Recently I attended a 6 hour workshop conducted by Gordon Smith, a medium from the U.K. who, by all reports, is one of the most accurate mediums in the world. You can imagine my excitement to get the opportunity to “study” with him without having to fly halfway across the globe. I learned a great deal from him so of course I’m going to share what I learned because I know there are a lot of budding psychics and mediums who read my blog. 😉 Those of you who are not budding psychics and mediums may still find some interesting information in this entry about how mediumship works.
The first hour of the workshop he spent explaining that “you can’t die for the life of you” in his wonderfully rich Scottish accent. He was basically imparting unto the crowd that when you slough off your physical shell your consciousness will continue on in the afterlife. Never fear, he says. He described many of his experiences communicating with the other side.
During the second hour of the workshop he did readings for people in the crowd. It was excitingly wonderful to watch him work. He is described as being a medium who can give names, dates, and places and I witnessed this myself. In one case he told a woman the name of her deceased mother, living sister and brother, and then mentioned a doctor appt she had coming up and he gave the day and time! And he was right about all of it. The woman he was reading for was crying throughout. Having that kind of confirmation that your loved ones are still with you on the other side and able to see what’s going on is immeasurably wonderful!
We broke for lunch and I was hoping that afterwards he would teach us more about his process so I could double check some things I was doing and learn how to connect better with deceased energies. When I first became a medium I figured I would need to go study somewhere or read a manual to get better, but my guides assured me they would guide and help me as I needed it, plus there was no manual that I could find. 😉 Now, there are schools in the U.K. that apparently teach mediumship and psychic skills. Reminds me of Hogwarts. I would love to attend a 4 year university like that! But alas, packing up and moving the family to the U.K. for 4 years doesn’t seem likely. Maybe I could get through the 4 year course in three semesters. I’ve heard that’s possible. 😉
So after lunch he explained how he does his mediumship. Here is what he discussed.
Development Circles
Someone in the audience asked about development circles and Gordon seems very in favor of them if you can find or create a good one. A development circle contains a group of psychics, mediums, healers, etc. who work together on a regular basis to develop their abilities using the energy and experience of the other group members. Development circles are not social meet ups, don’t contain group discussions, and are not potluck events. You must take your group very seriously. The energy must remain the same. If you are late, you do not come, or you will disrupt the group. Four to eight people seem ideal for a circle. They should be done in the same place in the same way at the same time to the greated extent possible.
One thing Gordon said that was interesting was that when the spirits notice that you are working hard and that you are dedicated to mediumship as a profession, they are more likely to communicate with you since it takes so much of their energy to contact a physical being that to go to someone who was just “messing around” wouldn’t be to their benefit. So if you are serious about your psychic development, try to find a group of people to work with. He mentioned that in his group there is a psychic artist, healer, medium, and others, so you don’t all have to have the same modality. You just want to make sure the dedication level and skill are roughly equal to yours. For more information on development circles, check out Gordon’s book, The Unbelievable Truth, or check out James Van Praagh’s books because he mentions his development circle in one of them (sorry the title escapes my memory at the moment).
Communication is a one way street
One of the more interesting things Gordon discussed was how spirits present to him. He mentioned that he does not control who comes through. You may want to hear from your mom but all you’re getting is your dad. He said the stronger energies usually break through first and then they often bring in the weaker energies. This has nothing to do with how strong or weak they were on earth, it has more to do with their energetic ability to resonate at our frequency.
He also confirmed for me that he does not conduct dialogues between the sitter and their deceased loved ones. He merely receives their stories, images, sounds, feelings, and conveys them to his sitter. This is something I’ve wondered too since that’s what happens when I’m receiving from a dead person, and I always thought this was a deficiency in my ability, but now I know it’s the norm. You can’t ask Aunt Tilly where the will is. As people asked Gordon questions like, “Well is he saying what his name is?” Gordon would respond, “If he did, darlin’, I would have told you.” Sometimes spirits come through with their names, and sometimes they don’t. The job of the deceased loved one is to send you enough validation so that you know it’s really them communicating to you from the other side.
I’ve learned over this last year that mediumship is a wonderful tool for providing validation that life continues on the other side, but if it’s information about your own life ye be after, you’ll be wanting to consult a psychic. All mediums are psychics but not all psychics are mediums. Do not consult a medium if you want to know if you should take the job in Los Angeles. Do consult a medium if it’s very important for you to know that your loved ones are alive and well on the other side.
Demonstration
Gordon wanted us all to try our hand at picking up information psychically so he paired us off with strangers and we went to work. My partner sat while I stood behind her and I put my hands on her shoulders. I don’t think I even saw this woman’s face. He first asked us to pick up information about the person’s nature. Just a few words that came to mind. What I picked up from my partner was the word “helpful” and then I got a flood of information where I saw her basically volunteering to be on every committee her church had to offer. I then saw that people would come to her for advice when they were down and she never offered them a shoulder to cry on; rather she would lift them up by their bootstraps, dust them off, and send them back into the world stronger. Next Gordon had us lift our hands off their shoulders and move them around their auras, seeing if we could pick up any health related problems in their body. I felt heat in the area of her chest and as my hands were hovering over her heart and lungs my own chest area started to feel heavy and sick. Not pleasant so I moved on quickly. Next we were told to move further out in the auric field and communicate with any deceased energies we found there. I did not pick up on any, however, I was in contact with her spirit guides who told me something interesting. They said, “The son is now the father.” That was their direct quote, and they conveyed to me that this “son” was maturing and being more responsible.
So afterwards we were to tell our partner what we saw. I told her everything I described above and she confirmed that everything I picked up was accurate. She even looked chagrined and admitted that she is actually on every committee in her church and knows she volunteers more than necessary. She also told me her step son (she does not have a biological son) just became a father 2 weeks ago and it has really matured him, for which she is very grateful. And she told me that she was getting over pnuemonia. She said, “Wow, you’re amazing. You should be a professional.” And I said, “Actually I am.” 🙂
We switched places and she read me. The information she picked up on me was very vague and I couldn’t really relate it to anything going on in my life. Oh well.
I enjoyed the demonstration and there were many other people in the room who had amazing experiences as well.
How It Works
Gordon did a visual demonstration of how mediumship really looks by having “dead people” volunteers come on stage and a “medium” while he played the guide in the middle. He showed how his guide goes to the dead people and gets information and then whispers it in his ear. He then conveys what he’s gotten to his sitter. I asked him if he uses just his own guide to speak to the dead people or if he connects with his sitters’ guides as well. He confirmed that he speaks to both his own guide and the guides of the person he is reading for, which is something I do as well. It was basically a “behind the scenes” demonstration of what he is perceiving during a reading.
Naming the Guide
Someone in the audience asked what Gordon’s guide’s name was. Gordon paused for a long time before answering. He seemed uncomfortable with the question. Finally he said, “Well first you have to understand that I named my own guide. Names are not important to them so I gave him the name I wanted to call him.” I could tell that people in the audience thought this was odd; everyone gets really hung up on names, but do you really think energy in the either is going around with names? No, that’s a human convention. His answer fascinated me since I named my guide too. When I first met my guide in the White Room and asked him his name, he waved me off like it was totally irrelevant. Then he said, “You pick a name for me.” I call him Bob because he looks like a Bob to me. He has accepted this and we have a lovely relationship. I have other guides, but Bob is specifically there to help me connect with guides and spirits in the either, like a gatekeeper of sorts. By the way, Gordon tells us there are guides and gatekeepers to keep us out of the ether instead of keeping the ether energies in. Feel scummy? Yeah, me too. 😉
Opening and Closing Rituals
Someone asked what Gordon does to open himself up to energies and to close down at the end of a session. He conveyed that he does not do anything elaborate like some mediums do. When he wants to connect, he opens himself up, gets out of his own way, becomes a clear channel, and sends his guide, Chi, to work. When he is done he thanks all parties involved and goes on about his day. He mentioned that spirits do not follow him around and only on very rare occasions is a spirit strong enough to get through to him when he is not officially working. This is true for me as well. Like a radio, you can turn it off when you’re not wanting to tune in. That’s the healthy thing to do. People who leave themselves open all the time tend to get drained or put in padded rooms. 😉 One thing I will do, however, is an opening ritual for myself which helps me set my ego aside so I can be a clear channel. It takes just 2 minutes and I do it before every reading.
Gordon Rocks
I very much enjoyed Gordon’s workshop. At the end he asked if anyone from the audience wanted to come up to the stage and give a reading to someone in the audience. I raised my hand but he selected another guy whom he’d met during the break who expressed an interest earlier. Shucks! This guy gave a great and very accurate reading to a gentleman in the audience, but Gordon was helping to guide him a little and that was interesting to watch. Gordon had a wonderful sense of humor, though he is a very down to earth guy. He owns a barbershop and does hair when he’s not channeling the dead. If you ever get a chance to attend one of his workshops or see him work, take it. He’s marvelous!
