Today we are going to discuss the topic of mediumship. A medium is an abnormally organised person in whom the dislocation of the etheric and dense bodies easily occurs. A medium should not be confused with what is known today as a channeller. Their modus operandi is different. The reason we will discuss mediumship is because it utilises the matter contained within the etheric envelope. The Etheric Double, when extruded, largely supplies the physical basis for “materialisations.” Such materialised forms are usually strictly confined to the immediate neighbourhood of the medium. The matter of which they are composed being subject to an attraction, which is constantly drawing it back to the body from which it came. For this reason, if it is kept away from the medium for too long the medium collapses. The matter which composes it instantly rushes back to its source. Such forms can exist for a few moments only in the presence of intense vibrations of brilliant light, that is why seances are held in darkened rooms. This dramatic form of mediumship, mercifully, is not practised much today.
The condition of mediumship is, on the whole, dangerous and fortunately comparatively rare. It gives rise to excessive nervous strain and disturbance. When the Etheric Double is extruded, the double itself is rent in two; the whole of it cannot be separated from the dense body without causing death, since the life force, or Prana, cannot circulate without the presence of etheric matter. Even the partial withdrawal of the double produces lethargy in the dense body and almost suspends its vital activities. This dangerous condition is usually followed by extreme exhaustion. The terrible drain on the vitality, set up by a withdrawal of the means by which the Prana is circulated, is the reason why mediums are so often in a state of collapse after a séance. This may explain why so many mediums eventually become drunkards, stimulants being taken in order to satisfy the terrible craving for support by the sudden loss of strength. The condition closely resembles the shock, which follows a surgical operation.
At a spiritual séance, a clairvoyant can see the Etheric Double oozing usually out of the left side of the medium, though sometimes from the whole surface of the body. It is this which often appears as the “materialised spirit”, easily moulded into various shapes by the thoughts of the sitters and gaining strength and vitality as the medium sinks into a deep trance. Usually, of course, this takes place without any conscious effort on the part of the sitters. It may, however, be achieved deliberately. H.P. Blavatsky stated that during the remarkable phenomena that occurred at the Eddy homestead, she deliberately moulded the “spirit” form, which appeared into various likenesses, these being seen by the sitters present. Blavatsky was famous for her mediumship, which was extremely advanced as she was an initiate. Laurency, deplored this showmanship, as was his way of describing it, because it was a freak show that achieved nothing. However, at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th Century, there was an insatiable desire to prove the existence of a “Spirit World” and occultists of the day were obliged to indulge these cravings.
Although etheric matter, moulded into such “spirit” forms, is invisible to ordinary sight, it may nevertheless be able to affect a photographic plate. The plates are sensitive to certain wavelengths of light, which are beyond the range of human sight. This is the rationale of the many cases on record where “spirit forms” have appeared on the negative of an ordinary photographic portrait. In addition, to the matter of the Etheric Double of the medium, it frequently happens at séances that etheric matter is withdrawn also from the bodies of the sitters. This causes the fatigue frequently felt by those who attend such séances. It is only in conditions of perfect passivity that a quantity of matter can be withdrawn from the physical body without danger to life. Although the medium is usually conscious all the time in the background, any attempt to assert individuality or to think connectedly, immediately weakens the materialised form, or brings it back to the “cabinet.” A sudden shock or disturbance, or any attempt to seize the “spirit form” is liable to be extremely dangerous and may even result in death of the medium.
In addition to the extrusion of etheric matter, in many cases, the dense physical matter, probably chiefly gases and liquids, is also removed at the same time from the body of the medium. Many cases are on record where, during a materialisation, the body of the medium shrivelled perceptibly, the shrunken, wizened appearance of the face being said to be ghastly and unpleasant to see. By weighing the medium, the physical body has been found to lose as much as 40 pounds or 18 kilos. This is a rather drastic form of dieting and should not be encouraged. The weight of the materialised form is at least as much as the loss of the medium’s weight and usually more than this, presumably owing to the extraction of some dense matter from the bodies of the sitters.
To an emotional entity, who wishes to “manifest” themselves or to produce some phenomenon on the physical plane, a medium serves the purpose of providing the necessary etheric matter. This acts as an intermediary to convey the emotional forces into physical matter. This is not the same as when Christ-Maitreya last made an appearance on Earth. There, Jeshu vacated his physical and etheric envelope but remained attached to it by the Silver Cord. The Bodhisattva knew what he was doing and was able to animate the physical organism to achieve his objectives before handing the body back to its rightful owner.
A somewhat similar process takes place when a discarnate drunkard, hovering around an off-licence, draws around themselves a veil of etheric matter, so that they may absorb the odour of the alcohol for which they craves. Being unable to smell alcohol in the same way as we do, they try to induce others to become drunk, so that they may be able to partially enter their physical bodies and obsess them, thus once more directly experiencing the taste and other sensations they so ardently desire.
Sometimes only sufficient etheric is withdrawn from a medium to produce an etheric hand, or even just sufficient length of the fingers to hold a pencil and write, or to enable “raps” to be made, objects to be overturned or moved and so forth. Usually, etheric matter, as well as dense physical matter, is withdrawn from the medium. This is utilised to cover an emotional shape just sufficiently to make the latter visible to the sitters. The form seen in this way is not solid but merely a thin film.
“Spirit” drapery, however, so usual at séances, is frequently made from the clothing of the medium or of a sitter. The texture may be quite coarse, or exceedingly fine, finer in fact than any product of the best silk looms. Occasionally such drapery may be removed from the séance room, sometimes lasting for years, at other times fading away in an hour or so, or even in a few minutes.
There can be no question that, except possibly in very rare cases and where every possible precaution is taken, the practice of mediumship is harmful, and may be exceedingly dangerous. Nevertheless, it must be admitted that by its means, large numbers of people have acquired knowledge of or belief in, the reality of the unseen world and the continuance of life after death. On the other hand, it should be urged that such knowledge or such belief could have been secured in other and less harmful ways.
A trained esotericist, for example, connected with any school of “white magic”, would never interfere with the Etheric Double of any person to produce a materialisation; nor would they disturb their own if they wished to make themselves visible at a distance. They would simply condense and build into and around themselves, an emotional body of a sufficient quantity of the surrounding ether to materialise it. They could then hold it in that form by an effort of will, as long as they needed it. It should be remembered that we all must choose to develop ourselves and it is not for others to “force” us to see the proof of the existence of supernatural existences.
Most “spirit guides” were well aware of the dangers to which their mediums were exposed and took every precaution in their power to protect the mediums. Even the “spirits” themselves may occasionally suffer when, for example, a materialised form is struck or wounded. This is because of the intimate connection established between the etheric matter of the materialised form and the emotional matter of the “spirit’s body.” It is of course, true that no physical weapon could affect an emotional body, but an injury to a materialised form may be transmitted to the emotional body by the phenomenon known as “repercussion.”
Because during a materialisation, matter may be borrowed from all the sitters present, as well as from the medium, a considerable intermixing of such matter may take place. Consequently, undesirable qualities or vices in any one of the sitters are liable to react upon the others and most of all upon the medium, who is most drawn upon and is almost certainly the most sensitive person present. Nicotine and alcohol poisoning appear to be especially liable to produce unpleasant effects in this manner.
Mediums, who are not very evolved themselves, inevitably attract eminently undesirable emotional entities, who may reinforce their vitality at the expense of mediums and sitters. Such a “spook” may even attach itself to anyone present, who is of low development, with unfortunate results. Cases are known where some outside entity, either incarnate or excarnate, has seized upon the body of a sleeping person and used it, perhaps in sleepwalking, for their ends. This would be most likely to happen with a naturally mediumistic person.
I hope I have scared you sufficiently to ignore this platform for furthering your studies into the higher planes of matter. See you next time.