Hello everyone,

I wanted to pop in here and share a story about a little sign from heaven from an animal that recently passed. It's pretty amazing what Spirit can do from the other side to get our attention and let us know that they're still around us.

I had a client a month ago who wanted to connect to her dog, Elliott (the handsome fella on the photo), who had just passed. During the reading, I asked Elliott to show me what kinds of signs he'd be sending her from the other side, to let her know he's still around her. One of the things Elliott showed me was that my client has an intuitive friend, and Elliott would try to communicate through him.

A couple weeks later, as my client was listening through the recording from our session together, she got to the part where Elliott mentioned the intuitive friend, and just then her phone rang. It was her intuitive friend calling, but when she picked up the phone, nobody was on the line. Later she called her friend back, asking about the phone call, and apparently his phone had butt-dialed her, at exactly the right moment.

Stories like this always warms my heart, because I know it isn't always enough for a person to have a reading with me after a beloved animal has passed. We often need direct signs from our loved ones, a personal connection to them. I will share more of these stories from my clients, going forward.

If you have a story of a sign coming through from your loved one, I'd love to hear it in the comments!

Wishing you all a wonderful week,
Thea

When I was little, I was always interested in anything to do with psychics and mediums. I was also very sensitive to other people's energy. I wrote about that whole journey in these two blog posts: When I first realized I was a Medium, & the post Not crazy, just sensitive. Today I wanted to talk about the specific steps I took towards actually developing my mediumship abilities.

You see, it's not usually enough to be born with abilities (I talk more about that concept in this post:  Misconceptions about Psychic Mediums.) Unless you have a mentor from a young age, you still have quite a bit of work to do to uncover, develop, and harness those abilities. In this post I will share the things that I have found helpful towards developing abilities such as mediumship. Even if you don't want to develop the ability of talking to dead people (understandable, I guess?), these are tips that can be applied to most intuitive arts, such as psychic readings.

These tips are based on what I have found helpful for those just starting out, but it is certainly not an exhaustive list, nor does it need to be done in this order, or done at all. You may have a very different journey towards developing your abilities (it is unique for everyone).

1. You are a lot more tuned-in than you realize
   This isn't so much as a tip as it is a little guidance I wish I could give my past-self when I was just starting off. Now in hindsight, I can see I actually was connecting a lot more than I realized, and I see this quite a bit in my students as well.
   
   I highly recommend a mindfulness practice of some kind, as it can really help you become aware of the ways in which you actually are connecting. Start a journal to help remind you of the times you did connect, the times you did get things right, because it can be hard to keep in mind as you go through what is a natural roller-coaster of a journey. It's easy to focus on the negative, but if you have some place you've recorded down all the times things did work out, then you can bounce back quicker on your way to developing your abilities.
   
   
2. Set the intention - Attract it to you
   On my own journey, what really started my development was setting the intention that this was something I wanted. Clarify for yourself why you want to develop this ability? Is it because you want to help people in a deeper way? Do you just feel drawn in this direction? Do you just want to learn how to harness your already working abilities? You might find that as you set your intentions, the perfect learning opportunities or classes or books start to pop up in your life.
   
   
3. Take a class (or five)
   This one is obvious, but even for people who have taken a class before in mediumship, it's actually helpful to continue taking classes from different teachers. Mediumship is not necessarily something you can take a one-day workshop in and all of a sudden you're a great medium. It takes time and effort and practice and learning all the time to develop.
   
   There are mediumship or other intuitive classes being offered pretty much everywhere, and I am also seeing more and more online courses being offered. Even people who teach their classes in-person have an online option for those who can't attend.
   
   If you can't find mediumship-specific classes, then take a class in a different intuitive art. Whenever you're working on developing any kind of intuitive reading, it will automatically help you develop in all other kinds of intuitive readings. So for example, if you can't find a mediumship class, take a psychic reading class instead, because it's bound to still help your mediumship.
   
   Go with a teacher that really resonates with you. Take a look at the things they have available online (whether it's their business' social media posts, or if they have a blog, or their newsletter). If they have recordings of their readings online, see if you like their style of readings. Or take a look at their reviews online. Make sure the teacher feels good to you and your energy and the types of things you are interested in.
   
   
4. Read books
   Books can be helpful additions to your development, though they might not go as deep as a class can. These are some books that I really enjoyed at the beginning of my own development:
   "The Psychic Pathway" by Sonia Choquette
   "You are Psychic" by Debra Lynne Katz
   "Spirited" by Rebecca Rosen
   "Opening to Channel" by Sanaya Roman
   (if you have book recommendations, drop them below in the comments!)


5. Practice with others
   No matter how many books you read on the subject, nothing will help you develop quicker than practicing with real people. Practicing with other people gives you feedback, and helps build your confidence, and teaches you how to navigate real-life reading situations. There are many practice opportunities out there, but one in particular that I can recommend is the online practice circles run by Alyson Gannon at www.spiritcommunication.com. She has one starting this Thursday the 4th of October, and she does these relatively often throughout the year.
   https://www.eventbrite.com/e/psychic-situps-online-classroom-tickets-49070369797
   
   If you are keen on in-person practice, take a look on meetup.com There might just be someone who has created a group that meets for mediumship practice. If there aren't any yet, consider creating your own group on meetup, and organize the practice circle yourself. Local metaphysical stores in your area might also have classes or practice circles going on, or they might be open to hosting one.
   
   
6. Practice with yourself
   If practicing with strangers seems too daunting for you at this point, try learning to use a divination tool and practice on yourself first. Something like oracle cards is easy to learn to use intuitively. Once you've tried this out for yourself a bit, take the next step and search for practice groups on websites like facebook. That way you can take baby-steps towards practicing with others, and begin to build that confidence.
   
   
7. Continue to work on your self-development
   Like I've mentioned before, your mediumship is going to develop over the years as you yourself develop as a person. The more you work on yourself, the better your mediumship will get. In my case, it has been invaluable to my mediumship to work on assertiveness. I continue to work on other things about myself that are out of balance.
   
   
8. Watch others work
   Watch other mediums do readings, whether that means going to see them at audience readings or watching their recordings on youtube, or watching a mediumship reality TV-show. This tip is best used as inspiration to open your mind about what things are possible to bring through in a reading. However, it's important to not compare yourself with those people. Do not use them to measure your success as a medium. Everyone has their own style. You can still rock a reading even if it's a different style than what your fave reader does.
   
   Also, don't compare your readings to those you see on TV-shows, because they are edited down to the 5 minutes of amazing zingers of that reading. Your readings can still be filled with zingers, but it will also likely have some "no"s from the recipient, or confusion, things that are also a natural part of a reading but rarely included in TV-shows. Readings on TV seem to flow much faster than normal, because of that editing. TV doesn't have time for those pauses a reader normally takes.
   
   
9. Be open to a variety of experiences
   Don't just sit inside meditating all the time. By living a normal human life, you are constantly adding things to your "box of references", that spirit can then draw upon in readings with you in the future. Learn new things, watch a new show, get out of your comfort zone, study new subjects, go new places, go to new events, keep adding to your experiences.

If you've already begun developing your abilities, what things have you found most helpful so far?
If you haven't begun developing your abilities yet, what step seems the most daunting to you, or what blocks are you coming up against?
I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

In the meantime, I hope you all have a lovely week

Warmly,
Thea

Happy autumn! One of my favorite seasons is here, and as I write this, the sun is shining through red and gold leaves, but the air is still gently warming. My oldest is back in preschool while my youngest is cuddled in a blanket on the couch.

I've been doing lots more mediumship readings lately, both in Portland/Beaverton and over the phone. Some have been quite heavy, with some murders and some heart breaking accidental passings. So naturally mediumship has been more on my mind lately, as well as the whole process of it all. I have also stumbled upon some cynical skeptics lately, and so I thought I might go deeper into how a reading really works, and why spirits come through the way they do. I've written about group-readings before here, and also the other side, but today I'll focus on mediumship readings in particular.

Why it's not like talking to a living person

In mediumship, the spirits we connect to obviously don't have physical bodies anymore. Since they can't communicate like normal living humans do (by making sounds through the voice box organ), they connect with us soul-to-soul, and communicate with us through energy.

The energy of what the spirit wishes to communicate is then translated in the medium's mind, into images in the mind's eye, words in the head, and feelings in the body, and sometimes a mix of all of them at the same time. This type of communication is often called "mental mediumship", because the energy is translated and revealed through the medium's mind. The medium then must translate those internal impressions into words for the client.

We also have what is called "physical mediumship" which is when the spirit makes itself known through physical phenomena, or by showing itself to the medium as if they are a real living human being, or by the medium going into a deep trance to let the spirit talk through them. These processes are much less common, since it takes a lot more energy for the spirit to come through in these physical ways, and people are generally less enamored by that style of mediumship these days. I personally only do mental mediumship.

Why do spirits communicate "unimportant" details?

I listened to a podcast recently where two skeptics attended a mediumship audience reading with a famous medium, and they talked about their experience (they were not convinced in any way). Their first criticism was that they feel mediums just don't bring through enough evidence. Their second criticism was that the medium is just telling people what they already know. The podcasters asked why a spirit would come through with the fact that they had brown hair when they finally have a chance to come through a medium? (good question)

Identifying Information and Evidence

The spirit chooses what types of information to bring through for the medium. They tend to start off with identifying information, such as physical appearance, or relation to the client ("mom" or "friend" etc). The identifying information helps the client know who is coming through to communicate. The spirit will also usually bring through more evidential information about themselves, such as personality, or how they passed, or what they did for a living, or habits, or their relationship to the rest of the family, favorite memories, etc. 

These would be things that the client would know about already and can verify that that is true about their loved one. Anybody could say they had your mom there, but the additional information helps prove that it is indeed your mom coming through.

The additional information also helps us clarify who is coming through. Sometimes a spirit comes through first feeling like a father, and the client assumes it is their dad coming through. Then upon further details and information, they realize it is actually their father-in-law coming through (naturally still feeling like a father-figure), and not who they originally thought. Details like appearance are sometimes included for a fuller picture about who is coming through. This is why spirits bring through seemingly unimportant information about themselves. They are of course not there just to say that they had brown hair, but it helps identify them.

Delayed Evidence

The podcasters' third criticism was that mediums also bring up information that the client can't verify. Before I explain why mediums do this, I want to take a moment to appreciate the fact that this is the exact opposite of their second criticism. I am not sure what kind of evidence would be left to bring through, if we can't bring through things the client can verify (i.e. things they already know), nor things they can't verify.

Anywho, yes, spirits might also bring up information that the client can't verify in the moment. These are usually pieces of information that the client will have to ask around about later in their family. Once they do figure out of it, it proves that the medium is not just getting this information from the client's energy (by psychically reading them), they actually were connecting to the spirit. It also makes a connection last longer than the reading itself, in a sense, like a gift that keeps on giving.

Sometimes a client has forgotten certain things about their loved ones during a reading, and this is also categorized as information they can't verify or seems like it is just plain wrong. It can be information that you would think was quite obvious and unforgettable, but it is amazing what kinds of things we can forget about when we're put on the spot. Luckily I have become a lot more assertive with the information coming through, so it doesn't throw me off when a client can't take a piece of info anymore. It's a natural part of a reading.

Do these factors make a reading convincing to others watching? No. But then again, a reading is never really done for those watching. It's for the client and their loved ones in spirit. It can be hard to judge the accuracy or relevancy of a reading unless you are the recipient.

We, the mediums, are at the mercy of what the spirit wishes to communicate. If they judge certain pieces of information as important, then my job is to relay that (no matter how cliché or random it seems to me). If they don't want to explain something to me, then I have to abide by that as well. I recently did a reading where the spirit refused to tell me how he passed, because it was a murder. (Some spirits are really blunt about their passing, while others prefer not to be, for whatever reason). He kept avoiding the subject, even as I felt his passing was an important issue in the reading. I just had to throw my hands up and surrender to that fact so that we could move on to the more important messages.

Evidence VS Messages

The importance of bringing through all those details and evidence about a spirit, is so that the real reason they are there can be much more impactful. They might have messages of love for the client. Or they might wish to say that they are sorry about things they did when they were alive. They might want the client to know that they are more than OK on the other side. They might want to say they forgive the client for whatever guilt they are holding onto.

They might bring up things going on the client's life to prove that they are still around them, just in a different form. That they hear the client when they talk to them. They might want to confirm that the signs the client has received are indeed from them. They might want the client to know about certain changes coming up in their life, and that they'll be there with them to support them through that. They might want to encourage reaching out to certain family members that are struggling. They might want them to know that they're incredibly proud of who they've become.

If I did a reading for you, saying I have your mother here and that she loves you, without any other evidence that I actually do have your mother there, you're not very likely to take that message of love to heart. However, if I say that I have a mother-figure here, and she's showing me this or that about herself, and she's showing me this or that about your life currently, and she's saying that she loves you, you are much more likely to take that message of love to heart, because you truly feel she is there. That's why mediums and spirits bring through those pieces of evidence first.

I do have to clarify that not every medium does this style of mediumship (called evidential mediumship). This is my preferred style, for sure, because I find the messages are much more impactful if the evidence also comes through. But some mediums prefer to focus on just the messages.

How the Information is Translated (or mis-translated)

Remember that the energy of what the spirit wishes to communicate is translated in the medium's mind, into images in the mind's eye, words in the head, and feelings in the body, and sometimes a mix of all of them at the same time. Because the information is coming through in that way, there is interpretation involved, on the part of the medium.

If a spirit comes through wanting to tell me that they're the client's dad, it might come through as the sound of the word "dad" in my head, or a father-like feeling in my body, or an image of someone who looks like a generation older than my client. It can also come through as several of these at once, for example a father-feeling in my body as well as the image of someone older than my client. We then have to interpret that. I would naturally interpret any of these impressions as a father, but it could be he was just like a father to the client, rather than a biological father. That might include a grandfather who took an active part of in raising the client, or a step-dad, or a father-in-law.

The information from spirit is being translated through the medium's mind. I like to think of the medium's mind as a box. That box is filled with the things the medium has experienced in life, the people they know, the knowledge they've learned well, their interests, and also the things they've experienced recently. When spirits send us the energy of what they wish to communicate, that energy begins to describe itself through the medium's own personal references. For example, if a spirit wants to communicate that they're a father-figure to the client, and that their name is Tom, that will come through to me in an image of my own dad whose name is Tom. 

It's easier for information to come through accurately if the medium knows a lot about that kind of information, or if it's similar to something that the medium has experienced recently. Anything that is already at the forefront of the mind, so to speak. The medium's mind will also begin to collect certain images as its go-to way of describing energy coming through. We often call this our "symbol-dictionary" or "spirit-dictionary". For example, any time I see an image of a saint in a reading, I know that the spirit is trying to communicate to me that they were catholic or deeply religious. Anytime they show me two birthday cakes, I know that they want to bring up the two birthdays that are close together. It's easier for information to come through in that short-hand way.

I like to describe readings as very similar to playing cherades, and also the telephone game at the same time, because of the way the information comes through a medium.

I always try to make very clear to my clients that because a reading involves interpretation, it does mean that misinterpretation can happen. This is also why you should never go to a psychic or medium instead of a doctor, or an animal communicator instead of a vet. We are not trained medical professionals or other kinds of professionals, and we could misinterpret what is coming through. I believe it is ethically wrong to give the impression that we're always right and know everything (especially since that is often how mediums or psychics are usually portrayed in films or shows, and so many people believe that's how it works). 

Open Minds

Because the deceased don't have their own bodies to communicate through anymore, they have other ways to get their messages across, such as the soul-to-soul and heart-to-heart connection in mediumship. Unfortunately, some people come to it with the expectation that it should be just like talking to another living human being. But once we understand how the process works, see it for what it is, and approach it with an open mind, we can gain the healing benefits from it.

Have you ever experienced a reading making much more sense in hindsight? Or experienced forgetting a piece of information during a reading that you remembered only afterwards? I would love to hear about it in the comments!

Have a wonderful week everyone
Warmly,
Thea

P.S.
If you are in the Portland Oregon area, our next Mediums with a Message event (audience reading) is October 28th, and tickets can be found here.

My family and I just got home a few days ago from a trip to Mt. Rainier National Park. We went camping, hiking, and exploring in the gorgeous mountains. On Monday we went on a hike in a place very fittingly called Paradise. It was beautifully misty and full of summer's last wildflowers. Being out in nature is always so reinvigorating for my soul, and it was wonderful to have a little break to breathe and take photos and focus on the little beautiful things.

In this work, I have found it important to schedule in a few days of rest here and there, and make sure I am never over-doing it. It's important as mediums to make sure that we are balanced and feeling well emotionally, physically, and spiritually. This is partially because all the information that comes through in a reading from spirit is being filtered through our minds. That means that our state of mind can affect our readings, because it can taint the information coming through. Feeling balanced and rejuvenated is the best place from which to do readings.

However, despite all efforts to take enough breaks and disconnecting from stress, life has a habit of just happening without seeking permission or checking schedules to see if it's a suitable time. Us mediums still have clients we need to show up for and do readings even if we're in the middle of one of life's crazy messes. We can't put our lives on hold. And we can't always reschedule our readings until next month.

That means that sometimes we have to do readings when the back of our minds is on some crises going on on in our lives. Or we might go through something that affects our energy levels and how we connect to Spirit. I personally had an awful week last week. Nothing horrible happened in my personal life, nor did anything horrible happen professionally, but internally I was a complete mess. And so my energy-levels were much lower than normal, and I just wanted to hide under a blanket with a book. But I still had readings to do and an audience reading to turn up to (the monthly one where I work with two other mediums). At the audience reading, I just let the audience know that I had just had an awful week, and therefore might have lower energy than normal, but that I would try my very best.

Being honest, for me, takes the pressure off of having to out-perform what I am capable of at the moment. The energy of my readings that day felt a little different than normal. They weren't flashy, or high-intensity. They were simple and gentle, but I managed to keep the flow of information from Spirit going. And it all worked out just fine.

I prefer to be honest about where I am at, and I think that actually helps the process. In my experience I've never been successful at pretending I am somewhere else and trying to force it from there. I am just honest with my clients if I am going through something personally, and I let them know I will try my best, but if I'm not able to connect well, then we will reschedule and try again at a different time. I have done some readings during some pretty anxiety-filled changes in my personal life, and those readings (with a lot of help from Spirit) still went amazingly well. But I had to accept where I was at, and just trust that it would all work out how it's supposed to.

I have also been receiving the sweetest signs from Spirit lately. Almost every day for the past couple of weeks, a car driving in front of me will have the word "HUG" on it's license plate. I don't believe in coincidences.

Be gentle with yourself this week.
Hugs,
Thea

A big part of my work is talking to animals who have crossed over. It seems that over the past couple of months, I have talked to many more who have recently lost their beloved animal companions. I find that there is often just as much grief and guilt that comes with losing an animal as there is when losing a human loved one.

I wanted to share some of the messages that repeatedly come up in readings with animals who have crossed over, hoping this might help someone who feels stuck in the grief of their loss. 

Before I begin, I want to note that I do not pretend to know everything about the other side (I think there's a lot we cannot even fathom). This post is just based on my experiences from the past 5 or so years of talking to animals who have passed.

*****

Guilt is a common part of the grieving process when we lose someone. These are the ones I see the most in my clients who have lost animals:

• That they were gone a lot of the time, and didn't spend enough time with them
• That they didn't realize that their animal was sick
• That they did suspect something was wrong, but didn't bring them to the vet in time
• That they weren't able to find the animal if the animal was lost (they didn't look enough, or not in the right places)
• That they did something unknowingly that contributed to their passing
• That they didn't try hard enough to help the animal through their aggression issues
• That they didn't give them enough attention
• Worry over whether or not euthanasia was the right choice for the animal
• Worry over whether or not the animal was confused about why they were being euthanized
• That they somehow unknowingly caused the animal more pain by not choosing or not getting the opportunity to choose euthanasia

Animal companions are unconditional love. In life, they might experience trauma or other things that drives them towards less than loving behaviors (such as with animals that are trained to fight, or animals that have been abused), but in essence they are unconditional love. They retain both their personality and their essence of unconditional love when they cross over. In fact, that essence often becomes more pronounced after passing (just like with humans when they pass).

This means that animals do not usually hold grudges when they cross over. In fact, they often show deep understanding and compassion for their human companions. I have never had an animal want my client to feel guilty about anything they did or didn't do. 

(Of course, I have never had a client who intentionally tried to harm their animal companions. I have spoken to animals on the other side who expressed strong dislike of previous owners who were abusive, but not towards my clients.)

In a reading with an animal that has passed, they will usually show me the thing that my client feels guilty about. Then they might show me the circumstances of the situation (why the owner had to do the thing, or not do the thing). They do this to prove that they know why the client had to do that, and show that it's OK. They understand. There's nothing to forgive. Then they might prove that they are still around you, and most of all, they want to show you that they are more than fine on the other side.

In my experience, animals (just like humans) have a certain time they are meant to cross over. If they didn't pass in this one way, their soul would have found another way to pass soon anyways. Nothing that you did or didn't do could would have kept them here any longer. For whatever reason, their soul decided that this was the way to go now. 

Often animals will share that they passed after helping their humans through a particularly difficult period. Their soul was done with their life-purpose, and so it was time to pass. I have also had animals share that they passed right before a period of big changes in their human's life, because they felt they could better help their humans through it from the other side (by helping to orchestrate events, etc).

I always encourage people to establish their own spiritual connection with their loved ones and animals on the other side. However, I usually recommend waiting until you are through the worst of the grief, before you try to communicate with them yourself. Communicating with animals and those who have crossed over is such a subtle art. It can be hard for beginners to discern between what is from their loved ones and what is just made up by their own mind or just random energies passing by. It can also be easy to taint a message coming through with our own pre-conceived notions or the guilt that we feel. When receiving true messages from our loved ones or animal companions on the other side, they will always feel positive and uplifting in some way.

I also have to mention that spirits have shared with me that deaths usually have a lot less suffering than we tend to imagine. Souls will leave their bodies before even the body has died in a lot of cases, (especially in very traumatic passings). Also, their loved ones and our loved ones help them cross over when it's time. Your beloved animals are never truly alone when they pass.

In my readings, animals will also share with me their happiest memories from when they were alive. These are the memories they want you to think of and focus on when you think of your animal companion. These memories and thoughts help lift your spirits, and can help you feel their presence around you even stronger. From doing this work, I also know that our animal companions love to be around us after they've crossed over. As soon as you think about them, they can feel that, and they'll draw closer. And they love to share in those beautiful memories you created together.

Sending you all lots of healing thoughts,
Thea