I’m Sandra Piddock, and I’m a freelance writer, dividing my time between Spain and the UK. I’ll write about anything that interests and/or challenges me, and I like to focus on the lighter side of life whenever possible..
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How to get the best guidance from psychics and mediums
I regularly see evidence that lots of people don’t fully understand how psychics and mediums and the world of Spirit works. Furthermore, they are unsure whether a medium is good, bad or indifferent. The situation isn’t helped when some mediums talk themselves up into something they most definitely are not. To get the best guidance from psychics and mediums, there are a few things you should consider.
What’s the difference?
Each of us has psychic ability, but whether we are aware of it or know how to use it is something else. There’s a school of thought that psychics are made and mediums are born, but I dispute that, and so do most people I know.
There is a distinct difference between working psychically and working as a medium, but both of these intuittive aspects of spiritual work can be enhanced with training. This article explains the difference much more clearly than I can, but in nutshell, psychics work mainly with the living, drawing on guidance from the other side of life, while mediums actually blend with the energies of those in Spirit.
What can you expect from a reading?
All psychic work is based on energy. In fact, the Universe is all about energy, because even inanimate objects have an energetic vibration. It’s tuning into these energies that helps psychics and mediums to bring you information and advice that is readily available to you, as long as you know how to access it .
In psychometry, the energies of a piece of jewellery or another personal possession can reveal a lot about the owner, and it’s also possible to do a psychic reading from a photograph. Mediums and psychics who work with law enforcement agencies can connect with the energies of items belonging to missing people or murder victims and provide evidence that is impossible to glean from other sources.
So, there’s a lot that mediums and psychics can do, but what can you expect from a reading? More importantly, how can you tell if the practitioner is genuinely gifted with psychic abilities? Those seeking help from the world of Spirit are often traumatised and/ or vulnerable, so it’s important that those they seek help from are well placed to deliver it.
Someone who talks about ‘their’ gifts, without listening to what you need from your reading is motivated by ego to some extent. We do not decide to work with Spirit – we are chosen. And we are mere channels for everything that comes through. The Upstairs Team are the ones calling the shots and directing the action. The psychic or medium you connect with should not be on a power trip – your reading is all about you, not them.
Common misconceptions
Another misconception with mediums is that they can call up the spirits of loved ones to order. No medium, however well connected to Spirit, can guarantee to bring through your father who passed a few weeks back, or Great Aunt Agatha, so that you can thank her for leaving you all her worldly goods.
In fact, we can’t guarantee to bring anyone through, because Spirit will not come through for a third party just to say hello. It takes a lot of energy to speak through someone else, and they will only come through with an important message that they need to pass on. Spirit can – and do – visit loved ones often, and you may sense them around you, even if you don’t consider yourself to be psychic.
Some of the information may be trivial, rather than jaw-dropping. That’s usually just to confirm your loved one really is around. I had a gentleman come through for someone in the audience at my first demonstration of mediumship, and I had difficulty pinning him down to a member of the audience, as he’d passed some time ago. I asked for an up to date confirmation, and he told me about a friendly disagreement about how carrots should be prepared for cooking. From that, the right person was able to take the message, even though she had never known the messenger from Spirit in life.
Working with spirit
Working with Spirit is so much more than just ‘Talking to dead people,’ although that’s a common misconception. It’s about helping the living to deal with their challenges and make the best choices for themselves and those around them. A lot of people are sceptical about this.
When I was attending psychic development training, my husband was very sceptical, and always had a sarcastic remark ready for me to come home to. One day, he asked if I’d been talking to my father, who passed many years before we got together. ‘Yes, I have,’ I replied. ‘He’s really looking forward to meeting you next week’. There were no more silly remarks after that, and my husband was very subdued over the next few days!
That anecdote wasn’t just to make you smile – although laughter raises the vibrations. It links neatly to my next point. No psychic or medium with any integrity will deliver bad news. Spiritual work is about upliftment and easing worries, not causing more stress or heartache. All genuine messages from Spirit are positive. You won’t be told you have inoperable cancer, or that Uncle George won’t be coming to your Christmas party because he’ll be with the Angels by then.
That doesn’t mean to say it’s all sweetness and light. If you need a warning from Spirit, you’ll get it, but the medium or psychic will deliver it in a positive and empathetic way. This is so as not to cause further distress or worry. For example, you might get a message that the pain in your chest needs investigating, so get it checked out so you can get the right treatment. You will only receive information that is in your best interests.
Having a reading from a medium or psychic, whether one to one or at a demonstration, should be a positive, fulfilling experience. If you know what to expect, and if the practitioner is working with humility and love, it certainly will be. Go to your reading with an open mind, and prepare to be amazed!
Image credit: Rai Woods, November 2016
It just popped into my head, honestly!
My new look – as advised by Spirit!
In the early days of my psychic development, something that I at first found disconcerting, but now find absolutely magical, is the way messages from Spirit, whether for myself or others, just pop into my head from nowhere. It happens mostly when I’m not even trying to make a connection or ask a question, and according to Alison and other experienced mediums, that’s a sure sign the message is comming from outside, and not from your own internal thought processes.
It’s only when you recognise how Spirit works that you realise that you’ve probably been receiving messages all your life, and just thought they were ‘lightbulb moments.’ In a way they were – it’s just that the light came from another dimension! Actually, the idea for this article just ‘popped into my head’ last night, and I started writing, then got stuck, because I don’t want this category to be just about my experiences and what I’ve learned, I want to be able to help others recognise how Spirit and the Angels are working with them, and use that information to develop their own abilities. So I did the sensible thing and left it alone, and as soon as I went back to the post this morning, I just knew how to explain it.
If you think this sounds far-fetched, or that it’s some hogwash I’ve come up with to make the post sound more exciting, well, that’s your privilege, but any psychic or medium worth their space will tell you that guidance comes in all forms and at all times. My teacher Alison Wynne-Ryder, who is also a well-known writer on all things spiritual, often says she’s been guided to write something, or to change the content of a lesson, and it becomes clear very soon why this needed to happen. As well as writing course content, articles and books, Alison writes her own guided meditations and poems, and more often than not, the basic idea changes.
It’s easy to fight that and stick with your original idea, especially if you’re good at what you do, as indeed we both are. We are good writers, and we know our trade, but if you trust the messages you’re given, the end result can be so much more rewarding for you and for those who will benefit from the changes. This article is a vivid verification of that. My original idea was to tell you about several of my ‘popped into my head’ moments, and although they make for interesting reading, that’s about all you’ll get from them. However, I’ve now been guided in my psychic development to give more explanation of how it all works, so you can recognise and profit from your own similar moments.
The trouble is, some people have entirely the wrong idea about how messages come through from Spirit. You don’t need to be sat in a circle in a darkened room holding hands, or go into a trance, or call on your guides and the Angels to get the information you need. If you are open and receptive, you will receive what you need, when you need it, whether that’s inspiration for a creative project, an answer to a difficult question, or a solution to a worrying situation. Just trust in the Universe, and believe in yourself.
Now, briefly, I’ll tell you about two of my recent ‘lightbulb moments,’ and how they have affected me. The first came when I was chatting online to a Facebook friend who was having difficulty accepting the breakdown of his relationship, and was in despair and lonely. I don’t know this guy well – I’ve only ‘spoken’ to him online – but I found myself telling him that he would soon go out with someone he already knew, and that there would be questions involved. He pressed me for details, but that was all I had, and he said it was most unlikely, as none of the people he knew had ever figured on his romantic radar.
A week later, he contacted me with the news that he was going out with his neighbour, whom he’d known for 3 years, but never thought of romantically. They’d met in the corridor as he was on his way to his regular quiz night. She’d just broken up with her boyfriend, and said she needed to take her mind off things, so asked if she could go with him to the quiz night! I was a bit concerned that maybe he had made things happen, but the approach came from her. As he was telling me this, I got the message that this would not be a long term relationship, but that they would part on good terms and remain friends, and that is exactly what has happened. They realised they didn’t have a future together, but it gave them both the confidence to get out and meet other people.
How did this benefit me? Well, I was having a bit of a crisis of confidence, because although I was doing quite well with psychometry, meditation, visualisation and other psychic development, and had sensed loved ones around me, I didn’t believe I’d ever be able to do readings for other people. This proved that I could, and in fact two days after this confirmation, Alison asked us each to do a mini reading for a friend of hers we knew nothing about. I managed to identify 6 things – two past, two present and two future – which the lady was able to take. The ability is there, I just had to trust in it, and myself.
The second incident seemed trivial, but turned out not to be. My friend Glenys and I had booked an appointment with my hairdresser, and we were talking about it to some other friends, who encouraged us to make a pamper session out of it and have manicures and pedicures. Then someone asked me what I was doing with my hair, and I replied, ‘Just the usual trim to get rid of the split ends.’ Suddenly, there was a loud voice in my head saying, ‘Cut it short, Sandra.’ It was so clear, I assumed someone in the room had spoken, but the voice wasn’t familiar, and I couldn’t say for sure if it was male or female.
I’ve had long hair for at least the last 20 years, and I’ve never considered going short, so I tried to push the idea out
The ‘old’ me, before my transformation
of my mind, but I got the message again during the night, and again a couple of days later. I discussed it with Alison, and a couple of trusted friends, and they said as I’d been given the message three times, I should trust it and act on it. Alison even visualised the style I would end up with, and I am absolutely delighted with it.
The transformation in my hairstyle has also brought a transformation in my attitude. Everyone says I look younger, and I am more feisty, and they are right. I’ve been dealing with an ongoing situation which has sapped my energy and brought me very low at times, but if you look good, you feel good, and I find I have a lot more strength than I thought I had. It’s the reverse of the Samson-Delilah dynamic – cutting my hair has increased my emotional strength, whereas Samson’s makeover robbed him of his physical strength.
It just goes to show that messages from Spirit come in many forms, and if you go with what you’re given, the rewards and your psychic development can be amazing. Love and blessings.