Imagine attending a mediumship demonstration – even a séance – and having the souls come through in a totally unexpected way. You might be shocked to see an image, hear a disembodied voice, or feel an otherworldly chill or gust of air. You might even watch furniture move, lights flicker, or written words take form. Physical manifestations of mediumship are rare, but there are some mediums who connect with spirit in this way, and when they do, it’s mind-blowing!
The Physical Mediumship of Leslie Flint
Years ago, while studying with Brian Hurst, I had the opportunity to sit with the famous medium, Leslie Flint, several times. Over the course of his career, Leslie connected with many famous people, including Queen Victoria, Oscar Wilde, Rudolph Valentino, and many others.
Leslie was one of the most prominent physical mediums of his day, known for bringing through messages in the actual voices of the dead. Leslie practiced something called independent direct voice mediumship, where the voices he brought through didn’t come from his own voice box, but were transmitted through exoplasm, and projected several feet away from him.
If you’re thinking that this sounds like something from Ghostbusters – you’re right! Ectoplasm is like a thick liquid (or slime) that the spirit world creates from the body of certain mediums. In this way, spirits can project images, sounds, and even move objects.
Here’s how Leslie explained it “If you were to take an infra-red photograph during a direct voice séance, you would see cords of ectoplasm emanating from the medium and the sitters and joining up to form what looks like a ball of mist, or the voice box, which we understand to be a replica of the vocal organs, and whilst the spirit communicators are using this voice box, they have lowered their vibrations to reach the earth vibration.”
Amazing, right? As you can imagine, there were skeptics! In fact, I remember Leslie Flint telling us that thought he might be the most tested medium of all time!
“I have been boxed up, tied up, sealed up, gagged, bound and held – and still the voices have come to speak their message of life eternal…”
An Encounter with Mickey
So, back to my experience with Leslie Flint. The first time I found out I’d be sitting with this legendary spiritualist I was so nervous and excited! Of course, that time, nothing happened. My guess is that I was pushing and anticipating so hard that I blocked any spirit connection. But the second time, much to my delight, Mickey came through. Mickey was one of Leslie’s guides – a cockney newsboy who had been killed when he was run over by a horse and carriage in old England many decades before.
Imagine my shock when Mickey started talking directly to me. “How you doin’? Did anyone tell you you’re a medium? What are you going to do about it? It’s about time you did something about it!” During our conversation, Mickey pushed me to get out there and demonstrate my gift to the world. Earlier this week, I shared tapes of my conversation with Mickey during a broadcast of Both Sides Now and Beyond. Check them out here!
Mental, Physical, and Trance Mediumship
When I work with my students, I have one important rule. I encourage them to be true to themselves. My goal is not to create cookie-cutter mediums. Instead, I encourage my students to understand and enhance their own unique attributes.
There are so many ways to talk to the dead! Since we’ve been talking about physical mediumship, I want to add a few words about the other varieties…
Mental Mediumship
Most mediums- me included – practice mental mediumship. Mental mediumship receives communication from the spirit world interpreted through the consciousness of the medium. This is what we refer to when we talk about the clairs – clairsentience, clairvoyance, clairaudience, clairolfactriance, clairgustance and claircognisance, which are all different senses that the medium can use to receive insights.
Trance Mediumship
Similar to mental mediumship is trance, or spirit controlled mediumship, where the medium enters a trance state, and the spirit communicators take over the medium’s body. You may have seen me do this during a mediumship demonstration. When Spirit takes over, my voice changes, and I might speak about things I have no experience with. Basically, I am a conduit through which the spirit can speak, and even be seen. But I’m still in my body – I’m aware of what is happening and can regain control at any point.
Physical Mediumship
Physical mediumship is classified as the spirit world manipulating the medium and creating physical evidence of their presence through ectoplasm or some other method. In addition to what we’ve already talked about, another example would be automatic writing, where the spirit world is physically manipulating the hand of the medium.
The Message is What Matters!
Any type of spirit connection requires the gifts and commitment of the medium. Through training and practice, mediums can raise their vibration and tune in to different frequencies. This allows the spirit world to work with the medium, connecting with loved ones on earth to resolve unfinished business, send love and healing and provide evidence of life after death.