Is anybody there?

Viewings still going up - contributions aren't... 🙁

Perhaps..we have NOTHING to add 😉

Perhaps..we have NOTHING to add 😉

evidently

all of you, seemingly....

evidently

all of you, seemingly....

Ah well, perhaps I am being flippant, and not the type of conversation you are pushing for. I often find the best conversations I have are those between me and myself ;):D

Ah well, perhaps I am being flippant, and not the type of conversation you are pushing for. I often find the best conversations I have are those between me and myself ;):D

They work if you don't want discord...

I'm getting to the point where I'm no longer pushing for anything from anyone...:(

Spiritualists will already know all that although some may disagree???

I'd love to hear from them and also from those who don't go along with the explanation above.

You seem to be getting frustrated at not getting a conversation going, but I'm not sure exactly what it is you want to talk about?

I didn't reply when you first started this thread because I am not a spiritualist per se, as I don't follow any organised religion, and I agree with your definition of a medium...I suspect that may well be the response of most people who read this thread who have an interest in mediumship...so maybe that's why this conversation has never really got off the ground?

You seem to be getting frustrated at not getting a conversation going, but I'm not sure exactly what it is you want to talk about?

I didn't reply when you first started this thread because I am not a spiritualist per se, as I don't follow any organised religion, and I agree with your definition of a medium...I suspect that may well be the response of most people who read this thread who have an interest in mediumship...so maybe that's why this conversation has never really got off the ground?

I don't think I was wanting to talk about anything - it was more that I wanted to listen. Listen to what others had to contribute. Even if they disagreed and had a different perspective.... Just having someone pop in to say they, too, were a Spiritualist would have been nice - even if they didn't want to engage.

You say you're not a Spiritualist because you don't follow any organised religion - did I say that I follow any such religion? 😉 And yet I am the most dedicated, staunch Spiritualist you might encounter....

I'm all for forums being populated by those whose interest is in the title and content of the forum but as there is a dearth of such people here, then perhaps the net should be cast out to collect anyone who has a view about mediumship.

Making virtue of necessity, I suppose I should take heart that so many viewings of this thread have been made at all... 😀

Hiya Mac :wave:

It is only in recent years that I have come into close contact with people who definitely have a spiritualist background. A few of them give psychic readings and others are healers. I was just wondering what your communication with spirit is?

I've also heard of trance mediumship and whilst it sounds a bit scary, it does interest me. However I have never experienced this myself. Have you?

Hiya Mac :wave:

It is only in recent years that I have come into close contact with people who definitely have a spiritualist background. A few of them give psychic readings and others are healers. I was just wondering what your communication with spirit is?

I've also heard of trance mediumship and whilst it sounds a bit scary, it does interest me. However I have never experienced this myself. Have you?

Hi moonfairy

"I've also heard of trance mediumship and whilst it sounds a bit scary, it does interest me. However I have never experienced this myself. Have you?"
Yes. It's no biggie - try always to remember that in Spiritualism a primary focus is to help folks to understand survival beyond their physical death.... Trance mediumship is simply one form of mediumship - it has no more, but no less, importance than other forms of mediumship.

I see my role as simply that of someone striving to keep the message of survival - as I learned it years ago - alive for others to enjoy....

Whatever communication I may have with 'spirit' time will tell...;) I do what I can but I'm not a medium, psychic or healer.

You say you're not a Spiritualist because you don't follow any organised religion - did I say that I follow any such religion? 😉 And yet I am the most dedicated, staunch Spiritualist you might encounter....

No you didn't...simply an observation, this is the Spiritualism section under Religion / faiths sub-forum after all and you did ask to hear from Spiritualists. I rarely venture into the religious sections personally, unless an interesting subject title comes up on the home page or a thread comes up when I do a search, I just don't come in here.

Making virtue of necessity, I suppose I should take heart that so many viewings of this thread have been made at all... 😀

I think you should see that as a good sign, and hopfully it will have clarified what a medium is and isn't for some...there are still a lot of people who don't really understand what a medium is (thanks to TV programmes such as Most Haunted which gives mediumship such a bad image!) and still many who do not understand the difference between spirituality and spiritualism. :003:

No you didn't...simply an observation, this is the Spiritualism section under Religion / faiths sub-forum after all and you did ask to hear from Spiritualists. I rarely venture into the religious sections personally, unless an interesting subject title comes up on the home page or a thread comes up when I do a search, I just don't come in here.

I think you should see that as a good sign, and hopfully it will have clarified what a medium is and isn't for some...there are still a lot of people who don't really understand what a medium is (thanks to TV programmes such as Most Haunted which gives mediumship such a bad image!) and still many who do not understand the difference between spirituality and spiritualism. :003:

"No you didn't...simply an observation, this is the Spiritualism section under Religion / faiths sub-forum after all and you did ask to hear from Spiritualists." Good points - I agree totally. A quick look at the history of Spiritualism will reveal why it became a legally-recognised religion... Thankfully it has none of the dogma of mainstream religions, though. If it did you wouldn't find me here!!

".........and still many who do not understand the difference between spirituality and spiritualism." Tell me about it!! I'm constantly making that very point in various forums! 🙂

"Most Haunted"? I cringe at such nonsense but you're right - little wonder that Spiritualism is misunderstood 🙁 And forums in which folks mis-post topics simply add to the confusion... Then many become angry when it's pointed out that what they're saying belongs in an altogether different forum.

Been there, repeatedly done that, had brickbats thrown at me...:(

Sorry,long topic but will give a quick answer.
As Mac knows I am deeply interested in Spiritualism.
I am not a medium as such but have had enough experiences in the past to convince me completely, in simple words,there is 'something out there'!:rolleyes:

Forget all the long words and discussions,the physical body perishes but the soul does not!

Simple in't?

SHO

Hi Mac

I, in my own way have studied Spiritualism and was prepared to accept the brief that effectively we are human with a soul the continued after death. We had the option to reincarnate and continue through cycles of development....Many scientific revelations supported that theory and although I had no desire to personally develop my spirituality I was content with the science. (my daughter is a registered medium, and my wife channels on a daily basis). However

Some aspects of Spritualism, in my opinion do not hold true....The healings are to my knowledge un remarkable, and many of the reasons given for mortals being here are to me not logical.

I heard of Christian Science and have started to read about it from Mrs Eddy's book.

The spiritual logic she reveals is in my opinion sustainable. The Science that she reveals, is to me unfortunately a little ambiguous and it is with difficulty that it can be explored.

I personally can see elements of Spiritualism that do not necessarily conflict with Christian Science, and also the main spiritual interpretation of Christian Science that could replace the core concept of Spiritualism, without damaging Spiritualism itself.

Unfortunately Christian Science is hostile to Spiritualism, and Spiritualism is on a different path to Christian Science.

But its early days, and all roads lead to Rome .

With Regards

Hi Mac

I, in my own way have studied Spiritualism and was prepared to accept the brief that effectively we are human with a soul the continued after death. We had the option to reincarnate and continue through cycles of development....Many scientific revelations supported that theory and although I had no desire to personally develop my spirituality I was content with the science. (my daughter is a registered medium, and my wife channels on a daily basis). However

Some aspects of Spritualism, in my opinion do not hold true....The healings are to my knowledge un remarkable, and many of the reasons given for mortals being here are to me not logical.

I heard of Christian Science and have started to read about it from Mrs Eddy's book.

The spiritual logic she reveals is in my opinion sustainable. The Science that she reveals, is to me unfortunately a little ambiguous and it is with difficulty that it can be explored.

I personally can see elements of Spiritualism that do not necessarily conflict with Christian Science, and also the main spiritual interpretation of Christian Science that could replace the core concept of Spiritualism, without damaging Spiritualism itself.

Unfortunately Christian Science is hostile to Spiritualism, and Spiritualism is on a different path to Christian Science.

But its early days, and all roads lead to Rome .

With Regards

Your response came as a surprise from out of the blue.

I read your piece several times but then I had to take a look back at the date of origin and what the subject of the thread began as! The penny had already dropped, though, before I read this highly significant piece of my original piece: "Spiritualists will already know all that (the thread details) although some may disagree???
I'd love to hear from them and also from those who don't go along with the explanation above."

And the penny that had already dropped? You're not a Spiritualist. You've simply studied Spiritualism as you point out in your opening sentence.

If you don't live it then you don't know it - you only know about it.....

Your response came as a surprise from out of the blue.

If you don't live it then you don't know it - you only know about it.....

Hi Mac
Not quite sure what the difference is between living it, and knowing it. How can one live Spiritualism. You can practice it. you can demonstrate it, even to a point scientifically defend it, but again how can one live it.

Regards

Hi Mac
Not quite sure what the difference is between living it, and knowing it. How can one live Spiritualism. You can practice it. you can demonstrate it, even to a point scientifically defend it, but again how can one live it.

Regards

When you've done the first you'll see why it's different from the second...

What would you practice? What would you demonstrate? What is there to defend?

You are detached, remote if your words tell it true. You have no link, it appears, to Modern Spiritualism, it's no more than any other subject you choose to analyse.

Me, I'm a Modern Spiritualist. I didn't used to be. I've lived both roles. I can feel the differences, see the differences, I live the differences between not knowing and knowing.

Me, I'm a Modern Spiritualist. I didn't used to be. I've lived both roles. I can feel the differences, see the differences, I live the differences between not knowing and knowing.

You have got me intrigued... What is the difference between modern Spiritualism and traditional Spiritualism.

The traditional Spiritualism that I experienced was a belief in the soul as being part of the body. Mediumship. A belief in reincarnation. Demonstrations involving energies. Circles. Development workshops, and the such

Has this changed.

Regards

You have got me intrigued... What is the difference between modern Spiritualism and traditional Spiritualism.

The traditional Spiritualism that I experienced was a belief in the soul as being part of the body. Mediumship. A belief in reincarnation. Demonstrations involving energies. Circles. Development workshops, and the such

Has this changed.

Regards

"What is the difference between modern Spiritualism and traditional Spiritualism."

No difference - Modern Spiritualism is the full name of the contemporary movement vs the spiritualism (lower case 's') that's been around forever...

Regards, Good night Mac

Scommst

It's getting on for seven years since I started this thread and over five years since there was any activity in it. My original question sounds even more relevant now than it did seven years ago - is anybody there?

It's not only this website, however, and I've been asking the questions over several others over recent times. Have website discussion forums lost their appeal for Spiritualists, abandoned perhaps for the charm of Facebook? Or have Spiritualists walked away from the interest they once had in discussions of the philosophy? That has happened elsewhere and some former forum discussion contributors I know have become sick or have passed over.

Is anybody there? o_O

Certainly forums have their ups and downs; their quiet periods and busy periods, and I think also that less people are engaging in forum style discussions nowadays opting more for the facebook/twitter style short and quick posting discussions instead.... which are ok, but I find don't allow proper detail to be thought through, or time for people to engage properly, and sometimes too many people are posting at once for the conversation to be followed, so some people end up giving up.

HP did go through a quiet period in the past couple of years, but as a moderator I get to see the overall activity, so I can see that things are picking up again... more people are returning to discuss topics.

I think what has also effected discussion is actually a connection to the economic climate. In the early 2000's there was previously a boom of people all getting into complementary therapies, and finding their spiritual side (Reiki being one of the most common factors in that), yet many found that the market for being a practitioner in an individual field (such as Reiki) was very limited and also saturated; there were too many other practitioners and many of the people interested in Reiki trained to do Reiki themselves, therefore going from client to self practitioner. The economic climate also meant that the general public were watching their purses and less spending was happening for such therapies. I have friends and colleagues who had set up their own therapy practices, but struggled to get the business.

So, whilst those people are still interested in these things from a personal perspective, there is perhaps less activity on the business side of things, which is often where people have more questions they want to ask on communities like this.

As for spiritualism... I don't know... what do you think is the reason for it being quieter?

HealthyPages is different from my other 'regulars' in that it appears to have a distinct commercial side. My others carry advertising but are used by members simply for their discussion forums. Or rather they used to be...

I expect your analysis of the business situation for HP members is correct. I don't often view what's being discussed in other forums so I have little idea how well attended they are but a flick through their titles, and last posting dates, give the impression that some are in a similar situation to the Spiritualism forum.

I do agree with you that Facebook and Twitter are not suitable for serious discussions but they're fine for casual contact, quick and easy to access and maybe that's all many folk want nowadays. As for Spiritualism my fear is that it simply feels 'old hat' - unfashionable. It feels that way to me too and I'm an adherent!

The truth found in its teachings is unchanging but it needs presenting in a modern way to have appeal for modern generations. And I'm far-from-confident that can be achieved. In light of that it's no surprise to me that discussions have little to offer and it's the main reason forums aren't active.

It's not just Spiritualism though. Websites with other spiritually-based forum titles are also failing to attract active members so maybe it's simply that the forum format has lost its appeal. Yet some websites are amazingly active - - eg Acoustic Neuroma Association - so for certain serious subjects they provide a place for serious discussion and a chance to learn about other members' experiences.

That's how forums about Spiritualism and related topics once used to be...

I personally feel that many people tend to have fixed ideas and can't or won't consider alternate interpretations as regards their chosen beliefs. I also feel that in regards to topics like spiritualism that there can be quite a narrow understanding of the subject and if someone is not comfortable outside their own particular beliefs then they won't get involved in discussing it.
From my limited understanding of Spiritualism it is a bit like mathematics. There are many branches of mathematics and some people can get quite specialized in their own chosen field. Yet spiritualism is like the maths concept itself. To me it is like an umbrella that spreads across all the other individual branches. It's influence can be detected, but only if one is prepared to widen their own individual perceptions. I must add that my interpretation of spiritualism may be different from the official definition of spiritualism.

In respect of the religion, philosophy and movement of 'Modern Spiritualism' alternate interpretations or definitions are not relevant. Spiritualism does not specialize, its philosophy is very simple and almost certainly shares some core values with other religions.

It's not the same as 'spiritualism', a catch-all word for any spiritual issue.