What is mediumship?
Mediumship is the communication between a living and dead person through a person or medium who has developed the ability to attune to the frequency of a place called the spirit world and an individual soul. Spiritualists believe the spirit world is the place a soul goes after their life on earth.
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Belief in psychic ability is nothing new and widely accepted and picking up information from another person or incarnate souls energy fields. Researchers have been exploring mediumship and communication with the dead or discarnate souls and continue work with mediums and large spiritualist organisations.
For us as people, it is an awareness of energy that all of us carry within us, and for most people, it simply sits quietly in the background of life until something or someone invites it forward.
At its heart, mediumship exists to demonstrate that consciousness continues beyond the physical body and our five senses. It offers comfort, evidence and, for many people, the beginning of a deeper spiritual journey.
What does mediumship mean?
The word “medium” comes from the Latin medius, meaning “in the middle”. A medium stands in the middle, between two states of being, the physical world we live in and the continuing consciousness of those who have moved on.
When people search for the meaning of mediumship, they are usually looking for a definition, or they want to understand the difference between a medium and other forms of spiritual or psychic practice. Or they are looking for reassurance that a loved one is still with them in some form.
Mediumship gained popularity during the nineteenth century with the birth of modern Spiritualism marked as 31st March 1848 with the Fox sisters in Hydesville, New York. Investigations into mediumship over the decades have exposed many fraudulent mediums although there have been many cases that couldn’t bet be disproved. The area of mediumship is still very much plagued with these accounts today.
Within the religion of Spiritualism mediumship is delivered as part of each Divine service, which is traditionally a Sunday church service in spiritualist churches around the United Kingdom. On weekdays demonstrations of mediumship and special services take place where other variations on mediumship and communications are delivered like Spirit Art and Flower Readings. Open circles and open platforms are also held with the opportunity for attendees to practice and develop their mediumship and other disciplines like Psychic readings and Psychometry.
How does mediumship work?
We are sensitive beings, and the world around us is made of energy. Every thought, feeling, object and interaction carry their own frequency. A medium has spent time learning to notice the subtle difference in frequencies at a deeper level.
The process begins with awareness. A medium develops the ability to differentiate their own energy from energy which resonates from someone or something else. Through meditation, sitting in development circles and working with experienced teachers, they learn to raise their own vibration and tune into different vibrations of energy.
When a medium is working, they are holding space. They attune to the spirit world and a specific spirit communicator and allow information to come forward. That information arrives through perception, an image in the mind or a feeling in the body. It is the responsibility of the medium to translate what they are receiving into something meaningful for their recipient.
What are the different types of mediumship?
Mediumship takes many forms, and each medium tends to work in a way that suits their own nature. The two distinctive categories are mental mediumship and physical mediumship.
Mental mediumship is the most common form of mediumship today. The medium receives impressions internally through perception, these include, clairvoyance (seeing), clairaudience (hearing), clairsentience (feeling) or claircognisance (knowing), and relays that information to the sitter.
Physical mediumship is where spirit energy affects the physical environment objectively for all present to experience, producing phenomena such as direct voice, materialisation or trance communication. Physical mediumship requires a very particular set of conditions and usually takes many years of development.
There are also specialist forms of mediumship that focus on specific ways of working. Spirit art, which is the work I am best known for, involves drawing or painting a likeness of someone in spirit as part of the communication. Flower readings, trance work and healing mediumship each bring their own flavour to the same underlying practice.
If you want to go deeper into the differences, I have written a piece on the difference between physical and mental mediumship.
Mediumship vs psychic: what’s the difference?
This is one of the most common questions people ask, and the distinction matters.
A psychic works with the energy of a person, place or object that is still in this world. They may read the past, the present or possibilities ahead, but the information is drawn from the living energy and Mother Earth.
A medium works with the energy of those who have passed. The source of the information is the continuing life energy and consciousness of someone who is no longer in physical form.
Every medium is psychic, because to do the work you have to be sensitive to energy. But not every psychic is a medium. Mediumship requires a particular willingness to step into that quieter, deeper space where communication with the spirit world becomes possible.
What is happening when Mediumship is taking place?
So, what is really happening when a medium is delivering Mediumship?
To understand what is happening when delivering mediumship first you have to understand the training and development it takes before starting to develop a mediumistic awareness. These views are based on my observations as a medium and my own personal development.
Firstly, before any mediumistic development can take place the practitioner must first undergo a realisation within their own personal development, becoming more deeply aware of themselves, what is happening within themselves and the energy fields surrounding them. From this point the practitioner learns to attune with different frequency ranges that surround us but are out of the range of our five senses.
Over time they learn to differentiate between what’s them and what isn’t them, this evolves into the ability to move the restrictive aspects of their consciousness out of the way to allow speaking and communication within the flow of energy and in the moment. In essence this is what all inspired speaking and mediumship actually is, be it different energy streams. Of course, this is a very simplified explanation and any form of attunement to different frequencies and psychic ability takes years of practice and dedication.
During a demonstration the medium is working to raise the vibration of the room and congregation to allow access to other frequencies. The medium’s role is to hold space and allow a certain frequency to come into their awareness. From the perspective of Spiritualism this would be the energy (soul) from a lifetime on this world relating to a member of the congregation.
The medium brings forward information about the individual drawing both on a mediumistic level as well as a physic level from the recipient (person in the congregation). This is the confirmation that life is more than just this world, our energy lives on after this lifetime. This knowledge is considered proof of life after death. As how could a person know information about a person (deceased loved one) they have never met and describe situations they were never privy to relating to someone present in the congregation.
Speaking in the flow of energy. Speaking spontaneously in the moment with minimal subconscious or unconscious bias. The only purpose of the conscious mind in this case is to deliver words in terminology that people understand, within Spiritualism it’s the terms of mediumship and the energy of loved ones in the spirit world.
Can mediumship be used for healing?
Yes, and for many people this is where mediumship has its most lasting impact.
Healing through mediumship happens on more than one level.
The medium’s role to facilitate across multiple areas of our being. There is an opportunity within a Divine Service to build the group energy to bring forward information verbally while controlling the flow of energy for healing and self-awareness of people in the congregation.
Mental healing – security comes with the knowledge that our loved ones are looking down on us from the next life. Comfort comes from us the knowledge that we live on past this existence. Energy can never be destroyed it just changes form.
Emotional healing – the feeling of our loved one’s energy, forgiveness and allowing the emotional grieving process to be understood and acknowledged. Stepping more into the present moment allowing peoples energy fields to recognise and release emotional trauma.
Physical healing – feeling the energy around us, bringing the unseen into the physical world. Releasing blockages within our energy fields can help to release physical aches and pains. This also brings to the physical self a greater understanding of the energy that we are.
Spiritual healing – accessing the greater aspects of self and feeling the connected. The nature of us to the universe and universal consciousness. Also, our connection to mother earth and natures laws.
If healing is what has drawn you to this, you may find my work on the Healing Journey a useful next step.
Where can you experience mediumship?
There are a few different ways to experience mediumship, and the right one depends on what you are looking for.
Divine services are the traditional setting within Spiritualism. They usually happen on a Sunday, and they include prayers, hymns, an address and a demonstration of mediumship from the platform.
Platform demonstrations are dedicated mediumship events, usually in the evening, where a medium will work with members of the audience to bring the feeling and presence of departed loved ones. Another form of platform demonstration is Spirit Art, which combines mediumship with live drawing.
Private sittings are one-to-one sessions, either in person or online. These allow for more focused communication and are often the preferred format for people who are looking for specific evidence or who have something particular they want to explore. The medium can not guarantee the spirit communicator who will come through but the communication can be deeper and more sensitive in nature.
Retreats and workshops offer a longer immersion, either to experience mediumship more deeply or to begin developing your own ability.
You can find current dates on the Events & Retreats page
How long does it take to become a medium?
This is the honest answer. It takes as long as it takes.
Mediumship is a practice, not a qualification. Some people sit in a development circle and find a nice space to open their sensitivity and begin to deepen their understanding. Not every medium wishes to work publicly but if they do, residential courses, specific workshops or retreats are a nice way to enhance development with demonstrations as a particular focus.
What matters far more than the timescale is the consistency. Regularly sitting in the silence, working with a teacher who you resonate with, being willing to get things wrong, staying curious rather than becoming attached to results. Development happens in the quiet, repetitive spaces between the exciting moments, and that is a truth that serves most spiritual practices.
If the pull to develop is strong in you, the best thing you can do is find a circle, find a tutor whose work resonates with you, and begin. I teach both online and in person, including at the Arthur Findlay College, and you can find my current training offerings for Events, Mentorships or specific training for Spirit Art.
Frequently asked questions
Is mediumship the same as Spiritualism?
No. Spiritualism is the religious, science and philosophical movement that grew up around mediumship in the nineteenth century, and it has its own principles and practices. Mediumship is the ability itself, which exists independently of any particular religion. You can be a medium without being a Spiritualist, and you can be a Spiritualist without being a medium.
Can anyone learn mediumship?
In principle, yes. Everyone has a natural sensitivity to energy, even if it sits very quietly in the background for most of your life. What varies is how much time and patience a person is willing to give to developing that awareness, and how their life circumstances support the process.
What is platform mediumship?
Platform mediumship is the term used for mediumship delivered from a platform in front of an audience or congregation, usually in a Spiritualist church service or at a public demonstration.
Is mediumship a spiritual practice?
For most mediums, yes. The work requires a willingness to sit in stillness, to quiet the ego, to stay curious, and to trust what is not yet visible. Those are spiritual qualities by any definition, regardless of what tradition a person works within.
What is direct voice mediumship?
Direct voice is a form of physical mediumship in which spirit communication is heard audibly in the room, independent of the medium’s vocal cords. It is a rare phenomenon and usually occurs in dedicated physical circles that have sat together for many years.
Can mediumship prove life after death?
Mediumship offers evidence of life continuous, and for most people that evidence is enough. A message containing specific and relevant information the medium could not possibly have known, delivered in the personality and manner of the person who has passed, often speaks clearly of life beyond this world.
Finding alignment
Far more is happening that relates not just to mediumship but to any spiritual practice or inspired or enlightened state of awareness in any field or industry. For sports people it’s called the flow state, for artists and writers it’s called inspiration, for actors its embodiment of the character. The practitioner may also become aware of the frequency of omnipresence and alignment with their greater self, they feel the energy within their body and have the ability to step into the energy and healing of now. It is from this point where everyone has access to the greater presence of themselves and their connection to everything and everyone in and beyond our physical and conscious reality.
Mediums and spiritual teachers have developed their knowledge and awareness to a point where they have worked to develop their abilities to hold space and become aware of the energetics around them. There work is to hold space for people/students in order for them to become aware of their greater self, remove conditioning to open to our natural abilities.
Written by Richard Stuttle
