The most common problems in the work of beginner mediums

An interesting alternative for beginner workers in mediumship,
who do not present ostensive mediumship, can be the
 rescuing mediumship of laying on hands healing

 
The famous explanation of the codification which establishes that “everyone is medium” represents one of the most misleading phrases in the Spiritist Movement.  Everybody is a potential medium, as well as everyone has potential to be a writer, a singer, an actor, a preacher, etc.  This does not mean, however, that an individual presents in a determined moment all his potential development for a dynamic and intensive action in the respective area. Therefore “everyone is a medium”, but only a few are “ostensive mediums”, that is, “mediums in action”. A seed is a potential tree, but it is not yet a tree itself. In fact, when someone asks us if we are mediums, many times, as in my particular case, we answer: “No. I am spiritist, but I am not a medium”.

	The potential mediums, which could be simply called “non mediums”, make up the overwhelming majority of creatures.  The “non mediums” are those in whom the mediumistic manifestations are restricted, usually, only to intuitive phenomena, which are common to all people. Therefore, they are individuals who basically interact with the spiritual world only through “telepathy”, not representing a priori a more specific task in the field of mediumship itself at the moment of this present existence. Despite not reaching the totality of all cases, this limitation frequently carries on for the whole of
the present incarnation. Dr. Bezerra de Menezes (Spirit), in the wonderful work “Memories of Mediumship”, comments through Yvonne A. Pereira (picture), in the first chapter entitled “Faculties in Study”, that normally the safer mediums are those who have presented a mediumistic capacity with great intensity since early childhood. For these mediums, in the majority of cases, would already bring a specific task in mediumship, having consequently, been prepared in previous incarnations and in the erraticity in a careful manner for such desideratum.  It is worth citing literally a piece related to the respective
elucidation by Dr. Bezerra de Menezes: “... There are mediumship aptitudes which reveal themselves in their bearers from the cradle-stage. These are safer and far more positive because they are fruit of long re-incarnating stages, during which, their bearers exercise striking activities, so developing forces of the perispirit, the seat of mediumship, vibrating intensely in one or another sector of the existence and thus acquiring accommodating vibrating abilities of the phenomena.

There are leaders who stimulate ostensive manifestations
of people who in reality are not mediums

Other mediumship abilities which are still in formation (fragile, incomplete vibrating strength, the so called “negative agents”), who will never get to train themselves satisfactorily in only one existence, and which  will mix themselves with mental grafts of the medium himself in any operation tried, even also allowing oneself  the possibility of  mental pseudo-perturbation, causing thus the need to check into psychiatric hospitals and wards if these are  individuals who are ignorant of the psychological sciences”.

To present some more ostensive phenomena very rarely does not characterise an individual as a medium of action and much less as carrier of the so called “missionary mediumship”.

By not being an action medium, the individual who only presents a “basal mediumship” will only participate in a mediumistic meeting in a productive manner if it is for the so called “support” role, or in the counselling role. Obviously, some exceptions can be allowed, as beginner mediums need some freedom to give vent to initial phenomena, as a form of training. However, the exception should not become the rule, which has been a much common practice in several spiritist centres. If this occurs, the meeting will only be of an elevated quality if, in terms of time division, the gospel and philosophical study (which are always very productive) predominates, leaving only a small time interval for the practice experiences.  Otherwise, the opportunity for the study of philosophy is lost and on the other hand is also of low quality, simply because there are no proper mediums per se in the meeting. Indeed, basically, the mediumistic meeting is made up of 1 or 2 leaders, by the action mediums, by the indoctrinators and by beginners mediums and /or support mediums, including “laying on hands healing mediums”.

A meeting only formed by support mediums deserves a special care so that it does not fall into generalised complex mystifying-animistic process. Indeed, by basing themselves on the bad interpreted paradigm that “everyone is a medium”, many leaders have induced or even stimulated more ostensive manifestations of individuals who, in reality, are not themselves mediums. This type of behaviour generates a vicious circle of suggestion and auto-suggestion, as phenomena that are merely animistic receive connotations of intense mediumistic manifestations.

Clairaudience is a type of mediumship which is subjected to a series of “interferences”

Meetings without the presence of ostensive mediums must prioritise philosophical study, involving, above all, the theory content of mediumship associated with the gospel study with a minimum period for practice exercises. Around three-quarters of an hour dedicated to study and one-quarter to practice experiments. Otherwise, by putting excessive emphasis on the practical works either the meeting will fall obligatorily into monotony due to the almost total absence of events, or as in a much worse scenario case it will stimulate the imagination and auto-suggestion which may generate dangerous loss to the work of the group. If, eventually the mediumistic manifestations start to present a larger intensity of phenomena and, mainly, content quality, the time division dedicated to practise could be expanded in a slow and gradual way.

Within this context, a practice which has becoming common in many spiritist centres and which is extremely dangerous is the connection, almost direct between the introductory theory courses of mediumship with the mediumistic meeting itself. Newcomers to the spiritist movement who want “to see Spiritists”, “to hear Spirits”, and such things, come out of systematised studies of 2 years or at a maximum of 3 years and start taking part in mediumistic meetings. The reasons given by the leaders, as a rule, are that “we are all mediums” and/or that the “non mediums” are equally necessary to the mediumistic meetings. The second affirmation is not wrong; however one cannot use it to elaborate innumerable mediumistic groups that will not have an effective medium. The fact that the “non mediums” are important does not mean that a mediumship meeting of quality can be developed, even because, in this case this meeting would already not be “mediumistic”. Therefore, it is worth emphasising “not all are mediums of action”, on the contrary, the overwhelming majority of the individuals are not action mediums and a practical mediumistic meeting with a minimum content is not developed without at least one action medium.

The important addendum which one must make in concordance with Allan Kardec’s elucidations in the “Mediums’ Book”, is that clairaudience is a type of mediumship that is subjected to a series of “interferences”, and must receive a special care in its analysis.

Spiritist Doctrine must guide the movement and not the movement “make the doctrine flexible” according to fads

Surely, “ideoplasty”, imagination, autosuggestion, telepathy, physiologic condition, ophthalmologic problems, the light of the environment and its natural optical effects, amongst others animistic and mediumistic phenomena can affect the perception and the consequent interpretation of the medium. Culture itself, as well as philosophic baggage can influence the decoding of spiritist messages, above all in a clairaudience context. Herminio Miranda, in “Dialogue with the Shadows”, suggests a multidisciplinary work, or, if preferred, multi-mediumistic, so that the clairaudient medium receives the support of other mediums who present other types of faculties in order to confirm and even to deepen the understanding of the phenomena and messages. Therefore, once more it becomes evident the need for mediums who present a significant “ostensiveness”, under the penalty of fomenting many “mediumistic meetings” without real mediumistic phenomena.

Another argument commonly used by leaders to explain this “work philosophy” is that, it is with much effort that the spiritist centres directors “are able to retain” the beginners for 2 or 3 years in merely theoretical studies. Now, this allegation is unjustifiable, as the beginner is learning what the spiritist doctrine is and is going to follow the guidelines established by the spiritist centre. Indeed, this trick usually hides a proselytist desire to please the spiritist centre’s goers in order to keep the centres full at any cost. In despite of the aspiration to disseminate the Spiritist Doctrine being legitimised, this dissemination cannot fall into the mistakes of doctrines of the past. As Divaldo P. Franco would say, in his seminar entitled “Encounter with Spiritist Leaders” (also available in DVD), “Everything is valid, as long as the Doctrine is not corrupted. The Spiritist Doctrine must guide the movement and not the movement “make the doctrine flexible” to fit fads, conflicts and transitory personal opinions. This conscientious stance in relation to the doctrine must be kept above the desire “to draw in the crowds”. It is fundamental so that Spiritism does not repeat the mistakes of other religions which, without the same philosophical strength of the “Promised Consoler”, admit any proposal for change, however frivolous the subterfuge is, as long as the goer is kept bound to its institution.

The mediums must endeavour to develop the moral
 pre-requisites inherent to every spiritist work

Therefore, we have to admit that in many spiritist centres, the mediumistic meetings must have small duration time for practice, focusing more in the so called “fluidic awareness”, under penalty of creating in the goers a cascading process of animistic-mystifying induction. If we once more call upon the safe orientation of the Spirit Dr. Adolfo Bezerra de Menezes in “Recollections of Mediumship” (Yvonne A. Pereira); in the chapter entitled “The Obsession Complex” we can read: “... Hence the reason for Allan Kardec declaring mediumship to be a spontaneous faculty that must not be provoked but nobly accepted when naturally presents itself, nor it must suffer insistence in its development. The mediumship faculty does not reach the necessary degree through the possibility of the normal development in one year or in ten years, but through the reincarnating stages.”

Specifically in relation to disobsession activities, which are frequently already taken on by beginner mediums in many mediumistic meetings; an additional alert is necessary having in view the spiritual risks to which the group expose itself in these cases. The medium Ms. Yvonne do Amaral Pereira herself, in this same chapter “The Obsession Complex” of the monumental book “Recollections of Mediumship”, a few pages after the above mentioned elucidation, has affirmed: “It will be useful that in every processes of cures of obsessions a very developed and very faithful to the high office medium becomes spokesperson for the necessary instructions of the Spiritual Guides, which means that we must not throw ourselves to the thorny paths if such medium does not exist in the group.

An interesting alternative for the beginner workers of mediumship, who do not present a bigger mediumistic ostensiveness, could be the rescuing mediumship of the laying on of hands healing.

The authentic animistic phenomenon is a legitimised paranormal fact and of great contribution in a
mediumistic meeting

There is a small exception to be mentioned in relation to everything which has been stated here. The excessive zeal against animism can be as harmful to the mediumistic task as the total absence of care in this respect. Indeed, the work itself of Andre Luiz brings examples of this type of problem. However, in no way this care denies the previous analysis. On the contrary, if the process for selection of components for the mediumistic groups is rigorous, with a previous selection of the team, very probably the larger doctrine knowledge and the larger personal maturity tend to minimise the grossest problems that can occur in mediumistic meetings. The present analysis is much more an appeal against the process of imagination, suggestion, autosuggestion and of unconscious mystification developed by the leaders and the people who are being led, than against the authentic animistic phenomenon per se, which is still a legitimised paranormal fact and of great spiritual contribution in a mediumistic meeting.

To conclude this analysis, we must remember Chico Xavier, the greatest spiritist medium of history, who once said the celebrated phrase “the telephone only rings from there to here”. Well, if the spiritual guides do not answer to our immediacies “to phone us quickly”, there must be a deeper reason for this.  The spiritual mentors work in a highly responsible manner taking on consideration several nuances of our lives which many times we are unaware of, including aspects of previous incarnations and priorities established in our reincarnation planning. Logically, these unknown factors aim at our spiritual and evolutionary safety, taking into consideration the eternity which is destined to us. If we wish we had mediumship but we are not ostensive medium yet, we shall work in the infinite harvest of possibilities which the Father has offered us within and outside the spiritist movement and we must allow that “the Will of Father be done before our own” because certainly future opportunities will arise if we carry out our present tasks well.