Rules to be observed in the practice of mediumship

We present in this issue the topic #113 from the Systematized Study of the Spiritist Doctrine, that is being presented weekly, according to the programme elaborated by the Brazilian Spiritist Federation (FEB), structured in 6 modules and 147 topics.

If the reader uses this program for a study group, we suggest that questions proposed be discussed freely before the reading of the text that follows. If you would like to study alone, we ask you to try to answer the questions at first and only then read the text that follows. The answer key can be found at the end of the lesson. 

Questions

1. Which issues are directly important for the medium to practice a balanced mediumship?

2. Which position should the medium sustain in relation to the communications received through him/her?

3. Why does Leon Denis suggest that groups dedicated to mediumship should be small?

4. Should the meetings to practice mediumship be always at the same time and at the same place?

5. Besides being eager to improve the practice of mediumship, what should be the purposes of mediums?

Text

The practice of mediumship demands dignity from the medium

1. In any serious work is necessary to follow rules and methods in order to reach certain goals. In the case of practicing mediumship, this reality is very important.

2. Mediumship, which connects the material world to the spiritual one, involves a lot of issues directly concerning the medium such as his behaviour, his physical, mental and spiritual conditions. These facts require sensibility, precision, knowledge and experience from the medium in order to insure achieving the final goal.

3. Mediumship, according to Spiritism, always requires a superior moral attitude. It requires from the medium a moral behaviour compatible to the fine work that the medium volunteers for.

4. Kardec affirms that the natural desire of every beginner in mediumship is to talk to the spirit of the ones loved by him/her. They ignore that the communication with these spirits can bring material difficulties which turns to be impossible to be overcome by the beginner. That is the reason why in the beginning no one should call for specific spirits, because maybe it won’t be with this specific spirit that the medium’s fluid will be easily compatible with.      

In mediumship, synchrony of feelings and thoughts is essencial 

5. From what was said so far, we can conclude that only the mediums who go through a severe and persistent discipline will have success at achieving their goals. This should be sought in the first contacts with mediumship and in the methods learnt in the meetings for studies of mediumship. Another important point to consider is this: the medium who does not want to be tricked must seek the meetings which are serious, and accept or even ask for, thankfully, the examination of the communications they received.

6. In his book “Here and hereafter”, Leon Denis gives us some basic rules as a guide to the medium’s meetings. First of all, Denis teaches us that the small groups with people who get along are the most likely to succeed. This is because in the spiritual communications, it’s necessary to have synchrony of feelings and thoughts between incarnated and disincarnated spirits. Obviously, it is easier to obtain synchrony if the group is small and he suggests a number of 12 to 14 people in the group.  

7. The constant replacement of people in the group can get in the way or at  least delay the achievement of the final goals. It’s easy to see that in a group which people are being replaced frequently, there isn’t an appropriate environment for them to synchronise as a homogeneous group. The group needs to be homogeneous and people need to trust each other in order to guarantee a good environment for the communication to happen.

8. Another matter analysed by Leon Denis is the place and time of the medium’s meetings. It’s necessary that people get together at the same fixed days and times  as well the same place. This is, according to the French writer, a basic rule of organisation and method, because mediumship is a permanent work, not temporary. It’s important to have fixed place and times for the meetings because the spiritual side also needs to be prepared for the achievement of successful communication.

The candidate to mediumship needs to develop a work with social goals  

9. Perseverance is another requirement to a medium’s group according to Leon Denis. Obviously, it’s upsetting to wait for spiritual communications for a long period of time and not get them. Let’s understand that a slow and progressive action happens during the sessions, because the necessary strength doesn’t come unless that there are repetitive tries and training. In the exchange between us and the suffering disincarnated spirits, our efforts shouldn’t be concentrated only in a static, not active way, without helping the ones who share this ambient with us. Mediums work constantly and intensely in the meetings and not only when receiving a spiritual communication.  

10. The managing of the medium’s group should be taken by someone dignified and who inspires trust and friendship. The role of managing a medium’s group demands rare qualities, knowledge and mainly a long time contact with the exchange between the material and spiritual worlds. The Director of the medium’s group shouldn’t be the Director of the meetings and psychophoner at the same time. Because he/she will not perform well if doing both things at the same time. The Director should always attend the meetings in fixed places and times avoiding to have unscheduled meetings for curiosity or for requests without a reasonable reason.

11. The candidate to mediumship should also initially attend the public meetings and spiritual assistance, which are known as public studying meetings. When heavily influenced by bad spirits, the candidate to become medium should attend to the above mentioned meetings and also attend to the spirit release’s meetings in the Religious Centre he/she goes to.    

12. In conclusion, we must keep in mind that the ones wanting to be serious mediums should do so for social reasons and not only for personal use. For that, they will need to be synchronised with morally superior spirits, seeking good inspirations, acting accordingly to what these morally superior spirits recommend and avoiding behaving in a way that can push them away.

Answer Key