CHAPTER TWO.
AN HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF EXAMPLES OF MEDIUMSHIP FROM ANCIENT TO MORE CONTEMPORARY TIMES.
The Enduring Nature of Mediumship. Chapter Two will include a broad survey of examples of mediumship to provide an introductory historical overview. This research will present evidence that this enigmatic phenomenon, which occurs in the contemporary era, has occurred since the earliest times. This survey will therefore improve the contemporary understanding of mediumship by placing it in its rightful setting, both in an historic, on-going and universal context. The following chapters will discuss issues in greater depth, which are touched upon in this broad based historical overview. Throughout the rest of this book, the research evidence for the spiritual implications of mediumship and by implication, its possible contributory role regarding humankind's evolving spiritual history will be discussed. Mediumship, also known as channelling, particularly in the contemporary western world, has a pervasive and historically resilient character as evidence reveals that it has been variously incorporated into the beliefs and practices of humankind since their inception. This is evidenced by the fact that since the dawn of history, all peoples across the globe have applied diverse names to the unfathomable and profound phenomenon of communication with alleged non-corporeal beings. Klimo confirms that mediumship; “…can be found in all times and across all cultures…This universal, enduring, and still enigmatic phenomenon has permeated history, providing the wellsprings for virtually every spiritual path. For thousands of years, channelling has tantalized people with the prospect that physical existence is by no means all there is, and that the life of mind and spirit is more vast than most have led themselves to believe. Throughout history and among varied peoples, channels have been named according to what they do. Besides the term medium and the more recent channel , other names have included shaman, witch doctor, healer, and medicine man in native cultures. They have also been called fortune-tellers, oracles, seers, soothsayers, savants, and visionaries. In religious contexts, they have been known as priests, gurus, prophets, saints, mystics, and holy ones. And in the esoteric schools they are called light workers, initiates, teachers, adepts, or masters. The majority of mainstream psychologists and psychiatrists would probably regard these channels as dissociated, delusional, suffering from multiple-personality disorder, schizophrenic, or simply as persons with runaway imaginations, or even as downright frauds.” 1 In the ancient world archaic shamanism was geographically extensive, these were preliterate primitive cultures. Regarding humankind's historically earlier, prehistoric forbears, our knowledge of their beliefs and practices is limited. However, archaeological evidence supports the view that archaic, shamanic cultures do actually echo some of the features of the practices and beliefs of our earliest, prehistoric ancestors. It will suffice here to note that these ancient practices indicate that both prehistoric and archaic shamanic cultures shared the belief, in particular, that humans and animals, make a transition of being at death and continue to survive, inhabiting otherworldly realms and that they can communicate with those who inhabit the physical level of existence. The geographic locations to which this widespread, ancient phenomena can be particularly associated include North America, Indonesia , Oceania and the expansive wastes of Siberia and Central Asia . Though there were many underlying shared beliefs and practices, regional and idiosyncratic variations and terminologies existed. The subject of archaic shamanism and the vast numbers of historical and contemporary reports of accompanying paranormal shamanic phenomena can be considered to be of great value because our shamanic ancestors probably represent one of the earliest human expressions of psycho-spiritual experiences of communications with alleged human and animal, spirit beings and soul-journey (out of body) experiences of otherworldly realms beyond mundane time and space. Shamans of antiquity developed practices to enhance their abilities to attain altered states of consciousness in order to communicate with these ostensible, surviving, dynamic, spirit beings and to receive knowledge and advice from them for the benefit of both the individual and the tribe. Typically, after an initial initiation process, which frequently involved various forms of life-threatening ordeals, shamans endured many further arduous years cultivating their abilities . Arguably, shamans would have to have been emotionally, physically and mentally strong with pronounced leadership abilities, self-discipline and passionate dedication. As a result of their dangerous, daring and lengthy ordeals and training it is believed that they sensitised their sensory perceptions to such levels that they reportedly developed the ability to access precognitive and retrospective knowledge, knowledge of events occurring geographically distant from their physical body, to diagnose and heal their patients and to receive advice from non-corporeal beings. Furthermore, it is reported that they possessed the abilities to conduct soul-journey visits to the diverse levels or landscapes implicit in the otherworldly realms. The role and function of the historic shamans was reportedly to have been fulfilled with much accuracy and success. Reports of shamanic, psychic, mediumistic fetes have significantly been substantiated by more contemporary anthropological observations, these will be discussed in Chapter Three , which specifically deals with Shamanism. The ancient experiences, beliefs and practices of archaic shamanic cultures have parallel features with mediumistic experiences that have been repeated and variously described over the centuries and echo present-day mediumistic testimonies. Shamanic cultures, though represented in far fewer numbers, still exist in the contemporary world. Shamans have been mentioned here in order to set them in their early historic context. However, Chapter Three will discuss Shamanism in detail, including the process by which shamans cultivated altered states of consciousness, in order to communicate with the inhabitants of the non-physical worlds, to which they were familiar and the spiritual and eschatological world views that were born of, and were an integral component of these mediumistic experiences.
Ancient Egyptian Examples of Mediumship.
The following will provide a brief discussion of examples of mediumistic experiences in early Egypt . Robert Masters 2 is renowned for his research into ancient Egyptian paranormal and mystical phenomena. He and his partner Jean Houston are also Directors of The Foundation for Mind Research in Pomana in New York . Jean Houston is also a psychologist and philosopher. Significantly, Masters states that ancient Egypt ; “ …is where, as far as we know, the use of trance in achieving mystical states and talking to the gods really began.” 3 Masters believes that Sekhmet, the Egyptian god, has repeatedly and consistently communicated through a number of his patients. His experiences with his patients are quite remarkable. It is also interesting in that it may be of possible evidential value that not only is the experience of mediumship on-going over the centuries but so are the…..
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