Compelled to speak.

Albert Best

I’m really enjoying Gordon Smith’s book The Unbelievable Truth. Gordon is one of my favorite writers on the art of mediumship as he’s a capable of telling a good story and his voice is clear, plain and direct.

In “Chapter 6: Walk Through the Mind of a Medium” he tells how the amazing medium Albert Best described the process of delivering information from a spirit communicator as being “compelled to speak” while “the words came out of his mouth but not via his thinking brain.”

I love that description. But as a medium, I often see a major obstacle in transmuting the words of spirit, otherwise known as “filtering” or “not giving what you get.” 

It happens when the blend of spirit energy with your own is weak. It happens when you listen more to the recipient. It happens a lot!

If this occurs to you as a medium, you’ll be saying phrases like: “To me it seems…” and “That means to me....” Or “I don’t know why, but I think…” If you hear yourself saying this, stop and refocus your energy on the spirit communicator. Listen to Spirit! They are probably waiting for you to check in with them again, anyway.

Gordon says that this “spontaneity” of being compelled to speak comes to seasoned mediums from “years of practicing and trusting in their abilities and their connection to the spirit world.”

I get how Gordon supports years of in-depth study of mediumship, but I found this compulsion came as soon as I truly let myself go--overshadowed by spirit. 

I found it came the first time I gave an “official” spirit communication, as I didn’t know what to expect. That is how I spoke to my spirit inspirers when I was a child in nature, chatting away to the energies in the brook and tree trunks.  

Studying mediumship may cause mediums to filter, to use their mind. Reading books on symbols, on chakras, on astrology influences how we talk about the symbols spirit may send our way. 

When you want to perform to a certain level, it forces your brain to think; thinking of all the types of information you want from spirit like “cause of death” or “favorite hobbies” causes filters. There is a force at work that isn’t spiritual...it’s the ego, and it needs to be let go.

“Clarity and balance are two of the main tools a medium has to have in their toolbox if their work is to be accurate,” Gordon says. I agree. Connecting with a clear and balanced mind, without any preconceptions, without any agendas is how I always wish to partner with Spirit: compelled to go directly to the recipient then compelled to speak words from their loved one in Spirit is the only way to work.