You likely have heard of mediumship used in the same sentence as the term “psychic.”. And you may think that the words are interchangeable and that psychics are the same as mediums. Especially when you hear of the term “psychic medium.” Here is something you need to know. All mediums are psychics, but not all psychics are mediums.
Mediums are channellers of spirits in the other realms, as mediums communicate with the deceased, spirit guides, angels, animals, and even those still living, but may be nonverbal due to autism or another disability or may have reduced cognitive abilities due to disability or dementia. Mediums can also communicate with those in deep sleep or a coma.
The Difference Between A Psychic And A Medium
To be a medium, you have to be a psychic. But not all psychics are mediums because not all psychics can talk to spirits in the other realms. Psychics can use their psychic gifts whether they are clairvoyant (see beyond the veil), clairaudient (hear beyond the veil), claircognizant (have a psychic knowing), clairsentient (highly empathetic), or they have all of those gifts to tap into the energies around someone.
Psychics can delve into someone’s past and present and know what they did and what energies they faced, and psychics can predict someone’s future with limits. The future is mouldable, and free will can always change the course. However, those are the gifts that psychics have, but they cannot communicate with spirits.
Mediums have the same “clair” gifts as psychics but can use them to communicate with spirits. For example, a clairvoyant and clairaudient medium can see the spirit’s appearance and hear what they say. A clairsentient medium can feel what the deceased’s spirit felt when they passed, and one claircognizant can sense that the deceased’s spirit endured trauma without them saying so, for example. Mediumship has been a practice for a while.
When Did Mediumship Become Popular?
In the 19th century, there was a rise in mediumship in the UK after the religious movement of Spiritualism became popular. Spiritualists believe that everyone has a spirit that lives in the afterlife. Then, in 1851, mediumship became popular in the US because the Fox sisters living in New York brought it in. And then, it was common to see people begin to get into spiritual practices by conducting seances and ouija boards, and you would see in movies that mediumship was synonymous with entertainment.
However, the nature of mediumship has changed as it is meant to bring healing to grieving and guide those confused. The majority of mediums care about something other than the entertainment aspect of mediumship that you would have found in the 19th and 20th centuries portrayed by Hollywood. And those who want mediumship readings believe that there are answers on the other side which is why they hire mediums to provide the guidance they need.
Now you understand mediumship, how the practice emerged, and the differences between psychics and mediums. There is more than one type of medium, as there are several types. Let’s go over the different types of mediums, starting with the most common one is an evidential medium.
What is Evidential Mediumship?
Evidential mediums are referred to as psychic mediums, as they are the mediums that provide you the evidence of the spirit they are bringing through for you. They can describe the traits of your passed loved ones, friends, or anyone else in spirit, including those who may psychically still be on earth but cannot communicate for one reason or another.
Evidential mediums are the ones who can see what your deceased grandmother looked like, for example, and describe her appearance. If she were known to bake her famous apple pie, the psychic medium would also point that out and see her doing the baking in the kitchen.
Also, if you had a grandfather or a father who passed and was known to be a dedicated businessman, the evidential medium could point that out as they may see him in a business suit, along with a serious and business-minded nature. Therefore, the evidential medium can bring out the qualities, personalities, and occupations, and some are skilled at bringing out names and dates, but not all have that ability.
Many psychic mediums are clairsentient; they could feel the illness that took away the deceased during their last moments. For example, if one had a heart attack, they would feel pain and tightness in their chest. If a respiratory issue took them, they would feel out of breath. And not to worry, as the psychic medium would not have any ill effects from anything they feel other than some mild fleeting discomfort. The next type of medium is the animal communicator.
Mediumship: What Is An Animal Communicator?
An animal communicator can communicate with pets or other deceased or living animals. Some evidential mediums can communicate with animals, and many people who go to them find it comforting to share with their passed loved ones, including their beloved pets that have crossed the rainbow bridge.
However, some mediums only communicate with animals and will clarify that they can deliver any message to a pet owner from their pets, living or deceased. These animal communicators can help pet parents understand their pet’s behaviors and help them get to the bottom of new behavior that the pet may have developed.
For example, if you switch around the furniture in your home and notice that your pet is sulking and not showing enthusiasm for walks, you will immediately think the pet is sick and take it to the vet. However, if the pet is healthy, you will be unsure of what caused the pet’s behavior. Therefore, switching up the furniture would not have such an impact on them, but you need to know for sure.
That is the time to contact an animal communicator. The animal communicator would tell you that the furniture switch-up is causing the pet to grieve the old furniture setup, which is why they behave. Then, all you can do is give your pet lots of love, attention, and reassurance; eventually, they will accept it.
Mental Mediumship
Mental mediumship is more like telepathic mediumship, where the medium telepathically communicates with the living. For example, this medium can send messages to someone’s friends, family, coworkers, or even an enemy trying to cause trouble. The messages to the recipients will come in as “sudden thoughts” or “sudden insights” that “come out of the blue” when they receive telepathic messages from mediums.
Many evidential mediums also have this gift and can send those living telepathic messages so they get an urge to take some form of action. For example, if someone in your life is trying to cause you harm, the mental medium will send them messages to tell them to back off and give them a reason why it is in their best interest. That is because you have one of the best lawyers in town that can cause them much harm. If the recipient is open enough to get that message, they will not suddenly realize you could take them down by hiring the best lawyer. But they may begin to get a “feeling” over them that will make them think twice about going after you and may decide it is not worth their energy.
Trance Mediumship
Trance mediums are not common, but what happens is that the trance medium can get into a trance to the point that they allow the spirit that they are communicating with to blend with their spirit. It is a misunderstood form of mediumship and may be depicted as possessing the spirit. It appears frightening and silly, but the truth is that the spirit cannot take over their body. But the trance medium will communicate through the spirit of the deceased that they blended with, and this form of mediumship takes years to practice. Those who choose to practice trance mediumship want to do so to have a closer relationship with the spirit world.
In other words, the 1990 movie Ghost, starring Whoopi Goldberg, a trance medium, did not portray trance mediumship accurately as Hollywood depicts trance mediumship that way. Instead, the spirit of Sam Wheat, played by the late Patrick Swayze, took over Goldberg’s body, which is not the reality of trance mediumship.
Physical Mediumship
Physical mediumship is one of the rarest forms of mediumship, where the medium can allow the spirits to manipulate energy systems and energies. These mediums can manifest noises, voices, body parts like hands, and materialized spirit bodies. They can also work with telekinesis and levitate objects. They can use ectoplasm as an energy source to do the physical work. It is a rare mediumship, and the last physical medium was Mina Crandon in 1924. However, some physical mediums cannot do any form of magical manifestation, as many use art such as drawing images of spirits and what else they see or making sculptures.
Other mediums are even rarer than physical ones, such as the voice, where the medium allows the spirit to speak independently using a trumpet. The most common are evidential mediums, which may or may not be animal communicators. It is rare to come across others.