YSC - Open Circles and Development

Open Circles and Psychic & Mediumistic Development

Introduction to Open Circles

If you feel that you have some psychic or mediumistic ability, or both, and feel that you would like to use and develop these, our Open Circles offer a good place to start. Here you will meet other like-minded people who are also trying to develop these skills. Some may have been practisiing for some time, and they may be able to give you encouragement or useful tips. Others may be beginners like you. We feel that it is important to begin to learn these skills in an Open Circle with an experienced teacher for several reasons:
1) There are good ways and bad ways of attuning with Spirit.
2) There are guidelines and codes of practice that we should work to when giving messages to people.
3) Unfortunately, there are many misconceptions about psychic and mediumistic ability at large in the world, and we would not want you to be trying to work under any misconceptions.
4) Many people find that there is a strong positive energy generated in an Open Circle, making it much easier to work psychically and mediumistically there than in other places.

When we, as Spiritualists, work psychically or mediumistically, we work with and for the Divine Spirit or God, we hope in an loving and sensitive way. The spirit beings in communion with us also work in harmony with the Divine Spirit. As they inspire us with their wisdom and love, we become as keen as anyone to see the Divine kingdoms's eternal qualities of love, light, peace, harmony and happiness manifest in this world too. If that cannot easily happen in the world, it can happen in our own hearts and minds. Taking part in an Open Circle, you will be able to see that practising your psychic and mediumistic abilities correctly is a peaceful, uplifting and very spiritual thing to do.

As genuine mediums and psychics practice their arts and as we teach them, psychic ability and mental mediumship make use of "the intuitive faculty", a faculty which is latent in all of us. Our latent intuitive faculty can be developed or it can be suppressed. If we suppress it, then we will think that such abilities are impossible, unless or until we seek out, or have the good fortune to meet, someone in whom the intuitive ability is working well. The best psychics and mediums can give you very detailed information, sometimes that only you know - sometimes, even, information that you don't know, but find is correct after checking up later. Learning with experienced teachers, in the company of others, will help to strengthen and develop your intuitive faculty. It will help to kickstart your own psychic and mediumistic abilities in a positive, uplifting atmosphere, and dispel from your mind any negative or false assumptions about mediumship or psychic ability that you may have encountered elsewhere.

Although psychic awareness is taught, greater emphasis is placed on mediumship in a Spiritualist Open Circle. It is mediumship rather than psychic ability that we are trying to encourage, because the main thrust of our movement is to present the evidence of the continuous existence of the human soul, untouched by bodily death. We are aware, though, that some people need to develop their psychic abilities before they can work mediumistically.

So, if you come to one of our Open Circles, you should gain a good understanding of what psychic and mediumistic abilities really are, how they can best be developed and how they should be used. You will learn how to protect yourself when you work. You will learn how to open up and close down correctly. You will begin to learn some of the pitfalls, and some of the do's and don'ts of using these skills. You will be guided towards courses and workshops that would best suit you when you are ready for them. You will be able to discover your own strengths and weaknesses in this area, and be encouraged to work with your strengths. You will begin to see how you will be able to use these God-given talents to help others. In short you will be learning to develop your psychic and mediumistic abilities in what is, arguably, the best, the safest, the cheapest and the most enjoyable way available to you, and you will have much fun, friendship and laughter on the way. Open Circles are a also great place to begin your long voyage of discovery into the fascinating world of Spiritualism, wherever it may lead you. Our regular teachers give up their free time and work without payment to help you in this way. We have to make a small charge of £2 for members and £2.50 for non-members for each open circle attended. This is to help cover the running costs of the centre, and pay any travel expenses if we have a visiting medium taking the Circle.

You may find that some of the messages that trainee mediums give you are, though perhaps shorter, just as helpful and relevant to your life situation as the messages that more accomplished mediums are able to give, though we cannot guarantee this, of course. We cannot guarantee either that you will be successful in attuning to the Spirit World, or say how long it will take you to become a competent medium. Everyone is different. We all have our own unique pathway of learning and development, and that is as true of our spiritual path as it is of any other. We all have a different mix of abilities. Some people develop quickly, others more slowly. What we can say is that if a person is sincere about wanting to develop these abilities, and is willing to practise regularly, and patiently persevere through times when the gift does not seem to come so easily, then invariably they will, over time, make progress in the way that is right for them. Not everyone will be able to build up the evidence as brilliantly and effortlessly as Tony Stockwell or John Edward. Not everyone will go on to become working mediums, but hopefully they will in time be able to give sufficient good evidence to others to know that what we say about the continuation of life after bodily death is true. This inner knowing is of inestimable value in our spiritual development. We can say that the Spirit World loves to communicate with us, and is always eager to work with someone who shows commitment. The way that commitment is used by the Spirit World, though, is their prerogative, not ours, just as it is always our prerogative to decide whether we are willing to work with them in the ways they think best.

You make no binding commitments when you come to an Open Circle. You are free to come as often or as seldom as you want to, or are able to. Spiritualists will never put you under any obligation about anything to do with faith, belief or spiritual practice. If you find after a while that mediumship is not for you, that is fine. We believe in personal freedom and the personal responsibility that goes with it. All are always welcome to attend our Open Circles, whenever they would like to and without obligation.

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Our Weekly Open Circles

Our Monday afternoon Open Circle is from 2pm to 3:30pm. The Circle leader is Avril. Our Wednesday evening Open Circle is from 7:30pm to 9pm. Currently, some of our Wednesday evening Open Circles are taken by Garry, some by Avril and on the last Wednesday of the month we have been inviting a visiting medium to take the Circle. Please try and arrive at least 10 minutes before the Circle is due to start. It helps to compose you, if you can do this, as well as allowing us to make a prompt start. As stated above, there is a small charge of £2 for members and £2.50 for non-members for each Open Circle attended.

Sitting in a circle allows us to see everyone present, and feel a stronger connection to them. This allows the spiritual energies to flow freely between us, which in turn facilitates clairvoyance, clairaudience and clairsentience. The format of a session may vary depending on who is leading, but we always begin with an opening prayer. Then after welcoming any newcomers and saying a few words of explanation for them, the leader will usually lead us into a meditation or attunement with the Spirit World. After that we each have the opportunity to give to the group what we have received. If we know that we have a message for a particular person then we will give it directly to them. The leader will prompt us if necessary, help and encourage us, and explain things we may be unsure about if we are new to this work. There is often time left over after the circle messages have been given, and the leader may try a different activity, depending on the time available. This may be designed to develop our psychic awareness or it may be another activity designed to enlarge our understanding and experience of mediumship. The session ends with a closing prayer.

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The best way to develop

We believe that the best way to develop your psychic and mediumistic abilities is to practise regularly. Like any skill or art, they benefit from regular practice, so we would encourage you to become a regular attendee at one of our Open Circles. When you feel the time is right, you may like to attend one of our courses or workshops. These aim to deepen your knowledge and understanding, and speed your development. At York, there are many to choose from throughout the year. Most of these are open to non-members as well as members, but you should discuss their appropriateness to you with the Secretary or one of the Circle leaders, because some of our courses are targetted at beginners, others at an intermediate level, others at advanced learners. Then there are other courses that are open to any level of ability.

The second way in which you can help yourself is to read some of the books of advice written by reputable mediums. There are many available now, which is evidence of the subject's popularity. Tony Stockwell, Gordon Smith, Colin Fry are among many of the top mediums who have written guidebooks and/or produced CDs or DVDs of helpful meditations and attunements you can try at home. You will find this material in most good bookshops or on 'Amazon'. The SNU run several correspondence courses that are open to both church members and the general public. Course D5 is on the practice of mediumship. Course B1 - Basic Spiritualism - is an introductory course for the beginner.

The third way you can help yourself is to "sit with Spirit" every day at home. We would recommend that you don't start doing this until you have had some experience of working in an Open Circle, but once you have learnt about protection and opening up and closing down correctly, you should be comfortable about doing this alone in the privacy of your own home. If you were to set aside just 20 minutes a day for this practice, you should be able to accelerate your development. You might attune to your own Spirit Guide and have a conversation with him or her about the best way for you to develop. Much useful information can be obtained in this way. Alternatively, you could attune to the Spirit World and just see what you are given clairvoyantly, clairaudiently or clairsentiently. At the end of the session write down what you have been given in a notebook reserved for the purpose. You will find this a wonderful aid to your psychic and mediumistic development. It is a great encouragement, too, to look back and see the progress you have made over time. It is recommended that you do this regularly but not to excess. You have a life to live in this world, after all.

The fourth way to help yourself is to maintain a positive frame of mind about your mediumship and about life generally. When you are attuning to Spirit, trust what you are given, and believe that you really are connecting with the Spirit World, and that it is not simply your imagination. If you are going through a difficult patch with your mediumship, (this is often because of stress or illness or simply too much going on in your life), believe that the problem is only temporary, and that the gift will return. Ensure that you spend some time every week with people who are "on your wave-length", that you can discuss these things with if you want to. It can be difficult to try to develop your psychic and mediumistic abilities in an environment that is negative about them. Spend your free time doing positive, enjoyable, uplifting things, and, as far as possible, avoid doing things you dislike. This will help to build your positive energy. Good mediumship thrives on positive energy.

Further considerations on mediumistic development can be found on the 'About' page devoted to mental mediumship in the "The Development of Mental Mediumship" section.