into two categories. There is ‘mental mediumship,’ which itself can be split into two distinct forms of clairvoyant/telepathic/clairaudient/clairsentient mediumship, often also known as ‘platform mediumship,’ and trance mediumship, during which the body of the medium is temporarily occupied by an ostensible spirit entity. Physical mediumship can be defined as the ‘purported ability of the medium to channel unknown energies’ to create physical changes in the immediate environment’. 2

This was followed by a remarkable form of phenomena. The medium, still in trance, rose from his chair and walked across the room, with all the ropes remaining secured to his body. He shook hands warmly with Mr Turner and whispered a warning to him of things likely to happen in the séance which could spoil everything. Several of the sitters were sensitives and were judged to be giving way to their spirit controls and were thus sapping the power in the room which might easily bring chaos in the séance. Mr Webber returned to his chair and within less than a minute the guide requested that the lights be put on and the knots examined. Morton Klass argued that a distinction be made whereby the term ‘trance’ is used solely to describe the shamanic experience of soul-flight, and journeys to other worlds, and suggested that the notion of ‘Patterned Dissociative Identity’ be used to refer to instances of possession trance, in which the personality of the medium is altered or displaced. 84 Some of the key cross-cultural features of spirit possession practices can be summarized as follows: Bubandt, N. (2009). ‘Interview with an Ancestor: Spirits as Informants and the Politics of Possession in North Maluku.’ Ethnography, Vol. 10, No. 3, pp. 291-316.

Functionalist approaches suggest that social phenomena perform specific social functions that help to maintain the solidarity and cohesion of the social group. However, as John Bowker 14 and Janice Boddy 15 have noted, although the functionalist approach does possess considerable explanatory power, it ignores both the significance of subjective experience for believers and also the possibility that genuine psi phenomena/spirits might actually exist, assuming as it does that the objects of supernatural beliefs are cultural constructions with foundations in misperception, delusion and fraud. 16 17 TherapeuticsOne of the social functions of spirit possession practices is often therapeutic. They may be therapeutic for both mediums and sitters. Literature After all, if you're an otherwise rational human being in all other areas of your life, why would you be changing only in this one way? The cable can be unidirectional or bidirectional. The WDM (Wavelength Division Multiplexer) supports two modes, namely unidirectional and bidirectional mode.

The use of the term ‘trance’ in anthropology, however, is particularly broad, and may appear meaningless without further descriptive detail. 76 For instance, while many spirit possession traditions undoubtedly do employ some form of altered state of consciousness during their incorporation rituals, it is not necessarily true that all of these various traditions employ the same alteration of consciousness to initiate the incorporation. 77 How can we say, for example, that the form of trance utilized in Haitian Vodun possession rites 78 is the same as that employed by Spiritualist trance mediums in the UK, or that the trance of the Candomblé medium is the same as that of traditional Taiwanese spirit mediums? We may well find similarities in terms of neurophysiological activity, but the subjective element may vary considerably. Called the laying of the hands in Pentecostalism, Energy Mediumship also refers to forms of energy sending like Reiki and Shamanism. #4 Channeling Mediumship Oohashi, T., Kawai, N., Honda, M., Nakamura, S., Morimoto, M., Nishina, E., Maekawa, T. (2002). ‘Electroencephalographic Measurement of Possession Trance in the Field.’ Clinical Neurophysiology, Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 435-445. Sound is always important in a physical seance. Silence does not provide the right energy for physical mediumship. It is important to have vocal responses from the sitters about what they are experiencing or what they are not experiencing, so that these can be compared. We must remember that physical mediumship is witnessed by all present through the physical senses, therefore all should be perceiving the same thing at the same time.Music can be a great help in building the energy, but should not be so loud that it is distressing to the sitters and is not required to be played throughout the seance. Knowing that AFC has sought spirit guidance on the future of physical mediumship at the College, I asked David Bruton through whom that spirit guidance had been given. In this case the identity of the medium for that information is particularly relevant since, as we know, a medium is a human instrument and his or her mind (and therefore, personal opinions) can never be 100 per cent absent from the communication, even when in deep trance.

During this meeting Eileen shared some of her many experiences whilst sitting with me, when loved ones have spoken in foreign languages unknown to me, including French, German, Italian, Dutch and Spanish, testimony which Tanya supported, saying that she remembered having to translate one. Eileen said that surely this was proof in itself, but still they want the camera in the room.

What is the difference between Physical and Mental Mediumship?

b) night vision viewers are made available to watch events live during the seance and so have independent witnesses acting on behalf of those present. With these conditions in use there would be no need to secure a medium to the chair with cable ties. Crabtree, A. (1988). Multiple Man: Explorations in Possession and Multiple Personality.London: Grafton Books. In her paper ‘What is Spirit Possession?’, cognitive anthropologist Emma Cohen suggests that the apparent similarities in spirit possession practices and beliefs across cultures arise from innate human cognitive processes. This work draws heavily on the writings of of cognitive scholars of religion such as Pascal Boyer 56 and Justin Barrett. 57 According to Cohen’s model, spirit possession is a complex phenomenon involving multiple cognitive processes, and which usually takes one of two distinct forms: voluntary and involuntary. Cohen suggests that these can be explained in the following way: St. Germain said, “There are very few souls in the world capable of creating visual images through thoughts. As you know, thoughts are real and there are those who will precipitate their thoughts upon a surface. This gentleman is such a person. His thought comes first and this is attached to the card as a thought form. His teachers create the colors.”