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You May
Be More of a Medium Than the Medium!
by Debra
Lynne Katz
NBC’s hit show Medium
is
my all time favorite television show about psychics. I’ll
admit
that the story lines and situations that the main character, Allison
Dubois, finds herself in are a bit far-fetched and bloodier than
I’d prefer, but I think it’s one of the best
narrative
shows out there that demonstrates what being psychic is all about. It
quite effectively highlights the many challenges all psychics struggle
with. By “psychics,” I am referring not only to
those who
hang their shingle out as such; I am including the multitudes of people
who spontaneously experience their psychic abilities from time to time
with little to no understanding of how to control them. Allison Dubois,
the show’s main character (who is fashioned after a real life
medium of the same name—though I’ve not yet had the
pleasure of meeting the real Allison DuBois, I’ve heard she
is a
talented psychic and a genuinely nice person) can be credited with
bringing information and understanding of psychic phenomena to living
rooms across the nation. Truth be told, you may be more like the
Allison DuBois (at least as portrayed on TV) than you think.
As portrayed on Medium,
Allison
gains most of her psychic information from dreams that are either
precognitive (telling of events to come) or that offer clues about past
events. “Clues” are the key word here: when she
wakes up,
she rarely understands the meanings of her disturbing dreams, although
as the show has progressed, so has her faith in, and attention to,
these dreams. It’s usually not until she goes about her day
and
encounters certain elements of her dreams, such as people and
particular situations, that she can even begin making sense of them.
This tends to be how it is for most of us in real life, whether we are
professional psychics or complete novices. (It’s like opening
a
pictureless box of little puzzle pieces; it feels chaotic and
impossible to make sense of until certain patterns emerge.) Just like
the TV Allison, most of us have a hard time distinguishing whether a
particular dream (or feeling, for that matter) is prophetic, if
it’s a symptom of anxiety, or something we ate for dinner.
While these dreams come
spontaneously to
Allison, there are definitely ways the rest of us work with dreams in
order to obtain helpful information. One of the most effective
techniques is to imagine that you are giving that mysterious part of
yourself that is in charge of your dreams a good talking to. Insist
that this part of yourself will give you a dream that very night that
will answer your question or solve your dilemma, and that you will absolutely
recall the dream upon waking. You can even write this intention down on
a piece of paper and put it under your pillow. The most important thing
here happens upon waking. You must write down your dream, even if all
you can recall at first is the slightest whiff of emotion. Repeat this
process every night until you get results. I guarantee that within a
week you will be dreaming in vivid color and with vastly improved
recall. There is only one catch to all this (there always is one): This
will only work if you are really, truly open to hearing the truth.
About nine years ago I left
my job as a
Federal Probation Officer and moved to the Philippines, in order to
study with a variety of faith healers. After a few months there, I
became quite ill with strange symptoms and grew concerned that I had a
serious problem. In an attempt to gain insight into my situation, I
completed the above process. The second night, I dreamed that a little
boy with dark hair, skin, and eyes approached my bed. He took my hand.
There was another boy standing much farther away in the background. He
stated, “You don’t realize this yet, but we are
your future
children.” He then put his hand on my heart and did some sort
of
energy healing. When I woke up the next morning I recorded the dream in
my journal and wondered (for about half a second), “Could I
possibly be pregnant?” Naw! I now felt even more frustrated
than
before, since I couldn’t for the life of me figure out the
meaning of this dream. In fact, it took almost six more weeks, three
trips to the doctor, more acupuncture needles than I ever want to
remember, and three inconclusive pregnancy tests to confirm the meaning
of the dream. Today, my most beloved creation is my son, who heals me
every time I look into his huge brown eyes or admire his dark beautiful
skin. (He looks much more like his Filipino father then myself.) Yes
folks, denial is deeper and longer than the Nile!
One of the things that
surprised me about Medium’s
Allison DuBois is how heavily she gains her information from dreams as
opposed to other methods of accessing one’s abilities. I know
from first-hand experience and through the education of thousands of
other people through my books and workshops that it is quite easy and
very possible to access psychic information during the waking state,
such as through visions or messages from beyond. This is done through
intention, focus, and simple visualization techniques. To learn more
about these, you might want to check out my books, You Are
Psychic: The Art of Clairvoyant Reading and Extraordinary
Psychic: Proven Techniques to Master Your Psychic Abilities.
There have been more than a
few times when I wished that the TV Allison was a bit more (ok, a lot
more) conscious of how other spirits or energies were controlling her,
but perhaps this is a way for the show’s writers to create
more
conflict and tension. Conflict and tension certainly result in our own
lives when we aren’t aware of these things! In some of the
most
intriguing episodes, malevolent spirits have actually possessed
Allison’s character, and, as you can imagine, this wreaked
excruciating havoc on her relationships with friends and family. My
hope is that this will not give viewers the wrong impression that to be
psychic means to suffer. Fortunately, in real life there are many
techniques you can learn that will help you to communicate effectively
with spirits while remaining in charge of your body and senses. There
are simple ways to recognize when you are being influenced by other
entities and/or the thoughts and emotions of other living people, as
well as easy and effective methods you can employ to rid yourself of
negative influences.
One of the things Medium
most effectively captures is Allison’s struggle with others
around her who don’t believe in or understand her
“gifts.” Even though she is on the payroll for the
office of the District Attorney, she spends much of the time in the
proverbial closet. She leaves her three daughters every day to put
herself in harm’s way, and receives little to no appreciation
for her efforts. She sometimes even encounters hostility from those for
whom she’s just sacrificed her life. From personal
experience, I can tell you that this is the most painful thing about
being psychic, and is why so many people shy away from exploring their
own abilities.
In addition to solving
crimes, the show’s episodes always contain a subplot that
concerns Allison’s home life. The show closely parallels the
contradictions that many real life psychics encounter in their
relationships with their loved ones. Allison’s husband (as
portrayed on the show), while not as hunky as Brad Pitt, is in every
other way the picture -perfect husband. However, as much as he wants to
understand her, he clearly struggles with his wife’s
mediumship. He fluctuates between honoring her premonitions to being
highly irritated by them (though it is my opinion that it is more
Alison’s obsessive fascination with her visions than the
dreams themselves that torment him so). Sometimes Allison’s
husband clearly just wants her to be “normal.”
Sometimes she herself just wants to be “normal.” I
think most people who experience psychic abilities (in our society, at
any rate) have had that feeling. This is unfortunate, since our sixth
sense is really as normal and natural as our more accepted senses of
sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste.
As the seasons have
progressed, Allison’s daughters have come to exhibit more of
her abilities; she and her husband have struggled with how much to
encourage them and how much to protect them (both from themselves and
from the limited stereotypes of others). Fortunately,
Allison’s kids have the benefit of having two parents who are
not going to tell them they are nuts or the spawn of the devil for
having these experiences. It is my hope that this is making an
impression on viewers who are also parents of psychic children and who
are unsure of how to deal with and help them.
Allison, as portrayed by Medium,
obtains much of her intuitive information through communication with
deceased spirits. While many real-life psychics communicate with the
dead, this is only one small part of what they do; because of this,
viewers are getting a limited view of what being psychic is all about.
Communication with the deceased is just one specialized psychic talent.
When I am utilizing my clairvoyance (the ability to see information in
the form of visions and images), spirits do sometimes show up
spontaneously. However, more often than not, I am accessing information
directly from a source without the use of these ethereal middle men
(and women). I can choose to “see” visions myself
or rely on messages and interpretations supplied by spirits. Both ways
of accessing information have their pros and cons, and I utilize both
methods when working with clients.
Click here to
read
the full article.
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Author
Michelle
Belanger Makes Onscreen Debut on Paranormal State
by
Llewellyn
Walking the
Twilight Path Author Featured on A & E
Show on
Paranormal Activity
St. Paul, MN, August 28, 2008 – Michelle Belanger, author of
Llewellyn’s Vampires in their Own Words,
Walking the Twilight Path,
and the forthcoming Haunting Experiences, was
featured on A & E’s show Paranormal State.
The episode, “The
Messenger,” which originally aired on Monday, August 25,
centers on a retired couple that witnesses a headless apparition. The
prolific author and artist has been consulted on past episodes, but
“The Messenger” is the first in which Belanger is
onscreen. She has filmed three episodes, and will likely continue to be
featured on the show in the future.
Paranormal State follows Paranormal
Research Society founder Ryan Buell and his team of investigators as
they investigate paranormal phenomena, including sixth-sense
experiences, ghost sightings, and demonic disturbances. Founded by
Buell in 2001, the PRS works on cases across the country and is one of
the most recognized paranormal societies in the nation.
New episodes can be seen
Mondays at 10 PM, 9 PM Central. http://www.aetv.com/paranormal-state/
Michelle Belanger is a
popular author best known for her writings on psychic vampirism and the
modern vampire subculture. A self-professed energy vampire, she has
appeared on several other radio and televisions shows, including the
British documentary American Vampires, Peter
Anthony Holder’s Soul Call, Coast
to Coast, the X-Zone, as well
as appearances on the History Channel, WE!, and most recently, A
&
E’s Paranormal State. Michelle has also
been interviewed for an upcoming HBO documentary about vampires that is
set to coincide with the debut of the HBO series True Blood.
The episode “The
Messenger” is available on YouTube, in three parts:
About Michelle
Belanger
Michelle Belanger (Ohio) is a popular author best known for her
writings on psychic vampirism and the modern vampire subculture. A
self-professed energy vampire, she has appeared on the British
documentary American Vampires, Peter Anthony
Holder’s Soul
Call, Coast to Coast, the X-Zone,
as well on the History Channel, WE!,
and A&E. She has lectured at colleges across the United States
and occasionally tours with her Chicago-based dark metal band URN. More
information can be found at www.michellebelanger.com
and www.twilightpath.com.
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Easy Magick
1-2-3’s Harvest Projects
by
Silver RavenWolf
From mid-August through October, seasonal energies naturally demand
completion and closure. This tying up loose ends, finishing summer
projects, and preparing for the cold weather can keep us busy; so busy
that we may feel rushed, harried, and worst of all, unable to dedicate
large blocks of time to magickally fun projects that would normally
ease our stress and keep the harmony flowing. With your busy lifestyle
in mind, Silver RavenWolf, author of the newly released HedgeWitch,
has developed two easy, artsy projects sure to please the entire family
and wow your magickal visitors!
Read More
Celebrating the
Harvest Season
by
Deborah Blake
The harvest festivals are one of the most important traditions handed
down to us from our earlier Pagan ancestors. These holidays may seem
irrelevant to the modern Witch, who often doesn’t even have a
garden, but I actually think that they serve an important purpose.
Deborah Blake, author of Circle, Coven & Grove
and the newly-released Everyday Witch A to Z,
discusses the importance of the harvest festivals to today's Witch.
Read More
Magical Teens in Anime and Manga
by
Magnolia Clark (D. Davidson)
Being a teenager is a challenging time, for sure. There are the
physical and emotional changes, as a person grows in that strange space
between childhood and adulthood. It’s a time of pain and
happiness and everything in-between. Many teens would be absolutely
beside themselves to have magical powers, imagining magic wands to turn
ancient history teachers into squawking chickens or making the captain
of the football team (or cheerleading squad, as the case may be) fall
madly in love with them. Certainly this would make any teen’s
life easier (so it would seem), but those teens new to magic and
witchcraft often have a misconception of what they really entail. Why
are the teen years so often a time when people delve into magic and
paganism? Why does the media reflect this?
Read More
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Finding Your Akashic Records
The Rainbow Connection:
Crystals and Colors
Love
Symbolism in the Tarot
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Easy Magick 1-2-3’s Harvest Projects
Celebrating the Harvest Season
Magical Teens in Anime and Manga
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The September/October issue
of New Worlds is
here! Download the PDF file of the latest issue of New Worlds or click here to sign up and have it
delivered to your home!
The Masters
Behind Llewellyn’s Witch School Series Bring You a Free
Pagan Concert!
Earlier this year, Witch School’s Magick
TV was honored to be invited to cover the Wendy Rule concert
at the Cedar Theater in Minneapolis, featuring Felonious Bosch and Kari
Tauring, with Master of Ceremonies Steven Posch of Radio Paganistan.
The concert was sponsored by the Eye of Horus bookstore, whose owners
Thraicie Hawkner and Jane Hansen as well as the performers agreed to
allow Magick TV to film and bring you this concert commercial-free on
the Internet.
The concert footage is interwoven with interviews with
Eye of Horus owners Thraicie Hawkner and Jane Hansen, and performers
Kari Tauring, Tamara Rogers, and Wendy Rule. Professional audio was
provided by Drew Miller of Omnium Recordings. Combining all these
elements, Magick TV is proud to present this concert commercial-free as
a 15 part series on Magick.tv and presented through http://Youtube.com/Magicktv.
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Equinox
Equal night. That time, or place, in the ecliptic where the days and nights
are of equal length, which happens twice yearly when the Sun enters Aries (Vernal equinox) and Libra (Autumnal equinox), from whence
these signs derive the term, equinoctial signs.
Akashic Records
A recording of all events that have ever occurred and said to be stored
in a spiritual substance, Akasha, that surrounds the earth.
Channeler
A person who allows a spirit to speak through them. This involves the
(usually) willing participation of the channeler who temporarily allows
a spirit to “possess” their body. A spirit medium may or may not be a channeler.
Also known as a “trance medium” (and incorrectly a
“transmedium”).
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