Introduction

Spiritualist - "a rational religion based on the proven knowledge that man's spirit survives physical death." (Definition courtesy the Spiritualist Church of Canada.)

My Take: I understand, from brief exposure to Spiritualists, that only part of their religion is based on proving or helping to prove that we survive physical death. Further, it's my belief that whatever it is that is permanent about us is that which preceded 'us', is with us now, and will continue to exist after our current incarnation.

Platform Mediums - This kind of medium literally stands on a platform or stage and tries to remain open to any deceased person who has a living family member or relative in the audience.

My Take: I have witnessed this phenomena on several occasions. Can it be faked? Sure, like just about everything else in life. Can it be real and legitimate? I believe so. There can only be so many setups, so many audience 'plants', so much fake tears, grief, and pain. What if irrefutable evidence about your deceased loved one was presented? Would that, direct experience and all, be enough to convince you?

Psychometric Mediums - This kind of medium 'reads' objects, like rings, watches, key chains.

My Take: The above is what drew me to investigate and experience Spiritualists in the first place. What seems like a snake-oil act on the outside, is fascinating once you get to experience it on the inside. And I did just that on my first night. It proved to be a life-long 'talent' or skill, however one wishes to term it, that has rarely let me down. Looking at the root, psychometry, is a helpful extra in understanding this term. Think about it. If you carry with you and handle, every day, your house or car keys, isn't there at least a slight chance they will in turn 'carry' with them something of your imprint?

Synchronicity - A none-chance event or occurrence. One synchronistic event usually engenders another.

My Take: Consider this fictitious scenario, and then I'll give you the thumbnail version of a real one. Your best friend moves to another city; better still, another country. When s/he lived in your city, s/he used to live within a few blocks of you. One day, unplanned, unscripted, by 'chance', you are driving around in a suburb or far-flung are of your city you don't usually find yourself in. You pop into a diner to grab a snack. And who is there?

The real scenario I want to share with you, and yes, I need to talk about the Law of Attraction here, is more complicated. Living out of town for a short time, I discovered the 'grass' was not greener. In fact, it was decomposed. Just my experience, and I know it doesn't hold true for everyone. So I wanted and in fact needed to get back to the city. I wanted to move as soon as I could (this was after a scant two or three weeks after moving). Taking drives back to the city, the focus was on neighbourhoods I felt I would love to live in. After registering interest in a few of them, a phone number came up for the (literally) first area of choice. After several phone calls, well, no one was answering. The thought was to abandon that neighbourhood. One last call: the property was seen the very next day. A lease was delivered, signed, the day after that. Good luck? I want to tell you why I felt the Law of Attraction played a part. (Interestingly, there was to be a follow-up to this, which in itself was pretty great.)

Tenants in an existing unit, in a small building in a highly sought-after area, had decided to give notice. They were moving onto something better. I was moving onto something better. The meaning, as I saw it -- and again, a similar scenario played out later -- was that no amount of sheer force could have landed me, quite literally, where I wanted and needed to be. Every party in the transaction, so to speak, would gain something important to them.

Intuitive Insight - Loading this one into the self-referential category; and going to call it guided insight into insight. A more conscious, willful expression of insight. Lacking conscious reasoning, a leap forward in the development or trust of one's gut and insight.

My Take: Do you trust your gut? Your instinct? Has it been right; at least periodically? When I've acted from a standpoint of want vs. need, malice vs. answers, greed vs. need, desire vs. deserving, and so on, I have not trusted my gut. Short-term gain, long-term pain. When I've simply wanted to be satisfied, gratified, satiated... on the one hand I have gotten what I wanted or demanded, and on the other hand, I've been delivered endless grief. Perhaps this has not happened to you. The question, to me at least, is this: can you build on your gut, instinct, intuition? My answer is a definite "yes".

Telepathy - Fraught with misunderstanding and misconceptions, the Society for Psychical Research, founded in London in 1882, considered early in their existence "that telepathy genuinely occurred." Perhaps beforehand, but certainly ever since, telepathy has been the subject of wonder, ridicule, mystery. The SPR has at times defined telepathy as "thought transference."

My Take: This is perhaps my most obvious and most hidden gem. The reason? It begs more questions. Telepathy, clairvoyance, psychometry: what are these things? Take our known senses, and extend them. If it's true, as some say, as I say as well, that consciousness is non-local, then it follows that things like telepathy can exist and indeed thrive.