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Ethics of a Psychic Reading
A Guide for Professional and Amateur Messengers of Psychic Information
By SUZANNE NEWNHAM
Balboa Press
Copyright © 2012 Suzanne Newnham
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4525-0414-8
Chapter One
Psychic, Medium or Just Intuitive?
The words psychic, medium and intuitive can have a variety of definitions. They encompass the raw ability that most people have at different levels of awareness through to learned techniques and enhancement of those abilities. Depending upon the context the words can refer to these abilities, and they can also be used as either a professional or a descriptive title. This brief chapter gives an introductory description of the terms psychic, medium and intuitive from the perspective of ability. Whether for advertising purposes, common usage, or different teaching schools and organisations, there can, at times, be controversy in the apparent interchangeable use of these words. Subsequent chapters will offer expanded definitions covering these multiple variations.
Intuitive/intuition
The five types of awareness in sight, smell, hearing, taste, touch and their abilities are well-known. However there is an additional sense—that of intuition or a type of "knowing" sometimes referred to as a "sixth sense". Everyone has this "sixth" sense and the ability to utilise it. Awareness of this sixth sense varies considerably and its often inexplicable nature tends to cast it into the realms of fiction or the supernatural. Gut feeling, "just knowing", and hunch are only a few of the words that are used colloquially to define intuition. Even the admonishment "I should've trusted my gut" by non-believers to a situation gone wrong is enough to signify that something beyond the five senses, or knowledge and interpretation by the mind, is at hand.
Psychic
Everyone has psychic abilities, though some people tend to pay more attention to this ability so as to recognise and respond or react to energies around them. The ability to discern their response or reactions can become more refined, leading to learning to "interpret" these energies. The term sensitive can also be used to denote people who develop their psychic abilities. A psychic is not necessarily a medium and need not develop mediumship if that is not the person's calling.
Medium
Some people specifically enhance this raw and developing psychic ability with study and a mentor to connect with energies at higher vibrational levels. A person with this level of connection is termed a medium. Gradually the medium's own levels of consciousness and corresponding energies allow communication at higher and higher frequencies so that information can be passed from the spirit world to the people of the physical world. The various styles of mediumship are discussed in the chapter called "Mediumship".
Chapter Two
Clair, what's the difference? The word clairvoyant is often used to describe anyone who gives a psychic reading. Technically, however, it describes only one way of receiving information. Please take your time to read this dictionary-like chapter as it will be of importance later on.
There are four main ways of receiving and delivering information: clairvoyance, clairaudience, clairsentience (also includes psychometry), and claircognisance. There is a fifth way of delivering the information and that is through healing. Everyone has psychic abilities but some people refine these abilities, often referred to as "gifts", to be able to convey information to others. Intuition, hunches, going for a walk to "clear the head", some dreams, thinking of a friend when the phone rings and it is that friend calling, having gut-feelings about something and responding to those gut-feelings, are some ways that psychic abilities appear without having to label a person as "psychic" or "clairvoyant". A label does not add or detract from the abilities or gifts and has no real significance outside identifying the manner in which paranormal information is channelled into the normal world.
Some people who channel talk about information coming through from their guides, your guides, ascended masters, angels, fairies, animals, cosmic or universal energies, the astral, dead people, and spirits. This is not a complete list and there is no one right form of communication. I personally like to ensure the information is from the Divine Light of God and need confirmation of this before proceeding. Over the decades I have developed my own technique, receiving particular sensations accompanied by specific wording or images which provide me with this confirmation. Some psychics naturally develop their own methods of confirmation that the communicating spirit is trustworthy, whereas others follow particular styles for authenticating the paranormal messenger taught by spiritual or psychic organisations and schools.
In the genre of New Age, spiritualism, self-help, and the various other categories that label age-old wisdom and guidance via the normal and paranormal senses, a new vocabulary has sprung up. This can often cause more confusion with seemingly different and innumerable areas to either learn about or scare people away because of the potential complexities. There are a few examples in books written by doctors and theologians, and for nursing staff, as well as books and workshops on original "healing" techniques as practised and thus named. At some stage it has "clicked" that with perhaps minor differences all have similarities to other practices or definitions already well known. This is not to belittle another's unique practice or technique just as my own pathway is unique to me. To point out the similarities within such diversity is to demystify the confusion which reigns over which way is better or the best! Simple language is preferable, and whilst I favour a thesaurus to get the exact meanings, sometimes a well-known, well-used word, even if not technically accurate, is appropriate.
For the purpose of clarity in this book when discussing psychics/ mediums in general I will use the terms "psychic" or "clairvoyant", as these seem to be the most popular terms when the public think of seeing into the future or card readings. By using those terms it is my intention to move the image away from that of the "fortune teller" as entertainment. The word "healer" in its generic context will be used in this book to describe a person transmitting energy for healing purposes and does not relate to any type of medical practice. Note that using the title "Healer" without qualifying the nature of the technique may not be permitted in some countries. The term "reader" is used where tools such as cards or stones are used to read information from that type of tool.
For ease throughout this book "the client" means a person attending a reading, a healing, or an energy balancing session.
The following is an outline of the various ways in which information may be channelled to a receptive person.
Clairvoyance
Information is channelled in the form of pictures or images. The more literal definition is "clear sight". It is vitally important with this kind of information that the clairvoyant does not interpret the images but explains exactly what they are seeing. If, for example, an image of a sunset appears filled with golden orangey-pink light that is what the clairvoyant should say. To describe the image just as a beautiful sunset is inadequate and emotive. The client may envisage different colours from those that the clairvoyant associates with the words "beautiful sunset", and the meaning of the image conveyed is inaccurate. If the client does not like the colours orangey-pink then certainly that person's emotive quality would be different to the clairvoyant. If the colours are the most important aspect of the reading, allowing clarification of other aspects of either channelled information or the background connection to the wording, omitting the wording of the colours loses this clarification. The clairvoyant is permitted to ask his or her source of information (such as spirit guides) to clarify or assist in the delivery of the information, such as asking for words to convey the image. If the wording is important this is given, otherwise the clairvoyant "paints" a picture, describing in detail the objects, colours, shapes and any other information from purely an objective rather than a subjective view. The image may relate to an actual scenario already known to the client. Alternatively the imagery may be symbolic and further psychic information would then be sought to clarify the meaning for the client. This psychic clarification is different from the clairvoyant's interpretation of the image with the latter based on the clairvoyant's own knowledge and personal experience.
Clairaudience
This is when a person hears the information. The clairaudient person may hear the words as though someone is speaking or whispering into their ear. This might register either as hearing the words in the same manner as listening to a radio or another person speaking. At other times the clairaudient person may "hear" the words inside their head. A close parallel could be if you have ever talked silently to yourself, such as in an exam and "heard" your conversation in your head. However, the information the person is "hearing" is from a paranormal source and is not a mental retrieval exercise.
Clairaudience is a format where the budding channeller needs careful guidance. A channeller is a person who allows their body to be a vessel, or more appropriately a conduit, for energies or psychic phenomena to channel through whole or part of their physical body. Channelling is not restricted to clairaudience.
"Voices" in the head are not allowed to tell the channeller what to do—spirits or voices do not own the channeller's mind or body. This is the same, and of prime importance, for any type of paranormal technique but seems to be more so for clairaudience. Over the years I have noticed that hearing voices is often portrayed negatively in horror films, as well as through the press at times when mass suicides or murders have taken place, depicting demented or psychotic persons and criminal activity. In some instances there are indeed chemical and psychological imbalances and these imbalances need to be addressed by the appropriate medical and health professions. In the context of channelling information for another person, clairaudience is an excellent way of clarifying with words the sometimes perplexing images, sensations and other information received by the psychic.
Clairsentience
Energies are around us all. Have you ever walked into a room where there has been an argument and it appears that "the air is so thick it could be cut with a knife"? Or have you walked into a room where previously there has been a lot of laughter and happiness and felt a sense of being strangely uplifted? In both of these scenarios there have been no visual or audio clues but the mere fact of walking into that space has changed your energy or perception of your energy. A person who is clairsentient will pick up information on another person's energy patterns through their own body—physically, mentally or emotionally. Clairsentient people can also pick up collective energy patterns. Again from a personal perspective, this collective energy pattern is often associated with trauma of a magnitude due to the number of individuals affected or about to be affected. Empath/empathic is also a term sometimes used to describe a person who experiences clairsentience. Connecting with another person's energy will also be explained in the section on "ethics".
Psychometry
The psychometry that psychics and clairvoyants refer to is reading energy transmitted via an item belonging to another person. For best results the item should be something of importance to the client so that the strength of the client's energies is around it. The readings from items can be quite a fascinating experience in itself, especially in some instances trying to figure out who the reading is actually for if there are stronger energies of another person around the item. The stronger energies can happen if the item is an heirloom or bought second-hand without knowing the previous owner. There is nothing wrong with second-hand items it is just that the reading may be non-conclusive if it is picking up on a previous owner's energy. If the item is given, as in a present, by someone with a very strong or dominant character the stronger energies again may be picked up instead of the client's energies. To counter this possibility you can ask your guides for the client's energies to come through for the reading. However, if the client says the information doesn't seem to be familiar then you can ask if it might relate to the person who gave them the item. Sometimes the information from a more generic item such as a bundle of keys may be a bit vague or generalised. Detailed information, however, may come through if the client has something specific happening in their life. Watches can also pose an interesting predicament at times. Some psychics can find that their energetic connection interferes with normal function of electronic and electrical items. Use your discretion if unsure of reading these types of items and, if necessary, give examples of types of items you prefer to read.
Claircognisant
At some stage everyone has experienced this phenomenon. It is a knowing of something which is about to happen without any pre-warning or background knowledge. Usually there is a tight bond between the person receiving the information and the person it is about, for example, a mother knowing the moment her child has fallen over at school and has been badly hurt. This incident is soon confirmed with a phone call from the school asking mum to pick up the child. Or a best friend has just found him or herself in a spot of bother and you ring that person, find out this is correct and that your friend really doesn't know what to do about the situation. You don't have to provide the answer but just listening or being there providing comfort can often help.
The difference between the examples above and a practising psychic who is claircognisant is that the knowing for a psychic is about people and situations which are totally unfamiliar to that psychic.
Healing
There are a lot of misnomers around this very simple sounding word. Healing is not synonymous with curing. There is, however, an instinctive ability for the body to heal even if only to maintain the basic survival mechanism. A person can be very sick and in the process of dying, and yet healing is taking place. Think of healing as being the connection of inner peace within yourself with another, whether the other is tangible like a person, place, time, or an event. It also can be locating that inner peace by acknowledging a "knowing but not knowing why something never seemed right or to go right" that has been carried with you. Where there has been a manifestation of an energy imbalance leading to physical, emotional or mental problems and the source of this manifestation is addressed then healing or rebalancing on various levels can take place. There are many different techniques and modalities relating to healing, many books have been written, and many courses and workshops given by people who practise various forms of healing. In some instances healing energy might be transmitted from the channeller to their client. In other circumstances the channeller will receive information via one or a combination of clairvoyance, clairaudience or clairsentience to assist and clarify to the client things relating to those imbalances during the transmission of healing energies.
Healers work with techniques and guidelines developed from ancient practices and a connection to the natural energies. At times healers were the only source of knowledge in the community for improving health. Some healing practices are now classified under alternative or complementary medicine/health, though in some instances the word "medicine", even in this context, is only to be used by qualified and registered medical practitioners. Healing is not a substitute for medical practice. When advertising healing practices you need to be aware of any constraints in wording. This includes no indication, claim or guarantee of cure or specific health outcomes.
For ease throughout this book the term "healer" rather than "practitioner" will be used for a person transmitting healing energies. It may sometimes be prefaced by a specific modality title where appropriate.
Chapter 3 looks at the various methods of transmitting information and healing energies from both psychic and spiritual perspectives. Healing modalities, some of which are termed innate and natural gifts, will also be explored. These gifts can present in their raw intuitive state, or as recognisable modalities developed with training.
In the past and in some traditional societies the trance state was or still is attained through the use of naturally occurring mind-altering substances by a traditional healer. This person was often known as Shaman, medicine man or medicine woman, though other specific names can be used within individual communities.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Ethics of a Psychic Reading by SUZANNE NEWNHAM Copyright © 2012 by Suzanne Newnham. Excerpted by permission of Balboa Press. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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