Understanding The Craft Of Mediums

A Medium is someone who is able to communicate with spirits from the afterlife. This communication can take place in many forms - mediums might be able to hear a spirit as a voice in their heads, or even see it as a physical presence in the room. Alternatively, they may simply *sense* information from a spirit. Sometimes a spirit can speak through a medium or take possession of their body, a phenomenon known as "channelling".

The beings contacted by mediums range from historical figures to recently deceased relatives of clients. Sometimes mediums encounter non human spirits - for instance animals or nature spirits. Many mediums strike up a relationship with a particular spirit who they can easily summon, and who acts as an intermediary with the rest of the spirit world. These are known as "Spirit Guides"

Mediums in the modern sense first appeared in 1848, with the birth of Spiritualism. This movement centered on the idea that the personalities live on in the spirit wolrd, rather than going to heaven or hell. Witch Doctors and Sharmans of early peoples often acted as mediums, and still do in many traditional cultures. Hundreds of Mediums started practising their craft around the world during the 1850's through to the 1920s. Popularity of Spiritualism diminished from the 1930s to the 1950s, then a resurgance of interest in the Supernatural led to renewed popularity of Mediums and spiritualism from the 1960s, to the present day.