collapse

* Recent Posts

"Christ Is King" by Altair
[Today at 01:09:34 am]


Re: Cill Shift Schedule by SunflowerP
[Yesterday at 11:04:57 pm]


Re: Stellar Bling: The Good, the Bad, the OMG! by SunflowerP
[March 21, 2024, 11:21:37 pm]


Re: Spring Has Sprung! 2024 Edition by SunflowerP
[March 21, 2024, 10:24:10 pm]


Stellar Bling: The Good, the Bad, the OMG! by Altair
[March 21, 2024, 02:52:34 pm]

Author Topic: anyone know stuff about mediums  (Read 2662 times)

Olie

  • Journeyman
  • *****
  • Join Date: Mar 2013
  • Posts: 157
  • Total likes: 0
    • View Profile
anyone know stuff about mediums
« on: July 25, 2014, 12:22:41 am »
HI! i dont think im a medium or anythin. BUT im comin up with a story and stuff with mediums in it so i wanted to know more about them so it doesnt just seem like im pullin junk out of my butt
i mostly wanna know stuff like what they can do and how they do it. like methods or rituals or whathaveyou.

Daecon

  • Sr. Newbie
  • **
  • Join Date: Jul 2014
  • Posts: 19
  • Total likes: 0
    • View Profile
Re: anyone know stuff about mediums
« Reply #1 on: July 26, 2014, 08:01:47 am »
Quote from: Olie;153845
HI! i dont think im a medium or anythin. BUT im comin up with a story and stuff with mediums in it so i wanted to know more about them so it doesnt just seem like im pullin junk out of my butt
i mostly wanna know stuff like what they can do and how they do it. like methods or rituals or whathaveyou.

 
Mediums are often assumed to be naturally created.  A person might have a talent for mediumship like she might have a talent for music or art. Historically, in fact, the medium was often separate from the magician.  The Delphic Oracle spoke disjointed prophetic ramblings, but it fell to her handlers to translate these into the official Prophesy.  The famous magician John Dee, adviser to Elizabeth I, used an obsidian mirror for his scrying, but could not use it himself.  Instead, he had a young assistant who performed the actual viewing while Dee recorded and interpreted the boy's visions.

Emma Eldritch

  • Staff
  • *
  • Join Date: May 2012
  • Posts: 1265
  • Country: 00
  • Total likes: 68
    • View Profile
    • https://rocknrollwitch.blogspot.ca/
Re: anyone know stuff about mediums
« Reply #2 on: July 26, 2014, 12:07:27 pm »
Quote from: Olie;153845
HI! i dont think im a medium or anythin. BUT im comin up with a story and stuff with mediums in it so i wanted to know more about them so it doesnt just seem like im pullin junk out of my butt
i mostly wanna know stuff like what they can do and how they do it. like methods or rituals or whathaveyou.

 
Modern mediums or old timey?

Jenett

  • Senior Staff
  • *
  • Join Date: Jun 2011
  • Location: Boston, MA
  • Posts: 3743
  • Country: us
  • Total likes: 1235
    • View Profile
    • Seeking: First steps on a path
  • Religion: Initiatory religious witchcraft
  • Preferred Pronouns: she/her
Re: anyone know stuff about mediums
« Reply #3 on: July 26, 2014, 12:21:12 pm »
Quote from: Olie;153845
HI! i dont think im a medium or anythin. BUT im comin up with a story and stuff with mediums in it so i wanted to know more about them so it doesnt just seem like im pullin junk out of my butt
i mostly wanna know stuff like what they can do and how they do it. like methods or rituals or whathaveyou.

 
You might find reading about Lily Dale helpful: it's a spiritualist community that has going for well over a century - their website has some info, and if you look at individual medium pages, they tell you a bit about how they work. There's also a fascinating book that came out a while back about the community, called _Lily Dale: The Town that Talks to the Dead_ by Christine Wicker.
Seek Knowledge, Find Wisdom: Research help on esoteric and eclectic topics (consulting and other services)

Seeking: first steps on a Pagan path (advice for seekers and people new to Paganism)

Aisling

  • Senior Staff
  • *
  • Join Date: Jun 2011
  • Posts: 4222
  • Country: us
  • Total likes: 463
    • View Profile
  • Religion: Eclectic Pagan Witch
Re: anyone know stuff about mediums
« Reply #4 on: July 26, 2014, 03:20:50 pm »
Quote from: Olie;153845
HI! i dont think im a medium or anythin. BUT im comin up with a story and stuff with mediums in it so i wanted to know more about them so it doesnt just seem like im pullin junk out of my butt
i mostly wanna know stuff like what they can do and how they do it. like methods or rituals or whathaveyou.

 
The term 'medium' covers a lot of territory, both in terms of methodologies and experiences. There isn't a single set of standards, rituals, or behaviors that are embraced universally by all mediums.  

It might help to know a little more specifics about the context of the writing that you're doing, Olie.  As Mama Fortune asked, it would be helpful to know if you are talking about historic or modern mediums.

Also, it might help to know what the medium's focus and purpose is. For example, a well-known professional medium who does very public work is going to be mindful of keeping their methods entertaining and engaging and therefore are much more likely to add some superfluous stuff to heighten the drama of what they do.  Likewise, someone whose sole focus is assisting the dead to 'move on' is going to operate under very different parameters than a person who is acting as a point of contact between the dead and the living.  A person who is practicing within the context of an organized religious community like Lily Dale is likely going to have a different set of rituals than an individual who works solo in a non-religious context.  

In other words, the answer to your question depends on the time frame, the person's background, the type of mediumship work that they're doing, and what the desired end result of that work is.

"The universe is under no obligation to make sense to you." -
Neil deGrasse Tyson

Olie

  • Journeyman
  • *****
  • Join Date: Mar 2013
  • Posts: 157
  • Total likes: 0
    • View Profile
Re: anyone know stuff about mediums
« Reply #5 on: July 27, 2014, 11:25:59 am »
Quote from: Aisling;154025
The term 'medium' covers a lot of territory, both in terms of methodologies and experiences. There isn't a single set of standards, rituals, or behaviors that are embraced universally by all mediums.  

It might help to know a little more specifics about the context of the writing that you're doing, Olie.  As Mama Fortune asked, it would be helpful to know if you are talking about historic or modern mediums.

Also, it might help to know what the medium's focus and purpose is. For example, a well-known professional medium who does very public work is going to be mindful of keeping their methods entertaining and engaging and therefore are much more likely to add some superfluous stuff to heighten the drama of what they do.  Likewise, someone whose sole focus is assisting the dead to 'move on' is going to operate under very different parameters than a person who is acting as a point of contact between the dead and the living.  A person who is practicing within the context of an organized religious community like Lily Dale is likely going to have a different set of rituals than an individual who works solo in a non-religious context.  

In other words, the answer to your question depends on the time frame, the person's background, the type of mediumship work that they're doing, and what the desired end result of that work is.

wowsy thanks everyone! i got lots more answers then i was expectin!
but yeah i guess i was goin for a pretty big area there... PRETTY MUCH the story im makin has a bunch of people who are tryin to learn special skills. and some of them are witches and some are mediums and some are other stuff. but witches and mediums had the most that would really need any research. i already know a ton of stuff about witches tho. so i just wanted the medium side have the same amount of research. mostly i wanted to know what mediums could do. but also what kinds of rituals or methods they used so i could come up with classes and training in the story that they would do to learn their skills

so far i figured they could see, sense, channle and communicate with ghosts and spirits of nature. and that they might have some psychic skills like having visions and reading minds/emotions. but i dont know if thats just made up stuff from TV or not. and the only ritual thing i know they do are those fancy sceances but i dont know much about those

Emma Eldritch

  • Staff
  • *
  • Join Date: May 2012
  • Posts: 1265
  • Country: 00
  • Total likes: 68
    • View Profile
    • https://rocknrollwitch.blogspot.ca/
Re: anyone know stuff about mediums
« Reply #6 on: July 27, 2014, 11:57:09 am »
Quote from: Olie;154082

so far i figured they could see, sense, channle and communicate with ghosts and spirits of nature. and that they might have some psychic skills like having visions and reading minds/emotions. but i dont know if thats just made up stuff from TV or not. and the only ritual thing i know they do are those fancy sceances but i dont know much about those

 
I'm going to second Jenett's recommendation of 'Lily Dale' and also throw in one for a book called 'Spook' by Mary Roach. Roach's book is of a scientific bent, but she has a section devoted to oldschool mediums and seances that gives a good idea of what those parties used to be like. Also she looks at a box of ectoplasm. It's very funny.

Aisling

  • Senior Staff
  • *
  • Join Date: Jun 2011
  • Posts: 4222
  • Country: us
  • Total likes: 463
    • View Profile
  • Religion: Eclectic Pagan Witch
Re: anyone know stuff about mediums
« Reply #7 on: July 27, 2014, 12:27:48 pm »
Quote from: Olie;154082
so far i figured they could see, sense, channle and communicate with ghosts and spirits of nature. and that they might have some psychic skills like having visions and reading minds/emotions. but i dont know if thats just made up stuff from TV or not. and the only ritual thing i know they do are those fancy sceances but i dont know much about those

 
This is one of those things where individual miles may vary.  Not all mediums can actually see the dead (clairvoyance), but may only hear or sense them (clairaudience and clairsentience respectively).  Channeling is a very specific activity that isn't as commonly practiced as many of the other forms, as it requires the practitioner to relinquish control over their body in order to for the spirit to speak and act through them. Other psychic abilities vary from person to person, as does the ability to communicate with non-human entities.

Seances are also one of those things that come up a lot in pop-culture depictions, that are not necessarily representative of mediumship as a whole.  Most of these are more focused on creating an ooky-spooky atmosphere for the participants that helps them to suspend disbelief (often with the aim of increasing the medium's reputation and/or wallet).  FWIW, I've yet to meet anyone with even marginal mediumship abilities who needed to hold a seance in order to communicate with the dead.

On a practical note, if you're trying to write something with a realistic rather than fantasy bent, pendulum work is an easily accessible way to learn basic spirit communications.  Most of the folks that I know who learned mediumship did so using a pendulum or similar method that permitted yes or no answers.  Other alternatives might be a freely suspended bell or chime, an EMF meter, a candle flame, or pretty much anything that the spirit can easily act upon.  

Another thing to keep in mind is that many people who are mediums did not learn the skill, but instead were either born with an innate ability or developed it as the result of trauma (e.g., near death experiences).  In those cases, it's not a matter of learning how so much as learning how to control and, if desired, hone the ability.

"The universe is under no obligation to make sense to you." -
Neil deGrasse Tyson

veggiewolf

  • Adept Member
  • ********
  • Join Date: Jul 2011
  • Posts: 3105
  • Total likes: 1
    • View Profile
Re: anyone know stuff about mediums
« Reply #8 on: July 28, 2014, 03:14:55 pm »
Quote from: Jenett;153996
You might find reading about Lily Dale helpful: it's a spiritualist community that has going for well over a century - their website has some info, and if you look at individual medium pages, they tell you a bit about how they work. There's also a fascinating book that came out a while back about the community, called _Lily Dale: The Town that Talks to the Dead_ by Christine Wicker.

 
And once again I'm left wondering how I didn't know about something!

*is sucked into the Lily Dale website*
Fluid Morality - my spiritual blog
Eating Monsters - my mental health blog

"Religion does not define a deity- it defines the human approach and interpretation of deity." - Juni
"I hate magical thinking in my magic." - Darkhawk
"...a baseball club; a soccer unkindness; a hockey murder; a football team..." - Cecil, Welcome to Night Vale

Olie

  • Journeyman
  • *****
  • Join Date: Mar 2013
  • Posts: 157
  • Total likes: 0
    • View Profile
Re: anyone know stuff about mediums
« Reply #9 on: July 29, 2014, 03:03:48 am »
Quote from: Aisling;154094

On a practical note, if you're trying to write something with a realistic rather than fantasy bent, pendulum work is an easily accessible way to learn basic spirit communications.  Most of the folks that I know who learned mediumship did so using a pendulum or similar method that permitted yes or no answers.  Other alternatives might be a freely suspended bell or chime, an EMF meter, a candle flame, or pretty much anything that the spirit can easily act upon.  

Another thing to keep in mind is that many people who are mediums did not learn the skill, but instead were either born with an innate ability or developed it as the result of trauma (e.g., near death experiences).  In those cases, it's not a matter of learning how so much as learning how to control and, if desired, hone the ability.

im still gunna fantasy it up a lot. but i want a lot of the stuff to be real. or at least come from somethin real. and i really like the pendulum idea! its a easy little tool that could be different for each character and probably be used in lotsa different ways. ALSO i was tryin to decide if i wanted mediumship to be a learnable skill like witchcraft or somethin else. and now i decided to go in the somethin else way! so thanks!

also wow lily dale is actually a really snazzy place. what the fribble frobble do witches have stuff like that? cuz thats somethin i could totally get down with

Queen of Wands

  • Journeyman
  • *****
  • Join Date: Jun 2012
  • Posts: 233
  • Total likes: 0
    • View Profile
    • http://theatreartistarcana.blogspot.com/
Re: anyone know stuff about mediums
« Reply #10 on: July 29, 2014, 01:45:39 pm »
Quote from: Olie;154269


also wow lily dale is actually a really snazzy place. what the fribble frobble do witches have stuff like that? cuz thats somethin i could totally get down with


Lily Dale is snazzy! That's why I'm planning to move back :)

Olie

  • Journeyman
  • *****
  • Join Date: Mar 2013
  • Posts: 157
  • Total likes: 0
    • View Profile
Re: anyone know stuff about mediums
« Reply #11 on: July 29, 2014, 04:02:41 pm »
Quote from: Queen of Wands;154292
Lily Dale is snazzy! That's why I'm planning to move back :)

 
send postcards!

Tags:
 

Related Topics

  Subject / Started by Replies Last post
14 Replies
4114 Views
Last post August 07, 2011, 09:17:34 am
by ikshahar
0 Replies
1391 Views
Last post May 25, 2017, 12:54:47 pm
by RandallS
11 Replies
3484 Views
Last post January 11, 2018, 03:21:31 pm
by Feral Wife
3 Replies
1269 Views
Last post August 11, 2018, 02:55:48 pm
by TheGreenWizard
1 Replies
5498 Views
Last post October 03, 2021, 05:41:28 am
by Hrútsvinr

* Who's Online

  • Dot Guests: 164
  • Dot Hidden: 0
  • Dot Users: 0

There aren't any users online.

* Please Donate!

The Cauldron's server is expensive and requires monthly payments. Please become a Bronze, Silver or Gold Donor if you can. Donations are needed every month. Without member support, we can't afford the server.

* Shop & Support TC

The links below are affiliate links. When you click on one of these links you will go to the listed shopping site with The Cauldron's affiliate code. Any purchases you make during your visit will earn TC a tiny percentage of your purchase price at no extra cost to you.

* In Memoriam

Chavi (2006)
Elspeth (2010)
Marilyn (2013)

* Cauldron Staff

Host:
Sunflower

Message Board Staff
Board Coordinator:
Darkhawk

Assistant Board Coordinator:
Aster Breo

Senior Staff:
Aisling, Allaya, Jenett, Sefiru

Staff:
Ashmire, EclecticWheel, HarpingHawke, Kylara, PerditaPickle, rocquelaire

Discord Chat Staff
Chat Coordinator:
Morag

'Up All Night' Coordinator:
Altair

Cauldron Council:
Bob, Catja, Chatelaine, Emma-Eldritch, Fausta, Jubes, Kelly, LyricFox, Phouka, Sperran, Star, Steve, Tana

Site Administrator:
Randall

SimplePortal 2.3.6 © 2008-2014, SimplePortal