THIS
article is presented by well-known medium Craig Hamilton-Parker, whose advice
on all things psychic
can be seen both on television and in the newspapers.
Ever since the Fox sisters
first experienced the rapping in their Hydesville home, Spiritualist phenomena
have developed in the same spontaneous manner.
At no point did someone say;
"Hey guys, let's form a new religion." It happened of its own
accord and in many places at the same time - a cross correspondence on
a gigantic scale. But this spontaneity has left us with an inconsistent
legacy. There are gaps to be filled in our philosophy.
The arguments will still rage
concerning reincarnation, our relationship
to Christianity and the big questions of religion. Our tolerance has made
us reluctant to follow a dogma. Intuition and spirit advice continue to
be our guides. I approve of this attitude but feel that there is an over-looked
area where we need to deliberately structure our ideas. We need an esoteric
system, a yoga to help our mediums
develop and flower.Here lies our weakness -bad mediumship. Yet given the
appropriate systems our demonstrators can greatly improve their latent gifts.
Gordon Higginson
Gordon
Higginson (1918 - 1993) began demonstrating publicly at the
age of 12. Gordon continued to demonstrate his mediumship in Churches,
Theatres, Halls, including the Albert Hall and astounded hundreds of thousands
of people with his evidential clairvoyance. Because of the strength
of his physical mediumship, many have witnessed materialised spirit forms
in home circles and at the Arthur Findlay College of Psychic Science where
he was the Principal and demonstrated his physical mediumship over many
years. Gordon was a Spiritualist Minister, President of the West Midlands
District Council and President of the Spiritualists National Union from
1970 to his death on 18th January, 1993.
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On the Side of Angels - the story of Gordon Higginson
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Gordon Higginson used to say,
"mediums are born not made." He was right, but only up to a
point. Yes, you need a natural gift in the first place but it is dedication,
hard work and training that makes it flourish.
The techniques used in development
circles are similar to the Eastern traditions of Raja and Kundalini yoga.
We talk about the chakras.
These are the centres of energy that run from the base of the spine to the
crown of the head and correspond to the major nerve centres and endocrine
glands of the body.
Chakra is a Sanskrit word
meaning wheel - a spinning vortex of auric energy. Yoga calls this energy
prana which is another word for the same healing energy or life force
that we use in our work.
Spiritualism owes a lot to
the ancient Eastern traditions, But some of the talks I hear from the
platform demonstrate a sloppy knowledge of yoga and contain many misconceptions
about the chakras.
The worst inconsistency concerns
the spleen centre, Some leading Spiritualist teachers suggest we raise
the energy from the base of the spine firstly to the solar plexus centre,
then to the spleen and upwards through the heart, throat, brow to the
crown of the head. Wrong. The spleen centre comes before the solar plexus,
but many exponents are still teaching the opposite.
This is just one example.
My point is that there are weaknesses and inconsistencies in our systems
and the whole subject should be carefully thought out.
Stansted should then issue
detailed guidelines for church circles. It is refreshing to see that Tibetan
monks have recently lectured at the Arthur Findlay College in Essex. Could
they not help us to perfect our techniques?
Mediumship and clairvoyance
are low down on the yogi's list of priorities. They are considered as sidhis
or powers that are acquired on the pathway to enlightenment.
Spiritualists disagree (our
goal may not be Nirvana) but there is still a great deal to gain by studying
these ancient teachings.
Some of the areas that de-serve investigation include breathing techniques
to in-crease prana energy, meditation methods to promote concentration
and contemplation and some of the more specialist uses for the chakras.
I have introduced the members
of my own development circle to some of these techniques and I am very impressed
at the speed of their progress. Eastern techniques prove to be working.
I am not saying that we should all become yogis, but I do feel that Spiritualism's
philosophy has much to lean. Mediumship has not peaked.
The great mediumistic achievements
of the past were just the start. Times have changed. Mental mediumship
has replaced physical phenomena.
Now it is our duty as mediums
to progress and perfect mental mediumship, and I say we can do this by
looking East.
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