In the Mind of the Medium

                      --An excerpt from Carole’s forthcoming book,

                      I'm Still With You: True Stories of Healing Grief Through Spirit Communication

’The loud knock on my front door startled me as I swallowed the last bites of my lunch.  My first client for the day, Annie, an attractive woman in her mid-thirties with long, brown hair, had arrived early for her appointment. She promptly stepped into my dining room and extended her hand to greet me.

“I’ve never done this sort of thing before,” she announced nervously, as if making a confession. “I’m a little scared.”

Over the years, I’ve gotten used to people being on edge when they come to work with me. Despite my assurance to them that my work is healing-based and not scary, people are not quite sure what to expect during a first-time session with a psychic medium. Nor are they prepared to see a normal looking woman (without a gypsy costume and crystal ball) answer the door when they arrive. Except for a few genuine portrayals of mediumship on TV like John Edward’s Crossing Over, most people know little about how spirit communication actually works. Part of my job, in addition to reuniting people with their loved ones, is to educate them about how mediumship operates, heals grief and dispels the fear of death. In a nutshell, I instruct them on how to receive their loved ones’ messages so they can benefit from the session.

    

I made a quick assessment of Annie’s demeanor. She seemed anxious for the session to begin yet politely reserved in her attitude towards me. People in grief often wall themselves off emotionally for self-protection. I realized I might have to do some preliminary work to help her relax so the spirit world could come through in the session. Good readings depend partly on the emotional openness of clients, since they are an indispensable part of the communication process. Spirit beings want to be heard but can’t get through strongly enough if we’re carrying heavy emotions, such as anger or extreme sadness, that block our awareness of their messages.

After I ushered Annie into my reading room, I asked her to take several deep breaths and relax by focusing for a few minutes on her breath. I explained that the spirit world communicates with me by impressing their thoughts and feelings on my mind – a form of mental telepathy – then I interpret what I am sensing for the client (also called the sitter.) I told her that the process of mediumship is not perfect; sometimes, there are misinterpretations on the part of the medium whose frame of reference and life experiences are used by the communicating spirit. I advised her to be open to everything that was said, even if it didn’t make immediate sense. Since the reading would be taped, she could listen to it later and validate things she initially missed.

Unlike most of the sessions I do, I knew whom Annie wanted to hear from in spirit. Several weeks earlier, when she called for her appointment, she told me that someone had referred her to me and (before I could stop her) that she wanted to make contact with her recently deceased husband. As a rule, I want to know as little as possible about clients—in particular, who they want to connect with in spirit. Seldom do I know their last names. With no prior knowledge, I can come from a pure space and the integrity of the spirit communication process is preserved. In Annie’s case, it was too late; she had already revealed what she wanted. 

“I can’t guarantee your husband will come through,” I told her before starting the session. “Those in spirit have free will, just as we do, and they can choose to communicate or not. I can’t make them come through.”

Annie nodded silently and her agitation subsided as she settled into the comfortable rocking chair in front of me. I took a deep breath and rubbed my hands together before holding Annie’s hands to recite the prayer that I use to begin every session. In my legs and around my head, I could feel energy from the spirit world start to flow…