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Word Gems
exploring self-realization, sacred personhood, and full humanity
Reincarnation On Trial
psychic-mediums with rigid beliefs skew messages received
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Dr. Carl Wickland, Thirty Years Among The Dead, writes:
"When there is firmly implanted in the mind of the medium a dogmatic, fixed idea, say, regarding religion, reincarnation, egotism, etc., this acts as a deterrent to the communicating spirits and often colors the communication.
"A medium should be a free soul, neutral, without creed, dogma or ism, and should be able to relax completely, leaving the way open to full control by intelligent spirits. Thus will advanced, intelligent spirits be attracted, the process of control be easy, natural and comfortable, strength be given to the medium by the guiding spirits and truthful messages and communications be received.
"Mrs. M. T. Longley, who devoted most of her life to psychic research, wrote in The Spirit World:
The power of mediumship is deep and far reaching; its source is in the potential energies of the universe; the principle of all sentient life; it is divine. Mediumship is delicate, it is subtle, rooted in the spiritual structure; it may be easily put out of tune; it can be even perverted to base uses and brought down to ignoble ends...
It is possible for some of these delicately attuned instruments to be set ajangle by the wear and tear of conditions, to be unduly influenced by designing spirits in mortal flesh as well as by duping beings outside of this clay. The wonder is, that with the conditions provided them by careless, self-seeking visitors, curiosity-hunters - perhaps from both sides of life, not to speak of designing encroachers on their magnetic forces and environments - so many psychics are held to truth and probity in their line of conduct and of work...
The ancients understood the needs of their oracles; they knew that subtle vibrant forces must away sensitives who could be susceptible to the forces of the unseen worlds sufficiently to receive and to register them correctly; so these sensible people removed their psychics from contact with the ignorant crowd; they built for them temples, and gave them beautiful surroundings, made them free from anxiety concerning the supply of bodily needs, brought them into the Sanctuaries of Silence... and provided the proper conditions for the exercise of mediumship to its best and fullest extent.
That which is gained by the good and pure medium... the sweetness, purity and beauty which come from the consciousness of helping, sustaining, blessing other human lives, create a happiness and spiritual wealth in the medium, or in any such ministrants, that belong to Spirit, and that is everlasting.
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influenced by preconceived opinions
The following is from Excursions to the Spirit World by Frederick C. Sculthorp. In 1934 the author suffered the untimely death of his wife. Grieving his loss, and after chancing upon the famous scientist Sir Oliver Lodge’s book “Why I Believe in Personal Immortality,” he decided to try his luck with a psychic-medium to contact his lost love. The results astonished him. He was given information that only she and he knew about. Moreover, this initial success led to something even more marvelous. Sculthorp discovered, with the psychic’s encouragement, that he too possessed abilities to access the coming dimensions. For the next decades, via “out-of-body” astral traveling during sleep, he would visit his wife in Summerland and, in the process, offered us much knowledge concerning life and society the next world.
From the introduction: "A difficulty arises in so far as spiritual experience may be either of a symbolical nature (similar to dreams of the same kind) or else be due to a spiritual reality.
"The symbolical experience is quite personal and individual; also it may be much influenced by preconceived opinions. From this point of view accounts from saintly persons of old or from mesmerized subjects suffer from being coloured by their own religious and dogmatic convictions.
"Even Swedenborg, an outstanding scientist and impressive personality was mainly concerned with religious implications and for that reason his descriptions must be studied with caution. Some of his statements are corroborated by modern observation but in many instances their symbolical character is obvious.
"That is why modern reports by people with inquisitive minds, not bound to any dogmatic ideas of any Church and interested in psychic science are more reliable from the start.
"In any case, all teachings received from the spirit world depend not only on the person receiving and reporting them, but naturally also upon the character of the spirit teacher."
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Editor's note: The apostle John in the New Testament advised, "Test the spirits whether they be of God." Do not believe something just because others say it is from a divine source. Think about it. Does it make sense to you? Does this sound like a message from heaven? Feel it, taste it, allow some time. If it offends your soul, cast it away, no matter how exalted the source.
For our purposes here, let us keep in mind that not all mediumistic messages are equal. Some are tainted with the egoism, weakness, or rigid belief system of the medium.
Just because someone says "I received a message about reincarnation," doesn't mean that the message was valid. Mediums who believe in "R" will tend to color messages received in favor of "R."
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Editor's last word:
Regarding the above title-reference of "rigid belief," a moment's consideration should suggest to us that it states the obvious.
Little shock to suggest that a belief-system will skew a medium's messages - a rigid belief-system skews all messages, for all of us, every day, concerning all news that we receive. Today, we call it "fake news," and we know what this means.
Bottom line: a medium that believes in "R" will not only attract to him/herself philosophically-sympathetic spirits, but will tend to distort even veridical information, as it censors and selectively chooses according to systemic prejudice.
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