Mediums

MissA whew. I agree.

The thing is unless you decide it's all a load of rubbish, how can someone resist the urge to give it a try? I'm not sure if I could, although I wouldn't tell anyone I know about it.

I don't suppose they'd be able to either. I should imagine that if someone has a genuine gift, then they would just get things filtering through randomly.

MissA that's what happened to my friend's SiL I mentioned earlier. She was forever looking for fairs at weekends where she could find a medium and asking my friend to drive her because she couldn't drive herself. It went on for a couple of years and eventually the time between events got bigger. I'm not sure if she still goes sometimes.

One of the problems I had with the $1 million challenge mentioned before is that the tests had to take place under certain conditions to try and prevent fakery. I don't think a medium or clairvoyant would necessarily be able to 'perform' on command?

You certainly haven't offended me, Wilma. Its good to talk about these things.

I can say this here because I'm anonymous, but I don't have a problem with the whole idea of talking to the dead. I mean out loud as well as in my head.

I know some people visit graves of lost loved ones and have conversations with them. I like that idea, but my surviving family will not be buried, so I think I will just talk to them when ever I feel like it. If they ever answered me back I would probably faint, but I would be so happy. I don't know that I would tell anyone about it though.

I know the bereaved can look for signs from the loved ones they have lost, but I think I would be open to the idea of 'taking the time to smell the flowers', in other words see the beauty of the world around you and take my signs from there. Sorry if this sounds mawkish and I hope I haven't upset or offended anyone.

Wouldn't I need to find a conduit, day6?
I somehow think I would be setting myself up for disappointment by seeing a medium. I want more than they could ever give me, I think. I suppose if they gave me anything, however small, that struck a chord, then I could easily become obsessed.

My friend lost her son to cancer just before Christmas Miss Adventure. He too told his Mum he would let her know he was there once he'd died. She felt very comforted by this, but perhaps there does have to be an 'open channel' somewhere for receiving, for that presence to get through?

From my experience, described above, I think you will KNOW if and when it happens, because it's startling and very real.

This is why I wonder about mediums, because you cannot summon it up, to happen at will. Not in my 'experience' anyway. Again, it sounds strange and slightly barmy trying to put this into words.

My Mum told me that when I was a baby (her first), she went to see a fortune teller (her words) with some work friends as a bit of fun. They each went into see her on their own and my Mum remembers being told she'd have 3 children and a couple of other things I can't remember now. I don't think she treated it as a serious thing, but years later she realised that what had been predicted did happen. She also told me that she hadn't told her family about going because the Catholic Church was against that kind of stuff.

My daughter told me I must be open to her making her presence felt after she died. I'm genuinely searching for a sign.. she felt I was too sceptical and would brush things off or not notice them.

* I think it's possible that particles from our existence can be sensed by some people and those particles retain something of the whole being. This could also be described as a soul,spiritual and/or religious.*

I do hope science can add to this in the years to come wilma
Do those we love stay close by once they die, in spirit form? Is something of their 'essence' left behind? I truly believe there is. My own kith and kin rubbish that notion, with the 'when you're dead, you're dead' retort. However, so many things have happened to me, just after a person dies, to make me believe they (the deceased) know I am 'open' to receiving messages, a bit like a conduit. That sounds bonkers, I know but in the presence of a family member it happened and they were blown away by the message that came through me, out of the blue. We were sitting having coffee together. It shook me too, to be honest. If you say such things or write it down people laugh and scoff. You cannot blame them.

lemongrove I was slow there and completely missed the joke!

Coolgran what did you think afterwards? That would have freaked me out and I would spend a lot of time trying to work out how she could have found out the information!

I think we all have certain abilities which aren't used in our day to day life. Even if its just the ability to draw people out of themselves. The woman I saw approached everything she told me from a variety of angles until she hit on the right one. Once she had established that I don't drink, am not looking for a man, and am genuinely happy to stay home then she went down that route. She'd exhausted all the others!

I often think when this kind of subject crops up that perhaps we all have these extra abilities, but for some reason they're more active in certain people. I remember years ago someone who was supposed to have developed some paranormal ability after surviving a lightening strike. I can see that being true because our brains work on electrical impulses.

I visited a lady and as she spoke her friend wrote down what she said.
Straight off she said to me.... Fred is telling me he loves you, Sara is with him. Fred is a lovely man but Sara is a cold fish and really a difficult person. Are these your parents.
And yes, they were my parents.

She said I had several children but only one born to me who lived many thousands of miles away.
Yes, I have one dc and 4 step children.

Oh lemon Groan.

If I went into business I'd have to call myself the Happy Medium now. Your fault!

No, it doesn't Annie. My thoughts on that are again to do with our brains and that some people have brains that enable them to do things like see into the future. I can't explain how some people can do certain things like this, but I am willing to keep an open mind about it all.

I do think the majority of people who say they can do these things are charlatans. I saw a programme last year that exposed many of the ways stage acts work and unfortunately advancements in technology make faking it easier than ever.

On the other hand I also suspect that many people who do have these extra abilities do not make it known and it's probably a burden to them.

I tend to the sceptical, but have known a few extraordinary things happen to others, who are normally equally sceptical.

Same here Witzend, so I don't dismiss them. I do believe some cash in and have no qualms about doing it.

I have had one or two experiences that lead me to believe there is more to life and death than we will ever know. Because of one incredible and moving experience I now believe we are all souls having a human experience. There is more, but whether others can tap into it or not I still question.

I don’t think there is any value in being told things about somebody we knew or about ourselves either, but if about an event about to happen or a warning of danger that would be different.
I think most are charlatans sadly, but that there are ‘sensitive’ people who do pick up things.
I would stay away from mediums though as I have never met a happy one.

Maw the description I read said it was the first book in a new trilogy and is a companion to the His Dark Matters trilogy. He describes it as an 'equel' and not a prequel or a sequel.

I can't remember where I read the article about it, but this is the Wikipedia page

The Book of Dust

I don’t think you can say The Book of Dust is a new trilogy Wilma etc, but a prequel to the first book of his fantasist trilogy, His Dark Materials,Northern Lights being the first book.

Wilma, doesn't explain how someone told of a death before it happen, the dead person a stranger to the person who found the body , over a week before the person died ?

Esspee I've seen James Randi speak quite often online and it's a shame the $1 million challenge stopped in 2015, the year he stepped down.

Eglantine I knew there were scientific and philosophical discussions and theories, but I recently read there's a new Philip Pullman trilogy dealing with the subject of 'dust' and it reminded me. It's why I keep an open mind about the paranormal.

Wilma you might want to Google "You need a physisist at your funeral". I would post a link if I knew how but basically it's the scientific stance on what you have just posted.
A physisist will tell you that matter cannot be created or destroyed so somewhere out there are all the particles which were someone you knew and loved. Reconfigured throughout eternity but never destroyed. They can't be.
I can hang a belief on this

James Randi offered a prize of one million dollars to anyone who could demonstrate supernatural ability under scientific testing criteria. Nobody managed to pass the preliminary tests despite the offer remaining open for many years.