Think of me as a medium that is an over-enthusiastic student, clamoring to be at a master’s side so that I can learn as much as I can, as fast as I can from the spirit. An early mentor of mine (incarnate) teasingly calls me “a bumble bee on cocaine,” now shortened to the nickname: The Bee. (Yes, at first I annoyed her, and now I just find great pleasure in continuing to try to annoy her like I would do to an older sister.)
What I learn by listening and communicating with spirits excites me so much, and has completely changed my life and they way that I think about daily living (and “dying”). I cannot help but want to be in constant communication with them! They are kind to me, patient with me, and they appear so willing to continue to expand me with as much information / insight that I can take through the communications and experiences they deliver to me. This has been the focus of my world as a medium; so far it is much less about doing readings for others so that they can hear messages from those that have passed back to spirit. Perhaps that will change in the future, but for now the conveyor belt of information that is coming to me is only speeding up—delivering more information faster.
Prior to creating Beyond Perspective, I have kept much of this information, and this side of my life, very private. But the pace of the conveyor belt has sped up. And what it is delivering has changed. A highly evolved spirit, that has been taking a much more active role with me, has been coming through with information that is clearly intended for more than just me and the quiet, metaphysical, personal world of mine. He has a definite intent with the information that he delivers, and he comes through so easily. I use pencil and paper when he comes through, and it comes through fast, clear, and without the need for correction. And this is very different than my own writing, where like most of us, I will struggle to apply written English words—let alone use them to describe concepts or constructs that do not exist in our incarnate dimension or in our culture.
So my role with Beyond Perspective is that of the Documentation Department! I will share what he desires to be channeled directly, for as long as he chooses to channel. This may be part of why I came to this life—but I’ll only know that when it is done and I look back. Regardless, I’m going with it, because I cannot wait to get back to spirit!
Some of the content of Beyond Perspective is not channeled directly. It is just me, providing documentation for what I have experienced and learned as a medium, in the event that it may be of interest or use to someone some day. I will write this without using an editor, however you may notice that I need an editor to comply with proper written English. But I think that shared information should come to others just as it comes from the source, personality included, as personality can convey important information. I also find this to be true with spirit communication. (And hey, I’m not being graded on this am I?)
Naturally, there will be many who disagree with what I write, or with how I describe things, or state that they know things differently that what I write. And that is OK. In my role as the Documentation Department, I am not made responsible for convincing anyone of anything (phew)… I am just documenting. If the information is out there, then those higher than me can bring others to it, and the free will of those souls can do the choosing of what to do with it when they encounter it.
An Important Note About Consumerism
Allow me to discuss what I have learned about “being an educated consumer” related to the writings of mediums or channeled communications that exist in books, in person, and on the Internet. There is so much content out there (in our dimension), and very little of it passes a “good consumerism” test.
The fast rule of thumb: Spirits do not rely exclusively on using words to communicate like we do
They don’t need to because they have other ways of communicating that do not require stringing words along in an understandable format in order to communicate (like we have to do when incarnate). They can use words this way, but it is typically shorter in duration, and in my experience it is because the use of words carries additional tones / meaning to the messages. (See chapter 4 of Julia Assante’s book titled “The Last Frontier” for excellent, matter of fact, descriptions of common types of spirit communication.) Here are two ways that you can see this characteristic of spirit communication in action:
- If you want to see examples of what this looks like, go watch a video of George Anderson. George is not what I would call a “conversational” medium—during a reading you can only tell him yes/no, and you are not allowed to have a full-on conversation with him—he is just passing on what he receives. I have had sessions with him and his yes/no format has been very helpful to me so that I can evaluate that he is not taking information from our conversation and extrapolating upon it (which would make the messages harder to confirm were coming from those in spirit). He is excellent, and having sessions with him and experiencing his gift has been invaluable to me. (Thank you George!) Watch how he gets pieces of information communicated to him, and then watch him turn that around into words that he uses with his client. Notice that information that he receives and then conveys seems to come in “packages” to be conveyed. It is NOT lengthy prose! In my experience, George exhibits a very high level of discernment and ethics.
- If you want to experience a medium that has a more conversational style, while also demonstrating a very high level of discernment and ethics, consider a session with Colleen Vanderzyden of Lily Dale. My experiences with Colleen have been excellent and invaluable. (Thank you Colleen!) When working with Colleen, you will be having a conversation, but you can still see her connecting to the spirit and how she gets pieces of information communicated to her, arriving in “packages” similar to how you can see with George Anderson. She has a fun personality, and she is able to communicate with the spirit, receive the information clearly, and still carry on a conversation with you while she conveys the information to you as it came to her. Every medium has their own personality and skill set, and Colleen is able to do both while maintaining a high level of discernment and ethics. For the doubters out there, Colleen proves that there are trustworthy/reliable “conversational” mediums!
Learn to evaluate discernment: Learn to identify someone that is using good/ethical discernment
Likewise, learn to identify those that appear to have some “personal growth opportunities” in how they discern. A medium has to be able to discern what came from the spirit, and differentiate it from what may have come from them, personally in their own head. When you first come into hearing spirit / communicating with spirit, discernment can be difficult. And in my experience, it is something that a medium must be vigilant to keep in mind! (Thank you to Lisa G of Boulder for helping me to learn about discernment!)
No one is perfect, and it is not always 100% clear what has come from spirit versus self. The inner workings of the medium must keep this in mind, and a medium must learn to evaluate the communication and ask for repeats as needed, clarifications as needed, or break their own attention and pull themselves back into a clear mind where good commination can occur. In contrast, those that display some… uh… potential growth opportunities in the area of discernment… are not as vigilant. In my experience, I find these individuals are very tempted to extrapolate beyond what was communicated, mix in things that have come from their own head along with the communication, or may not be communicating with spirit at all. It can be hard to tell what really is spirit communication versus creativity. I am not saying whether their intent is good or bad. But I can tell you that in my experience you can apply the fast rule of thumb, noted above, to start to evaluate it.
The approach that I use with Beyond Perspective
To apply standards to what I communicate, you will notice that I like to use the phrases “In my experience…” or “My experiences have been…” With this approach, I try to explain ONLY what I have experienced, and I work to avoid adding on any piece of information that may not have been part of the communication or part of the experience…no matter how tempting it may be to add in details to help others understand things that are difficult to explain. This is one of the approaches that I have learned to use (from watching others that I respect) to strive for highest level of discernment possible.
A few more words on being an active consumer
You cannot go into the medium’s head to evaluate discernment. But you can notice that good discernment can show up in someone’s ability to discern the difference between what they really heard / experienced as compared to extrapolating or embellishing beyond it in order to “round out” or “fill in the blanks.” Spirit communication doesn’t come in full, drawn out prose, no story line, and rarely is it lengthy dialog. If you see this, it is time to pause and question the level of the communicator’s discernment skill (and possibly the ethics).
Questionable discernment (or weak discernment skill) is tempting for some. Let me be frank, it can be very difficult to put written English words on paper, or to even voice them, in a way that conveys precisely what spirits communicated. I find that some of the weak discernment that I have seen stems from this challenge alone, and for some the temptation is to add too much in—which is where the discernment becomes challenged. Other times, I find that weak discernment comes from those who are uncomfortable with not providing high levels of detail, who are uncomfortable saying “I do not know,” or “That was all that I was able to pick up.” In my experience, I have found that these folks tend to have all the answers, in great detail, and they use words that seem to flow smoothly in a story format. What they experience is not what I experience and is not what I see displayed by mediums that are highly skilled at discernment and that have strong ethics. Beware of highly detailed, flowing stories.
There are times that a very clear connection is made with a spirit that seems to last a good long while and where content and detail can come through better than other times. In my experience, I have found this to be the case only when the spirit and I are more familiar with each other—not unlike how we have good/clear communication with others here in the incarnate world.