Mediumship Fraud Or Genuine

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Monique Aldana
Professor Ferguson
English 101
17 April 2013

Mediumship: Fraud or Genuine? Many attempts to communicate with the dead have been documented back to early human history. The oracles of ancient Greece were consulted for advice, and ancient shamans and witch doctors traditionally contacted spirits. People believe mediums mediate communication between the spirits of the dead and other human beings. Although mediumship threatens beliefs of many people and their religions, there is still a large number of people who believe it is very real. Mediumship did not gain popularity until the Spiritualist Movement in the mid-nineteenth century. Mediums and séances were extremely popular with the public. A séance is a meeting
in which a spiritualist attempts to communicate with the spirits of the dead. The Fox sisters would regularly hold séances. In 1848 the two young girls claimed to have made contact with the spirit of a murdered peddler in their New York home. Many notable figures helped give mediumship a sense of authenticity. Séances were being held in royal palaces and even the White House. Mediums claim that they can listen to and relay messages from spirits, or that they can allow a spirit to control their body and speak through it directly or by using automatic Aldana 2

writing or drawing.
Mediumship can be distinguished as two basic types: mental mediumship and physical mediumship. Mental mediumship is the relaying information via thought transference or mental telepathy. This all takes place in the conscious of the medium. Mental mediumship is also referred to as telepathic mediumship. Physical mediumship on the other hand, involves the transformation and manipulation of physical systems and energies. What actually happens can be many things depending on the style of mediumship used, but the results can be seen and heard by others. “In some cases, the spirit of a dead person, even some time after his or her death, can select a living person as a mount whose body they commandeer and through whose mouth they speak”(Hopkins 407). A majority of people living today do not believe mediumship in real. Little do they know that they are many biblical accounts of
mediumship. In the Holy Bible, Exodus 31:18, “And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone written with the finger of God.” The Ten Commandments given to Moses are viewed as a biblical example of “slate-writing” (a form of physical mediumship). Another famous event is found in Matthew 17:3-5, “And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Aldana 3

Hear Him!”(Holy Bible, New King James Version) There are many biblical accounts of mediumship. Jesus was known throughout Jerusalem, Galilee and other towns and villages as being a gifted healer and medium. As His more and more people began to follow him, the old priests became more and more threatened. This interpretation of Jesus’ work in mediumship is taken from the book by Elsie Bunts, New Testament Mediums: The wonderful teacher and medium of whom John the Baptist told people was of course, Jesus. His life stands out more than any other in the Bible. In fact, the Chr- istain religion is founded on his teachings. We could spend many lessons studying about him . Many years after his passing to Spirit Life, people began to write stories about him from what they could remember and from what his friends had told them. Then after a period of time people began to worship Jesus as a God, and to add to his simple teaching of love and justice, stories they had borrowed from older religio- ns. ...Having attained his thirtieth birthday, he came down to the river of Jordan whe- re John [the Baptist] was busy talking to people and baptizing them, and when he came to speak to John he asked him to baptize him also. This was done so and as he prayed he saw a dove, descending from above his head and heard a voice saying: “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.” This must have been a clairvoyant vision and a clairaudient voice as only John and Jesus witnessed this spiritual manifestation. Some quote as what the spirit said as proof that Jesus was the only son of a very personal God. However, his Aldana 4 Joseph had been in the spirit world eleven years, so it could have been a mani- festation from him. Thus his ministry began with the blessings of the spirit forces resting upon him. He was so sure of the God-Spirit within him, that every moment all who came near were helped and healed by his spiritual magnetism. One day Jesus met a woman at a well where he stopped, thirsty and tired, whi- le some of his friends went into the city to buy food. He asked her for a drink and then he talked with her and gave her a message that proved so true that she knew he was a medium. Surprised, she ran back home and told all of her people about him. Jesus was not only a mental medium but a materializing medium as well ...and the greatest of spiritual healers. He taught that death was only the ne beginning of life... (Bunts b, 7-8)
The Bible has numerous accounts of mediumship. Non-Spiritualist dismiss these claims and imaginative interpretations of the Scriptures. The true meaning of the Scriptures may never be found and some believe that this should encourage a more extensive investigation of their meanings. Not only is mediumship brought up in the Bible, it is also on television. Long Island Medium is an American reality television show that stars Theresa Caputo. Theresa is a medium who claims to communicate with the deceased. She claims to have begun seeing spirits at age 4 and it was not until she visited a spiritual healer that Aldana 5

she discovered she had the ability to communicate with spirit. In the show Theresa holds groups and personal readings. Viewers get to see her mediate communication with clients and random people she runs into during the day. Many people attend events where Caputo does large group readings. Like all past notable mediums, Theresa faces harsh criticism and skepticism. Contrary to that she has an enormous fan base that are “die-hard” believers of not only her abilities but the abilities of others. No evidence of Theresa Caputo being a fraud has been proved right. A vast majority of people who believe in mediumship do not believe in it because of their religious beliefs.
They are just hopeful for another minute with loved ones who have passed on. Regret is a significant role when dealing with loss. Many people feel regret for all the overlooked moments and everything that was left unsaid. It isn’t unusual to get wrapped up in our everyday routines and forget to appreciate those around us. And when those around us are no longer there, it is inevitable that some guilt will be felt. To seek the help of a psychic or a medium seems a bit unusual to some, but to others they want nothing more than to obtain that “just another minute” with their loved ones. With the movement of mediumship growing more and more popular and obtaining more and more followers, it was bound to have it’s skeptics. They believe mediums exploit gullible people and negatively affect the grieving process by faking communication with dead relatives. Skeptics claim that mediums have a range of techniques they utilize to obtain specific information to convince an audience their results are genuine. In subject Aldana
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validation, the medium will start out by asking broad questions that have a good chance of relating to someone in the crowd. An individual will find significance in what the medium is saying and will eventually give more information to the medium without knowing it by clever questioning. Frauds have been caught eavesdropping and also researching on their clients prior to reading. Yes, there are many frauds out there. However, this does not mean mediumship is not genuine. Almost all religions believe in some sort of afterlife, so why do they criticize mediums and their abilities? Mediums are born with this gift and must learn to live with it. They must also choose whether or not to utilize their abilities. Whether or not one chooses to believe any type of communication is possible with the deceased mediumship is not the only thing in our society pertaining to paranormal activity. In conclusion, mediumship has been traced back to ancient human history. It is not something that sporadically came into human history. People seek the help of mediums for many reasons, spiritual or personal. Many frauds have attempted to fool people. Just like everything that cannot be proven in our world, there is someone who has attempted to exploit and take advantage of many persons. There is no solid evidence proving that mediumship is not genuine and I believe that there will never be any. The reader can choose their own belief, however, one will never be able to prove scientifically that communication with the deceased is not possible.