Opportunity to develop mediumship 

We present in this issue the topic #114 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. Is there a suitable age to develop mediumship?

2. When small signs of mediumship appear, how can someone know if they are really mediums who need to train and study about their mediumship?

3. Where the biggest difficulties of mediumship come from?

4. Which recommendations does the article “Orientation to the Spiritualist Centre” published by the National Federal Council give?

5. Is the knowledge of religious teachings really important to the practice of mediumship? Why?

Text

Developing mediumship is a mixture of efforts with perseverance

1. Mediumship cannot be improvised. The medium is not an intelligence or conscience incapable of interfering in the process of the communication between both worlds. That is why improving mediumship is a mixture of effort and perseverance in time and space.

2. Mediumship is an instrument of high value for knowing more about how to help people, develop virtues in the realisation of rich experiences and sorting out personal moral issues. It is, for the individual really conscious about these values, a rare opportunity got sometimes through difficulties but that allows a rapid spiritual development.  

3. The development of mediumship occurs independently of place, age, social conditions or gender. It can start during childhood, puberty, adulthood or during elderly years. It can happen at home, in a religious centre and can happen also with individuals who are materialists.

4. When mediumship appears, it should be natural that the development of it is taken care of by its apprentice himself/herself, who needs a serene atmosphere to pray and study about mediumship. The apprentice should study properly about Spiritism, mediumship’s characteristics and the religious and moral side of the practice of mediumship which will provide the apprentice with opportunity to work for good and obtain spiritual ascension.

It’s not always that mediumship appears intensively

5. It’s not always that mediumship appears intensively and it starts in the beginner the desire to know if he/she is a medium who needs to develop their mediumship studying and educating it in themselves. We must understand, however, that only practice, the methodical and perseverant exercise of it will tell if the candidate to mediumship is prepared to practice it.

6. The practice of mediumship involves a number of difficulties, when it doesn’t involve some danger, related to a high perception of the spiritual world from the medium. Those can be trigged by spirits who are voluntarily enemies of the practice of mediumship or by the medium himself/herself, who has flaws which attracts bad spirits.

7. To emphasise the importance of responsability when communicating with good spirits, Kardec affirmed that communications provoked for the wrong reasons by the medium facilitates the influence of bad spirits. That is a mistake which shouldn’t be made by mediums who know the seriousness of this task.  

8. The meetings to study about mediumship and educate it must provide mediums with conditions to practice it according to Spiritism teachings.

Nobody should participate of medium’s meetings before training to practice mediumship properly

9. We read in the article of “Guide to the Spiritualist Centre”, published by the National Federal Council, that the candidate to mediumship should go to public meetings of study and spiritual help at first. If he/she is victim of bad spiritual influences, he/she should also subscribe for the religious centre’s treatment for spiritual release.

10. It’s also recommended that the candidate to mediumship should be guided to control their bodies while being used by the spirit to communicate. The medium should avoid the moaning, crying, heavy breathing, screams or aggressive moves. Mediums shouldn’t take part of medium’s group before taking control of their mediumship, avoiding to think that they are special and have the biggest mission in the world. They should take mediumship as a something normal procedure of communication between worlds.

11. Andre Luiz in his book “In the mediumship’s domain” clarifies that the cerebral chakras of the medium represent bases of thoughts and will in all the spiritual communications, since only sensing things to materialisation of objects. And he affirms that these phenomena have the protection and help from the wise and good spirits when the medium wants only to serve and help people in general. If this is not the medium’s goal, these phenomena can be influenced by malicious and bad spirits ending up in a painful process.

12. This is the reason why is never too much to affirm that knowledge and study of mediumship and its application to life are really useful for a good practice of mediumship. The apprentice should be docile and obedient to the good spirits instructions to correct themselves and adapt their desires and plans to the interest of people’s spiritual ascension, not mattering if these spirits are incarnated or disincarnated. This should be the main goal of all the candidates to mediumship.

Answer Key