My psychic life: Day 14

Posted on November 30, 2015 by Astral Annie

The theme today has been healing! Myself included. I try to start every day with a Reiki meditation so that I can put myself in as much positive energy as possible. I love being a Reiki Master/Teacher though I fell into it, or better still, my Guides prodded me into practicing Reiki. They worked very hard to get a message to me to do Reiki attunements & then made sure the right people were around to keep me on the Reiki path. I actually did my attunements over a number of years, being nudged every now & again when it was time to move up to the next level. Being able to self heal at any time I needed energy support has been a constant benefit of the attunements.

I also enjoy that every time I do a Reiki healing with my Reiki Guides I have another blast of healing energy too. The Universal energy is there for all who are willing to receive it & we can have as much as we wish. Over the years Reiki has been one of the ways in which I protect myself from any low level energy I’ve been exposed to or taken into my aura. It’s also been a way of raising my own energy vibration so I can make stronger connections with the Spirits & other Energy Beings. One of the things that helps communication is a clear aura full of positive energy.

As I’ve learned about the world as an energy world rather than a physical world I have wondered so often why what I know isn’t common knowledge. We have some sayings that explain how the energy world works e.g. what you give out you get back, what goes around comes around, karma comes back. Yet we often choose to ignore what these saying are actually telling us. My Guides explain it this way: Imagine you are a wonderful coral on the Great Barrier Reef, being fed & nourished by the water that flows all around & through you. If you are in pure, clean, happy water you will grow strong, thrive & blossom. If you are in polluted, unhappy, dirty water you will starve, fall ill &, eventually, die. Which would you rather be?

We are physical only on one level. At another level we are aura + physical energy. Our feelings & thoughts are also energy. We ‘swim’ in a great big energy ocean along with everything & everyone else (including the animal kingdom & the planets). As we swim along we are giving off the energy of our feelings & thought – not the ones we would like people to think we have (the masks we wear to hide our true selves like the shell of an oyster). Our true energy is going into the energy ocean. So are the energy feelings & thoughts of all the other swimmers around us. If our shell isn’t strong enough their energy mixes with ours. We get whatever their true energy signals are. We also get caught up in the tides of huge energy outpourings. For example, if enough people are worried, stressed & anxious about money guess what kind of energy tidal wave we will be bathed in. Or even a tsunami of feeling & thoughts.

Keeping our own energy clear & clean within a good strong shell will benefit everyone. First because we aren’t sending out low vibrational feelings & thoughts. Second because we can choose to send out positive vibes into the energy ocean so that others experience the positive flow rather than a negative one. Keeping positive doesn’t mean that we can’t feel anger, grief, fear, depression. These are all human emotions & everyone experiences them at one time or another. Remember – we are not looking at the masks we wear – we are awake to the true energy signals we transmit. We can recognise the benefit of these emotions & thought and learn to let them wash over us; rather than become a hard build-up of stuck energy requiring a lot of healing energy to shift. We can also remind ourselves that we can choose what to focus on in our lives – the ups instead of the downs – so that as much as possible what we add to this ocean of energy is for the good of all.

And the best reason of all to be in a positive ocean? If enough low vibration energy gets stuck in the aura it manifests in the physical body as dis-ease. Once our physical body is affected it becomes much hard to heal oneself. So back to my Reiki meditation – I want a clear, deep blue ocean to swim in. To make sure I have that I clean & heal my aura every day. Remember, what you give out you get back. Is it time for you to start healing yourself?

Photo source: http://econews.com.au/39449/aims-farm-run-off-hurting-great-barrier-reef/

My psychic life: Day 13

Posted on November 29, 2015 by Astral Annie

After a busy few days it’s been lovely to spend some quieter time at my Centre. It’s been nearly two years since I took on the challenge of making what I do more accessible to people. I forget sometimes why I started the drop in sessions so it was a timely reminder from one of my friends today that made me think of what has happened over that time. It was also a timely reminder when someone called in for a reading & their significant loved ones came to talk.

Setting off with only a vision, not much money & little certainty that I could manage everything, today we talked about what good has already come out of that leap of faith. My friend reminded me of the people who had walked in to the Centre burdened & walked out floating. Of the laughter, peace & healing that had already been shared week in week out. There has been a lot of kindness, not least the generous gifts of money, furniture, time & energy from all sorts of people. There have also been tears. Often we need to give ourselves permission to grieve – not only for the loved ones we have lost, but for the loss of a job, health, friendship or opportunity. To gather strength to make the changes necessary within ourselves so that life becomes more what we wish for ourselves. And to clear the oceans of regret, bitterness or hopelessness that we find hard to shift even though they are natural emotions we all share over our lifetime.

The Centre has also been the starting point for friendships. Some lasting only a short while with others looking set to become lifelong. Being able to find your community, your tribe, people who share a point of view or life experience with you is a huge boost. I have come to understand that we are all psychic. That what I have experienced is normal when you use your psychic senses & open up to a different way of communicating. Having my experiences validated & understood by others has been very important in encouraging me to keep exploring. So the conversations that spark the friendships for our visitors have had space to happen. Their experiences have been acknowledged & they have been a part of the Tribe for as long as they have needed to be.

For whatever reason, people move on. I send them a warm wish that they find what they are searching for within themselves. The Centre will be there if they want to return to the Tribe. I also send a warm wish to the friends who are still there for me – keeping me going with laughter & light – that they too receive back all the love & compassion they have given & continue to give me.

Messages: Who brings them?

Posted on November 28, 2015 by Astral Annie

It’s been a full on day today. I spent the day doing readings & the evening doing a service at Bankfoot Spiritualist church in Bradford. So I’m keeping to my blog challenge late in the evening & thinking about the 19 messages I’ve passed on to people. One of the things people are often surprised about is that, though they want only certain people to bring them messages, sometimes they get a message from a more distant person they have connected to. The person getting the message often asks why the particular person didn’t come. Or wonders why they wouldn’t come.

I know it’s disappointing. I know it can be upsetting. And I know that it doesn’t seem right that the people we have been closest to couldn’t or wouldn’t step close. I’ve felt all of those feelings waiting for my family members to connect with messages for me. After all, if they love you why wouldn’t they make the effort. Mediums can ask for significant people or specific people to come & connect. It’s wonderful that 8 times out of 10 the Spirit people can respond to that request & the person most wanted by the sitter communicates. But there are still times when, despite your best efforts, the person who steps forward is not who the sitter wants.

I questioned my Guides a lot about this. Especially when I was waiting to hear from the people who I’d lost. Or when I heard from Gladys, the lady who was my training officer in my very first job so many years ago. I’ve sat in readings trying to find a yes to encourage the medium, hoping that I would recognise the Spirit person & wishing it could be my Mum or my Dad instead. What the Guides told me time & time again was that the people really close to me had to make adjustments to being in the Spirit World. That they had to detach from wanting to speak to me like they had when they were alive. To the day my Dad died I was his little girl & he was still trying to suggest ways in which I should run my life. Right now to my Dad I am still his little girl. So he very rarely comes to give me a message. He (& now I) understands that I have to make the best of my life according to my own free will choices. He can’t influence my decisions – even if I’m going to fall flat on my face.

Until the Spirit loved one can speak in the message without actually saying what you should do they are still too attached to the Earth journey. They are helped & supported by family & Guides to find a more detached view. No less loving, no less concerned for us yet recognising our independence of choice. Often they send a proxy (my Granddad comes on behalf of my Dad). The Spirit who steps forward will help to bridge the gap between both people so that comfort, confirmation & acknowledgement can be given on each side. It is also true that Spirit people find other ways to connect with you. There are certain songs that connect me to my loved ones. It’s amazing how often I hear those songs, seemingly randomly, just at the moment I need a loving boost. Or someone down here uses a phrase or two from someone ‘up there’. Or an advertising hoarding, a bus number plate, a google search pulls a memory of a loved on in front of me.

I know that when we are both ready I will get a direct message from my Dad through a medium. Until then I will continue to do my best to connect other people with their loved ones because I understand how much it matters.

My psychic life: Day 11

Posted on November 27, 2015 by Astral Annie

Today I’ve been to a funeral of a lovely man. I met him because of his passion for keeping his local Spiritualist Church in Ashton Under Lyne open & available to everyone. I was lucky enough to do services at that church & to watch him do services here in Hebden Bridge. David Paul Jones was a genuinely nice guy.

His devotion to ‘his’ church & the service to Spirit were expressed through a wacky sense of humour, deeply held belief and compassion for others. He wasn’t perfect but he was unique. He also integrated Native American beliefs into his philosophy of life. I never got to a sweat lodge or Sun Dance with him but I admired his love of the traditions of the Tribes. So it was reassuring to hear that he passed peacefully, whilst his friends & family were around him, to the sound of their sacred drumming.

I know that he has gone to a new life among his loved ones in the Spirit World. I know he will be free of pain & suffering. He will be able to continue his work from that side of life. I can take comfort from my own connection to my loved ones in Spirit. The celebration of his Earth life is also the celebration of his birth into a new life. All around the world mediums work to share that ‘secret’ to those who need to know what happens after death. To offer the comfort that is based on personal knowing. To bring laughter through the tears; and hope of reunion.

Dave didn’t stand on a big stage in bright lights. Many people will never have heard of him. Yet he lived his truth & walked his talk as much as he was able to in his life. Seeing all the people who had gathered to honour his passing today is the perfect reason for every medium to keep going; to ignore the doubters; and, to be encouraged to give the communications loud & strong. Hearing how he had touched their lives in more ways than he could have guessed reminded me that we work with Spirit to bring love, healing, upliftment & hope, hope, hope.

Life continues on it’s way without Dave to add a cheery word or daft smile. But we can take something with us. Dave left his example for us to follow. A devotion to his spiritual duty & to the people around him that was so strong it touched all those hearts who mourned his passing. He withstood all the criticism, scepticism & disrespect for his beliefs. He lived fully in his world not ‘their’ world. We can do that too. We can take responsibility for our choices as psychic & mediumistic people to make sure our communications reach out to the ears that need them. To offer compassion & service as we do it our way. After all, Dave made sure he did it his way.

My psychic life: Day 10

Posted on November 26, 2015 by Astral Annie

Tonight I’m writing my blog after a full day in Harrogate at a PartyLite event. It was an early start, lots of traffic delays & a full on day of recognition & new products. I love candles. They have been a part of my life for many, many years. I suspect I’ve tried most of the brands out there but I ‘converted’ to PartyLite candles a long time ago and they are the only ones I use now. So why am I writing about candles & accessories? Everyone needs down time. Time away from their work – even if that work is their passion. So my fun time is when I go out to parties with my candles, or host a Facebook online party, or call up my regular buyers with the special offers. I love helping people make their homes feel & look brighter.

It’s not something I ever intended to do (a bit like the mediumship really) as I’m not so good at jokes (I forget the punchline or get very muddled), get very nervous when meeting new people & don’t like the ‘hard’ sell. So why has it become my almost second full-time job? I went to a party. I bought some t lights. I wanted to buy lots of things but didn’t have the money. So that I could get more things I hosted a party. I kept hosting parties. My consultant said “you can do this’. I refused. In fact, she asked me 3 times. The last time she asked I said yes. I became an independent consultant & loved it so much that now I’m also a Team Leader. Sometimes I have to pinch myself to check if it’s real. I get candles & accessories, I get to go to parties where I don’t spend any money & I meet the most amazing new people. How cool is that!

At my first party my sister pointed out to me that it was no surprise I’d fallen into the PartyLite job. After all wasn’t it another way to bring in the light? I really hadn’t realised. She was right. Somehow I’d been nudged into doing something outside my comfort zone. How clever of my Guides, the Universe or synchronicity. So, rather haphazardly, I set about this other new job. I can’t say that everything has been plain sailing. Making time for my hobby in with all the other stuff I’m passionate about had been a challenge. Having the confidence to approach people about candles, parties & buying takes time. Ensuring a good customer experience is rewarding but occasionally elusive. Building a team in this work has been stretching. Yet I’m still doing it.

My friend Keeley will laugh when she reads this. She knows there have been days when I’ve said I’m giving up PartyLite. Days when I’ve been over the moon (did I say I got a free trip to Provence earlier this year from the company). Days when I’ve wanted to put my head under the covers & hide. Days when the support of my Leader, Liz, & the rest of the team have been like sunshine in the gloom. Every time I get a down day I remember the ups. Every time I’m up I focus on wanting more of that. What I’ve found out about myself is that I’m a trier (some would say trying, I’m sure, lol). I will give things a go. Just like the rest of my work, or my life, when I get knocked down I pull myself back up. I have found that I’m strong. So today I’m thankful for the nudge I got from Liz (who doesn’t give up either), for the support of my family & friends and for PartyLite. It’s a whole lot of fun & after all, all work & no play makes for a dull life.

By the way, my Team is called Lite Spirits. It seemed the most appropriate way to recognise that Spirit is the Light in my life. Every party I do that wonderful Spirit energy comes through to everyone there. Who wouldn’t want a blast of healing upliftment in their day whether they believed in it or not.

My psychic life: Day 9

Posted on November 25, 2015 by Astral Annie

I started blogging every day as part of a challenge posed by Bradley Will on FaceBook. He has been encouraging all of us to keep going & sends an email every day. Yesterday his email reached me after I’d done my blog (I hadn’t checked my work emails) so I read his comment that we had all contributed 1,119 blog pieces so far in amazement. 8 of those were mine!

He also talked about the vulnerability of opening up in a blog – when it becomes more personal than business. The challenge is to write something people want to read rather than a marketing piece. I’ve had some lovely feedback about my blogs (& the other pieces I write here & there) but it got me thinking about how much of ‘me’ comes through what I write. I hope that my blogs are ‘me’ as I want to write from the heart. It also made me wonder about the things about a psychic life that very rarely get discussed. Not because they don’t matter – but somehow because perhaps we feel we shouldn’t let the side down. Is this another example of the British conditioning of ‘stiff upper lip’; is it that too much feeling is uncomfortable for the reader; or, are we scared to show that we are human too in case people think worse of us?

One of the parts of my psychic life that I find more difficult is the bit where I get to wear the “Karma Agent’ badge. Someone has to play the devils advocate role. To say the things that no one else will. To ‘shake the tree’ so to speak in people’s lives. Often I don’t even know that I’m wearing the badge again. I’m caught up in the action & wondering why, who, what, where & how ‘stuff’ is happening. Often the Spirit Guides are speaking through me. Not just my own Guides but those of the other people involved too. As a result I can end up the focal point for conflict, not because I’ve caused it, but so that people will really say what they mean. It’s only when we reveal our true feelings & thoughts can we give them a good looking at. Often we recognise that what we are feeling & thinking is not at all nice. Saying it makes us look closely at our values & beliefs.

A teacher, guru, leader, inspirer (call it what you will) may be the very one who says the things we least like to hear. Having put the teacher on a pedestal the student is unhappy to recognise that the teacher is only half a step more advanced along the road – being only too human. Yet in the throws of rebellion, in recognising the teacher’s own frailties, the student has an opportunity to see in herself a reflection of those failings. The teacher is there to encourage this process. What the teacher has learned is that we must all take our own responsibility for our own thoughts & actions. That making the best possible choices can only be for each individual to decide. That another person’s words, thoughts, deeds stand alone and need not affect us. When we get to this recognition we can finally move away from blame. It is not the fault of others that they are human too. It is not the fault of others that you might feel this way or that. It is always possible to step out of the drama, check in with your inner being & ask why you are feeling & thinking this way. Often that has nothing to do with the person or situation in front of you.

As a psychic medium people rely on what I say. That’s why it is very important for me to be as clear & accurate as possible. People also believe that I have a trouble free life with no worries. After all, aren’t my Guides telling me what to do all of the time. Actually my Guides are very clear. I have to navigate my life for myself. They encourage me to be truthful (as much as is humanly possible), they encourage me to offer my help to others (as much as is humanly possible) and they encourage me to live a life that is as spiritual as (humanly) possible. They recognise that perfection doesn’t exist. They ask me to be compassionate towards myself. They ask me to be compassionate towards others. But not at the expense of my own self. So when I have been confronted by difficult Karmic missions I enlist their help in keeping me balanced.

To give a life example; I have often found myself in coercive relationships. Not what we would currently call abusive. A pressure instead to be something I’m not so that the other person could have what they wanted rather than what I am. A subtle flow of energy that of course I will be their friend, partner, mother, father, sister, brother, teacher, child, leader, business angel, security blanket, co-conspiritor. Of course, I might actually be all of those things at any given time. I might join in the coercion if I need to feel good about myself, or want approval or recognition or to be a martyr. However, those roles are exhausting – they are not me – they are a part I’m playing in someone else’s play. So over time I’ve learned to spot when a potentially coercive relationship pops up. I have chosen to be as supportive as possible to the other person’s needs BUT without compromising on my needs. It isn’t a possible to handle coercive relationship any other way. Actually, if you do comply with the pressure you bear the brunt of the other person’s disappointment (remember you are only acting & will eventually want to give up the part) or of their blame (when you refuse the part in the first place).

The impact of deciding to take responsibility only for my own feelings, thoughts & actions has sometimes been perceived as somehow wrong by others. People who haven’t been prepared to recognise that the coercion is actually a form of harassment have become co-conspiritors with the coercer. Words & actions have followed that are quite often very wide of a true understanding of the nature of coercive relationships. I accept that I put myself out to public scrutiny – after all that is what my blog is about – but my true voice is as valuable to the world as any other person’s true voice. In the words of Evelyn Beatrice Hall “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”. I continue to be a Karmic Agent, respecting the right of others to disagree with me, and determined that I will represent my psychic life as truthfully as I can!

Psychic Shut Down

Posted on November 24, 2015 by Astral Annie

Today is officially the start of my weekend! I did wonder what I was going to write about as housework might not be that interesting, lol. However, I managed to have enough to do to distract me from the housework anyway so nothing about washing up, laundry or dusting is getting into this blog. Instead I decided to write about when it all goes quiet. What do I mean? Those times when it seems the Energy Beings have stepped out of our lives again.

The first thing I teach after helping someone to open up their psychic senses is how to shut them down again. That’s a very important point. At the moment the world doesn’t really recognise psychic communication or operate in ways that make it comfortable to be open all the time. I know that everyone is really energy – physically solid with an energy aura. Scientists tell us all about the atoms that make us – though I’m not sure they really understand why all those widely spaced little pockets of energy turn into a solid mass so even the physical solidity we rely on is energy too. At any moment all of us are giving off that energy – our thoughts & feelings are energy waves. Those waves are ‘charged’ depending on what they relate to. So if we are feeling & thinking positively we will be lovely to be around as others get a blast of our positive vibes. If we are thinking & feeling angry, anxious or fearful people will get a blast of those vibes too. I’m sure you understand this on one level because your intuitive senses will have fed you information about when you are in a positive or negative environment.

So being open to the energy flow as it pings against your psychic senses could end up with you taking on the energy around you that has lower vibes. That is because psychic energy is never static. It flows. And you flow with it unless you shield yourself from any energy that has too low a vibration. We all give out the energy of our feelings and once you recognise this you can work to stay in positive energy most of the time. But we are human, living in conditions were others aren’t mindful of their energy so it’s wise to be able to float in your own positive bubble. It’s also important to recognise that your psychic senses also pick up on the other energies that are all around.

When you begin to communicate with Energy Beings you are opening up to non-physical presences in our energy system. These are all around but hard to sense if your psychic senses haven’t been used for a long time. Opening up is like you have switched on a light. You can be seen again as someone who can connect. So all of the communicators who have been wandering around waiting for you to open will be delighted that you are receiving their energy once more. It can sometimes be overwhelming to discover just how many want to ‘talk’ to you. It can also be confusing & frustrating. And your psychic ‘muscles’ aren’t used to it yet. So having only a little contact at first is a really useful thing. It gives you time to adjust your world view, especially if you don’t believe in Spirits, Angels, Fairies, Dragons etc, as well as to build yourself up slowly to their levels of energy.

A lot of people worry that if you close the door on the Energy Beings they will go away for good. My Guides have never suggested I stay open 24/7. They encourage me to take a break & often withdraw if they feel I have been tuned in too much. There is always enough time for them to come back when I am ‘working’ again & get done what needs to be done. So today has been one of those closed days (mostly) where I have my head completely to myself & can get on with the everyday things all of us have to do (but not the housework, lol). If you are developing your connection & psychic senses remember to close the door so you can live this Earth life too!

My psychic life: Day 7

Posted on November 23, 2015 by Astral Annie

It’s funny what influences shape our lives. Although I was a sceptic about psychic ability & Energy Beings I’ve always been open-minded about what happens when we die. I’ve also been willing to step out of the heaven vs hell model, especially since the idea of a vengeful God doesn’t sit well with me. If we make mistakes or get it wrong surely the idea of eternal punishment is only going to make us think ‘so what … I’m headed to hell anyway. I might as well do what I want.’ And how does redemption work? Can we really write off all of our errors with prayer and then go off & do it all again? Now this isn’t a religious post – quite the opposite – but I want to share with you the questions I was asking through most of my teenage years.

At the same time I discovered science fiction. Whole worlds & events that were based on possible futures that we might be headed into. Let me clarify that science fantasy was a slow burner with me. I was interested in the future of mankind on this planet back then. Science fantasy only came along in my mid-thirtys when I wondered how it would be to have never lived a human life; about the time I gave up thinking that people could collaborate peacefully across the whole globe. So back to the hopes & fears for humankind that entertained my youth, lol. Alongside the love of science fiction I was busy growing a love of the science of the mind: telepathy, psychokinesis, abnormal psychology to name but a few strands of interest. Science fiction fascinated me as it seemed to divide into just 2 options: we kill ourselves with our technology; or, we use technology to save ourselves. It was at this time that I first read Stranger In A Strange Land by Robert Heinlein.

A great writer, Heinlein took the idea of how we might look from the outside & wove it into a compelling tale. His main character, Valentine Michael Smith, is raised on Mars by Martians after the ship carrying him & his parents is lost on Mars with all the crew. He is rescued from Mars at the age of 25 & brought back to Earth. I felt I could identify in many ways with the ideas in the book & read it quite a few times over the passing years. In 1992 I bought an updated version, published after Robert Heinlein’s death, which contained the full version of the story that in 1961 was considered really too far out. It became one of my favourite reads. And still is. I’m reading it again at the moment & still finding something new & fresh to think about. I’m also amazed by Heinlein’s vision of the future – the themes he draws out are still relevant even after 50 years. Here I need to add that I probably have all of his books on my bookshelf so perhaps I might be called a fan or at least possibly a bit biased.

So how does this link in with mediumship? This book really opened my mind. I didn’t understand or agree with all of it when I first read it. It has taken me many years & some maturity to understand & agree with some of the ideas in the book. Making me think every time I read it (as well as it being a really good story) has kept me open-minded. The courage to question the ‘natural’ order of things, the social conditioning & the implied expectations that govern my life stem from the influence of this book. I’ve always been curious but this book gave me permission to turn my world view inside out. If I hadn’t done that I’m not sure I would ever have accepted that I was psychic, let alone that I could communicate with energy beings.

One final observation. It’s interesting that science fiction, as a written form that we know today, only emerged fully formed in the 19th century (some suggest that Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein is the first recognisable story in that a man of science plays God & creates a monster). By the middle of that century more & more work was emerging with futuristic themes. Of course, any good Spiritualist knows that the movement grew out of the rapings & tappings identified in 1948 by the Fox sisters in their home in Hydesville, New York. Perhaps the side effect of the Industrial Revolution, the rise of the machine, created such social upheaval that the time and mindset was right both for science fiction & for people to look to those in the afterlife for explanation too.

Now I’ve come full circle. I know there is an afterlife – I interact with it every day. I also know that within us we have the capacity for great good. Our struggle is to rise above the tendency for destruction, to step outside the social conditioning and to achieve the peace, love & harmony that we talk so much about. Step out of the world for a while & look with a stranger’s eyes. Do you like what you see?

My psychic life: Day 6

Posted on November 22, 2015 by Astral Annie

Today I’ve had a chance to do something else I love. I’ve been to Wakefield Spiritualist church where I was the medium bringing in both philosophy and messages. When I started to recognise that I was connecting with Energy Beings I had no practical idea how to work with the messages, what was happening & why I should be getting these connections in the first place. I began searching for a place locally where I could find out more.

From my reading about Spiritualism I knew there were lots of different ways that connection could work so I needed to find someone who was teaching in ways I could relate to my experience. In the end, I found my way – directed by my Guides – to a church. Not exactly where I had expected to go. I stepped away from religion quite some time ago. Not through absence of belief in a Divine Source but because the different belief systems seems to be lacking in any meaningful recognition of women as equal participants. Yet I needed to return to a church so that I could get the help I needed.

Eventually I joined a development circle – a group meeting every week under the leadership of an experienced medium – to try to understand what the connections were about. I remember in my very first class everyone was saying they wanted to work with Spirit to give public messages or do church services or big public events. I sat there & when it was my turn I explained that things were happening that I wanted to know about & understand but that I would never, ever be getting on a platform (the name for the stage area at the front of a church). Famous last words indeed. Seven months later that’s exactly where I was standing, with my teacher, in a different church, giving my first public messages.

For whatever reason it has been my privilege to work in churches & spiritual centres ever since. And it is a privilege. People find their way to the churches & centres because they are grieving or puzzled or seeking answers. In most of the churches & centres I have worked in they will always find a warm welcome, information & support. It’s also free. Their loved ones in Spirit will always try to find a way to get a message to them – one way or another. In a service it’s not usually possible to get to every single person. I work as an evidence-based medium so in my messages I want info that will identify who the Spirit is, that they link in some way to the person who is getting the message and then what they want to tell that person. That process usually takes about 6-7 mins so in a 45 min period the number of people I speak to will be less than the congregation who are there. That is where another part of the service can be really useful.

There is a type of mediumship called Philosophy or an Address – I call it wise words – which, like a sermon, is about Guides giving a greater understanding of the spiritual principles by which we can live our lives. Sometimes this guidance is given through inspired writing – hence all the channeled books about the afterlife, living an Earth life or spiritual teachings. This is really like a general topical message to everyone in the room – me included. Certainly the inspirers who work through me always include me in the content – I need help too in making choices when I’m caught up in the events of the world. We are never told what to do. The wise words are always about offering us a different point of view to consider.

Working in these places has been my way of helping keep them active. Most churches or centres are kept open by volunteers who word hard to raise money to keep everything running. They usually only ask for a contribution to a collection in the service & put on other events for a lot less than a theatre or club would charge. If you are new to readings & the Spirit world they are an excellent starting point. The doors are open to everyone – belief isn’t required. So to see mediums like me working, week in & week out, find your local church or centre & pay a visit. You might even get a message!

Research Versus Experience

Posted on November 21, 2015 by Astral Annie

I’m sitting in my office with a cup of coffee & several ginger biscuits thinking about how I’ve got to day 5 of my blog about my psychic life. And about the past few days when I’ve been aware that I would be writing a blog that shared something of my activities. The challenge to write about my day has made me take more notice. It’s sharpened up my observation of what has been happening. It’s also helped remind me of all the great things I get to do and why I chose this life. It’s also reaffirmed how much I enjoy sharing experiences that help people view their lives in a different way. I realise I’ve turned into an active learner – curious, ready to give things a go, to get stuck in & make sense of it afterwards. It’s one of the best gifts I’ve ever been given.

I love books & always have. As a teenager most of my angst was discovered in the pages of books. I read anything & everything – fiction & non-fiction. It’s a cherished habit I still keep (even if I don’t make so much time to read as I once did). Books opened me up to other worlds, other cultures, the experiences of others. The words flowing across the page are spellbinding. If I get a book that grabs my attention I will stay up most of the night to finish reading it. I found it painful to realise that the wonder of books isn’t always carried over into the ‘real’ world. So in my 20’s I diverted into research – or rather, reading about research. Other people had the experiences, drew the conclusions & suggested ways I should filter my experience of the world. Think about all those diet books, DIY, cookery, travel books that are sitting on your shelf at the moment. Have you done what they all write about? Best of all, the books about parenting. I had loads. But they all contradicted themselves & I gave up reading them when I found the ‘one’ that appealed most to me. I can’t say I followed it but I did read it.

So where is all this going – more words, lol. I love books but I’ve stepped away from them. It wasn’t a painful separation as I still read. But now I read a lot less. I came across a subject that has had so many books written about it in the last 150 years that it would be impossible to read them all. Yes, it’s the info about being psychic or a medium. I have read a lot in the last 15 years or so but my reading list would still only scratch the surface. I read because I wanted to understand what this phenomenon was. I read because I was sceptical. I read because the personal stories were fascinating. I read across, around, and to the sides of the subject. The reading didn’t help me truly understand what being psychic or a medium was about. But still I kept reading.

Ten years ago I had some events happening in my life that were undeniable evidence that ‘something’ was actively trying to connect me with the world of mediumship. Total strangers were giving me indirect messages about developing my psychic ability. It was too random to be chance, if you know what I mean. So I found a spiritualist church near to me (but not the one that was closest) & stepped inside another world. Not necessarily a world I was totally unfamiliar with but certainly I world I had never experienced. And that is when the magic happened. In stepping into that new world – opening my mind to the possibility it might be ‘real’ – I found a new way of living my life. Contact with Guides can’t be learned through the covers of a book. You have to be open & listening. The books I’d read & continued to read helped me to understand some of what was happening & the process I was engaged in. It was the personal experiences, each random (at first) contact, each experiment to connect & each botched attempt that showed me how I connect & work.

Now I realise the value of experience. Not just because I’m in the second half of my life. I know that to try something might help me decide if I want more of it or less. Might help me to encourage others to try if they want more or less of something. That experience leads to choices. Giving people the choice to see me connect to Energy Beings through trance, or a reading or when I do a service in a church or spiritual centre can help them to decide if they want more connection or less. I’m not one for hiding aspects of my work away. For making the language or the process of experiencing Spirit contact difficult. So I intend to keep on sharing my experiences with others via my blog & my work in the hope that one day you will try out your own psychic abilities too. Having restated my purpose in life I’m going home for a rare evening off!

Annie Conboy

Down 2 Earth in everything she does!

Monthly Archives: November 2015