Janet has written an very interesting article on how your state of mind is of paramount importance when you develop your mediumistic abilities.

"It is clear that the state of mind is important when working on one's mediumship abilities." writes an inquirer. I agree, but an emptiness of mind (a passive state of mental inactivity) is impossible to achieve and not a requirement for our mediumistic development or Spiritual unfoldment. Spirit teacher's input is more readily received by those in a mentally alert state of mind.

One of the early pitfalls in developing cooperation with Spirit is misunderstanding the state of mind needed for attunement to Spirit. A simple analogy would be the musical scale. We vibrate on a much lower note than Spirit; therefore, we need to raise our level of vibration to meet some where in the middle. Meditation is useful in training the various layers of our 'selves' to be still and cooperate with each other. The layers I speak of here are the physical body, the emotional self, and that which we think of as our everyday mind. Learning to bring these aspects of the 'self' to the same page is a task in itself. The physical body may object because it feels hungry, in pain or just not in the mood to cooperate. Our emotional self can act like a wayward teenager. Undisciplined emotions will rule us resulting in an enlargement in the auric field that blocks the free flow of Spirit input. Un-ruled thought patterns do the same thing.

Each of these layers is intimately involved with each other, and we would be hard pressed to determined where one ends and another begins. Each influences the other and if this is hard to accept it is now being suggested that heartbreak can cause a heart attack. Any form of meditation used to still the mind and remove all thoughts is useless in our attunement to Spirit. An empty mind freed from all thought is not the aim.

However, if we can transcend the everyday mind and not be distracted by its chatter we are on our way. I see the everyday mind as that part of us that doubts and interferes with Spirit's input during our time in the development circle.

It is also important to consider the inner dialogue that accompanies our daily life. My breakthrough came hearing my mother's Spirit voice interrupting my inner dialogue one day. I had my hands in water at the time, always a good medium for communication. It wasn't a state of altered consciousness that allowed this to happen. In fact, I was pretty mad because I was left to do the dishes again. It is highly recommended for all who wish to hear from their loved ones that you monitor your inner dialogue and watch for their input. Our loved ones are never further away than a thought. Sometimes their presence is ignored because we think we are wandering, in thought, down memory lane. Whereas a loved one in Spirit has prompted this memory.

Janet Cyford

For those working to develop their mediumistic abilities in the safety of a development circle or alone, it is important to consider the state of one's mind. Are you of sound mind and reasonably balanced in your expectations? Are you seeking Spiritual un-foldment along with your development? Is your approach to this subject full of cautious optimism or fear of the unknown? Are you willing to make a commitment to your development? Important points that are often ignored when we rush headlong into the latest fad.

All work with Spirit requires our cooperation. It is not a question of giving our free will over to another entity and relinquishing all personal responsibility for what happens next. But, a willingness to take part in a cooperative effort with a Spirit guide and Spirit co-workers. It is an erroneous belief that any worker in Spirit strives to take us over. It is also a misguided line of thought that Spirit guides are solely responsible for our actions or understanding. They will do all they can to teach and educate us, but the responsibility lies solely upon our shoulders for how we use this learning and education.

Various stages of deep trance mediumship rely heavily on our cooperation with Spirit. I am not a deep trance medium, but I have been lucky enough to have had two family members who were. My aunt could be holding a conversation with a family member who was in need of guidance when, on a breath, her guide would break in. Her deep trust in her guides came from many years of association. Although we never asked her to explain the mechanics used, I know her mind was not free from thought when this happened. She was after all, holding a conversation. In her circle work the guide present would speak through her with ease, and certainly without the histrionics of some modern day channelers. My aunt always thought she had fallen asleep and had no memory of the wisdom spoken from her lips. Memories of my father's deep trance mediumship were of seeing him slipping into a nap and watching the guide overshadow his features before he began to speak. Dad often snored as the sleep state overcame him. I have written about these experiences at length in my book "The Ring of Chairs.

My husband is also a deep trance medium and has shared with me that he hears the opening words of his guide's choice of subject. From then on there is no memory of what has been said by his guide. However, in the hours or days following, snatches of what took place float to the surface of his mind. I watched over my husband's deep trance development. It did not happen overnight, but over a period of time during which he learned to trust the process, and he 'got out of his own way.'

I believe the deep trance medium has, or develops, the ability to move the conscious mind to one side. Maybe there is a correlation here with the early stages of sleep. Deep trance mediumship often alters in its manifestation into a much lighter stage of trance where the medium is very conscious of what is said. I have heard of incidences when the medium has reacted to the subject matter because they disagreed. A reported example of this was of the deep trance mediumship of Maurice Barbenell and his guide Silver Birch. Although the guide spoke in depth on the subject of reincarnation, his medium could not accept the idea.

My own gift would be classed as mental mediumship, an ability to raise my consciousness to a level that achieves a mind-to-mind communication. What the communicator has to say comes to me in thought, which is very fast. It requires an intense level of focus on my part that can be exhausting if overused. My personal discipline must be one of protecting my sensitivity from loud and aggressive people and those who are a vexation to my Spirit. In short, any situation that disturbs my peace of mind. Excessive worry creates a negative disturbance in my energy.

It has taken a long time to govern my sensitivity, so that it does not govern me. Frankly, this is still a work in progress!

© Janet Cyford, February 2005

to visit Janet's own web site please access the links page

It has been a few issues since we last saw a piece by Andrew Garley, Spiritual medium. He has submitted an excellent article on self awareness and its place in our Spiritual growth and development.

There is a flood of spiritual web sites these days, and it is really nice to go look at, read, and indeed use them as a valuable resource of information and learning. There is much talk of spiritual unfoldment, but I often wonder how much people really understand what this really means and why should we do so.

The whole purpose of each incarnation into this physical plane is to learn, grow, and evolve. Even those who have no interest in this subject will, by living a life on this plane, have learnt lessons their souls have created before their current incarnation started. They will also be wiser for the time they spent here. That is the great purpose of our life. At times it can be a bitter and sad life! So how do we make things better?

Knowledge has great power, but most importantly a true understanding of spiritual laws, and how they work and affect us personally, will help. In the ancient temples above the doors were the words “Man Know Thy Self” this is very relevant, even more so today as many have lost touch with our true spiritual nature. In this article I want to share with you my view on this.

Look at all that is good in this world and the stunning beauty of nature, then look at all that is wrong in the world. All that is ugly and bad is mainly created by man. All the karmic suffering we endure we have created ourselves. Some people I know will say ‘I would have never have chosen this to happen’, this is a natural response from our limited earthly viewpoint.

Our soul

Our soul is a collection of all of our past-life experiences, in fact we are but a fragment; we exist on many planes at the same time. We are far more complex than you realise! The soul is extremely wise and if you are ever lucky enough to see it, it is very divine and almost impossible to look at as it is so bright. Your soul is a radiant being and is very close to our creator, it truly knows what is best for us. It will bring lessons to us that we may not like, or want, but this is really down to a perspective of where you view things from. Many people have no awareness of what is ahead, what glories and things beyond our limited human consciousness await us, and do not understand the reasons behind life’s lessons.

I am not going to dwell on karma or what I prefer to call 'Forced Spiritual Growth'. We are all experts on the subject and face many things in our day to day lives.

Healing the past

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Synopsis:
A self-help tool for change, this book encourages readers to discover their guardian angels, and develop techniques such as working with the higher self, and with past lives, which can resolve problems that have been a continual struggle.

Some of us are parents. We, are but children ourselves, spiritually speaking. When we have a child that starts to push things too far, that might endanger itself, or behave at a level of what we feel is unacceptable behaviour, we step in and take action. The child may not like it, but they do not see the love and wisdom of their parents and that all they really want is the best for their child.

The same applies at a much deeper spiritual level for us as spiritual children.

This is my view on things from observations; I really feel that God does not interfere with our lives. We have been given the blessing of free will. But there are universal laws that are just and perfect, and set in place. We may not like it, but we have an intelligence and wisdom far beyond our comprehension taking charge over our life. Our own personal angel will step in when we endanger our path - if we refuse to take advice or listen to these promptings, ether through ignorance or arrogance, then we will have to face the consequences of our actions at some point.

How do we make a better life for ourselves and those around us?

Program of self-discovery

When you embark on this program of self discovery it will change your life and so much so for the better.
Spiritually speaking becoming more aware of your actions means becoming conscious not only of your self but of the world around you. It will bring you a sense of peace and calm. And as you do so, you will follow those inner promptings of the spirit within, your life will become enriched and things will make more sense, empowering you to take control over your own life and soul journey.

It starts with you! It is you that has to change. (Don’t underestimate the power you have to make the world a better place! Just one person can have a big effect on many things on many planes). Just one man, or woman, can project love and light to affect many thousands of people.

Some time ago I started having dreams about looking in a mirror. Even during my medium visions I kept seeing a mirror, Clearly, I was being shown this for a reason.

What we may be: Techniques for spiritual growth

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Synopsis:
A complete introduction to psychosynthesis, a growth-orientated psychology, which shows how to resolve inner conflicts, free blocked energy, and identify with the highest, most noble human purposes.

Why should I be afraid to look in the mirror? I didn’t feel comfortable doing so. I really wasn’t sure what I would see. Maybe it would be a vision, or perhaps a guide would appear behind me…all kinds of possibilities went through my mind. This was happening at a difficult time for me when there was much sadness, unhappiness and regret in my life.

I sat for 10 minutes, maybe longer, half expecting something celestial to happen. Nothing came, I saw nothing, feeling disappointed I decided to end this looking at myself in the mirror. What I had not been aware of was how negative I had been during those 10 minutes. I had sat finding all kinds of faults with myself, thinking about what was wrong with me, feeling regrets for things I had done, things I had said. All kinds of negative thoughts about myself, even how overweight I was.

As I was about to turn away and carry on with other things a voice spoke to me. It told me to look in the mirror again, and the words I was given was “Look at the splendour and beauty within. Your spirit is pure and faultless and it is of God”. This wasn’t just a message for me, but for every single person reading this!

Despite all my failings, regrets and faults that I saw in myself, I was being reminded that we are perfect in spirit and are also divine, and to look for the good that is within us. To forgive ourselves and find love within. I was quite taken back as this as it wasn’t what I was expecting at all!

One important step in our spiritual evolution is listening to the small still inner voice, those inner promptings, and intuition. If you develop this quality you will be guided not to make mistakes and create further sufferings for yourself. These words are far from new and have been written many times. Jesus demonstrated the power of the Christ spirit within every man’s heart and just how much we can do to feel it. We all have the same qualities within, and it is up to us to develop a consciousness of being aware of it, of listening to the inner promptings of spirit. Letting go of the control of the selfish lower promptings, and bringing through all that is good from within us.

The ego, or personality, can really cause us many problems. I liken it to a wild horse, and in some cases to the 'terrible twos', with tantrums and silly behaviour!

In reality we create all kinds of problems for ourselves, being outspoken, offending others, and with stirring, gossip and harsh judgments and words about others. They all return to us.

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"The Anger Habit Workbook is a breakthrough in the treatment of anger. It provides brilliant insight and practical lessons for dealing with one of modern society’s most critical behavioral problems." —Dr. Geary A. Rummler, past president of the International Society of Performance Improvement.

You have heard the term ‘God created man and woman in his own image’, and this really means we are creators; creation comes from thought and intent. People do not understand that thought has real power. Whilst you may say nothing your thoughts go into the ether and create. When we pass from this world with our physical death we find a world created by our habitual thoughts we had whilst alive. In many spiritual teachings of the old ancient mystery schools it is said ‘Right thought, right actions’.

Anger management

My wife, who has also been a contributor to Psychic-tymes, has been for many years training to be a councillor. I have learnt a great deal from her work. As a councillor, part of your training is that you have to do self analysis, if you have issues or problems you have to look at them and why they affect you. So the first step is to look in this mirror, figuratively speaking. Who am I, what am I like as a person, do I like myself? If you have a problem with something, why do you? Explore why. It’s a very enlightening journey into self discovery. It is important to be honest with yourself. You may have a bad temper and make light of it, but I am sure those on the receiving end don’t find it pleasant. Words can hurt as much, if not more, than physical blows, and can in some cases be emotionally scaring. You may be proud that you speak your mind, calling a spade a spade. But is it something to be proud of, inflicting so much hurt, sadness and misery on others, and ultimately on yourself ?

Do not get involved in dramas, as you and the other person end up being hurt. If someone is facing a hard time, they have created this for themselves. Be there for them, but try not to go in ‘guns blazing’ Centre yourself in your heart, be still and view things in a balanced view. If need be go away and ponder on the problem or ask your inner voice to guide you to the correct action.

Bad temper is only one possible example. It may be caused due to hormones, or poor diet, or a lack of self discipline and will power. So in this case look at reasons as to why it happens, make some notes if needed. When does it happen? What do you think are the triggers for it? When we look inside and reflect we can find answers ourselves. If we become nasty when we drink too much, the answer is obvious – moderation. Does it happen when you fail to eat and get low blood sugar? Again you know what you need to do. Hormones are a hard one naturally, but there are many products on the market that help, B6 is very good for keeping you calm. It’s about making an effort! Look for solutions and answers - don’t be a victim saying poor me - take control.

Often anger can be repressed feelings, past hurts and frustration. If you look at these issues in your life you can come to terms with them and move on.

I am not saying it’s easy, but constant determination will get you there in the end.

Self criticism as opposed to criticism from others

No one can honestly say they enjoy someone being nasty and unkind or critical towards them! In the ego state that attack prompts the ego to attack back, and so the cycle continues. If you don’t like being attacked, its very simple don’t do it to others.

There are naturally times when things are, or feel, unjust and need dealing with. If you face it calmly, firmly under control, not only will you be on top of the situation, but you will dissolve away the problem that could have escalated. In losing your temper you have lost control of the situation and yourself. Keep calm, and if possible, look at why you are feeling hurt. Does it matter? Rise above it; it takes strength but look at how strong you are by doing so. Look for positive things in all situations.

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Drawing from extensive experience in helping people all over the world learn to function more harmoniously by embracing their inner selves, the Stonea focus on the most ubiquitous sub-personality, the shrill voice inside that never lets a person forget their "mistakes".

Forgiveness is a great thing, but there is point when you need to be firm. If a friend is becoming a problem there is no need to retaliate, just move on. So many people tell me of friends that constantly upset them. My answer is very simple, they are not very good friends and do you really need them in your life? Are you so desperate that you will endure this? The world is full of strangers, friends waiting to be made, go out and find them – they are waiting for you to do so.

Your happiness is contained within yourself and your self perceptions

Recently I was called fat. I have lost a lot of weight in the last 12 months, naturally I am pleased with this. So when they said this I smiled to myself as I felt I had done well. Its important to realise that other peoples’ views are their own. Some people are ‘fat phobic’ or ‘skinny phobic’, and it is their problem, not yours. How you feel is what is really important, if you are overweight and unhappy about it, do something about it! But only if it’s what you want, not because your being told to.

Forgiveness within families

Family can be some of the hardest people to forgive. It takes something like a funeral to instigate forgiveness. In deep times of sadness and loss people pull back together. It is such a shame that we can hold grudges for so long until it is too late to make amends. Also, a family gathering due to a death can bring us back to a sense of perspective and value of life, friendships and family.

Ultimately, in time, we will forgive, but maybe not in this lifetime. I say, “why wait?” Why not deal with it now! It doesn’t mean you let an offender back into your life to be used or as a whipping post once more. There is nothing wrong in protecting yourself or your family from further hurt, what you are doing is taking control over the situation.

Sometimes there are friends and family members that behave in an unacceptable manner, and it is wise to keep a distance avoiding being dragged into their dramas. Spiritually, by sending out love to them, you will help them, and one day they may wake up and get back on track. As hard as it is, try not to judge them, condemn or criticise them. We don’t know the real reasons for their actions. I have seen the power of this love in the most impossible and a hopeless situations, so I know it works.

Judgement and self-judgement

Too many of us are quick to judge others, and what we need to do is take a very good look at ourselves, and how we behave. Are we free from sin (or whatever word you choose to use)? We all have our faults. Remember, sometimes we feel we have failed when spiritually it has been an important lesson for us. So before you beat yourself up over things, dust yourself down, learn from your experience and do your best to not repeat it. Keep moving forwards! A man walking down the street looking over his shoulder will fall. It’s so important to forgive ourselves and move forwards, we need to heal and love ourselves.

I have faced some things I felt it was totally impossible to deal with. I was filled with dread that the actions I would have to take wouldl have devastating consequences. On reflection I realised it was my perspective and view that was wrong, and I was hurting myself. I changed my perspective on the matter and it simply dissolved. It was like a miracle, healing me and providing a great sense of calm and sense of control.

We can all do this with our lives. Look at your problems, why are they upsetting you, do they really matter? If you are unable to change things, you can change your viewpoint about how you think about things.

The power of prayer is very helpful in this, and remember, angels are always there to help us.

So to conclude

• You really can change your life for the better, and it starts within yourself.
• Take time to really look at yourself, who you are, how you behave, what improvements you can make.
• Some times the impossible is possible, change your view, it maybe you that is the problem.
• Try to give joy, friendship and love each day.
• If you have nothing kind to say don’t say anything, as it comes back on you.
• Take time to meditate and connect with the real you, none of your problems seam real or important in this state, and it is a wonderful chance to ask for help, guidance, we have great power in this time.
• Positive thought creates a happier future for ourselves; it can bring some real magic.
• If you want something, creatively visualise what it is you want, as long as it brings no harm to anyone, it can happen.
• Remember you are spirit first! You inhabit your body, and you are here for a relatively short time, try making it a happier one not only for yourself but others in your life and above all be wise and learn from all lessons that come your way.
• Do your best you can do, you can do no more. And if you fall or fail, get back up dust yourself down and aim to do better next time, holding onto the past can really hold us back in life, let go of things.
• If you’re struggling with letting go, angels are very good with this kind of help – so ask.
• At the end of the day, only you can heal your life, let it happen, don’t be lazy! Work at it.
• All the answers we seek can be found within our very being, if we would listen to the intuition, the small inner voice from our divine nature.
  

I leave you there with many blessings from the higher planes of love. Good Luck!

Andrew Garley

© April 2005, Andrew Garley
to visit Andrew's own web site please go to the Links page.