Inula Austin Soul Growth

A question that I often ask myself is ‘how relevant is Mediumship in today’s world?’

We live in an increasingly secular society, have instant access to the world via social media and an almost hypnotic fascination with the cult of celebrity, 24 hour scrolling current affairs and the acquisition of ‘stuff’.

Whilst materialism has been on the rise since the birth of the industrialisation, nowadays one can scarcely move for advertisements and marketing plastered on every available space, wherever we go. Materialism equals money, and wealth is the watchword of the powerful elite.

During the inter-war years of the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, mediumship found it’s zenith with the talents and abilities of the likes of Estelle Roberts, Helen Duncan, Ena Twigg, Gordon Higginson and Leslie Flint (to name but a few) as the trailblazers and torch bearers of Spiritualism and Mediumship in the UK and in some cases, further afield.

During the two world wars mothers, wives and relatives sought news of their beloved young servicemen, often posted overseas for extended periods of time without word.. With slow mail services and communication black outs, many found mediumship to be a source of refuge, comfort and much needed information.

This was highlighted most vividly in the example of a Helen Duncan physical mediumship séance, held in Portsmouth, UK in 1944. A young sailor, not then known to have died, (who’s ship HMS Barham, had been sunk) materialised to speak to his mother. Unfortunately, news of the sinking of the young man’s vessel off the coast of North Africa had not yet been released to the public and the admiralty were none too pleased about Mrs Duncan’s evidence. This incident culminated in a very famous court case which led to Helen Duncan being one of the last people in the UK to be imprisoned under the ‘Witchcraft Act of 1735’ (initially she was charged under Section 4 of the Vagrancy Act 1824). She was not allowed to defend herself and was imprisoned for 9 months. After much campaigning, upon her release, the law was finally changed and became the ‘Fraudulent Mediums Act 1951’, which still stands today.

Physical Medium, Helen Duncan (Please message for credit or removal)

The impeccable evidence of survival after so-called physical death was the cornerstone of the mediums working publicly at that time and their service was very much needed at a moment in history when millions of people were faced daily with fear, death, disruption, rationing and blitzes.

Mediumship contributed to the war effort by bringing comfort and evidence of survival to many, many people. Furthermore, the healing balm that mediumship provided led to a longer term goal, that of the upliftment of humanity.

What Is The Purpose of Mediumship?

The eminent spirit guide Silver Birch (who worked through the Mediumship of Maurice Barbanell for many decades) spoke about the purpose of mediumship many times during the Hannen Swaffer home circle.

He defined mediumship as the fulfilling of the natural, spiritual law of all things. Silver Birch explained that mediums work in service of the Great Spirit in order to touch the hearts and minds of people, awakening them on an individual level. He taught that such an ‘awakening’ would be the fulfilling of the Divine Plan on the earth. That each individual would come to recognise their own (and each others) spiritual inheritance and divine birth right, finally leading to a heavenly state being established upon the earth.

Spirit Art picture of Silver Birch (The Spiritual Truth Foundation)

Awakening in 2023

We speak a lot of ‘awakening’ these days, it’s become a popular term amongst new age and spiritual circles. There definitely seems to be an increase in the numbers of people becoming aware of their true nature as spirit beings and who are seeking a different path to that traditionally offered by the materialistic model of society at large.

But, there is still much work to do to educate the masses on the pertinent spiritual issues and truths. As organised religions no longer seem to hold an attraction for many people a vacuum has opened up over the last 70 years or so and nature doing what nature does, all kinds of distractions have rushed in to fill it.

Census forms in recent decades show that increasing numbers no longer appear to identify as ‘religious’ however, they still consider themselves to have an underlying spirituality.

This is heartening news, as spirituality is the pathway to a deeper understanding of oneself and the Universe and, I think, will eventually lead to a great number of positive societal changes.

But is Mediumship still relevant in today’s 24 hour, media driven world?

Perhaps not surprisingly, I think we need mediumship more than ever in 2023!

Although the general lack of attention span and inability to focus and interact with another person, is noticeably on the rise in mediumship demonstrations that I have personally taken part in, I am hopeful that we can find ways to overcome such obstacles and strengthen the bridge between the people of the spirit world and our audiences.

With the advent of digital TV and smartphones, mediumship has met with some new hurdles. Many of us are now so used to scrolling through feeds, flicking through YouTube videos, using TikTok and messaging one another that participating in anything ‘live’ (such as a demonstration of clairvoyance) may feel awkward, time consuming or seem too much like hard work.

I take part in a weekly evening of platform clairvoyance (where trained mediums work from the platform, delivering contacts (spirit links) to audience members.) Not only has there been a marked decrease in audience numbers in the last 3 years or so, audience attitudes seemed to have changed in that time too.

Lockdowns had an impact on people’s lives, unbelievably, many churches and other places of worship shut due to government guidelines and a palpable fear rose in the minds of many people. All of this has taken it’s toll on our audiences and the people that we were able to reach. I can only speculate on the reasons behind such decisions taken at a national level, all I can say is that in the places that I serve, the public still appear traumatised and have only really just started to venture back out into the public sphere. I also personally speculate that many people come to our weekly demonstration because they are viewed, quite erroneously, as entertainment, not as a spiritual and educational experience. As my own teacher taught me that whilst our demonstrations should never bore those watching, we are not a variety performance or cabaret act. How much television psychics and mediums have had a role in the public’s attitude, I could not possibly say. I would say though that many individuals seem to be misinformed as to what it is mediums are and what we do and don’t do.

Education, education and more education.

Well trained mediums are not only instruments bringing comfort from the Next World, we are also educators. The philosophy portion of the Spiritualist Divine Service used to be an integral part of serving an SNU (and indeed, an independent) church. In recent years, upon arriving to take services I have been informed by the Chairperson ‘you don’t have to give philosophy, they only want the messages’, as if we are wind up toys to set down upon the platform for entertainment purposes only. I wonder how many people would attend a Sunday Eucharist and tell the Vicar not to bother with the sermon, but skip straight to the communion? Perhaps this comparison is akin to comparing apples and oranges. However, it seems to me we find ourselves in a very sad situation and one that I feel, can only be addressed by raising the standards of mediumship (more on that in a future post).

It would appear that the real meaning and purpose of mediumship has been lost in today’s world, which may point to a deeper disconnect between individuals and their spiritual nature than evident at first glance. Spiritual lessons may come as revelatory evidence given via a mediumistic message, but we must also remember the importance of philosophy and education in uplifting the public, touching the hearts, minds and souls as talked about by the great Silver Birch. When mediumship is seen by an audience as purely ‘entertainment’ the spiritual movement is in trouble.

I believe that the way to change this is not through the dumbing down of demonstrations and services by forgoing teaching, but through raising standards of mediumship across the board and in the continued practice of philosophy, readings and teachings. If we no longer utilise our capacity to educate, how may we ever hope to continue to uplift humanity to live in greater compassion, understanding and wisdom?

Far from being outmoded, I believe that clairvoyance and mediumship (particularly in the format of a service or public demonstration) are needed now in 2023 more than ever before, lest we lose the progress that has been made in the last 100 years.

The future spiritual illumination and spiritual evolution of humanity depends upon it.

(I strongly recommend reading the autobiographies of the mediums mentioned above and also the works of Silver Birch, which provide a whole wealth of spiritual information and wisdom.)