Leaving Home

What a mixture of feelings! Excitement at the thought of seeing new places, meeting old friends, finding new ones, learning about strange cultures and hearing foreign languages; (I will be visiting the continent of Africa for the very first time) nervousness about heavy traffic en route to the airport, possible delays at airports, technical problems with aircraft, lining up at immigration, wondering if my luggage will be the one they choose to open this time and how I will feel when I eventually reach my destination; sadness at leaving home and those I care for; will they cope alright without me? Will I cope alright without them? Nervousness about my work and whether I will be able to attune myself properly and be as good a channel for spirit as before, tinged with anticipation and excitement about new students and watching their gifts blossom.

It is not as if this is something I have never done before. I have been leaving home on overseas trips for spirit for years now and yet . . . ! Each time is slightly different, even though most of the places I will be working are those I know well and there will be lots of loving people waiting to welcome me back; people whose dedication to the spirit is wonderful to see and whose welcome and hospitality will, as always, be second to none. Yet I know that as soon as I begin working, all the nervousness and doubt will evaporate and everything will flow as it usually does because my spirit friends are always there to help me do my best.

Despite any nervousness I might feel, I would not change anything. I love to travel; I love to meet people and discuss with them our respective views on a whole range of subjects; I love the opportunity to offer people the books I have written, in the hope that I will thereby contribute some small amount to their understanding of themselves; I love the singing at the churches I will be visiting and the opportunity to join in many old favourites that I have not sung for many a long day. It is truly a magic time for me and one for which I give grateful thanks to my Creator and to those ministers and helpers in the Spiritual World who seem to delight in accompanying me. I am truly a very fortunate person.

I know that this trip will be no exception in providing memorable moments that I will be able to savour long after the trip has ended. I know there will be new friends made during the trip; people whose friendship will mean more and more as time goes by; people who will share with me in future their moments of joy and moments of sadness. Making new friends is such a delight and such a privilege and it is what helps to make any small discomforts experienced during the journey, more than worthwhile. I know also that I will learn new things about my work; my teaching and my mediumship; things that should enable me to be better at both in the future; things that will bring quiet satisfaction and comfort to me; things that will convince me even more that we mediums have no reason to be proud and conceited, for everything we have and every bit of comfort we are able to bring to others, happens by courtesy of our friends in the spiritual world. Our task as mediums is to try all the time to make ourselves a clearer channel for spirit, to work out better and better ways to isolate our conscious mind when we are working with spirit.

Leaving home is an opportunity to reassess many things; a time to evaluate where our home life fits into the overall pattern of our lives; a time to appreciate love and friendship; a time to learn from those who come to us to learn; a time to spread the love of the spirit as widely as possible; a time to practice humility; a time to give grateful thanks to our Creator for the beautiful world we inhabit and the beautiful people that share it with us; a time to understand our physical limitations and our limitless spiritual horizons.

I leave home on Tuesday and the journeys mean my friends that the blogs will be appearing less frequently over the next four months. I hope you will understand and that you will check into the site from time to time to see what’s new. May you always walk in the light of the Spirit.

The Flesh is Weak

This phrase recurs frequently in the affairs of humanity and in various forms, such as, “sins the flesh is heir to” and “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” It is used in general as an explanation of why we individually and collectively frequently fail to live up to our ideals. From that point of view it is of course true but it often sounds to me as though those who use the term are aiming some kind of criticism at God for not arranging things differently.

The flesh is weak because it is supposed to be that way. It is part of the Divine plan for humanity, I believe. The weaknesses we possess are there paradoxically as a stimulus for the spirit. It is how we deal with our weaknesses and how successful we are at loving and caring, despite their influence that marks our progress as spiritual beings. There are many people who look down upon human weaknesses and try their best to take advantage of them to their own material benefit; people who consider themselves “strong” and quite above the commonplace. How foolish they are! Frequently they misinterpret weakness and believe their own bluster and aggression will enable them to triumph over everything and thus earn the respect of their fellows.

Such people fail to see that doubt and uncertainty are endearing human traits, not weaknesses as they consider them to be. Doubt and uncertainty are the precursors of trust. There are times in life when each one of us feels circumstances are quite out of our personal control and we know not where to turn. At such times we are forced to trust in the guidance of someone or something greater than ourselves. The “strong” individual fights against such ‘weakness’ as he sees it and does not believe there is anything or anyone greater than himself or herself. He finds it almost impossible to have the kind of trust that says “all that happens is meant to happen because of forces set in motion earlier” and we must make the best of things as they are, or in other words “Whatever is, is right.”

Sometimes we are attacked unjustly and feel our anger rising at such injustice and we want to hit out at who-ever or whatever is persecuting us. Jesus of Nazareth urged people not to follow their instincts in such circumstances but rather to “turn the other cheek”. He knew all about the strength there is in meekness and in the Sermon on the Mount stated “The meek shall inherit the earth.” The spirit is certainly stronger than the flesh but not in the way that our earlier “strong man” would interpret strength. The strength of the spirit is in love, pure, unconditional love; love that always tries to place the interests of others before its own; love that recognises that all living things are inextricably linked trough the power of the spirit that flows through all life.

I believe the weakness of the flesh exists to ensure that, no matter how materialistic and selfish we may become, its mechanism will eventually bring us to the realisation that the flesh is only a small part, though important whilst on Earth, of our true personality; the realisation that within us beats a stronger heart than that which registers on an electrocardiogram; the realisation that when our conscious mind feels we are defeated, that is when our true strength, the strength of our spirit, is revealed. For some this only occurs after they have left the Earth and returned to the Spirit Realms where we all originated. For such people this is a harder road to walk than if they had recognised their divinity and the spiritual power and strength within them whilst on earth. It is so much more sensible and rewarding to allow the spirit equal expression with the conscious mind while we are here. If we can do that our lives on Earth will be fuller and happier, we will live longer and have fewer illnesses. Above all, we will discover a wonderful extra dimension to our lives that is hidden from the self-centred and the purely materialistic.

Try as we will to be good, kind and considerate, we will often fail but that is not a reason to give up. The old adage, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try and try again” is nowhere more valuable than in this area of human endeavour. If we keep trying, despite the setbacks, we will become spiritually stronger and more resilient and the sum of our happiness will be vastly increased, for it is in service to our fellow beings that we truly serve God.

Spiritual Balance

The definition of balance in Chamber’s 20th Century dictionary is: “Harmony among the parts of anything.” I propose to examine spiritual balance in the light of this definition. Spiritual of course means “of the spirit” so we need first to define what we mean by “the spirit”. To a Spiritualist, the spirit, in human terms, is the force that energises and gives life to the physical body. The force without which, we could not “live, move and have our being”. It is the difference between you and me here and now and our physical bodies or corpses after we have passed to the spirit or died; it is the difference between a tree that has lost all its leaves because it is autumn and one that has died. Both trees appear identical until spring arrives, after which the living tree puts forth buds, blossom and leaves, whereas the dead tree remains as it was in autumn.

It follows from this therefore, that the physical body and the spirit are intimately linked. Therefore when we are examining the question of spiritual balance, we cannot consider the spirit in isolation but must include the physical body also. This is vital in my opinion because unless there is harmony between spirit and physical body, there can only be partial spiritual balance. It is an unfortunate fact that far too many people treat the two separately, which leads to much misunderstanding and many misguided actions. For instance, some people find it completely incomprehensible to live a normal physical life and be a spiritual person simultaneously. These are the people who may devote their lives to prayer and meditation, who scourge the flesh in order to make themselves more spiritual and who believe sincerely that the contemplative life is the only way to understand the power of the spirit whilst on Earth.

I believe that, wonderful though it is that these people are willing to sacrifice the enjoyment of a normal physical life in order to pray for the rest of us, they are quite innocently, creating a severe imbalance between their spirit and their physical body. It is my belief that we are born into the Earth in order that we may grow stronger spiritually by learning to cope with the stresses and strains that are inherent in the possession of a physical body, the spirit cannot be as free as it was before and cannot fully express itself. It is similar to the effect on the mill stream of the mill race. Because the water is squeezed into the narrow channel of the mill race, its kinetic energy is vastly increased and it moves with greater force and greater rapidity. I believe the aim of physical life is to have a similar effect upon our spiritual self.

Similarly, those of us who concentrate all of our energy on the physical enjoyment of life on Earth, who live a sybaritic life devoted to luxury and ignore completely the needs of their spirit, also create a strong imbalance between body and spirit. Even those of us unable to devote ourselves to luxury but who nevertheless only think about everything and/or act according to the dictates of their physical needs, are consequently unbalanced too. To achieve balance we need to devote an equal amount of time and energy to the needs of the spirit and the needs of the physical body, for they are integral parts of our being. To attempt any distinction between the two is to invite problems.

In other words, we need to live our life on Earth in the full knowledge that we are not what we seem when we look into a mirror. We are a great deal more. In order to keep our physical body healthy we need to eat sensibly and take regular exercise. In order to keep our spirit healthy, we need to feed and exercise it properly too. Whilst it is true that the spirit comes into its own while the physical body sleeps, I do not think that is sufficient to create the right spiritual balance. So what must we do?

As the spirit is the ‘higher self’ its sustenance should consist of making a big effort to occasionally read and listen to people who have serious things to say about life and their philosophy of life. Please do not think this means we should be serious all the time and become deadly dull. No, laughter and joy are part of our spiritual self and we should never deny ourselves those. We should be as broad as possible in our ‘eating’ in this respect and not restrict ourselves to the views of a single individual or one group of individuals. We can then, subject what we have learned, to the judgement of our higher self and be guided what to accept and what to reject.

As to how to exercise the spirit, then meditation for short periods each day is part of the answer. In meditation we learn to be still and in that stillness we discover the truth about our inner self. As the Psalmist said, “Be still and know that I am God.” In other words, the way to find God is from within not by looking outside. We should recognise that feelings are a very important aspect of our awareness and not be afraid to feel, as so many unfortunately are. Once we learn to feel wholeheartedly, then that “feel good feeling” will be a regular feature, even though occasionally, there will be sadness and disappointment. The other part of the answer is to be as tolerant as we can, whilst refraining from confusing tolerance with licence and also go out of our way to help others whenever we are able. "Service is the coin of the spirit," said Silver Birch, that great teacher from the world of spirit, and how right he is.

Psychic Defence

Quite rightly, Spiritualists and especially the churches, focus their attention principally upon the positive side of our spiritual nature and of contact with those in the spiritual world. There are enough negative ‘alarm and despondency merchants’ about without the Spiritualist Churches adding to it. However as with everything, there is an opposite side. As Newton’s third law of motion states, “To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction,” so it is with spiritual matters. Just as here on Earth there are good people, bad people, lazy people and opportunists, so it is in spirit. People do not automatically change their characters when they pass to spirit. It takes time and hard work, which is something some spirits are unwilling to do for a long time. They prefer to remain as they were on Earth.

However it is important I believe for everyone to be aware of the negative side and how to protect themselves against it. Such psychic protection is a basic necessity, especially if you are a particularly sensitive person and I don’t just mean mediumistic when I say this. Even at the physical level, it is possible to protect ourselves against negative forces. On the one hand it demands alertness to what is going on around you and on the other hand foreknowledge of the risks we run in certain situations.

For instance on the matter of alertness, a friend of mine now in spirit herself, related the following experience: She was travelling by train from one of the London rail terminals and entered an empty carriage. A little while later a man entered the same compartment and she suddenly became aware that he appeared to be surrounded with blackness and she said it was like a physical barrier. She hurriedly left that compartment and entered another where there were several people sitting and felt greatly relieved to have escaped. She is sure that had she remained in the carriage with that man, something dreadful would have occurred. It is only sensible to act upon and not ignore such feelings if we are to avoid negative situations.

To demonstrate the importance of thinking ahead, take a hospital visit. If you are going to a hospital to visit a sick friend or relative, you should be aware that quite unconsciously and naturally, the sick draw upon the energy of the healthy. Unless you protect yourself beforehand, you will find your energy will become seriously depleted and the longer you stay, the greater will be this effect. The same is true when visiting old buildings, particularly any where violent emotions have been displayed in the past. Murders or executions for instance. Strong emotions imprint themselves on the fabric of a building and a sensitive person will become aware of them almost as soon as they enter. We should be aware that this can happen and take steps to protect ourselves from their influence.

The foregoing are physical situations but there are other threats we should be aware of. There is a natural law that nobody from spirit can invade the spirit of a person on Earth unless they are invited to do so. Such invasion can be termed ‘psychic attack.” The problem is that in certain situations it is possible in ignorance to extend an invitation without realising it. Young people playing with the Ouija for instance, when they have been drinking or taking drugs and the very fact they are treating spirit communication as a game influences the situation. Their natural immunity to psychic attack is greatly reduced and they can suffer psychological damage under such conditions. This is why we warn everyone not to treat the Ouija as a game. It is not. It is a basic instrument that can be used to bring about communication between us and the spiritual world and unless it is used reverentially and responsibly, damage can result. There are opportunist people in spirit that are so wedded to their former earthly lives they are just looking for opportunities to attach themselves to a person still on earth in order to try to relive the earthly experience.

Please do not think such risks are there in properly conducted experiments to contact the spirit world. So long as the power of the light is invoked and the experiment is reverentially conducted, there is no possibility of harm to participants. Knowledge is our best protection. On the other hand there are some people who have made themselves skilled in the practice of what have become known as the “Dark Arts” and they sometimes use this knowledge to attack individuals psychically. How can we protect ourselves if we feel such action is being aimed at us? By the use of love, prayer and white light. Pray to your God with love and devotion then imagine yourself surrounded by pure, white light and draw it close about you. Then surround that in your imagination, with a clear glass dome, so that you are like one of those clocks enclosed within such a dome. You will be able to see out but no psychic attack can penetrate the combination of the light and the glass. This can be used too when visiting old buildings. In the case of the hospital, ask your spirit friends to use you as a channel for healing during your visit. If you do that it is their energy, not yours that will be expended.

I have no wish to alarm anyone with these remarks and I hope you will accept they are given in a spirit of guidance and as help towards understanding. If you always work with love, light and consideration for others, there is nothing whatever to fear.

“All Partial Evil . . .”

The title of this piece is a quotation from Alexander Pope’s “Essay on Man.” It continues: “universal good.”

I was reminded of this when reading the following comment in a news item concerning the recent tragedy that killed so many of Poland’s leading citizens:

“Moscow's handling of the tragedy has won some admiration in Poland.
Witold Waszczykowski, deputy head of Poland's National Security Bureau and one of the few Kaczynski aides not to have been on the flight, said: "We did not expect this gentle, kind approach, this personal involvement from Putin.
"Naturally it will have a positive impact on the relationship between our countries."

Relationships between Russia and Poland have never been the easiest because over the centuries Poland has suffered a great deal from Russian domination and ill usage. It is therefore very encouraging to learn that the Russian Prime Minister’s response has been so kind and understanding. Perhaps it is a sign that the ‘great bear’ Russia is finally emerging from its self-imposed isolation which began with the Bolshevik revolution in 1917. Since then Russia has faced a great deal of hostility from the capitalist nations and especially from Hitler’s Germany during world war two. Fear was, as it usually is, the foundation of this hostility and fear has equally been at the root of Russia’s isolationist response.

The capitalist nations feared the spread of Communism, which in the McCarthy era in the United States and in Hitler’s Germany, was carried to ludicrous and dangerous levels, accompanied in the former case by a ridiculous increase in the nuclear arsenals of both the USA and Russia that are only now being seriously reduced. However Communism could not have been the sole cause of the fears of other nations for of course, Napoleon tried unsuccessfully to crush the Russia of the Tzars. Also, even since the collapse of Russian communism, the suspicions of other countries have scarcely been allayed. The sheer size of Russia and its, to Western eyes seemingly strange and uncivilised traditions, had long caused fear amongst other countries. This despite the pre-eminence of Russia in the ballet and the long line of dancers and composers it has produced.

I understand and sympathise with anyone from Poland who reads this and objects that the loss of their President and other leading figures can hardly be considered “partial”. However, to be realistic, although the extent of the tragedy cannot be overemphasised from Poland’s viewpoint, in terms of the world at large it is not ingenuous to consider its effect as partial. If, on the other hand, the reaction of Russian officialdom to the disaster is an indication of a more constructive and sympathetic approach to other, particularly smaller, nations then it truly will be for the universal good. The people who perished in the plane crash will not have died in vain.

As a Spiritualist of course, I do not consider that they have died at all and I am sure they will be looking on from the spirit world to see if in fact their untimely departures have produced opportunities for a better world that are indeed being pursued constructively. A time of tragedy is not the worst time for us to examine the wider picture and ponder upon the true nature of life in general and human life in particular; to try to make sense of all the apparent paradoxes in life. Back in the eighteenth century, Alexander Pope did much of the groundwork for us and I recommend reading his “Essay on Man” as the natural starting point for such an endeavour.

Cowboy Poetry

Maybe a little "tongue in cheek!" Lionel

Jake, the rancher, went one day
To fix a distant fence.
The wind was cold and gusty
And the clouds rolled grey and dense.

As he pounded the last staples in
And gathered tools to go,
The temperature had fallen,
The wind and snow began to blow.

When he finally reached his pickup,
He felt a heavy heart.
From the sound of that ignition
He knew it wouldn't start.

So Jake did what most of us
Would do if we had been there.
He humbly bowed his balding head
And sent aloft a prayer.

As he turned the key for the last time,
He softly cursed his luck
They found him three days later,
Frozen stiff in that old truck.

Now Jake had been around in life
And done his share of roaming.
But when he saw Heaven, he was shocked --
It looked just like Wyoming !

Of all the saints in Heaven,
His favorite was St. Peter.

So they sat and talked a minute or two,
Or maybe it was three.
Nobody was keeping' score --
In Heaven, time is free.

'I've always heard,' Jake said to Pete,
'that God will answer prayer,
But one time I asked for help,
Well, he just plain wasn't there.'

'Does God answer prayers of some,
And ignore the prayers of others?
That don't seem exactly square --
I know all men are brothers.'

'Or does he randomly reply,
Without good rhyme or reason?
Maybe, it's the time of day,
The weather or the season.'

'Now I ain't trying to act smart,
It's just the way I feel.
And I was wondering', could you tell me --
What the heck's the deal?!'

Peter listened very patiently
And when Jake was done,
There were smiles of recognition,
And he said, 'So, you're the one!!'

That day your truck, it wouldn't start,
And you sent your prayer a flying,
You gave us all a real bad time,
With hundreds of us trying.'

'A thousand angels rushed,
To check the status of your file,
But you know, Jake, we hadn't heard
From you in quite a long while.'

'And though all prayers are answered,
And God ain't got no quota,
He didn't recognize your voice,
And started a truck in Minnesota '

BETTER KEEP IN TOUCH!

“Fill Me With Life Anew”

This is a line from the famous hymn “Breathe on me Breath of God”. What is meant by the breath of God? Anyone who has had the privilege of sitting in a Circle with a good Materialisation medium will have some idea. During every such séance, usually when the power has built to the level where materialisation is about to take place, a wind will suddenly blow through the circle and usually it is not only strong but fairly cold also. I have seen the curtain on the front of the cabinet blown so that it is horizontal! This is as close to experiencing the ‘breath of God’ that I have ever come and after feeling that ‘psychic wind,’ as some like to call it, the atmosphere in the séance changes perceptibly. To me it becomes more reverential, not parsimonious, fun and laughter are very much part of physical phenomena, but reverential.

I am not sure what others feel but I feel as though I am filled with an indescribable joy. Suddenly, the Earth and everything I considered so important before, shrinks into the background and I know I am in the presence of a power so great but so loving, that for a while, my spiritual eyes are opened and I am filled with wonder. I really do feel as if I am “filled with life anew.” Once having experienced this intense feeling, one can never again disbelieve in the eternity of life.

I am filled with sadness however, when I realise that many attending such séances must not have felt as I did because otherwise there would have been no attempts to cheat and to defraud and Spiritualism would not have been brought into disrepute as a consequence. That physical phenomena were the first types of mediumship that launched Modern Spiritualism is no surprise to me for at its best, it combines the physical and the spiritual. It demonstrates, again at its best, the beauty of true communion between the physical and spiritual worlds even to those not blessed with a gift of mediumship.

Similar feelings can be experienced under other circumstances of course. For instance, when walking alone in beautiful natural surroundings, we are sometimes overtaken by the same feelings of joy indescribable; sometimes in meditation we seem to go deeper than others and again we seem to ‘feel’ the divine presence of the “breath of God; when idly looking at something specific but not really concentrating on it, so that our conscious mind is totally relaxed, we can also become aware of being far greater and more aware than we have ever been before; paradoxically, the same thing can occur after we have been through a period of great stress, pain or despair. This is due also to total relaxation of the conscious mind I believe. The stress, pain or despair has so lowered our physical resistance that the power of the spirit within us all takes over bringing relief with the blessing of the Great Spirit.

Breathe on me, breath of God,
Fill me with life anew,
That I may love what Thou dost love,
And do what Thou wouldst do.

Breathe on me, breath of God,
Until my heart is pure,
Until with Thee I will one will,
To do and to endure.

Breathe on me, breath of God,
Blend all my soul with Thine,
Until this earthly part of me
Glows with Thy fire divine.

Breathe on me, breath of God,
So shall I never die,
But live with Thee the perfect life
Of Thine eternity.

Poetic Guidance

Chance & Opportunity

When one door closes another door opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us.
- Alexander Graham Bell

If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door.
- Milton Berle


You will never "find" time for anything. If you want time, you must make it.
- Charles Buxton


Opportunities do not come with their values stamped upon them. Everyone must be challenged. A day dawns, quite like other days; in it a single hour comes, quite like other hours; but in that day and in that hour the chance of a lifetime faces us. To face every opportunity of life thoughtfully and ask its meaning bravely and earnestly, is the only way to meet the supreme opportunities when they come, whether open-faced or disguised.
- Maltbie Davenport Babcock

God


Perchance he for whom this bell tolls may be so ill, as that he knows not it tolls for him; and perchance I may think myself so much better than I am, as that they who are about me, and see my state, may have caused it to toll for me, and I know not that. The church is Catholic, universal, so are all her actions; all that she does belongs to all. When she baptizes a child, that action concerns me; for that child is thereby connected to that body which is my head too, and ingrafted into that body whereof I am a member. And when she buries a man, that action concerns me: all mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated; God employs several translators; some pieces are translated by age, some by sickness, some by war, some by justice; but God’s hand is in every translation, and his hand shall bind up all our scattered leaves again for that library where every book shall lie open to one another.
- Dr. John Donne,
Devotions upon Emergent Occasions
(Meditation XVII)

'Twas much, that man was made like God before,
But, that God should be made like man, much more.
- Dr. John Donne, Holy Sonnets (no. XV)


Go, mark the matchless working of the power
That shuts within the seed the future flower;
Bids these in elegance of form excel.
In color these, and those delight the smell;
Sends nature forth, the daughter of the skies,
To dance on earth, and charm all human eyes.
- William Cowper

GUIDES

What is a guide? Is it a person you engage to show you the way from your home to the local shops or to your friend’s house in another part of the country? Is it even a person you ask to accompany you to a professional’s office in the city near you that you have not visited before? I think not. Where you know perfectly well how to reach a certain place, you just drive there or take public transport; if it is a place in a town many miles away from you, you buy a map or use an electronic guidance system, or you ask the person who lives there how to find the house after you have reached their town using the map. If it is a place in your own city that you have never before visited, you ask the people in the office concerned how to get there – yes?

I hope the foregoing makes sense to you, as it should, for we all have to take such steps from time to time. The occasions when we need a guide in our physical life are when for instance, we are visiting a country or a district, or a mountain where ignorance of the terrain could lead us into danger or even to the loss of our life; or a ship’s Master will need a “guide,” called a “Pilot” when reaching port where it is vital to know the exact location of a navigable channel. Alternatively, we also need guides when we need detailed information about a place we are visiting for the first time, such as a museum, the Pyramids, a National Park, an historic monument, or a natural wonder like an underground cave system. For most of us, our lives are such that we very rarely need to employ a guide. In Spiritualism however, it seems to be different! To hear the number of times some mediums say, “I must ask my guides,” one could be forgiven for thinking that the gift of mediumship robs the possessor of their basic intelligence!

What do Spiritualists mean when they speak of guides? Thereby hangs a problem. The use of the word “guide” has become so imprecise and all-encompassing it is in danger of becoming totally meaningless. It is our own fault that such confusion has arisen. We have all become very lazy in our use of the English language and try to make a single word or expression cover a multitude of situations. Let us examine the role of the “guide” in mediumship. As I understand it, the original use of the word in Modern Spiritualism was reserved for the one individual from the spiritual world who, from the moment of our birth and probably earlier, has assumed responsibility to guide and guard us on our Earthly journey; our Guardian Angel if you like and one who in my early days as a Lyceumist, was referred to as our Guardian. Everyone possesses such a benevolent and loving guardian whose job it is to help us when challenges in our life become too much or we have great difficulty in reaching a very important decision that may well affect others. It is not his or her job to live our lives for us and never can he undermine our own free will. When we have need of such guidance, circumstances will have transpired that will make us peculiarly receptive to telepathic suggestion. Thoughts will appear in our mind as though by magic and suddenly we will know what to do. Most of us will be completely unaware the suggestion came from another mind and will think we thought it up ourselves. Such guidance only happens I believe when we are in extremis, otherwise our Guardian would be undermining our free will.

In my humble opinion, the word Guide in Spiritualism, should refer only to our Guardian. Let us examine what happens with those relatively few people who possess the gift of mediumship. Their gift enables them, when it is properly developed, to communicate with those in the spiritual world who are anxious to speak with or reach people still on Earth who are related to them or were friends of theirs when they lived on Earth. In some instances the medium also acts as a channel, if you like, for those in spirit who have the knowledge and ability to teach on subjects of a spiritual and philosophical nature. One must not forget either, those who act as channels for the healing energies that are focussed by Healers in spirit. Depending upon the gift or gifts the medium possesses, there will be an individual in spirit whose job it is to act as a kind of liaison between the medium and those in the spiritual world who wish to communicate, for one of several different purposes. In recent years, such individuals have also become known as guides, whereas the word “Helper” is in my opinion a more accurate description of their role. The “Helper” is the technocrat if you like. He or she is knowledgeable about how mediumship works from both sides, here and in the spiritual world. Their job is to help people communicate more effectively and as such they assist the medium to become a clearer channel for the Spirit, in whatever type of mediumship they possess, and they also help those in spirit who are unaccustomed to the complex business of communication with the world incarnate. It is not their role to act as a problem solver for difficulties in the medium’s personal life or to suggest ways in which others may change their thoughts or behaviour to overcome particular problems. The Helper may be able to contact loved ones in spirit of such individuals who may be able to suggest ways of dealing with the problem, much as they may have done when they were on earth.

I hope these thoughts help to clarify what has become a needlessly complicated area of mediumship. I would urge mediums to use the word “guide” very sparingly and to those who consult mediums, would suggest being very wary of mediums who refer to their guides on every possible occasion.

Old Farmer's Advice

Today I am using some homespun advice from a farmer which a friend sent to me by email. I hope you agree that the farmer, in his own way, gives us some very sound advice.



Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong.

Keep skunks and bankers at a distance.

Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.

A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.

Words that soak into your ears are whispered...not yelled.

Meanness don't jes' happen overnight.

Forgive your enemies; it messes up their heads.

Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.

It don't take a very big person to carry a grudge.

You cannot un-say a cruel word.

Every path has a few puddles.

When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.

The best sermons are lived, not preached.

Most of the stuff people worry about ain't never gonna happen anyway.

Don't judge folks by their relatives.

Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

Live a good, honorable life.. Then when you get older and think back, you'll enjoy it a second time.

Don't interfere with somethin' that ain't bothering you none.

Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a Rain dance.

If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin'.

Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.

The biggest troublemaker you'll probably ever have to deal with, watches you from the mirror every mornin'.

Always drink upstream from the herd.

Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.

Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin' it back in.

If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around.

Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply.

Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God. --

Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight,
he'll just kill you …...