The Appropriate Giving and Receiving of Thanks and Accreditation

By

George Nicol

......”One commonly hears of mediums being over or undervalued or of mediums receiving inappropriate thanks and accreditation; but one seldom hears of mediums being given appropriate value or of receiving appropriate thanks and accreditation. One commonly hears of mediums being placed on pedestals on which they do not belong, and one commonly hears of mediums receiving credit and thanks to which they are not entitled. One commonly hears such things not only from people who do not know better – as one would expect – but one also commonly hears such things from those who do and should know better – as one would not expect.

I cannot tell you how many times I, who merely deliver the spiritual healing energy, and who, in effect, is just a spiritual messenger boy, have inappropriately received all the thanks and accreditation for spiritual healing, while spirit, the source of the spiritual healing energy and the real healer in the spiritual healing process, received none! There can be no greater inappropriate apportionment of thanks and accreditation than when they are given to the spiritual medium in that way.

You may ask then: “Why do people over or undervalue mediums, and why are inappropriate thanks and accreditation given?” The answer is: “It is because people are ignorant AboutSpirit. They just do not understand the spiritual mediumship process and the role of the medium and the role of spirit in that process. They do not understand that spirit, utilizing the power of the spirit that derives from spirit, produces the spiritual phenomena, while the spiritual medium is the means, the instrument, or the medium, through whom the spirit power is channelled and the spiritual phenomena produced.

People do not understand about the source and the means. They do not understand the distinction between the two. People, for instance, usually think the source and the means are one and the same when they are not. Their ignorance causes them to thank the spiritual medium and only the spiritual medium. Because they seem to believe the medium and spirit are one and the same, this also causes them to overvalue the medium to the extent that they completely forget about spirit and place no value on it!

But how could you expect people to know the truth when teaching and learning about such things are inadequate and have gone astray? How, for instance, could you expect people to know the truth when they have never been taught the truth? How could you expect people to know about the mechanics of the spiritual mediumship process, about the correct valuing of spirit and spiritual medium, and about the appropriate giving and receiving of thanks and accreditation, when they have not even had the opportunity of learning about such things? How could you expect people to know the truth about such things when the „knowledge‟ that has been taught to them or the knowledge they have acquired is completely incorrect or only partially correct? How could you expect people to know the truth about such things when they have been taught correctly but have not learned correctly? How could you possibly expect things to be as they spiritually should be under such circumstances?

You also occasionally find such misvaluing, and inappropriate thanks and accreditation etc given by those who have been taught the truth about such things, who are highly knowledgeable AboutSpirit and who do understand the role of the medium and the role of spirit in the spiritual mediumship process.

You may ask: “If those people are knowledgeable AboutSpirit, how can they possibly misvalue the spiritual medium and give inappropriate thanks and accreditation? “ “It is - to paraphrase what I have just said – still

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because of ignorance AboutSpirit. Their ignorance is not due to a problem in teaching or to incorrect information, it is due to a problem in learning. If they have been taught correctly that must be so.

You should realize that a person may be knowledgeable AboutSpirit, but no one, however knowledgeable, can possibly know everything AboutSpirit. That would be completely impossible. Why? Because spirit and the science that relates to the spirit is infinite. Thus, every spiritually knowledgeable individual must have gaps in their knowledge and must be spiritually unknowledgeable about many areas and aspects of areas of spiritual science. They must have misconception and misunderstanding. Such deficiencies, however, do not prevent a person being described as knowledgeable AboutSpirit. If knowing and understanding everything AboutSpirit were a requirement for people to be spiritually knowledgeable, then no one would be spiritually knowledgeable.

With the spiritually knowledgeable people you ask about, the deficiencies and gaps of knowledge, understanding and appreciation lie in the fundamental aspects of spiritual theory that involve value of the medium, and the giving of appropriate thanks and accreditation. What I would add though is that because the deficiencies and gaps lie in what are the most basic and fundamental aspects of spiritual theory, such individuals may be spiritually knowledgeable, but I would not describe them as being very spiritually knowledgeable. I would describe them rather as being relatively more spiritually knowledgeable.

The spiritually knowledgeable who are guilty of misvaluing the spiritual medium can, of course, either undervalue or overvalue the medium. When they undervalue them, it seems to me that they will most probably have the associated spiritual theory generally correct but they lack appreciation of the true value of the medium. That is what they get wrong. Their mistake lies not in placing great importance and value on spirit. Neither does their mistake lie in thinking spirit is much more important than the spiritual medium. Those things are entirely correct. Their mistake lies in placing virtually no - or not nearly enough - importance and value on the spiritual medium and the role they play in the spiritual mediumship process. Such placing is emphatically not correct.

What those people do not seem to appreciate is that without the spiritual medium, there would be no spiritual mediumship. There cannot be spiritual mediumship without both the power and the means. They do not seem to appreciate that spiritual mediumship is a team process and that the spiritual medium is a vital member of that team. They do not seem to appreciate that the standard of the results of mediumship depends on the standard of the spiritual medium. They do not seem to appreciate that the standard of the medium at the time of mediumship depends on the medium‟s basic everyday spiritual vibrational state plus the additional spiritual vibrations they create as a result of their preparation for mediumship. They do not seem to appreciate that the greater those spiritual vibrations, the greater the mediumship and the greater the results that can be produced through mediumship. They do not seem to appreciate that there are no limits as to how great they can make those vibrations through their own spiritual efforts. Thus, the standard of the medium during mediumship practice depends on who they are spiritually and what they produce spiritually. This information clearly indicates not only that the medium is important in the spiritual mediumship process but that they are very very important. It also clearly indicates that those who undervalue the spiritual medium are wrong to do so.

Unfortunately, when people place little importance and value on the medium in that way, and when the medium places little importance and value on themself and on what they do, that will allow appropriate thanks and accreditation to be given to spirit but it will not allow appropriate thanks and accreditation to be given to the medium. Nor will it readily allow the medium to receive the appropriate thanks and accreditation to which they are rightly, fairly and justly entitled. If the medium is perceived to be of little value, why would they be worthy of being given or of receiving much - or any – thanks and accreditation? Such placing also does not prompt the medium to make the effort to prepare well as a medium and for mediumship. If the medium does not value

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themself very much, if they do not think they, and what they do are important, where is their motivation to make the effort to prepare well? This must cause the results of mediumship to suffer.

When the spiritually knowledgeable overvalue the spiritual medium, they will most probably know that spirit does the work in mediumship and that the medium is the means, but somehow, perhaps through ego and forgetfulness, perhaps because of the subtlety of the spirit, perhaps because of the high esteem directed at them from others, perhaps because that is how they have been taught and conditioned, spirit is placed into the background and becomes relatively unimportant while the medium is placed to the front and becomes virtually all-important. That placing does not readily allow either spirit or the medium to be given their due thanks and accreditation. It allows spirit to be given insufficient and the spiritual medium to be given too much thanks and accreditation. If the medium overvalues themself it encourages them to give insufficient thanks and accreditation to spirit and it allows them to receive too much thanks and accreditation from another or others.

The mistake of the spiritually knowledgeable in overvaluing the spiritual medium lies not in placing importance and value on the spiritual medium and the role they play in the spiritual mediumship process. Such placing is emphatically not incorrect. Their mistake lies in their placing far too much importance and value on the spiritual medium and the role they play in the spiritual mediumship process. Their mistake also lies in not placing relatively much more importance in value on spirit and the role it plays in the spiritual mediumship process.

What those people do not seem to appreciate is that without spirit there would be no spiritual mediumship. There cannot be spiritual mediumship without both the means and the power. They do not seem to appreciate that spiritual mediumship is a team process. They do not seem to appreciate that spirit is not only a member of that team but is by far the most important member of that team. Those people may know, but they do not seem to appreciate, that the standard of results of mediumship depends on the standard of the spiritual vibrations that are channelled through the medium. They do not seem to appreciate that those spiritual vibrations derive from spirit and only from spirit. They do not seem to appreciate that the best spiritual vibrations from spirit require their best attunement with spirit. It seems to me that when the spiritual medium undervalues spirit, that will not prompt them to make the effort to be as well attuned to spirit as they could be. If the spiritual medium and others involved in the spiritual mediumship process undervalue spirit, if they do not appreciate its vital importance, where is their motivation to connect and to be well connected with it? This must also cause the results of mediumship to suffer.

This information clearly indicates not only that spirit is important in the spiritual mediumship process but that it is very very important. It indicates that both the spiritual medium and spirit are very important. However, although the spiritual medium and spirit are both very important, it is spirit that is more important. Indeed, spirit is not merely more important, it is all important in the spiritual mediumship process because the spiritual mediumship process is entirely determined by spirit and spiritual vibrations and by the state of spirit and spiritual vibrations. This information clearly indicates that those who undervalue spirit are very wrong to do so.

When, however, people do have correct knowledge and appreciation of the roles of spirit and the medium in the spiritual mediumship process, when people do place appropriate importance and value on spirit and on the medium, and when the medium places appropriate importance and value on themself and on what they do, that allows appropriate thanks and accreditation to be given to both spirit and the medium. That also allows appropriate thanks and accreditation to be received by the medium. It therefore allows thanks and accreditation to be given and received as it spiritually should be. Such placing prompts the medium to make the effort to prepare as well as they possibly can as a medium and for mediumship. It prompts the medium to make the effort to be well attuned and connected to spirit. Such preparation, attunement and connection can only produce superior results.

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It should be apparent to you then that you will not get the best results from mediumship if you do not value spirit and the spiritual medium correctly. This serves as an example of the correlation of good mediumship to correct thought and to good thought about mediumship.

Let me make it quite clear to you that you will not get your best spiritual results if you are ignorant AboutSpirit – especially if such ignorance lies in the area of basic fundamental spiritual theory. You see, the spiritual practice you do is based upon the spiritual fundamentals, and if these are askew, that which is built upon them must also be askew.”

It seems to me that before you listened to what I have just said about the correct value of spiritual mediums and spirit, and about the appropriate and inappropriate giving and receiving of thanks and accreditation, you would probably have thought that that would just be something about spiritual etiquette, spiritual courtesy, and spiritual manners. You may have thought that that was something appropriate for those involved in spiritual mediumship to know. You may have thought it was appropriate to know, which indeed it is, but you would probably not have appreciated the true importance of knowing and not have appreciated the importance of knowing to the practice of mediumship.

It seems to me that after you have listened to what I have said you will know that that was not just about respect, courtesy, manners and correct spiritual communication, but also about how a) understanding and appreciation of correct value of the medium and spirit; b) understanding the role of spiritual medium and spirit in the spiritual mediumship process; and c) about how the appropriate giving and receiving of thanks and accreditation promote mediumship and increase the results from mediumship.

It seems to me then that topics like valuing spirit and the spiritual medium, and topics like the appropriate giving and receiving of thanks and accreditation are worthy of more than just a little discussion and consideration. It also seems to me that such topics are worthy of a chapter in a book AboutSpirit, spiritual healing and mediumship. Indeed, such a book must be diminished by their omission.

Let me point out to you that spirit and the things and topics of the spirit appear on the surface to have no importance. They typically appear to be nothing and typically appear to be worth nothing and to have no value. They typically appear to produce effects of no or extremely little value. They appear not to be worth the allocation of any time for study or consideration. If spirit and the things and topics of the spirit appear to be unimportant, to be worth nothing, to have no value, and to produce effects of little or no value, why should people bother with them?

However, how spirit and the things and topics of the spirit appear to be on the surface are the exact opposite of how they actually are. Thus, spirit and the things and topics of the spirit are important. They are worth something. They do have value. They do produce positive effects. They are worthy of time, effort, study and consideration.

Indeed, as spirit and the things of the spirit are the exact opposite of how they actually appear, there can be nothing of greater importance, greater worth, greater value, greater effect and nothing more worthy of time, effort, study and consideration than spirit and the things and topics of the spirit. The Appropriate Giving and Receiving of Thanks and Accreditation is an example of one of those topics.......”

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It is unfortunate that people focus on spiritual messengers, regard them with awe, place them on pedestals where they should not be, elevate them up to a position in the starry heavens where they do not belong - where they were never intended to be - and forget about the Great Spirit. It is unfortunate, because the awe they have and the placing on pedestals that they do should be reserved for the Great Spirit and only for the Great Spirit – and not for spiritual messengers.

Jesus is an example of someone who has been incorrectly and inappropriately placed on such a starry pedestal. This placing is actually anti-Christian in the true sense of the word because it separates and places the average person apart from Jesus; and in doing so, prevents and discourages people from doing what Jesus requested - which was, amongst other things, to go out and heal the sick in the manner in which He did.

Many people mistakenly place Jesus on the same pedestal and level as God or spirit. Many even erroneously declare the two to be one and the same. That is something a knowledgeable spiritual medium like Jesus would never declare. It is something no knowledgeable spiritual medium or spiritually knowledgeable person today would ever declare either.

It puzzles me greatly how people can arrive at the belief that Jesus is God in light of His words: “The Father and I are one” and “It is the Father that doeth the work.” What those words mean is that: “I am in close attunement with God. My will is the same as God‟s will.” “God‟s power does all the work in producing the „miracles‟ or spiritual phenomena. I am merely the means, the instrument or the medium through whom God‟s power is channelled so that the work can be done.” By such words, Jesus declares He is a great medium. He also indicates His role and the role of spirit in spiritual mediumship and spiritual teaching.

Can you see then that because Jesus is not God, it is not appropriate to overvalue Him or to thank and accredit Him for mediumship? Can you also see that because Jesus is not God, it is not appropriate to pray to Jesus – or indeed to anyone else? I do not say you should not value Jesus; of course, you should give Him the love, respect, esteem and value that someone of His spiritual status and spiritual accomplishments deserves. However, you should not pay either Him or anyone else „wages‟ they do not deserve and „wages‟ to which they are not entitled. You must ensure that all such „wages‟ are apportioned correctly and appropriately.

We may say that the above placing is anti-Christian, but as the teachings and „miracles‟ of Jesus all derive from spirit, we can say that that placing is in fact anti-spiritual. That placing opposes the will of Jesus – but more importantly, it opposes the will of spirit. This is a matter of some concern – and it should be to someone who desires to follow the spiritual path - because if one desires to develop and live in a true spiritual way one cannot do so if one opposes the will of spirit! It is only by being in harmony with the Great Spirit that this can occur.

You may say: “But what harm can placing Jesus on a pedestal really do? My response is: “What harm?! It is hard to imagine how you could cause greater harm to Jesus and to His spiritual mission than to do that. You see, by placing Jesus on such a pedestal, you sabotage His spiritual mission. You impose a tremendous barrier that prevents an important aspect of His spiritual mission being fulfilled. That aspect cannot be fulfilled while Jesus remains on that pedestal. It can only be fulfilled when Jesus is brought down to earth and placed on the same level as every other human being. That is how it is spiritually meant to be.

You see, the placing of Jesus on a pedestal in the starry heavens creates the belief that people cannot do the things Jesus did, that people should not do the things Jesus did, and that the things Jesus did could only occur in biblical times and at no other times. The placing of Jesus on a pedestal does not only create the belief that people cannot and should not do what He did, it also creates the belief that people are incapable of doing more than He did. You cannot tell me that such beliefs are in accord with the words of Jesus, who said: “Go and heal the sick ...[in the manner I do]” and “All these things and more shall ye do.” Because the above beliefs are the exact opposite of the teachings of Jesus, they can only be - and can be no other than - anti-Christian. Surely, no one who truly seeks to follow the ways of the Christ could be happy with that.”

People must understand and must never forget that spirit is always and should always be primary while everyone and everything else is secondary and should always be secondary. Thus, people should remember

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and should never forget that the real importance of the spirit messenger lies not with them personally but with the spirit messages, the spiritual teachings and the demonstrations of spirit power they deliver from spirit.

Every spiritually knowledgeable spirit deliverer knows that it is the spirit delivery – not them - that is more important. Unfortunately, many people do not understand that. So often, they place the deliverer to the fore and place the delivery to the rear where its importance is virtually forgotten. This is not as it spiritually should be. And why is it that people put the spiritual cart before the spiritual horse? It is because they are not very knowledgeable spiritually.

It is mostly non-mediums who value mediums inappropriately or who express inappropriate thanks and accreditation to mediums. This is as one would expect because non-mediums are the ones who are much more likely to be spiritually ignorant and spiritually misinformed. However, it should not be thought that all mediums are fonts of spiritual knowledge and understanding. Some are spiritually ignorant and spiritually misinformed. In addition, some mediums have such a high opinion of their own importance that they either verge on arrogance and self-conceit or they actually are arrogant and self-conceited. Because of spiritual ignorance and/or arrogance, some mediums value themselves inappropriately. Some mediums therefore are not only inappropriately placed on pedestals by others but they inappropriately place themselves on pedestals. This cannot be as it spiritually should be; and because it is not, the spiritual vibrations of the medium – and all that that involves – cannot be as they should be either.

Whenever one meets a medium who holds such attitudes, one can be quite sure that one has not met a medium of the highest calibre. One has not met a medium of the highest spiritual vibrations nor has one met a spiritually knowledgeable medium. A spiritually knowledgeable medium would know the importance of attaining the highest possible spiritual vibrations. They would know how to achieve that. They would know the possession of such attitudes would prevent that.

The medium – or any religious and spiritual authority - cannot be very spiritually knowledgeable if they do not know their role and their place in the spiritual scheme of things. You see, such knowledge is at a basic kindergarten level – and if one does not even know that, then their spiritual knowledge – and the information they provide from their knowledge and understanding - can be none other than questionable and suspect.

In my opinion, a good spiritual healer or a good spiritual medium would never accept inappropriate thanks and accreditation. You see, a good spiritual healer or a good spiritual medium are good not just because of the quality of the spiritual energy they channel but also because they live spiritual lives and because they are spiritually knowledgeable and of high personal spiritual vibrations.

The good spiritual healer and medium are therefore selfless – never selfish - and understand their role and spirit‟s role in the production of spiritual phenomena. I do not say that the good medium would not accept appropriate thanks and accreditation for that which they have earned and for that which they are entitled, but what I do say is that the good medium would not and could not accept thanks and accreditation for that which they have not earned and for that which they are not entitled. For them, it would be completely unacceptable to accept thanks and accreditation that was due to spirit.

What a good medium should do whenever they receive inappropriate thanks and accreditation is to politely refuse to accept them. The medium should not be annoyed or angry at receiving such inappropriate thanks and accreditation because they derive from gratitude, ignorance or forgetfulness. The giver of the inappropriate thanks and accreditation should not be dragged over the coals for the giving of misdirected gratitude. Nor should they be dragged over the coals for being a bit forgetful, which can happen to anyone. It is certainly better to receive misdirected gratitude than to receive no gratitude at all. The medium should appreciate that the giver will most likely deliver thanks and accreditation inappropriately unless they have moved in spiritual circles and/or have knowledge of spiritual theory. Even people who are rich in the social graces of the physical world will almost certainly give inappropriate thanks and accreditation – unless, of course, they have also moved in spiritual circles and/or have knowledge of spiritual theory. If the medium receives no thanks and accreditation of any kind, their nose may a bit out of joint. However, the medium should appreciate that such bad manners may be due to a bit of

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forgetfulness on the individual‟s part and/or it may be due to the individual concerned being poor in the social graces of this world.

On receiving inappropriate thanks and accreditation, the spiritual medium should politely refuse to accept them then diplomatically educate the „perpetrator‟ or „perpetrators‟ as to the appropriate apportionment of thanks and accreditation and for the medium to enlighten them as to the medium‟s role and spirit‟s role in the production of spiritual phenomena. If for some reason the spiritual medium does not think it is appropriate to educate the individual in that way, they may still succeed by educating them in another way – by giving appropriate thanks and accreditation in the their presence. That may prompt the individual to give appropriate thanks and accreditation on another mediumship occasion. Such education will only take a minute or two, but what it will do is to reduce – however slightly - misunderstanding while simultaneously increasing knowledge of spirit and the things of the spirit which are so very important in this spiritually dark and ignorant world.

Let me tell you that the few minutes the medium – or knowledgeable other - spends in reducing misunderstanding and increasing knowledge of spirit and the things of the spirit will be a few minutes well spent – indeed it is difficult to think of a better use of one‟s time and energy. It is difficult because there is no better use of one‟s time and energy. What continually educating people in the above way also does is that it reinforces in the mind of the medium their role and their place in the spiritual scheme of things which the medium can sometimes be apt to forget.

What should be considered is that when the medium is ignorant or becomes slothful, tired, lazy, or forgetful and inappropriately accepts thanks and accreditation to which they are not entitled and fails to enlighten the „perpetrator‟ appropriately, is that they actually perpetuate and reinforce misconception and misunderstanding instead of eliminating or reducing it as they should do!

Because the individual is not corrected by the medium, the individual automatically assumes that what they have done is correct. And why would they not? They naturally assume that it is appropriate to give thanks to the medium for the mediumship when it is not. If the medium is not a good one and accepts thanks and accreditation for the mediumship, the individual will also think that it is appropriate for the medium to accept thanks for the mediumship. When the individual next receives healing and mediumship, they will thank the medium for the mediumship and expect the medium to be grateful for it. What the individual may also do is to teach this behaviour to others, further spreading inappropriate behaviour. Also, when we have one group of people expressing thanks and accreditation appropriately and another group expressing thanks and accreditation inappropriately, we send mixed messages which are not conducive to clarity.

It should never be assumed that an individual – especially a beginner – must know about the appropriate giving and receiving of thanks and accreditation. The individual can only know that if they have been taught properly. You would not expect an individual to know the social graces if they had not been taught them. Why would you expect the story for the spiritual graces be any different?

Similarly, it should not be assumed an individual – especially a beginner – must know about things like how to think and behave appropriately in meditation, spiritual healing and spiritual development groups etc. The individual cannot know unless they are taught. Such knowledge is not imprinted in their DNA! I tell you that if the individual acts inappropriately at such times it cannot be their fault but the fault of those who failed to teach them properly. How often have I witnessed a completely innocent beginner blamed for the inadequacies and failures of another.

It seems to me that when mediums spread the spiritual light and when they spread light on spirit they are doing a good job. When they do that, they do not fall down on the job. It is by doing that – amongst other things – that allows a medium to be classified as good. When they do that then they are a good servant to and of the spirit and a good agent of the light. However, on occasions when mediums fail to spread the spiritual light, when they fail to shed light on spirit and the things of the spirit, when they spread darkness, they must be falling down on the job. When they do that, they cannot be classified as good. On such occasions, it seems that instead of being good servants of the spirit and good agents of the light they are virtually servants and agents of the darkness! It is hard to say that they are not agents or mediums of the darkness because darkness is what they are creating and darkness is what they are spreading. I do not

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condemn any medium for occasionally falling down on the job – after all mediums are only human and therefore imperfect – but what mediums should do is to endeavour to fall down on the job as infrequently as possible.

I do not say a good medium needs to know all the spiritual answers. That would not be possible. If that were a requirement then there would not be any mediums who could be classified as good. But it is not unreasonable to say that a good medium should be capable of answering all basic frequently asked spiritual questions. If a medium does not know much about basic spiritual theory, then they should make the effort to know. Unless and until they do that, unless and until they have that basic information in their minds, they cannot provide service in one important area of mediumship. Even should their results from channelling spirit power be absolutely marvellous, without being able to answer basic spiritual queries, their mediumship must be lacking.

As mediums cannot know all the spiritual answers, they should never give the impression that they do. They should never, never, never deliberately answer a question incorrectly to indicate that they do. To do so, of course, produces untruth and unspiritual vibrations and all that that involves. It must mislead and produce misconception in others. If a medium does that sort of thing, it will not be long before they tarnish their own reputation and the reputation of all mediums. What they do damages spirit and the things of the spirit. In truth, such mediums commit a spiritual „sin‟ and are guilty of spiritual vandalism. A medium can hardly commit a greater spiritual transgression than to deliberately mislead a spiritual inquirer so as to perpetuate the false belief in their state of perfection and infallibility.

Let me tell you that a good medium may occasionally mislead and cause misconception but no good medium would ever deliberately do such things. You see, such things derive from egotism and dishonesty and the good medium has left these things behind. I do not say that the good medium and the good spiritual teacher never give incorrect information and never mislead others, but they never deliberately do so. It should be remembered that every medium is still human and as such can make the occasional mistake. No one should ever be condemned for displaying the occasional imperfection.

It should also be considered that quite often when individuals are misled and are in possession of incorrect ideas about spiritual matters, such things may not be the medium‟s and teacher‟s fault. You see, there is teaching and there is learning, and if people have misconception, either or both can be involved. The medium may deliver the spiritual messages and information correctly and do so in the simplest, clearest manner, but it is not the fault of the medium and teacher if the receiver is incapable of comprehension or if they are not developed enough to comprehend.

Thus, while it is frequently the case that „if the pupil doesn‟t know the teacher hasn‟t taught‟, it is not always the case. Therefore, if the pupil does have misconception and non-understanding, the teacher should be concerned, but they should not automatically think that such misconception and non-understanding is their fault.

I tell you, it is not the spiritual teacher‟s fault if the listener asks a question then does not listen as attentively to the answer as they should do. The spiritual teacher cannot be faulted if the listener‟s mind momentarily drifts away, causing them not to hear – or to only partially hear – important information. It is not the spiritual teacher‟s fault if the listener‟s lack of concentration or lack of intelligence causes them to misinterpret or to completely misunderstand what has been presented in the simplest and clearest possible way. It is not the spiritual teacher‟s or spirit‟s fault if the information they give is deliberately altered and perverted by people for their own agenda. I use the word, perverted, because it is not possible to fundamentally alter spiritual teaching that derives from spirit without perverting it.

You may say: “But how can just missing a phrase or two cause the listener to miscomprehend?” “In truth, miscomprehension can occur in the missing of much less than a phrase. If the individual fails to hear the word, „not‟, for instance, or mistakenly inserts the word, „not‟, when it should be absent, this can cause the listener to completely misunderstand what has been said to them. The spiritual teacher also cannot be blamed, if, after providing information to a listener, they ask if the information is clear and understood and the listener indicates by word and body language it was both clear and understood when it was not. The spiritual teacher cannot be faulted when the listener‟s ego does not allow them to admit they were not listening and concentrating and could not

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understand. The spiritual teacher cannot be faulted if the listener‟s ego prevents them from asking the teacher to repeat or clarify. As a result of the apparent positive feedback provided by the listener, the spiritual teacher goes away thinking the listener has completely understood – but unfortunately, they have not. The only way the teacher can be one hundred per cent sure the receiver understands what has been given to them is to put the receiver to the test. You can see that problems in comprehension etc cannot always be due to the inadequacies of the teacher.”

My opinion is that if the spiritual medium or spiritual teacher does not know an answer they should not say they do. They should state clearly that they do not know. It is really not a crime not to know something, as many people seem to think. It is not possible for any person to know everything, to be infallible and to be incapable of error. The crime, however, is when people are deluded into thinking and take any and all steps to convince others they do know everything, that they are infallible, and that they are incapable of error and mistakes.

What the medium and teacher could do if they do not know an answer is to do some research and possibly provide an answer later. If the medium does not know what the answer is but thinks they have an idea what the answer could be, they should proffer the answer and indicate clearly that the answer is an opinion and an educated guess. Quite often, that is the best that can be done because the knowledge to provide a definitive answer may not be known – or may not be yet known – by anyone. When the answerer answers in that way, they provide the truth although they do not provide the answer – and by doing so, they do not cause misunderstanding and misconception.

Every question, of course, has an answer, but the knowledge required to answer the question may not be known, or may not be available. The knowledge required to answer a question may lie far far outside the sphere of human knowledge and experience. It may not be available until the sphere of human knowledge and experience expands over many many years or over many lifetimes to envelop it.

Knowledge may also be withheld by the all-knowing spirit, or rather by spirit law, making it impossible to answer a question. Spirit may release some knowledge but withhold the rest. When that occurs, that may allow the question to be only partially answered. More and more of the answer may unfold as more and more knowledge is released. That may take a very short amount of time or a very long amount of time.

A similar thing happens with questions posed in the physical sciences. Some questions that have been posed centuries ago are now answered. Some such questions are only partially answered while some still remain a complete mystery. In truth, we know more now than we did hundreds of years ago but we still do not know and understand all – nor will we ever. This applies just as much to the spiritual sciences and to the spiritual scientists as it does to the physical sciences and to the physical scientists.

Yet, while having knowledge is very important to answer questions, it is not the only thing required to answer questions. The answerer, for example, will need to understand the knowledge they have in order to answer the question. Of course, the questioner will also need to understand the knowledge they receive too – and unless they do, receiving the answer will be of no use to them.

Another problem is that the questioner may receive the answer, but stubbornly refuse to accept or even consider the answer. I can think of a no more appropriate example of that to include in a book AboutSpirit than the example provided by the complete inability of researchers to accept spirit as the reason for spiritual phenomena. They consider spirit to be too fantastic and too implausible an explanation, and because of that it is utterly rejected. They seem to prefer any explanation but spirit.

Sometimes a question has no definite and universal answer. The answer may involve a number of commonly used options, none of which is universally right or wrong. For example, if we ask the questions: “What is the best way to prepare for mediumship” and “What is the best meditation technique,” we can provide a number of options – all of which may be effective and be in common use. However, what we cannot do is to indicate the best option for all people. We cannot, because what works best for one does not work best for all. Indeed, although all options will work for all people, the option that works best for one may work worse for another. Unfortunately, many teachers

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of spiritual healing, mediumship and meditation disregard tailoring the option to the individual so as to produce the best results. They declare: “My way is the way. It is the best way and the only way of practising. All other ways are either wrong or less efficient.”

Some mediums do not accept any thanks and accreditation at all – but in my opinion that is inappropriate. You see, it cannot be inappropriate for the medium to either be given or to receive and accept that which they have earned and that which they are entitled. Surely, that is a thing of reason, logic and common sense. Is not the „labourer worthy of his wages?‟ That is only appropriate, fair and just.

It is only inappropriate for them to be given, receive and to accept that which they have not earned and that which they are not entitled. After all, the labourer is not worthy of wages which they have not earned and which they are not entitled. For someone to receive something they did not earn and were not entitled, must be inappropriate, unfair and unjust.

While it is not appropriate for the medium to receive and accept thanks and accreditation for the spiritual gifts which do not come from them and which they merely deliver, it is entirely appropriate for them to receive and accept thanks and accreditation for delivering the spiritual gifts. It is appropriate for them to receive and accept thanks and accreditation for making themselves available for healing and mediumship and for preparing themselves as mediums so that the spiritual gifts can be delivered through them. It seems to me that when thanks and accreditation are given to the medium for what they do, and when they are given to spirit for what it does, then thanks and accreditation are given in an entirely appropriate way.

You may say: “But what difference can it possibly make if the medium chooses not to accept appropriate thanks?” “But you see, accepting appropriate thanks and accreditation does make a difference. It makes a very positive difference to the spiritual vibrations in and around the medium. The reception of appropriate thanks and accreditation by the medium is important because this, in short, raises the spiritual vibrations of the medium and healer and promotes better attunement with spirit. We have already noted that the standard of mediumship and the fruits of mediumship depend on the standard of the quality and standard of the spiritual vibrations and spiritual atmosphere. Therefore, anything that promotes the spiritual vibrations is valuable and important and should be included in the practice of mediumship. Indeed, the practice of mediumship must be diminished by their exclusion. The reception of appropriate thanks and accreditation by the medium will provide satisfaction, positively boost the medium‟s ego in an appropriate way, and induce them to produce even higher standards and even greater results. Of course, it is the medium‟s free will to accept or not accept appropriate thanks and accreditation, but if they do not, then they deny themself something that will help raise the quality and standard of their spiritual vibrations and all that that involves. I do not want to say though that choosing not to accept appropriate thanks and accreditation can prevent someone from becoming a good medium, but what I do say is that it will prevent them from getting better results. That has to concern anyone who wants to get the best possible results from mediumship.

I admit that the giving and receiving of appropriate thanks and accreditation may only make a rather small difference to the standard of spiritual vibrations and to the spiritual results obtained, but what should be considered is that a number of such small differences, when added together, make a large difference to the spiritual results obtained. What should also be considered is that a difference may be small but its presence or absence may be the cause of success or failure of the spiritual exercise. Let me point out to you that a difference may appear to be small – and actually be small - but it can be large. The spiritual healer or medium may know that something produces a positive or a negative difference but it is not always known if the difference is big, small or moderate. It is not easy for the spiritual medium to gauge the subtle spirit and the effects on the subtle spirit.”

One can define a spiritual act as an act or an expression of love. This, of course, includes acts and expressions of kindness and gratitude. Loving and spiritual acts and expressions can be found not only in the physical, but also in thought, word and deed. Thus, whenever we think, speak and behave in a loving manner, we think, speak and behave spiritually – and the greater the love we have, can create and express, the greater the spiritual vibrations we have, create and express.

Therefore, it is spiritual - and therefore natural – for people to be thankful and grateful and to express thanks and gratitude in thought, word or deed for what they are receiving, have received or will receive and for people to

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receive due acknowledgement for the services they are giving, have given or will give. It is also spiritual and natural to thank spirit itself for what it is giving, has given and will give. Such thankfulness and gratitude increase the spiritual vibrations and activate the Law of Attraction in a very positive way promoting attunement with spirit and the channelling of spirit power.

On the other hand, if it is spiritual to be thankful, it is unspiritual - and therefore unnatural - for people not to be thankful and not to express thanks for what they have received. It is unnatural, unfair and unjust for people and spirit not to receive due acknowledgement for services they have given. In my opinion, this is not love and loving behaviour. It is disrespectful and completely inappropriate not to be very grateful for the gifts of the spirit, which are the greatest gifts that one can receive. Unfortunately, when we block this giving and receiving, we create an unspiritual and an unnatural state of affairs which causes the spiritual atmosphere to be less conducive for the channelling of spirit power and the production of spiritual phenomena. This is something that no medium should desire.

You should not think that a positive boost to the medium‟s ego is always a bad thing. If such a positive boost to the ego produces the above effects in the medium it cannot be a bad thing. It is only when the ego is boosted and stimulated in a negative way that that is a bad thing. This is what the inappropriate accepting of thanks and accreditation does. It produces things like arrogance and self-conceit which lower the spiritual vibrations by stimulating the lower aspect of the ego and the self.

Some people seem to think that anyone engaged in the production of spiritual phenomena should place the ego and the affairs of the ego completely aside or be devoid of ego completely. It is not possible, however, to do such things because the ego is inseparable from the essential self. It is true that the lower aspects of the ego and the lower aspects of the self can be placed to the side, be mostly inoperative and be in abeyance, but they can never be cast aside.

White Eagle once declared that the white water lily, which symbolizes the higher spiritual self, could not exist without linkage and connection to its muddy roots, which symbolize the lower (un)spiritual self. The higher spiritual vibrations cannot be separated from the lower spiritual vibrations in any spirit being however advanced. Because the lower spiritual – or unspiritual – vibrations exist, and despite the fact they may be mostly inoperative and in abeyance, there is always the possibility that those vibrations can suddenly awaken and govern the thoughts and behaviour of the self of the spiritually advanced soul – even if such awakening and governance is only momentary. What you will generally find is that the less spiritually advanced the soul, the more their unspiritual vibrations awaken and the more they govern the thoughts and behaviour of the self. The more spiritually advanced the soul, the less their unspiritual vibrations awaken and the less they govern the thoughts and behaviour of the self.

The medium should be aware that during mediumship, the spirit power passes and works through their spiritual self and through their spiritual vibrations. What the medium needs to do then if they want to obtain the best possible spiritual results is to ensure the spirit power passes and works through their best possible spiritual vibrational state. Ideally, the spirit power should be transmitted through their higher spiritual self and not through their lower spiritual self. If the lower self awakens and governs the thoughts and behaviour of the self at the time of mediumship – even if such governance is only slight – the medium‟s spiritual vibrations cannot be optimal and so their mediumship must suffer. If the medium feels anger or undergoes some kind of emotional stress at the time of mediumship, their mediumship cannot be up to par – and it will not be up to its usual standard unless they can dispel the anger and attain emotional and mental balance once again. The medium should ensure that the spiritual vibrations in and around their self are as high as they can possibly make them. They must ensure they put aside the stresses and strains of daily life. They must ensure that the lower self and its unspiritual vibrations are inoperative and in abeyance – because if they are not, the spiritual results must be reduced.

How does the medium ensure their spiritual vibrations are right and not wrong for mediumship? How does the medium ensure their spiritual vibrations are as good as they possibly can be? ......By correct and appropriate PREPARATION.

It is not only non-mediums who need to give appropriate thanks and accreditation; mediums need to give that as well. Mediums should not only themselves be thanked for giving a service but they themselves should also give

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thanks for being of service. The medium should give thanks to spirit for sending the spiritual energy through them thus providing the opportunity for the medium to be of spiritual service. Without spirit sending the spirit energy, the medium could offer no spiritual service through mediumship. Without spirit sending its power through the medium there could be no mediumship. The medium should also give thanks before delivering the spiritual service in anticipation of the (good) spiritual result, which they know, will surely occur. Such thanks constitute part of the preparation process. The proffered thanks and the gestures of belief, faith and optimism raise the spiritual vibrations and the thoughts associated with the anticipation of good results help create the reality of good results. It is the Law of Attraction that helps create the good results.

The medium should ensure that they proffer thanks in the above way all of the time and not just some of the time – and they should proffer gestures of belief, faith and optimism in the same manner. If the medium will prepare in that way they will help to optimize the vibrations at each and every mediumship session and they will help to bring about continually better vibrations.

You may say: “It sounds a bit excessive to proffer thanks both before and after mediumship. After all, we only usually proffer thanks after receiving something.” “Yes, it is true that is what we usually do. That is what is usually done. However, that is not what we always do. That is not what should be done. That is not the best way of giving thanks and not the way that produces the best results either in the affairs of the physical or in the affairs of the spiritual. Let me tell you that how we usually give thanks is not the best way of giving thanks, For example, is it not so we sometimes thank people in advance before a service or something is given? Is it not so that the giving of such thanks promotes the giving of the service etc? Does not the giving of appropriate thanks after the giving promote any future giving? Does not the continual giving of thanks promote continually better giving? If you were to create negative vibrations before or after the giving, for instance, by swearing at someone, that cannot promote giving. If you fail to give thanks to someone for a service or gift they supply to you, can you imagine that that promotes future giving? I do not. A similar situation exists with the giving of thanks to spirit. When thanks are given in that way they promote a mutual „going with‟. You should consider that the giving of thanks to spirit before mediumship aims to increase the vibrations of the forthcoming mediumship. Let me point out to you that spirit beings are involved in the production of spiritual phenomena and that because they are essentially the same as you and I, they appreciate and respond to thanks in the same way as you and I respond to thanks. It seems to me then that it is not excessive to proffer thanks both before and after mediumship. As the giving of thanks in that before and after manner produces a superior vibrational state than the giving of thanks only after mediumship, it cannot be considered excessive or inappropriate. It is inappropriate not to give thanks in that manner. Indeed, I will go a step further by saying gratitude should be felt even while the mediumship is occurring. I do not say you should say thanks in the same way as you would at the beginning and ending of mediumship as that would disturb the mediumship, rather you should feel joy, love and gratitude. This must further promote the spiritual vibrations. It would be unnatural and therefore unspiritual – not to feel joy and to be grateful while yourself and others are being helped. Any unnatural and unspiritual thought and behaviour cannot optimize the spiritual vibrations. The spiritual vibrational state during mediumship may be very good, but the existence of unnatural and unspiritual thought and behaviour must cause the vibrational state to be less than optimal.”

Invoking the Law of Attraction through uttering thanks and gratitude through prayer and affirmation causes the thanksgiver to receive things for which to be thankful and grateful. Thoughts and feelings of joy, thankfulness and gratitude at other times also contribute to that effect. The continual giving of joy, thanks and gratitude creates a positive feedback loop which promotes and boosts the spiritual vibrations in ever-increasing circles. This causes the thanksgiver not only to continually receive things for which to be joyful, thankful and grateful but also to continually receive more and more things for which to be joyful, thankful and grateful. If the joy, thanks and gratitude relate specifically to spiritual healing and spiritual healing energy, then the continual giving of joy, thanks and gratitude will cause spirit – or the universe – to send energy that will result in a gradual improvement of the spiritual healing results and the spiritual healing energy.

It is not just a simple case though of spirit sending energy and automatically producing better results. In order for better spiritual results to occur, spirit must also prepare the self of the healer and medium spiritually – and the healer and medium must prepare their own selves spiritually through their own preparation - so they can attune to and channel the vibrations. That must be so because the Law of Attraction decrees that higher vibrations – and the better results they produce – can only attune to and be channelled by those individuals of similar vibration.

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Therefore, if the spiritual healer and medium do not improve in spiritual standard and spiritual vibrations, natural law will prevent them from obtaining better results. As the spiritual vibrations of the healer and medium are gradually raised, so too will they gradually be able to attune to and channel the higher quality spiritual vibrations. As this process gradually occurs, they will experience a gradual increase in results. Is it not apparent that constant better results produce concomitant thankfulness and gratitude?

Anytime we seek to produce the best possible spiritual phenomena we must always think: “What can I do, and what steps can I take, to produce the best possible spiritual attunement?” We already know that the quality and standard of the spiritual result obtained depends on the quality and standard of the spiritual attunement obtained. This is why in preparing the self to channel the power of the spirit – and when preparing others to receive it – we must ensure that all involved in the spiritual process have and express correct and appropriate spiritual thoughts, words and deeds. If the thoughts, words and deeds are appropriate then we help to optimize the spiritual vibrations. But if they are inappropriate, we lower the vibrations and attunement and tend to lower the quality and standard of the results obtained. Silver Birch used to say that if the spirit is right the mind is right – and that is indeed true – but if we want the spirit that passes through us to be good, the mind and state of the mind must also be spiritually good.

If you were to ask me: “When are appropriate thanks and accreditation given?” my answer would be: “Appropriate thanks and accreditation are given – [to paraphrase a biblical quotation] – when thanks and accreditation that are spirit’s are given unto spirit and when thanks and accreditation that are the medium’s are given unto them.”

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