HOW
TO CULTIVATE MEDIUMSHIP
Mediumship has been divided into many
classes to which names have been given, and these classifications are
often so minute as to be confusing.
Manifestations fall naturally into
two classes, the physical and the psychic. To the physical belong
Rappings,
Movement of physical objects,
Etherealization (the so-called materializations).
To the psychic belong all the
phenomena pertaining to disembodied spirit, as writing, speaking,
painting, and healing and to these the psychic
manifestations dependent on the recipient's own spiritual
identity, clairvoyance, psychometry, trance, telepathy or mind-reading,
all of which blend with spirit influence and may partake more or less
thereof.
It is this intricate union of the
manifestation of the sensitive's own spirit,
with that of independent spirits,
that confuses the understanding and has been a stumbling block in the
path of many an honest seeker after truth. We must not for a moment
forget, when searching for the truth in this domain, that man is a
spirit, differing only from the spirit after the death of the body, by
the necessities and limitations of its physical connection. As such, it
is capable within such limitations of manifesting the
phenomena of spirit. When its
spiritual senses are freed from the physical,
it sees and hears and feels through
the spiritual senses; is clairvoyant, clairaudient, and feeling is
transformed into sensitiveness to spiritual vibrations. A higher state
is the perfect freedom given by death. All these manifestations are
spiritual but they are not all to be referred to departed spiritual
beings. We must carefully distinguish between the two classes of
manifestations; those arising from man's own spirit, and those from a
superior source. The phases of mediumship, founded as they are on one
great principle, so
intricately blend that it is a waste of time to enter into a
discussion of more than the most
marked. It is the plan of this work to show what mediumship is, and so
plainly that all may understand; to present its various phases, and how
it may be cultivated and how the sensitive may become so spiritualized
as to receive impressions of thoughts and ideas by spiritual methods. A
sensitive, ignorant of the laws of control, an instrument in the hands
of an irresponsible power, is most pitiable. The sensitive instructed in
psychic science, may reach upward and become so responsive to the
thought atmosphere of the universe as to catch thought waves from remote
shores.
How may this sensitive condition be
attained?
No one ever made a greater mistake
than by flattering himself that he can by "sitting" without any effort
of his own, become a power in the hands of the spirits. A great
many desire to become mediums, not
for the intrinsic value it may be to them in the perfection of their
lives, but as a means of livelihood and notoriety. There must be far
more than the desire to bring inspiration or any phase of valuable
control. The sensitive should be like in thought, desire and culture, to
those who inspire him.
To become a worthy exponent of the
spiritual philosophy, it must be
understood, and this can only be accomplished by its careful study, and
of related branches of knowledge. This direction of thought is itself
productive of that concentration essential to success.
When Alexander Aksakof, the renowned
Russian statesman, and cousin of the Czar, became interested in
Spiritualism, be became conscious that its foundation was the physical
sciences, and completed his course at the University. Then he read every
important work on Spiritualism. After this severe introductory work he
began a prolonged investigation and became inspired, with the most
superior order of intelligences. His course is
recommended to all who desire to
cultivate mediumship at its best.
It may be said, that if the spirits
use the medium as an instrument, the more incapable and ignorant he is,
the more conclusive the test, and it ought riot to have any influence on
the result. This objection shows a misunderstanding of the laws of
control. Paganini might play a tune on a cornstalk fiddle, but if be
would play his best, he would require a perfect instrument.
An orator might speak a few sentences
correctly through an ignorant boor, but to give a fair presentation of
his thoughts he would have to intensify his influence over his subject
to obsession, and even then would
not be able to escape the inertia of
an uncultured organization.
True, there are rarest exceptions of
persons born with intensely sensitive
organizations who respond to the
necessity of the time, and are instruments in the hands of higher
intelligences, as instanced by Joan of Are, and a few others.
Most pitiable are those who
hopelessly aspire to mediumship without the will to strive for its
attainment.
They sit like clay to be moulded by the
spirits, instead of doing all they can first to mould themselves into
forms that will be attractive to higher
beings, and to which the latter may
give the final gloss and direction.
All are sensitive to impressions, but
some are far more delicately attuned than others. As an instrument they
vibrate to waves of thought. The number who have this faculty in a marked
degree has rapidly increased during the past fifty years. History shows
that there have been barren centuries during which there was not one, and
man remained stationary in dense ignorance.
The highest form of mediumship is
dependent on morality, intelligence and spiritual purity, but the physical
manifestations depend more closely on organization, which may accompany
mental inferiority and immoral life. This distinction is not given its
full force by either those who accept or reject Spiritualism. The
persistent belief in the superiority and infallibility of celestial beings
throws a halo over all manifestations purporting to come from them,
ministering to credulity on the one hand, and affording opportunity for
reproach on the other.
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