Physical Mediumship with purpose.

When the Phenomena Has a Purpose

I have spent a lifetime talking to spirit.

That is not something that began twenty years ago. Spirit communication has been part of my life for as long as I can remember.

But just over twenty years ago, I was made aware that I was a physical medium.

That changed the direction of my life.

What followed was not a sudden rush towards producing spectacular phenomena. It was, and continues to be, a process of sitting, building, developing and learning.

For many years, I sat with the intention of entering a deep state of trance. That deep-state work became part of the foundation for what would eventually develop into sitting for the physical.

And that distinction is important.

Physical mediumship, for me, has never simply been about making something happen.

It has been about creating the conditions in which something can happen.

Allowing.

Listening.

Building.

Surrendering.

And, above all, understanding that if spirit is going to work through the physical, there must be a purpose to what is being achieved.

When the physical began to reveal itself

Over the years, I have experienced phenomena that have made me question what I thought I understood about the relationship between consciousness and the physical world.

One experience that remains particularly striking was seeing linen build up approximately five inches away from my face, with what appeared to be a face within it.

It wasn't simply a piece of material moving.

There was a form.

There was a face.

And there was an extraordinary sense that something was being physically constructed in front of me.

But perhaps even more remarkable was what happened with my voice.

The voice that came through me was not my voice.

And I don't mean the kind of change in voice that people may hear during a trance demonstration, where someone's ordinary voice takes on a different pitch, rhythm or character.

This was completely different.

It was a voice projected from me, but it was totally not my own voice.

There was a sense of the voice becoming something separate from the ordinary way in which I speak — something projected into the physical environment rather than simply being my voice altered by trance.

But there was something else happening at the same time.

The presence projected a feeling of peace into the room.

Not simply a pleasant atmosphere.

Not simply the calm that can sometimes come from sitting quietly together.

It was an overwhelming peace.

Everybody felt it.

The physical communication wasn't only something that could be heard or seen. There was something that could be felt.

And for me, that is enormously significant.

Because what does it tell us about the purpose of physical mediumship?

Perhaps the communication isn't always contained in words.

Perhaps spirit can communicate through an atmosphere, through energy, through feeling — through something that reaches everybody in the room simultaneously.

And that overwhelming peace felt like communication in itself.

From trance to the physical

My development into physical mediumship wasn't something that happened overnight.

For more than twenty years, since first being made aware of this aspect of my mediumship, I have sat with intention.

Deep trance was an important part of that journey.

It taught me to go deeper into altered states of consciousness, to become less concerned with the ordinary physical self and more receptive to what could work through me.

Over time, that sitting evolved.

The intention moved beyond simply allowing spirit to communicate through trance.

It became an intention to allow the physical environment itself to become involved.

The room became part of the process.

The body became part of the process.

The energy became part of the process.

And phenomena began to emerge.

Voices in the room

One of the things that fascinates me most about physical mediumship is the projection of voice.

There is a profound difference between receiving something internally and hearing a voice apparently occupying the physical space around you.

A voice can seem to be somewhere in the room.

It can appear to have direction.

It can seem separate from the ordinary physical voice of the medium.

And when that happens, we have to ask some very interesting questions about what we mean by communication.

Is the medium simply an instrument?

Is the voice being created through the medium?

Is it being projected into the room?

What is happening energetically?

And, most importantly, what does the voice have to say?

Because I believe the last question is the one that matters most.

And sometimes, what is communicated isn't even something that can be put into words.

Sometimes it is a feeling.

That overwhelming peace is something I will never forget.

Everybody in the room experienced it.

For a moment, it wasn't about individual belief or interpretation. It was something shared — a profound sense of peace that seemed to be projected into the physical space and experienced collectively.

That, to me, is every bit as important as a voice.

Phenomena is not the purpose

There is a danger in physical mediumship.

The danger is that we can become fascinated by the phenomenon and forget why we are doing it.

A voice can be extraordinary.

An object moving can be extraordinary.

Singing can be extraordinary.

Light can be extraordinary.

An apport can be extraordinary.

Ectoplasm can be extraordinary.

But extraordinary does not automatically mean meaningful.

And this is something I feel very strongly about.

Physical mediumship must have purpose.

If something manifests simply because it can, what have we actually learned?

Where is the intelligence?

Where is the intention?

Where is the communication?

Where is the love?

Where is the healing?

And where is the peace?

Because if spirit can project an overwhelming feeling of peace into a room, then surely that tells us something about what physical mediumship might ultimately be capable of.

It suggests that the phenomenon need not simply demonstrate itself.

It can do something to us.

It can change the atmosphere.

It can change how we feel.

It can bring people into a shared experience.

And perhaps that is where some of the deepest healing can begin.

Movement, singing and apports

Physical mediumship can involve movement in the room — objects apparently moving, changes in the physical environment and other forms of manifestation.

There can be singing.

There can be sounds.

There can be voices.

There can be what appear to be apports — objects seemingly brought into the séance environment in ways that challenge our conventional understanding of how they arrived.

All of these things are fascinating.

But I don't believe we should stop at fascination.

If something moves, why does it move?

If something appears, why has it appeared?

If someone sings, why that song?

If an object arrives, why that object?

And if a presence projects peace into the room, why has that particular experience been given?

There should be intelligence behind the phenomenon.

There should be intention.

There should be a reason.

Otherwise, we risk turning something potentially profound into little more than entertainment.

Light from the body

I have also experienced extraordinary manifestations of light.

There have been moments when light has appeared to shine from my chest.

It is difficult to describe the experience adequately because our language is built around the ordinary physical world.

We understand light coming from a lamp.

We understand light coming from a flame.

We understand sunlight.

But when light appears to come from the physical body in the context of mediumship, it raises an entirely different set of questions.

What is it?

How is it happening?

What is its relationship to energy and consciousness?

And again, I return to the question of purpose.

What is the light doing?

That is much more important to me than simply saying, “Look, there is a light.”

Ectoplasm and the physical presence of spirit

Ectoplasm is perhaps one of the most evocative aspects of the history of physical mediumship.

For me, its significance is not simply in the substance itself.

The fascinating question is what spirit might be able to achieve through it.

Can it create a form?

Can it provide a means of identification?

Can it allow a relative to be recognised?

Can it facilitate healing?

Can it become a bridge between the physical and the spirit world?

If ectoplasm is simply something to photograph, then we have missed the point.

But if it becomes a means through which intelligence can communicate and love can be expressed, then its significance becomes much greater.

When relatives come through

And ultimately, this is where my heart lies in physical mediumship.

The relatives.

The people who come forward.

The mothers and fathers.

The husbands and wives.

The children.

The friends.

The people whose physical lives have ended but whose relationships with those left behind may not have ended at all.

Imagine being able to sit in a room and hear the voice of someone you have lost.

Not simply a generic voice.

Not simply a message about love.

But something personal.

Something recognisable.

Something that carries the intelligence and personality of the individual.

And perhaps, alongside that communication, to experience an overwhelming sense of peace — something that touches everyone present.

That, to me, is where physical mediumship can become extraordinarily powerful.

Because the phenomenon becomes a bridge.

And the person on the other side of that bridge may finally be able to experience something they desperately need:

recognition.

Healing is the purpose

I believe there is enormous potential for healing within physical mediumship.

Not just physical healing, although that too deserves serious consideration.

There is emotional healing.

Spiritual healing.

The healing that comes through knowing that someone you loved has not simply disappeared.

The healing that comes when a parent hears from a child.

When a husband hears from his wife.

When a daughter hears her mother's voice.

When someone who has lived with grief suddenly experiences something that gives them peace.

And perhaps sometimes that healing begins before a single word is spoken.

It begins with the feeling in the room.

The atmosphere.

The peace.

The sense that, for a moment, something has changed.

That is purpose.

That is meaningful.

And that is where I believe the intelligence of spirit should be demonstrated.

Not merely in producing phenomena, but in knowing exactly what phenomenon is needed for exactly the person who is sitting in front of it.

Where is the intelligence?

This is the question I would like us to ask more often within physical mediumship.

Where is the intelligence of spirit being shown?

We see physical phenomena being demonstrated.

We see movement.

We hear voices.

We see extraordinary manifestations.

But what is spirit actually trying to communicate?

Where is the intention?

Where is the pure love?

Where is the peace?

Where is the understanding?

Where is the intelligence behind the manifestation?

I believe this is where physical mediumship needs to develop.

Not necessarily into bigger phenomena.

Not necessarily into more dramatic phenomena.

But into more intelligent phenomena.

More purposeful phenomena.

More compassionate phenomena.

Phenomena that actually does something for someone.

Where do we go from here?

I think we are standing at an interesting point in the development of physical mediumship.

There is an appetite for the extraordinary.

People want to see what happens.

And that curiosity is perfectly understandable.

But we have to be careful.

If we become obsessed with the physical manifestation itself, we may lose sight of what the physical manifestation is supposed to achieve.

I don't want physical mediumship to become a competition about who can produce the biggest, strangest or most spectacular phenomenon.

I want to see what spirit can do.

I want to see communication with purpose.

I want to see healing.

I want to see relatives brought forward in light, in voice, in ectoplasm, or through whatever physical means can be achieved.

I want to see personality demonstrated.

I want to see intelligence demonstrated.

I want to see love demonstrated.

I want to see peace demonstrated — not merely talked about, but experienced by everyone present.

Because if spirit is intelligent, then surely its intelligence should be visible in the way it chooses to communicate.

Fifteen years of building

For more than fifteen years, I have sat with this.

Fifteen years of sitting.

Fifteen years of building.

Fifteen years of learning what happens when the intention is held consistently and the conditions are created for physical mediumship to develop.

It has not been about chasing phenomena.

It has been about allowing something to develop.

And perhaps that is one of the greatest lessons I have learned.

You cannot force the physical.

You cannot demand that spirit perform.

You cannot simply decide that tonight there must be a voice, or movement, or light.

There has to be a relationship.

There has to be trust.

There has to be discipline.

There has to be intention.

And there has to be purpose.

The future of physical mediumship

So where do I believe we are going?

I hope we are going deeper.

Not necessarily louder.

Not necessarily bigger.

Deeper.

I hope we begin asking better questions.

Not:

“What can we make happen?”

But:

“What can spirit communicate?”

Not:

“How spectacular was that?”

But:

“Who needed that, and why?”

Not:

“Can we produce physical phenomena?”

But:

“Can the physical phenomena demonstrate intelligence, love, healing and purpose?”

That is the future I want to explore.

Because after a lifetime of talking to spirit, and more than twenty years of consciously developing the physical side of my mediumship, I am still fascinated by the mystery.

I am still learning.

I am still asking questions.

And perhaps that is exactly how it should be.

But one thing has become increasingly clear to me.

Phenomena without purpose is empty.

A voice should have something to say.

A movement should have a reason.

A song should carry meaning.

An apport should have significance.

A light should bring something into the experience.

A feeling of peace should touch the people who receive it.

A manifestation should help someone.

And when a relative comes forward, whether through voice, light, physical form or ectoplasm, it should be because there is a reason for that connection to happen.

Because ultimately, I don't believe physical mediumship is about proving how extraordinary spirit can be.

I believe it is about discovering how beautifully purposeful spirit can be.

And if we can find that purpose — if we can show the intelligence, the intention, the love, the peace and the healing behind the physical — then perhaps we will finally begin to understand what physical mediumship is really capable of becoming.

physical without purpose is empty, all service has purpose.