Trance Mediumship

(originally posted on 21 Feb 2009 07:46 pm)


On Wednesday, 18th February I sat for the first time in a Trance Circle. This for me is what it's all about. I felt completely at home; and just know that this is what I (and my guide) have been waiting for. Trance mediumship is quite different to the more commonly practised 'mental' mediumship that we see in the churches and the theatres. Trance is physical mediumship. The room was lit with a red light and much to my liking we just went 'straight into it'. No meditation to start with and happily for me none of the ritual 'opening up' and 'tuning in'. I personally have never been comfortable with all this opening up the chakras and all that goes with it, as right from the beginners through intermediate my connection has always come in an instant and been with me while I waited for the others to follow the instruction to open this chakra first, then on to the next and so on.
All this 'visualise yourself in a garden with a stream running ... etc', is just not for me, I could never do it anyway and quite honestly couldn't see the point in it.

There are a number of working mediums in this circle, and quite a few have experienced light trance or overshadowing / transfiguration before (as I have, although this has happened spontaneously and involuntarily and not in the 'proper' environment for trance, eg when sitting in an open circle with the intentions of 'mental' mediumship, etc.)

The tutor asked the circle at the start if anyone there had experienced 'speaking' and some had. She also asked if anyone had experienced ectoplasm, and none had. She explained that transfiguration and overshadowing is 'energy', whereas ectoplasm is something much more physical, deep trance, and as the circle develops - possibly, maybe, this may indeed be experienced by some of us. I really hope so.

At this first sit I experienced an indication of touching in and out of a deep trance, as witnessed by the others - and much to my horror, I'm told I dribbled. My guide was 'filled with elation' at being there, as he has apparently been 'waiting for such a long time'.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how our circle develops, and can't wait for the next 'sit' (I suppose that's what you would call it .. ).

On the 28th I'm going to a one-day Trance Workshop run by Glyn Edwards, and that's something I'm so looking forward to also. Will tell ye all about it afterwards.

I am so looking forward to this circle developing.

When the session finished the guy next to me (who is an experienced and working trance medium) said to me 'You are a Deep Trance Medium, I am telling you that with absolute certainty'.

Trance mediumship takes many years to fully develop. You need both commitment and dedication along with a great deal of patience.

The medium has to step aside for the trance to take place so that the spirit wishing to communicate can in a sense, overlap them.

It is one of the oldest forms of mediumship and is usually associated with seances. When full trance is in place, the medium enters an altered state of consciousness.

The medium must first sit and enter a state similar to meditation, and physical changes will take place such as a slowing of the heartbeat as your breathing becomes deeper and slower paced. You can also feel a lowering of your body temperature, though it can be the reverse of that and you feel quite hot!.

At this point your spirit guide or communicator can blend their energies with yours, allowing a blending of both the mind and spirit. The time it takes for this to happen can vary on the development of the trance medium and how they approach the trance state.

If you are witness to a true trance mediumship state, you will feel the essence of the spirit communicator in the room as the medium takes on their mannerisms and even some personality traits. This is not however, Transfiguration Mediumship, that's a very different thing altogether.

Being a trance medium means a partnership between you and your guides. This is not a possession as trance mediumship is often confused with, but rather a loving and willing relationship between the medium and spirit.

Spirit do have control over your body, mind and voice, but it is never without permission as if this is done correctly from the start, the medium should always be in charge and of course the levels of consciousness depend on the conditions of the communication.

These varying levels refer to the lack of conscious awareness the medium has and the amount of control spirit have. This ranges from light trance to full trance. Deep trance is more often used when working as a physical medium to produce physical mediumship and phenomena such as ectoplasm, apports and apparitions.

In today's world the language of spirit communication is changing constantly and you will hear terms such as inspirational speaking, overshadowing and channelling.

Inspirational speaking is a application of mental mediumship (clairvoyance, clairaudience and clairsentience) where words are impressed on the medium by mind to mind communication.

Overshadowing is where spirit wrap themselves around the medium's aura in order to impress thoughts and personality.

Channelling is similar to trance mediumship and in some quarters used as an alternative word for trance. But they are not to be confused.

Trance is the deeper form of communication where spirit literally join with the medium at the physical level. Channelling again has many levels of awareness and control but the spirit being does not enter the subtle bodies and physical body to the same degree. Often with channelling there is little or no change to the mediums appearance

Trance mediumship or channeling, like so many other forms of spirit communication, is very much misunderstood. In recent years, a number of mediums have called themselves "trance" channels, when, in fact, they were not working in a genuine trance condition. This has been a source of great confusion for many people.

When spirit links with a medium, the spirit communicator exerts various degrees of control, or overshadows the consciousness of the medium to a greater or lesser degree. This varies, depending upon the intent and conditions of communication, as well as the ability of the medium to lend himself or herself to be overshadowed or controlled.

Trance is considered the strongest degree of control. Yet, even here, there are various degrees of trance control: from light trance to very deep trance. Deep trance is used primarily in physical mediumship.

There are many factors which indicate genuine trance control, and parapsychologists have used various tests to determine whether, in fact, a medium is under trance control; and, if so, to what degree.

Genuine trance is a strong sharing of mental and physical energies and consciousness between the medium and the spirit communicator. There is generally -- although not always -- manifested, within the medium, the following:

A slowing of the heart rate.

A slow, deep, and steady breathing pattern.

No rapid eye movement, or REM.

A lowering of body temperature.

A greatly reduced reaction to touch and pain.

Various degrees of unconsciousness.

Furthermore, because in the trance condition the spirit communicator is speaking directly through the consciousness of the medium -- rather than the medium relating what is being mentally given to him or her -- the voice pattern, inflection, and general manner of speech differ from that normally exhibited by the medium.

Finally, much research has been conducted around the language patterns of dialogue exhibited during trance communication. There is very often a broken speech pattern, a reversal of sentence structure, and an overall change in grammar usage.

One final point needs to be mentioned: that of control. What does it mean to be controlled by spirit? First of all, it does NOT mean that the medium is, in any way, possessed by a spirit personality. Possession or attachment is extremely rare. Nor does it mean that the medium leaves his or her body and the spirit enters therein.

Mediumistic control means a sharing of mental and physical energies between the medium and spirit communicator or operator. Control signifies a telepathic rapport between the two. How strongly en rapport they are determines the degree of control. Control can range from inspired thought, to conscious control, to light trance, to deep trance, to very deep trance. It all depends upon the work at hand and the mental and physical energies available to the spirit communicator or operator.