Don’t count the days, make the days count.
Muhammad Ali
Write down all the great things about everyone you know. Make a huge list of all the wonderful things about you. Compliment people wherever you go. Praise every single thing you see. Be a ray of sunshine to everyone you meet, and make their day better for having seen you. Say “Thank you” at every turn. Walk, talk, think, and breathe appreciation and gratitude. When you do this, your outer life will change to reflect your inner state of being.
Rhonda Byrne
As you would have gathered by the previous article the evening of April 3 wasn’t exactly a bundle of fun. But to the writer, evenings such as this can be a God-send in the long-term because they inspire creativity. With this in mind, it seemed like a great opportunity to give you further insight into the process of mediumship. Also, a friend of mine in Slovenia had a number of queries (valid ones) that I shall endeavour to answer in the following few paragraphs. I will also take the opportunity here to explode a few myths.
It’s a common misconception that mediums can just pluck information out of thin air, and are in constant communication with the realms of higher vibration. Nothing, in fact, could be further from the truth. Firstly, any decent medium will make sure they are closed as they go about their day-to-day business. Believe me, you really don’t want it “there” all the time. From time to time you do come across people who will tell you that they are in constant communication with their “guides” and who are always trying to shove some kind of hair-brained message down the throat of anyone who will listen. If you come across this, in virtually every single case that person is simply communicating with lower energies who have attached themselves to them. In a nutshell, if you have got a constant jabber, jabbering going on in your head or you are constantly having clairvoyant pictures flashing through your mind, then there is something seriously wrong. A good medium will be disciplined and will know intuitively the difference between negative vibrations and vibrations of a pure nature. A good medium will remain intuitively connected to the Divine and will not feel the need to show others how great they are by the constant churning out of messages.
Going back to April 3, there was a number of things going on in that room that made the evening one to forget, as far as the clairvoyance went. But nonetheless, they give a good insight to the uninitiated as to how a demonstration of mediumship can be sabotaged. There are certain conditions that you need in order for things to run smoothly. If you have all of those things in place then you really are laughing, but you can get by normally by just having a few of them in place. Firstly, in an ideal world your venue would have a really good energy, but as already stated, the energy in that pub was probably the most negative I have ever encountered. Secondly, you would always hope that your audience are going to be warm and open to working with you. Sadly, they were also probably the most negative audience I have ever encountered. Thirdly, you need people to respond to you; you need the vibration of their voice. When you just get blank stares it makes life nigh-on impossible. It’s also not good when people sit with their arms folded when you speak to them. The reason being that “who we really are” nestles within our heart centre. The medium is in a heightened state of awareness and the info coming from the astral realms also has a higher vibration, so the sitter needs to be open-hearted so that the three-way link can be created; in other words, we actually communicate via the heart, so if you sit with your arms folded you are blocking the energy. I remember going to one particularly grumpy old man sitting at the back, who sat arms folded and with a face like thunder all the time I was trying to work with him; and he was one of the more receptive ones.
Finally, you would also hope that no one brings their own negative entity attachments in with them. Unfortunately, I had this to contend with as well. Another man sitting at the back seemed to be constantly in communication with unseen forces himself. When this happens it interferes with the medium’s link and makes things very difficult. It got to the point where I couldn’t quite believe what was happening, but I saw it as a challenge and thought the best course of action was to hang in there and keep going. You just have to work with what you have, it’s as simple as that. But ideally, you would want a venue with good energy and an audience/congregation who are seeking some kind of spiritual enlightenment, as opposed to just wanting a message; which brings me onto my friend’s queries.
I was asked why I would be doing spiritual work in a pub, why there was teenage girls in the audience and why I felt that clairvoyance had nothing to do with spirituality. So, for my friend in Slovenia and anyone else outside of the UK I will deal with these issues one at a time.
Firstly, meetings such as clairvoyant evenings have been taking place in the UK for many, many years; probably as far back as the 1800’s. In the early days they would be raided by the police and mediums would be persecuted. But for many years now such meetings have become a normal part of life. Quite often, the people who run them have difficulty finding a suitable hall. Maybe there aren’t any in the area, or all the decent ones are already taken, so sometimes they have no option but to book a function room in a pub. However, in this particular instance it was the proprietors of the pub who were running the event.
Secondly, it is quite normal in the UK to have youngsters at these events. In a lot of the Spiritualist churches people take their kids and even their dogs; it’s actually great to see when families all come together. The behaviour of those particular teenage girls was actually a rarity. To be perfectly honest I have had much more problematic evenings because of the childish antics of adults, and what with all the other stuff going on, a few giggling girls was the least of my problems that night.
Finally, my comments about clairvoyance and spirituality were meant in the context of such evenings. I will endeavour to explain. As I said in the previous article, clairvoyant evenings tend to attract people who are not looking for spiritual enlightenment. They go along for a number of reasons. Maybe just to see what it’s all about, to get a message or maybe with a group of friends to “have a laugh”. When I said that clairvoyance has nothing to do with spirituality, I meant that simply churning out messages from fairly low levels of the astral plains to people who are not interested in spiritual enlightenment, has indeed got absolutely nothing to do with spirituality. On the other hand, those who seek enlightenment can of course benefit greatly from their own clairvoyant faculty, either through the bliss of meditation or simply by being in tune with who they really are. My comment was meant purely in the context of such events that are referred to as “clairvoyant nights” here in the UK.
To end this article I will just elaborate a bit more on why I reacted the way I did. I was really knocked sideways when I realized I was in for such a rough ride, but as stated, I quickly also realized that I was being tested. So at the same time as trying to make the best of a bad job, I had a lot of other stuff going through my mind. I thought about all the quotes I post on social media about tolerance, forgiveness and practising what you preach. I thought about Baba’s teachings with regard to loving those who want to hurt you and being able to see God in EVERYONE. I thought about how Baba had literally given his whole life in service of mankind; never complaining and ALWAYS being there for us. I thought about what Baba had done for me personally and I also thought about the sacrifices made by Christ, Gandhi, and in more recent times, Nelson Mandela. Taking all that into account was I really going to let my ego win when faced with something so trivial by comparison? There was only one answer, and I left the venue a happy man and stronger for the experience.
I think I can safely say that I’ve put the night of April 3 behind me now; but watch out for more posts on similar subjects.
You cannot plough a field by turning it over in your mind.
Unknown Author
If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost. That is where they should be. Now put foundations under them.
Henry David Thoreau
It was good to write an actual article the other day, it really did seem like it had been ages since my last one. However, there has been a reason for this. I felt that it was about time I released some new material, so I had the idea of four new paperbacks and two CD’s. The idea was that I would set about publishing my new writing project, Fragments Of Divinity (FOD), in three volumes, and also publish Angelic Wisdom Trilogy (AWT) in paperback form. Once the first volume of FOD had been published along with AWT, I would then set about revamping two of my CD’s so that they would be available on Amazon, and once that was done I would publish volumes two and three of FOD, simple! Unfortunately, nothing in life ever seems to be simple. It’s these projects that have kept me from writing blog posts, so here is an update of what’s going on.
As things stand, FOD has been published as an eBook on Smashwords, Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk and I am currently still awaiting delivery of the proof copy in paperback before giving the go-ahead for publishing. There have been a number of teething problems with the eBook on Amazon, that hopefully will be put to bed by the time Easter is out of the way. As far as AWT goes, I have taken receipt of two proof copies already, the second having arrived this morning, but I am still not happy with the layout and am now considering starting again from scratch with a blank template and then resubmitting. As opposed to tinkering with the current file and hoping that the issues resolve themselves. It’s for these reasons that I have been quiet; no blog posts because I’ve been busy on the two books, and no shout-outs for the two books because niggling little problems with both have prevented me from completing publication.
Thankfully I have plenty of time before my official launches (FOD June 12 and AWT July 3) to get things right. I also realised as I was putting FOD together that I didn’t even have enough material for two books, never mind three. So as things stand I haven’t had a chance yet to research the revamping of my CD’s. But I’m hoping to kick that off over the Easter period.
I got the idea for FOD from the books by Paramahansa Yogananda (1893-1952) that are issued by the Self Realization Fellowship in the US. Yogananda’s work was very extensive, but the fellowship have released a series of short booklets containing the condensed teachings of this wonderful yogi. So my idea for FOD is to release at least three, but probably more, blog style books of no more than 100-110 pages that tackle potentially complicated spiritual topics in an easy-to-read-and-understand way.
So, there you have it….. watch this space for future updates!
There is a way that nature speaks, that land speaks. Most of the time we are simply not patient enough, quiet enough, to pay attention to the story.
Linda Hogan
Giving up doesn’t always mean you are weak. Sometimes it means you are strong enough to let go.
Author Unknown
Destiny is not a matter of chance, it’s a matter of choice.
William Jennings Bryan
I once read a great quote by Albert Einstein describing relativity and I want to share it with you as a preamble to what will be my first actual blog article for many weeks. I will be sharing with you in another article soon as to why my blogging has been at a premium lately, but first it’s over to Albert.
An hour sitting with a pretty girl on a park bench passes like a minute, but a minute sitting on a hot stove seems like an hour. That is relativity.
And so with that quote in mind I want to share with you my experiences from last night, 3 April 2012, which contained one of the longest 90 minute periods of my life. It may seem that I am about to embark on a lamentation of doom and gloom. But actually some very positive conclusions were drawn from the experience.
Last Saturday I received a phone call from a lady wanting to book me for an evening of clairvoyance at a pub in Shurdington, just outside Cheltenham. My first thought was to turn it down as I do not like working in pubs. As far as I’m concerned anywhere where alcohol and spiritual work cross paths is a no-no for me. I have worked in pubs in the past though; in situations where people book function rooms and hold clairvoyant events. In truth, I never liked doing them, especially before the smoking ban came into effect. Even though people were not allowed to smoke in the function room for the duration, you still couldn’t stop the stench of cigarette smoke wafting throughout. I should also explain that especially in the UK, pubs have history; in many cases they are 100’s of years old and the energies within these establishments can be very negative to say the least. Indeed I remember the last time I worked in a pub around four years ago, it wasn’t an evening that I remember fondly. But nonetheless I did take the booking for Tuesday April 3 at 7:30 p.m.
I turned up at the venue and it was apparent that the people running the event, who also happened to be the proprietors, did not have a great deal of experience in organizing such events. But when I got up in front of the small audience and started speaking I knew straight away that I was in for a hard night; what I didn’t realize though was just how hard it would be. I should also point out here that I’m not a great lover of clairvoyant nights in general. I don’t feel that clairvoyance has got anything to do with spirituality; all you are doing is communicating with the astral planes, which will be at various degrees of ease or difficulty depending on the energies in the building and the receptiveness of the audience/congregation. Without wishing to sound judgemental, these events tend to attract people who have no particular interest in spirituality, but who simply want a message from the medium. Generally speaking they will only respond to stuff they want to hear, so when I stood up to do my preamble and I felt the coldness from the audience I knew immediately that it was going to be tough.
I should also point out here how clairvoyance works and explode a few myths. Firstly, these events tend to be called “clairvoyant nights” because clairvoyance is a word that people understand. It comes from the French, meaning “clear seeing”. In reality mediums generally work with three faculties; clairaudience (clear hearing), which is a like a silent voice in the head, clairsentience (clear sensing), which as the name suggests means working with your sense of intuition, and clairvoyance. When a medium links in to those realms of higher vibration, those who wish to communicate will give the medium their information using one of those three methods or a combination of all three. The medium then has to interpret that information and pass it on to the sitter via the voice. Bearing in mind that literally everything has a vibration, this also applies to the information supplied to the medium and the medium’s voice. The sitter then needs to respond to the medium, also via the voice, which in turn also has its own vibration. It’s the coming together of the three vibrations that create the harmonious link between the two worlds. To many a medium’s frustration, no matter how many times you say this to people, you still get those who do not respond, or who respond in a negative way. When this happens the medium has to work extra hard to get the information across, and if they are not experienced in dealing with negative responses they can die a death right there and then. So, with ten years experience under my belt I died a death last night. I have never before experienced such negative and non-responsive people; and just for good measure I had a group of teenage girls giggling and talking among themselves virtually all the way through. Before I get to the nitty-gritty I should explain something else about mediumship.
To say that mediumship is important is like saying you would cause an impact by removing a single grain of sand from the Sahara Desert. We only think there is something “mystical” about it because we have lost sight of the “Self” (who we really are) whilst in these physical bodies. We are all beings of light with unlimited potential; no limitations whatsoever, except the ones we impose on ourselves, therefore we are all mediums. To think about it logically, why should we not have a link back to where we came from? I’m not even a great lover of calling myself a medium either, because by doing so, I’m putting myself in a box and giving myself a category that somehow limits me.
So, there I was, waiting for the ground to open up and swallow me; but wait…… surely there is a positive to come out of this negative? Of course there was, and in many ways, I am so glad for that most awful of experiences. Firstly, I cast my mind back to how the old me would have dealt with it. I would have shown my frustration and eventually I would have probably stopped, sat down, and told those being disruptive that I wouldn’t continue unless they left. I may also have reacted with a slightly aggressive tone and become very impatient. It’s also true to say that any decent medium doesn’t mind getting a “no”, it just means we have to do bit more work, but the absolute worst part of the evening was the horrendously long periods of silence when I lost my link completely; a silence intermittently broken by the giggling of the teenage girls. But I realized that I have evolved quite a lot over the last few years. I was very aware of my reaction, and even though I was not exactly best pleased at being in that situation, I saw it as a challenge that needed to be met. I also realized I was being tested and I shall explain.
Here I am, someone who has been guided by Eastern philosophies and who calls himself a devotee of Sri Sathya Sai Baba; I even have Baba’s quotes on my stationary, “help ever hurt never”, “love all serve all” and Baba’s teachings are very precise; “see God in everyone”. He also very often reminds us that “hands that serve are holier than lips that pray”. I’ve also read Paramahansa Yogananda, Eckhart Tolle and Neale Donald Walsch, so I am more than aware of the importance of letting go of the ego in order to realize the “Self”. So, was I really going to succumb to my ego and pass judgement on those who clearly did not know any better? Was the evening about me and my image or was it about doing God’s work? Was I really going to forget all the wisdom that’s come my way over the past few years for the sake of my ego being knocked? I’m just so thankful that I had the vision to see what was really happening from a spiritual perspective. Another thing that I’ve learned recently is that it is not our circumstances that depend on whether we are happy or sad, it’s how we deal with them. I’ve also learned that the universe is in constant flow and that it has been created as a paradox. So within the realm of matter’s ebb and flow we are not always going to have circumstances that we like. But what we can do is accept that they are the only set of circumstances we have at that moment and deal with them in the best way possible and to the best of our ability. So, all these things were going through my mind and I simply got on with the job. The old me would also have immediately blamed my angels and guides for not doing their job properly, but I understand that it was only because of the hard work and support of those “unseen forces” who work with me that I was able to see it through. It was such a relief when it was all over, but it all ended on a positive note.
I was very surprised that some of the ladies in the audience came up to me afterwards and shook my hand and thanked me for their messages. Some others were also apologizing for the behaviour of those who had been disruptive and said how disgusted they were. They informed the pub management who also apologized to me and informed me that the perpetrators would be barred from attending any future events. In reality the energy in that room was the most negative I have ever encountered; that was the crux of the problem. The giggling girls didn’t exactly help, but in the years I have been working as a medium I’ve encountered a lot worse. I explained to all those who offered apologies that they were not necessary and that we should try not to judge those who disrupted; they clearly didn’t know any better.
I wasn’t booked at that venue by coincidence; I was booked in order to be tested. I’m very grateful for the experience but I wont be working there again.
Author - Richard F Holmes 