Mediumship seems to be a strange concept to
those who don’t explore it. With many skeptics and non-believers, it’s very
hard for people in the community to openly discuss their jobs or experiences.
You’ve seen them on TV with the likes of Colin Fry and Sally Morgan, but when
it comes to local psychics and mediums, just how genuine are they?
In 1951, the Fraudulent Mediums Act was
passed in England and Wales, replacing the Witchcraft Act 1735. The law
prohibited a person from claiming to be a psychic, medium, or other
spiritualist while attempting to make money through deception, other than
solely for the purpose of entertainment. Before the law was then repealed by
the Consumer Protection Regulations 2008, there were five prosecutions under
this act, all resulting in conviction.
Medium Psychic in Sutton Coldfield, Lynda
Bourne informed me that there are certain legal and ethical requirements of a
medium. In talking to Lynda, she told me, “Unfortunately psychic mediums have
had some bad press in that there are a few dishonest mediums who [have] spoilt
it for the genuine ones.” She continued with, “This has resulted in honest
mediums and psychics having to act and portray medium work in a ‘godly’
manner.”
I asked Lynda to tell to me a little bit
about how to practice mediumship in such a way that won’t leave people worrying
about something that will happen in their future, for example, or leaving them
unsure and worried. She said, “[You have to] be very careful what words you
use, and don’t tell them anything bad. You have to be insured, have a code of
conduct, which even though it says the session is for entertainment purposes
only, you have got to understand [that] you’re dealing with someone who’s
vulnerable.”
“Mediums have to act in a professional,
gentle, caring way to stop the client from being afraid. We want the person to go
home feeling comfortable and relaxed, not crying and worried.”
“In the past, I have had to undo the damage
a dishonest medium has done to people, for example, a client being told their
husband was having an affair the week of their wedding.”
For clarification to those reading, I asked Lynda to explain to me the difference between mediums and psychics. She said, "Mediums sometimes cannot use any sort of
tools, but if they can, some use tarot cards, crystal balls and so on. Psychics can almost always use these tools, and that is what separates them both."
Upon speaking to two committee members of
my local spiritualist church who wish to remain anonymous, I discovered that
there have been more and more skeptics coming through the doors every week in
hopes to be shown what mediumship, and spiritualism as a whole, actually is
rather than what the ‘stereotype’ of it portrays it to be. “Sometimes you get
the skeptics who want to be proven wrong, and sometimes you just get the
skeptics who are set in their opinion that mediumship and spiritualism is all
fake and staged, and is just a way to make money of people seeking comfort
where comfort can’t be sought.”
Lynda Bourne also commented on the
stereotypical image of a medium. She said, “The thing with mediumship is that
straight from the onset if you say you are a medium, people think you are doing
it for a circus and [will] conjure up this idea in their head with a headscarf
and a crystal ball. That’s not what we are at all.”
I spoke to another West Midlands medium,
who wishes to remain anonymous, who agreed with the points that Lynda made. She
said, “We aren’t allowed to say anything to do with death or anything of a
similar nature. We work with the spirits to communicate with the client,
without predicting the future, or future events.”
It is becoming increasingly difficult for
mediums today to gain credibility within the community due to the amount of
frauds around, however that doesn’t stop them from doing their utmost best to
gain the respect of their clients and prospective clients.
You can find Lynda's website here.
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