Being a medium sounds glamorous but, if one faces such a responsibility conscientiously, it is a continual worry as to whether one can keep communications on the best possible level and 'produce' what is required to order, against a background of fluctuating energies. This can be especially difficult if one is providing this service on a professional basis, often with sitters who have little understanding or indeed sympathy for the problems of the poor medium.
One such medium working for a well-known organisation in London, told me that she was reprimanded for only giving the sitter a 20-minute message when an hour had been paid for. It must be said that I have been very fortunate in my experience, for people who are psychically knowledgeable and keen to help me in a most sympathetic way have always supported me.
What a medium is not
However a medium is not a machine and is usually acutely conscious of atmospheres and the mood of the sitters. Even the click of a tape recorder or the flash of a camera can be disturbing when one is trying to tune in. Spirit guides don't appear to order and especially when a teaching guide from an esoteric plane is being contacted, you don't just press a door bell; it is a case of sensitively tuning in on a very delicate wavelength to reach a level on which their thoughts and yours can merge.
It must be said, that, not only is being able to channel a wise, gentle and humble spirit a very great privilege, it is also an experience for which it is difficult to find words to describe. It is as if one is being lifted right out of this material, suffering world onto a plane of divine light and compassion, a space in which colour and sound find new meaning.
It is a source of hope and wonderment for the medium that can too often bring home feelings of inadequacy and unworthiness; yet a source that I believe is there for all to share through inner seeking and development.
Overcoming pain - an aspect of the spiritual path
It is a painful path, one that can be helped by coming to terms with every aspect of our self. Perhaps the help of a psychotherapist is needed but above all, the determination and commitment to face oneself, a process that brings joy and delight as well as the agony of plumbing the depths.
My first psychic experiences began when I was 21 years of age. Following an upbringing in which I had been taught that all matters psychic should be relegated to the end of the pier, I had definite scepticism; and this together with strong agnostic feelings reacting to a fanatical enthusiasm for religion by my father, produced an introduction to this strange world of 'spiritism', which was somewhat strained, to say the least.
Every week, at my father's instigation, the family was subjected to the Sunday service on the radio. When the clergyman said 'let us pray', the whole household came to a standstill. I remember on one occasion my father going into a rage when my mother dropped a spoon on the kitchen floor. If this is God, I thought, I don't want to know him! This was my background.
However, my friends had different ideas and they began to play around with an upturned glass on a table, each placing a finger on the base and waiting to see what happened, the glass being surrounded by the letters of the alphabet and one card with 'yes' on it and another with 'no'. What nonsense! I thought. Until one evening, they persuaded me to join in.
First Spirit Experiences
Much to my amazement, the glass started to whiz around, spelling out clear messages for those present. Nevertheless, not a practice I would openly recommend because, on this level, it is only too easy to pick up mischievous spirits. I remember on one occasion, the glass flying off the table, striking one of the sitters with such force that he tilted back and fell off the chair. Needless to say, this unfortunate person left the circle after this experience.
After this I was persuaded into psychometry. To psychometrise an object, you hold it in the palm of your left hand and tune in to the vibrations of the object. When I first tried it nothing happened, then a member of the group suggested that I focussed on a symbol in order to provide a key to releasing the flow of psychic energy. I visualised a television screen and mentally turned on the imaginary TV.
Almost immediately I began to see a series of pictures. To my surprise, these pictures were very meaningful to the objects, relating to the past, present and future. Interestingly enough, these 'scenes' were sometimes actual and sometimes symbolic and I had to learn from experience to interpret what I saw. The important thing to me at the time was that I was able to help people with problems.
One interesting lesson I learned was that when a previous owner of an object had left a strong vibration that actually superimposed itself over that of the present owner, the reading would relate to the earlier person. On one particular reading I gave, I found it fitted the previous owner perfectly, but was meaningless to the daughter, who was the present owner. Fortunately my psychic awareness prevailed and everyone was happy!
Psychometry
I practised psychometry for several years until a strange event took place. A professional medium, Marjorie Wheble, who had helped me on occasions, felt impelled to send me to a trance medium, a Mrs. Stobart who, in trance, told me that I had an important mission in life for which I needed to be prepared.
Sometime later, in the middle of a psychometry session, I did my first trance - and very alarming it was too, for I thought I had fallen asleep! Events began to move quickly and I found that the guides I channelled were providing some remarkable evidence. A spirit who said she was Dame Nellie Melba was able to give valuable advice to a member of our group who was training as a singer at the Royal College of Music. My own knowledge of music and musicianship was nil.
Sigmund Fred & I
On another occasion, a spirit who gave his name as Sigmund Freud quoted from a book written in German. We were able to trace this book in the archives of a London library to find that the quotation was as given. I felt that this was leading up to something, but what? I was soon to find out.
You may ask, what is a trance? It is a state of being in which a person allows a discarnate entity to link in to his or her mind and relay a message. A very strange experience for the medium who may be unaware of what is being transmitted, and on occasions, may be indulging in his own separate and different train of thought.
Sometimes I find myself looking down at my entranced body on a chair below. A warning: I have never allowed a spirit guide to use me without challenging it to ascertain that it is who it claims to be because the spirit world is no different to the Earth plane in that there are many who are only too willing to deceive; and I am understandably fussy about who I allow to use me.
My Guide: Helio-Arconaphus or H-A as he has come to be known
To continue with the story, one day in 1956, we were told to expect a 'great teacher' and at Christmas that year, I first tuned in to Helio-Arconaphus or H-A as he has come to be known. It was an incredible experience at that time and still is. Above all it was the aura and the light he emanated that I was aware of, a feeling of immense energy and power and light; yet a complete humility with a pervading sense of peace and tranquillity.
He presented himself as a very tall man, slim with aquiline features. I felt that H-A belonged not only to this planet but also to the universe itself. He spoke with great feeling and began through a series of communications to provide the gentle yet profound philosophy upon which the Atlanteans, which came into existence on 11 April 1957, was founded.
Earth Beginnings
H-A told of the beginning of the Earth and how it was formed, of ancient civilisations right up to the present time and, over the years, he has made some very accurate predictions. To a group who had never heard of great spiritual teachers like Alice Bailey or Rudolf Steiner, it was mind-blowing. To me it was devastating. Agnostic, disbelieving Tony was faced with a terrible dilemma. How could I accept all this esoteric stuff?
I hadn't asked to be used in this way. I felt as if my whole world was being blown apart, especially as I had been at school during the war and had received no religious education. Due to wartime difficulties, pupils received religious instruction only if C of E or Roman Catholic. Everyone else played football! Fortunately, when I realised the nature of H-A's message, I felt that the less I knew about orthodox teachings the better.
Nevertheless, receiving H-A, privilege though it was, presented me with immense personal problems. Why me? I hadn't asked for it, consciously anyway. Did I want to become an esoteric medium? Inevitable, as the teachings became better known, I found people putting me on a pedestal that I neither liked nor wanted, which in time led to a kind of personality crisis.
Did people only want me for H-A? What about me - did I get a look-in? I found myself getting very angry and many times considered putting a stop to the whole business. Today I have come to terms with this, but even as I write, I can feel some of the emotion beginning to well up inside me.
Early Beginnings
I started life as an accountant and went into marketing - a long stretch from being a medium. However I must say that through my association over the years with H-A, I have come to know and love him deeply.
He has given me so rich an experience that I find it difficult to find the words to convey the feelings I am filled with. Even now, when I try to bring H-A through, I am on a high for 4 or 5 hours. I have never taken hallucinogenic drugs, but the feeling must be somewhat similar, apart from the fact it is not sideways kick, but spiritual upliftment of indescribable dimensions.
In the early days I can remember never being able to sleep after a trance. My whole metabolism quickens and when I come out of a trance, my perception feels so acute and my reactions are two or three times faster than usual. I can feel quite depressed when this heightened state leaves me, but over the years I have learned how to cope with this by adjusting my subtle bodies and balancing my chakras.
As I mentioned earlier, tuning in to H-A is not an automatic process and there is always that anxiety that he might not be there, as has happened on some occasions. I have also had to face the fear that what I pick up is not genuine, for the responsibility of channelling lays heavily on me.
Spiritual Teaching - What's it worth?
Friends of mine in America are at this time very concerned about the proliferation of channelled teachings over there, many of which they feel are suspect. So the question that remains is, how can one judge the worth of a spiritual teaching?
Not easily, when one remembers what has happened to many great teachers in the past. It is very easy to be critical and judgemental. How can one find a balance? Because a message comes through from the 'other side', it is not necessarily good and wise. There is nothing spiritual in psychism and psychic energy; it is always the motivation and the intention that counts.
As we move into the Aquarian age, we move into an age of self-responsibility where we are being given the unique opportunity to recognise the divinity within us. I believe it is right that channelled teachings should come more commonplace and that individuals seek within to discover their own higher selves. Even so there are, I am a convinced, certain yardstick, which we can all apply when trying to assess the validity of a spiritual teaching.
- First of all it must not be judgemental. We are all in different stages of evolution and understanding, therefore our individual interpretations of Truth will be different.
- Secondly, the teaching should not claim omnipotence. There is only one state of perfection and that is within the Godhead itself, a state of being we can never fully embrace whilst in a physical body. Every spiritual philosophy should acknowledge other beliefs and accept that what it has to offer can only help those who are in tune with the level of truth being presented.
- Then there is the channeller, and please remember that he or she is only a channeller and not a God or Guru. Please do not try to make them into that which they are not.
Beware if they make exaggerated claims or promises and above all, remember that no medium can be a perfect channel. It is probable that parts of the message will be influenced by the mediums themselves - in fairness, usually unconsciously, and certainly not deliberately if they are being honest and conscientious in what they are doing.
But all these are traps for the unwary. So often, we want to believe in something and this can so easily blind us to reality. The teaching should be for the benefit of all humanity and all life forms, animal, vegetable and mineral, not orientated towards inflating the ego of the channeller or his followers.
Golden Rules for spiritual seekers
Finally, I would like to suggest some golden rules for all spiritual seekers: -
Learn to love yourself so that you are truly able to love others.
Learn to accept yourself so that you can learn to accept others as they are, no more no less.
Learn to forgive yourself so that you can forgive others.
Learn to respect yourself so that you can respect others, and by this I mean all forms of life - the human race, the animal kingdoms, the land, sea, air - respecting and treating the whole of planet Earth ecologically.
Having said all these things, I do not want to end by appearing to either judge or denigrate. There are many beautiful and profound messages beginning to spread all over the world. It doesn't matter if they differ in detail, for individual spirits both incarnate and discarnate will see it differently and be drawn to express it in a receptive environment.
It is the motivation that matters. Indeed, I believe the future will offer levels of understanding that our world has never known before. It is both an honour and a privilege to be alive at this time.
ã Tony Neate info@schoolofchannelling.co.uk
Published with permission from - www.channelling-online.com
Read in PS Magazine: What is Channelling? By Tony Neate
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