This comes up from time to time and it always makes me laugh. Do we question paying a doctor to heal us? The plumber to fix our toilet? Do we balk at the idea that any professional charges for their time?
I thought not. Even ministers get paid.
But for some reason, some folks think it isn’t right for a medium to be compensated.
I call bullshit on that.
Especially because so most reputable mediums make clear that we don’t need a medium at all—we can do this ourselves because the ability is innate. Julia Assante’s book, The Last Frontier, even teaches readers how to do that. Truth is, though, most of us aren’t secure that we really can do it. If something really happens, it’s only natural that we’d wonder if we actually contacted our loved one or if we just made it up. Using an outsider lends more validation to the experience, we think.
I’m that way. I like using a professional from time to time. Despite this, though, I had a really awesome and unique experience that I mentioned briefly last fall HERE. But let me revisit it from a different angle.
If it hadn’t happened to me, I might not have believed it.
I was sitting in a workshop listening to a medium lecture about funeral rituals, when suddenly and for no apparent reason I sensed my father to my right, smiling and sending me love, so much love that it was overwhelming, a tidal wave of love—a tsunami of love. I didn’t see him as much as sense him, and I was almost bowled over by this wave of love. To say I was startled is a big understatement. He spoke to me without speaking—I didn’t hear him as much as I got the words that he was my constant companion, that he loved me very much and we would always be with me to help and guide me. That I should consider him my “guru,” a word neither of us used in real life.
He stayed with me for some hours, loving me and doing all the things that he found so hard to do in life.
Afterwards, I was quite shaken. What WAS that? It was so far out of the ordinary for me, so unexpected, that I had to write down as many details as I could so I could refer to them later and know that it had happened. I struggled to describe the sensation of love and could only come up with “wave” and tsunami.
So when I ran across this passage in a book written by a medium, it pinged me big-time:
“…it’s more than telepathy….it hits you in the face…it’s more than words because you get the whole image and feeling…you just know what …is being conveyed. Not just the data…but the feeling behind it, too… you get the whole wave of communication energy…there is no guesswork or interpretations, it’s just a knowing of what’s being said.”
Exactly! That is exactly what it felt like and note the word “wave.”
A gift from the Divine Source
Since that time, I’ve tried hard to “make” it happen or to feel the feelings again. Nope. Can’t make it happen. Can’t even bring up the feeling. And yes, even though I believe in this stuff theoretically, having a gut-level personal experience like this is awe-inspiring and a little bit unbelievable. If it hadn’t happened to me I would wonder if something like that could be real. It was real, alright. Way real.
It’s clear that we do not need a medium to connect with our loved ones in the afterlife. That this can occur even when we aren’t trying to make it happen.
But if we do want to cut to the chase and use a medium, we shouldn’t expect them to donate their time.
Have you had an experience like mine? I’d love to hear about it.
Wow, Carol, what an incredible experience and it does make you wonder. Even though I have never experienced anything that powerful, I have had my grandparents appear to me in dreams with words of wisdom.
I have had several experiences like this. My brother talks to me in dreams (a medium recently recited one of these conversations to me and it left me shaken in a good and a frightened way for days) but while awake I often feel him at times when he would be there IRL.
This week I am staying at my bff’s house. She passed away in February, on my birthday. She told me in a dream that she knew I was the only one who could handle that. Her sister, father and another close friend have February birthday’s.
Her daughter and husband are disappointed she has not come to them.
As the girl was getting dressed for her ceremony a song her mother sang to her since she was a baby came on the radio, we were all a teary mess and knew she was there.
How wonderful to have a pleasant visit from your Father. Of course it would be great to just conjure up our deceased beloveds , but it don’t work that way!
I used to be able to hear dogs. It was a gift. Not all dogs but many. I would know what is going on and tell their owners. I had to be present in the dog’s company and touching the dog. Sometimes what the dog said was not the concern I was brought in for and I couldn’t get the dog to talk about it. I really couldn’t tell the dog anything just receive. As far as payment, often I was called to see if it was time to put the dog down. I could not bring myself to charge a grieving owner. When I got cancer and started having chemotherapy I lost my powers. Every now and then I will get a glimpse with a dog but nothing like I previously enjoyed.
What a powerful story. We live in the home that was owned by my husband’s best friend’s parents, and I was also very close to the woman who lived here. She passed away very peacefully here, surrounded by her family. When we first moved in, I had several instances where I very strongly felt her presence in the hallway near our bedroom. I always felt she was letting me know that she was happy we were here. I can’t imagine not paying a medium for their services.
That is such a wonderful experience you had. Great blog. I know mom’s are probably extremely telepathic and such. Maybe it’s the bond they share with their children. It’s an intense soul touching experience.
For me it’s my dreams. Once in a while I have a dream about him and I KNOW that that particular dream was truly him there. Like you, part of me believes it, part of me doesn’t. I get a lot of those feelings while I’m awake, or asleep. Not from family all the time. That’s why I don’t lie when I say there are things in my house. Maybe they’re drawn here. Don’t know. It’s like I’m more tuned in and yet, I fight it so I am not. If that makes sense, lol. I’ve had too many instances of dreams coming true that have had to do with my friends or family, even pets, and also just “feelings” that I really shouldn’t doubt myself, but it’s an interesting experience to say the least.
Thanks, Carol, for your post. I have many of the same sentiments. My friends know that if I feel something about something it is likely that it will be written all over my face. I stand up for the underdog and usually say what I think. It can get me into some trouble sometimes but I do it anyway. I have never been able to understand how people can sit in a room and talk around things. I can’t tell you how many times I have spoken the truth to have others look at me like I am out of my mind. Maybe this has something to do with being from New York. I’ve always felt that New Yorkers were more direct communicators and that this is interpreted as rudeness. I accept this about myself now and have learned how to say things in a more toned down way that meets California standards. I’ll never forget when I left a research group at Berkeley the director and staff gave me a book with the words wild woman in the title. I guess that says it all, LOL!
Wow. Got goose bumps. I read something that said if we just imagine our loved ones, we can call them forth. Sometimes I talk to my father, although I’m never sure if he’s really there. Many times I’ve asked, “Where are you?” I always get the same answer. “I’m everywhere.”
[…] Maybe it never really happened. But I know I wasn’t day dreaming. I know it happened and I wrote about it, HERE. So the simplest explanation is that my father visited me with a message of love from the other […]
Here you’ll find my blog, some of my essays, published writing, and my solo performances. There’s also a link to my Etsy shop for healing and grief tools offered through A Healing Spirit.
I love comments, so if something resonates with you in any way, don’t hesitate to leave a comment on my blog. Thank you for stopping by–oh, and why not subscribe so you don’t miss a single post?
Wow, Carol, what an incredible experience and it does make you wonder. Even though I have never experienced anything that powerful, I have had my grandparents appear to me in dreams with words of wisdom.
That’s very possibly a visitation. Words of wisdom–wish I’d get some of those!
I have had several experiences like this. My brother talks to me in dreams (a medium recently recited one of these conversations to me and it left me shaken in a good and a frightened way for days) but while awake I often feel him at times when he would be there IRL.
This week I am staying at my bff’s house. She passed away in February, on my birthday. She told me in a dream that she knew I was the only one who could handle that. Her sister, father and another close friend have February birthday’s.
Her daughter and husband are disappointed she has not come to them.
As the girl was getting dressed for her ceremony a song her mother sang to her since she was a baby came on the radio, we were all a teary mess and knew she was there.
That is so moving–of course she was there! Lovely.
That must have been incredibly powerful. I got goosebumps just reading about it.
Whenever I have my doubts, and believe me, I do, I think about that.
How wonderful to have a pleasant visit from your Father. Of course it would be great to just conjure up our deceased beloveds , but it don’t work that way!
I used to be able to hear dogs. It was a gift. Not all dogs but many. I would know what is going on and tell their owners. I had to be present in the dog’s company and touching the dog. Sometimes what the dog said was not the concern I was brought in for and I couldn’t get the dog to talk about it. I really couldn’t tell the dog anything just receive. As far as payment, often I was called to see if it was time to put the dog down. I could not bring myself to charge a grieving owner. When I got cancer and started having chemotherapy I lost my powers. Every now and then I will get a glimpse with a dog but nothing like I previously enjoyed.
Haralee, that is fascinating.
What a powerful story. We live in the home that was owned by my husband’s best friend’s parents, and I was also very close to the woman who lived here. She passed away very peacefully here, surrounded by her family. When we first moved in, I had several instances where I very strongly felt her presence in the hallway near our bedroom. I always felt she was letting me know that she was happy we were here. I can’t imagine not paying a medium for their services.
Isn’t it funny that when you ask the question, the experiences come out? But mostly we’re not talkin’ about this stuff. Thanks for sharing, Lana!
Carol, I love that you are balancing belief and doubt, and sharing all of this with us.
That is such a wonderful experience you had. Great blog. I know mom’s are probably extremely telepathic and such. Maybe it’s the bond they share with their children. It’s an intense soul touching experience.
For me it’s my dreams. Once in a while I have a dream about him and I KNOW that that particular dream was truly him there. Like you, part of me believes it, part of me doesn’t. I get a lot of those feelings while I’m awake, or asleep. Not from family all the time. That’s why I don’t lie when I say there are things in my house. Maybe they’re drawn here. Don’t know. It’s like I’m more tuned in and yet, I fight it so I am not. If that makes sense, lol. I’ve had too many instances of dreams coming true that have had to do with my friends or family, even pets, and also just “feelings” that I really shouldn’t doubt myself, but it’s an interesting experience to say the least.
Thanks, Carol, for your post. I have many of the same sentiments. My friends know that if I feel something about something it is likely that it will be written all over my face. I stand up for the underdog and usually say what I think. It can get me into some trouble sometimes but I do it anyway. I have never been able to understand how people can sit in a room and talk around things. I can’t tell you how many times I have spoken the truth to have others look at me like I am out of my mind. Maybe this has something to do with being from New York. I’ve always felt that New Yorkers were more direct communicators and that this is interpreted as rudeness. I accept this about myself now and have learned how to say things in a more toned down way that meets California standards. I’ll never forget when I left a research group at Berkeley the director and staff gave me a book with the words wild woman in the title. I guess that says it all, LOL!
Wow. Got goose bumps. I read something that said if we just imagine our loved ones, we can call them forth. Sometimes I talk to my father, although I’m never sure if he’s really there. Many times I’ve asked, “Where are you?” I always get the same answer. “I’m everywhere.”