From Spirit With Love – Part 7

My Spiritual ‘L’ Plates

Before long I had started going to the Development Group and Tuesdays never seem to come around quickly enough for me. It was the highlight of my week and Martha had a wealth of spiritual knowledge that she was always willing to share. I must have driven her mad with a constant stream of questions in the early days but she never seem to mind. Our Tutor for the Tuesday group was the very gifted and natural medium Maureen Murnan. Maureen was and still is an excellent teacher and channel for Spirit worldwide. In my naivety I did not realise how fortunate I was to have been one of Maureen’s students in her earlier days as a teacher, or how timely it was that Maureen’s group began in a Red Cross Hall at the end of my road in the small village where I lived. Something which had not been known before.

Because I knew almost nothing of Spiritual matters when I met Martha, I had not seen other mediums work which is a good thing because I developed in my own way, but it did mean that I had a lot to learn.

Under Maureen’s excellent guidance my mediumship skills developed very quickly and I was given many opportunities to explore and practice. No one was safe!

I was quite happy to bestow messages on anyone who wanted them and the girls I worked with were no exception. They would walk past me, push a personal item into my hand and say

‘Can you give me a reading from this?’

I had a wonderful time.

At this great time of excitement and discovery I had yet to learn humility in my mediumship and that not everyone wanted to hear from Spirit or receive a message. In the beginning I took all of the practice that was available and there was a lot of it. Spirit had a hand in this I feel sure.

It Runs In The Blood

At about the same time eldest my son had begun to show a keen interest developing his own natural ability to communicate with Spirit and wanted to join the development  group. Because he was just twelve years old at the time I was unsure that it was a good idea.

Maureen was keen for him to join us and explained the importance of nurturing a child’s natural curiosity as they can often make powerful unconditioned channels. My son took it all in his stride and was soon receiving clear messages from Spirit, having none of the fear that I had as a child.

On just two occasions before Spirit stood back to allow him a natural childhood, I watched with great pride as he stood on a church platform with other adult trainee mediums, in his school trousers, crisp white shirt and Mickey Mouse tie delivering detailed messages to members of the congregation as they looked on in awe. Child mediums on a rostrum were rare and I thank Maureen for her foresight and wisdom, as my son carried Spiritual knowledge and guidance through his life.

Restless Spirit

At first I was rather worried about what’s my friends and family would say about my involvement with Spiritualism, especially as my progress was moving forward so rapidly. It was a lot to expect them to take in and I always tried to choose my moments carefully. I needn’t have worried because strangely no one was really surprised. One reaction that I did have from some people and still do is that the ‘dead’ should be left to rest and that we shouldn’t unsettle them by calling them up.

I can assure anyone that it is usually the other way round! The Spirit cannot die and it is only our physical overcoat that has stopped working. Spirit to not need to be left to rest because there is no physical body to become tired, and they remain intelligent and lively 24 hours a day. This is why mediums have to master the art of switching off. If we don’t we can have all kinds of friends and relatives prodding us and keeping us awake at all hours!

I have always made it clear to the Spirit people that they can only disturb me in the night if it’s urgent because although I love my work, I do need my sleep and they have been generally obliging, with the exception of one gentleman who had other ideas.

I have gone to bed early one evening after a particularly busy day of giving sittings locally at a fundraising event. Having unwound with a cup of tea I took myself upstairs and settled down for a good night’s sleep.

I haven’t been asleep for long when I was woken up by a prodding sensation in my left side. At first I tried to ignore it but the prodder became persistent.

‘Who’s doing that? ’ I murmured ‘Off you go and come back in the morning ‘ I said as I turned over and drifted back to sleep.

Suddenly my eyes flew open and a thin faced man was staring straight into my face, his nose only inches from mine. I sat upright, almost jumping out of my skin.

‘What an earth are you doing?’ I gasped, trying to catch my breath

‘I want you to wake up’ he said curtly ‘I have a poem’

‘Is it something that can wait?’ I offered, peering into the darkness and realising that I could no longer see him

‘No. I’ve got it all here in my head and I want you to write it down for me’ I looked at the clock. ‘Sweetheart it’s 2 o’clock in the morning are you sure can’t wait?’

‘Well it can’ he replied ‘but I want to do it now’ I had to be firm and explain that I needed to sleep so I said that if he returned the next day I would be happy to oblige.

He was a bit put out but accepted what I had said. He must have found someone else who was awake enough to do the job because he didn’t actually come back and being the strong character that he was, I am sure that he would have done if necessary.

So as you can see it is often Spirit friends who want to wake up the living, not the reverse.

Two-way Street

I have also spoken to people who believe that we can ask for whoever we want to hear from in Spirit and while it’s understandable that people want contact from their specific loved ones, this may happen only when possible if the time and conditions are right for Spirit to communicate. If they do not, it’s usually not because they don’t love us, they have to feel comfortable with the medium and need enough energy to make contact. Some Spirit people have no wish to come back at all to talk to their relatives, and some are simply doing other things because they have a life to live in the Spirit World.

These are just some examples of reasons why a loved one may not come into the sitting and if this happens I will ask my client to remain patient and try again at a later date. One of my clients had a lovely message from her father who clearly loves her very much, but she was upset because she did not want to hear from him, she wanted someone else to come forward and was disappointed. I imagine her father was also disappointed having made the effort to communicate, and then find himself unwanted for whatever reason. I cannot stress enough for clients and recipients to be open minded to whoever comes in, because neither the Medium or the Spirit World can guarantee the process, however much we would all like to be able to.

Thom

After sitting in Martha’s home circle for a few months to supplement my development, and having received many wise teachings, I wanted to know who my Spirit Guide was. My Spirit friends worked closely with me for much of the time but, as usual in my enthusiasm, I was impatient and wanted everything yesterday. In particular, one Sunday evening in October during a meditation was no exception.

‘Now come on friends, we’ve been working well together for a while now, but I need to know who you are’ I said in an assertive voice (bearing in mind, of course that I was naïve then).

‘I can’t work with someone I don’t know’ I waited, and waited, and waited some more. Then my impatience took over. ‘Is anybody going to talk to me? I can’t sit here all night!’  

Like a bolt from nowhere a vision of a man in a blue uniform zoomed up in my mind’s eye causing me to jump out of my skin, which served me right really.

I could see his outline and a cloak as part of his dress. I felt that he was very young, and I was completely overcome with a feeling of an intense spiritual love that I can never recall having felt to such a depth before. I felt a torrent of emotion well up into my throat, and spill over and down my cheeks and although I couldn’t see his face, I instinctively knew he was smiling. I welcomed him and asked his name. The word ‘Thom’ was put before me in a flashing neon sign, and so the connection was made. In complete awe, I suddenly felt terribly humble.

I instinctively knew that Thom wanted me to find some paper and a pencil, and that he would inspire me to draw him, and so my meditation came to an abrupt end.

I frantically scratched round for some paper, while trying to hold onto my Spirit link, opening and shutting draws like a crazy woman. Having found what I was looking for, I settled down to let Thom and the pencil do the work.

Within fifteen minutes the drawing had unfolded of a rather handsome black  haired young cavalry officer with a strong jaw line and deep set eyes, and while my hand was sketching he gave me details of himself and his life.

He was shot and killed, unintentionally by one of his own regiment while riding out to a skirmish with Native American Indians in 1868. He was twenty four years old and the son of a plantation owner in North Carolina and was engaged to be married on his return from duty. His father had wanted him to discharge himself from the cavalry when the Civil War had ended, but Thom was a man of honour and had no interest in the plantation, especially as disease had taken the lives of most of the land workers.

As a fair man he had never agreed with the treatment of the Native Americans by the soldiers. He respected their culture, but could not voice his feelings for fear of being court martialled and shot. Having never had to take a life in this way, he was ordered out on a skirmish to do just that. As they rode out on a cold, misty morning, he prayed that he would be spared this one act of violence that he so feared. He had his wish.

Thom has always been a loving and gentle Guide with a wonderful sense of humour although I know that I also have other guides, Takana especially who I also love dearly.

Thom is my doorkeeper so he looks after things when I am chatting to Spirit, and has a very special place in my heart.

Some months later having no knowledge of the history of Thom’s era, I researched the Civil War and the years that followed. I found the plantation land in North Carolina, where his family were settled, and the history unfolded, with relevant dates, just as Thom had described.

Spirit Guides

Everyone from all walks of life has not just one, but several Spirit Guides. Some call them Guardian Angels, or helpers. Rather than having just one Guides’ opinion, and that’s simply what it is, several may work as a team to give us the benefit of much experience and wisdom to guide us through our lives, similar to a council.

The descriptions they give us of themselves are how they used to be when they lived their physical lives, and are given to us, if we need to know, to help us to visualise and accept them, as I did.

No two Guides think the same way because they are individuals, as we are. They will have their own opinions on certain matters, as we do, and so, because there can be several for each person, we must remember that they do only the job they are sent to do, and that is to guide us. We have to make the choices ourselves, based on what we feel is right.

Guides can be of any nationality or from any walk of earthly life, who have evolved to a spiritual level that enables them to assist us in a positive way. I have been asked on many occasions why Spirit Guides are often Oriental, Monks or Native Americans, and the simple answer is, they are not. There are many who were already very well developed spiritually when they passed over because of the culture they lived in. They would go to a higher level in the Spirit World as a result. However, many ordinary people have also worked hard in Spirit to gain sufficient experience to take on the role of a Guide or helper.

Mine were about to have to guide me in larger arena!

Next time: Stepping Out

Donna Stewart Copyright 2018