Ask a Medium Anything! You submitted your questions & your host (Joyful Medium, Joy Giovanni) is answering them, in detail! 
In this episode you’ll learn the answers to these specific questions:

• “What’s the deal with sage and crystals? Do I need them and, if so, how often am I supposed to be saying my spaces?”
• “How do I know if I should get a reading?”
• “What if my loved one passed away from suicide or overdose? Can they still communicate?”
• “What if they spoke a different language or couldn’t speak or communicate at all?”
• “What if someone shows up in my reading that I don’t want to hear from or that was abusive to me? Can that happen?”
• “How does it work? Like do you see them standing next to you and they talk to you or what do you see?”
• “If mediumship is a gift, why do mediums study or need to take classes?”
• “How do I know if I am a medium?”

Here’s the link Joy mentioned: Deep dive and full break down of this in Episode 31: Unveiling the Mysteries of Mediumship: Can Anyone Become a Medium to Communicate with the Spirit World!?https://www.buzzsprout.com/2084888/13212953

• “I’ve been trying to become a medium (work on my mediumship), how to I strengthen or intensify my abilities?” 

Get Joy's Free "Sign Magnet" 3 Day Mini Course HERE https://www.joyfulmedium.com/sign-magnet
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Episode Transcript:

Hey beautiful soul Welcome to Spirit Speakeasy. I'm Joy Giovanni, Joyful Medium. I'm a working psychic medium energy healer and spiritual gifts mentor. This podcast is like a seat at the table in a secret club, but with mediums, mystics and the spiritual luminaries of our time. So come behind the velvet ropes with me and see inside my world is I chat insider style with profoundly different souls. We go deep share juicy stories laugh a lot and it wouldn't be a speakeasy without great insider secrets and tips. You might even learn that you have some gifts of your own. So step inside the spirit speakeasy. Hey, beautiful soul Welcome back or welcome in. I'm so happy to have you here with me today inside spirit speakeasy. As promised, this episode is going to be our Ask a medium anything episode. So you all have been submitting questions I've been collecting them over the last year since this podcast started. And I'm so excited to dive in. And really this is such a broad array of things we're going to talk about today in our ASCII medium, anything episode. Some have to do with what happens when we crossover or details about specific types of passing. Some have to do with like, what we need to do when versus like, what is not necessary. You'll see when I asked the questions, I am going to put a list of the questions below in the show notes just so you can see what we're going to talk about and what you're going to learn today. Or what we're going to hear about. But really, when is it? When should you get a reading? What else is on this list? It's a great list of questions. What if someone shows up at a reading that you don't want to hear from? How does it work? Like what is the medium actually experience. And then from some people who are developing as mediums as well. So if that interests you, or if that's true for you, talking about you know how to know if your medium, how to explore those gifts, how to best strengthen those gifts. So we're really going to dive in today and talk about so many topics that you submitted a couple of things I just want to mention upfront, I'm a working medium, which means I still regularly see clients both in a one on one capacity as well as a group reading capacity. So most of these answers are either from my own personal experience, or through what I have been taught from my mentors and teachers over the years. So what else do I want to say about that? I'm always still learning and growing as well. So these are the answers I have today. If you ask me in 10 years, perhaps they'll have additional information, maybe it will be the same. But to say that, you know, any, any answer is like final answer, I think we all know is just foolish anymore. Because we're you know, if you're someone like me who constantly wants to be learning and growing and understanding things more deeply. Certainly some of these answers might shift over time. And the other thing is, these are just my opinions and my experience, some of these might feel true for you. And some of them might not and it's okay if maybe the question or the answer inspires you to go on a bit of a journey of your own and and learn more about some of these topics or some of these questions. I will mention my mentor and a great school to look at. So that'll come in one of the questions. So if that's already becoming your question, just know that's gonna get answered as well. And I don't think there's anything else I want to share other than that little disclaimer. So I guess let's just dive in. I've got my little list of questions here. Oh, I know what else it was. Some people that submitted questions gave me permission to use their name. So in those cases, I will be using first name last initial some people asked me to change their name. So in those cases, I did that. And some of the questions are more more of like a boiled down stew of several people asking different shades or versions of like the same question or they were getting at the same thing. So on one of those, I don't think I even put a name because there were so many people compiled into that question. And one of them I just took the name of someone who I was using more of their, their wording of it. So that is why people's names are on some questions and not others. And you know, I'm always wanting to protect people's private information of course. So let me take a sip of water and then we will dive in with our Ask a medium anything. q&a episode. So here we go. The first question comes from Sadie s. She says, What's the deal with sage and crystals? Do I need them? And if so, how often am I supposed to be saving my space? For example? Well, Sadie, I have maybe a bit of a controversial answer on this. I feel like sage and crystals, of course, are beautiful things and if it is something that speaks to you, or part of a system or practice that you practice, it's okay to do them. You know, however your practice dictates. For me personally, I believe that the only thing that a space needs to be quote unquote cleared from or like protected from is the emotions of people in that space, like the the muddiness, we bring in with our emotions. So if sage specifically resonates with you, you could consider doing sage like after particularly tough emotional period or after like a gathering. Some people like to do it or on holidays. But if sage is not part of your personal lineage, or your belief system or doesn't call to use specifically, or you just can't handle burning things smoke burning, you can also do space clearing and a lot of ways you can use essential oil, you can use steam diffusers are great if you have something like that. So there's lots of ways to do it. And if those of you that are listening, if you guys want me to do a full episode on space clearing, I'd be happy to do it. It's something I do in my personal space. But do I believe it's necessary, I don't think it's necessary. It's just if it feels good to you, or if you feel like doing it often as like an kind of an old school practice. I'm from Boston, as most of you guys know, it's where I grew up, we would or my my Nan would lift the windows, like open the windows, sometimes in the winter, to kind of clear out the energy refresh the energy, it's something about it being like stagnant and just refreshing it So even something like that can clear space. So do you have to do sage? No, not necessarily. It's just if you want to, if it feels good to you. And really when you're feeling like you need like a refresh of the energy in the space. From, I don't know, like I said a stagnation. Or, if you want to, you know, if you I used to do it like a lot when I clean that's kind of when I do all of that all at once. But it's not something that's absolutely necessary. And the deal with crystals is if you like them, they are wonderful. If you've ever watched the video version of this podcast on my website, joyful medium.com under the blog section, you will see that often in the videos, I have lovely crystals in my background, I have some now behind me in my little fall scape setup. But what you don't see that slightly off camera is I also have next to a plant that is on the top of my desk, a tiny little rock that looks like a butterscotch jelly bean that I found on a walk one day. So my point being Yes, crystals and stones have specific properties that we attribute to them based on the minerals, the where they come from in the world, the color all different things. But do you need them? Do you have to have them? No, will you notice a difference in your space, if you have them, probably not other than they're beautiful. And things that are natural tend to ground a space, you might also experience a similar vibe from like having a plant in your space. Or I have some lava rocks that I got on vacation and had permission to take them. So before you writing about that
from a beach. So things that are earthy and natural do tend to give that grounded feeling to a space, but they're also not like a magic cure. So if you have 1000 crystals on your bookshelf through your living room, and you have a lot of arguments in that space, the crystals aren't gonna make it feel less tense in that space necessarily. So as a general rule, I just say if you like them, if you feel like working with them, if it feels good to you, then do if it feels burdensome, or feels stressful, or you're coming from like a place of fear. Like you need protection from something, then I would say leave it. So I hope that makes sense and answers your question. And like I said, let me know email me, email it to admin at joyful medium.com If you guys want me to do a space clearing episode, there's tons of ways to do it. And I'm happy to give lots of examples about that and let me know if you if that's something you guys want just for funsies but like I said if it's some thing that if you enjoy doing it and it feels good, do it. But if it's something that becomes like stressful or burdensome or it's giving you anxiety if you don't do it, then just leave it. It's not it's not helpful. Okay, next question. How do I know if I should get a reading? Oh, Melody B. Okay. How do you know if you should get a reading? Well, quickly, I will just let you know that the way I work personally is that when someone comes in for a session with me, there are a couple things that can happen psychic is when I'm more blended into the space of their soul into their space, understanding the life of the person that's in my office choices, changes, things, they're going through potentials for their future, that kind of thing. And mediumship is when I'm connecting and communicating with someone that's already crossed over, that was in the life of or cares about the person that is in my office? So those are the two things that can happen in a reading with me anyway. And I don't delineate like you don't have to choose before you come in some sessions are all psychics, some are all mediumship. And more often than not, it becomes a blend of the two and it's a little bit about them and, and some from their loved ones. But it just depends on with a need. So that's essentially what a reading is. For those of you that don't know with me anyway, every one is different. I can only speak for myself on this. So the way I would tell you to evaluate it, well, first, let me say you have your own answers, we all have our own answers. And often what I'm validating for them is things that they kind of like knew like, but I'm giving them details and specific things like I'm thinking of someone specifically that was in my office recently, that was wondering about a relationship that they were in, they were having a breakdown of a relationship and had already started a new relationship. But I was becoming aware of all that and giving them details and information about their life and what was going on. And a lot of it was validating what they already felt or knew deep inside. And it just kind of either is the answer we don't want to accept or Yeah, I know I'm supposed to be doing that. It's like that kind of a feeling often. So we all do have our own answers. Even if you don't feel psychic at all, even if you feel like you don't have intuition at all, you truly do have your own answers all of us do. So that being said, when would it be time to get a reading from someone else, I would say when you feel the need, it's like an internal poll or the need to hear from a loved one, like you just really need to hear from them, you just really want to spend just a little bit of time with them and hear what they have to say or feel connected to them in a different way. If you feel like you need some validations or guidance about an area of your life, maybe you've just had a loss that doesn't involve a person to the spirit world. But maybe your loss is a loss of a job. Or maybe you're going through an uncoupling you know a separation of a relationship. Or maybe you're having a tough time with someone in your family life or you know, maybe you want to go back to school for something or maybe you're wondering if you have spiritual gifts, and you keep feeling this nagging within you to like, explore some sort of spiritual, I don't know tool or gift and you're just wanting more information about that. So often when we need a reading, or when it's best to get a reading is when we feel just that kind of pull inside where maybe we know we have our own information, but we just feel like we don't have a clear answer within ourselves in that moment. And we really need some guidance. And the the opposite answer of that is ideally not when you're like quote, unquote, just curious, the energy doesn't move in the same way when someone is just curious or just coming in as a skeptic wanting to test the medium, it just the energy feels very flat in the room, it's very hard for the medium to like build the energy, hold the energy of the other person hold the energy of the communication and move it forward in the way it needs to. So ideally, when you feel like you need to I am someone who I don't. I mean, I know a lot of mediums. So we sometimes to explore other areas of our are to kind of stretch ourselves we will practice together. So I do get some readings here and there. For me personally, I did get a reading this year actually, as you guys know, with guru grit, it was a different kind of reading. It was more of an astrological and psychic reading. But I just felt like I just had some. I felt like I have some direction and I had some understanding of like what my own answers were. But I just wanted some validation. I just wanted some clarity. I just wanted to hear it from someone else that didn't know me, owl. So for me, it's that internal nagging feeling of the need right now. Um, yeah. So if it's something you're just curious about, then I would suggest maybe like watching some online card readings or doing something like that to to actually go in for a session, it does help or it is more ideal if you just kind of feel that need on your heart. So I hope that makes sense. Let me take a quick sip of water. You guys know I talk fast and a lot. Okay, so our next question is from Mary, our, what if my loved one passed away from suicide or overdose? Can they still communicate? So the answer to that is yes. In my experience, and in the experience of all the mediums that I know, colleagues, mentors, other mediums that I respect, people do not go to some different judgmental place, even if they've had a challenging passing. So what I understand it to be is that they're met with more love more compassion, and helped to understand why their life went the way it did, why they made the choices they did, why? Yeah, what happened, really, and how it helped them heal from that. But they can absolutely communicate, I've had communicators spear people communicate even very soon after their passing. I don't know, when a client comes to me, I don't know who they want to hear from, or how long that person's been in the spirit world, if that's the nature of the session they need. But I've had people come into the session spirit, people communicate to their loved one, my client very quickly after their passing, so they absolutely go to the Good Place a safe place, I don't believe there is a bad place.
But they they immediately are in, in spirit surrounded by Divine Love, supported by loved ones they perhaps knew here loved ones they already know from the other side. So yeah, they can communicate, regardless of how they crossed over to the spirit world. And then the next question kind of trails on that from Richard L. What if they spoke a different language here, like when they were alive, or couldn't speak or communicate at all? This is a great question. But it does kind of piggyback on that last question. So I put them together. I had a client not too long ago, and they had a kiddo that had passed to the spirit world. And they were so shocked when I was becoming aware of their kiddo and giving details and information from them, and memories of their life and details about the family because their kiddo wasn't able to verbally or cognitively communicate when they were here, in the family in their physical body. So they were really shocked that they could communicate so well from the other side. And the thing to know, particularly in this example, is that our soul is not afflicted. Even if our human mind has challenges our physical body has challenges. Our communication system, or the wiring of our physical mechanism has challenges our souls not affected so our soul can communicate. And for the other segment of this question about someone speaking a different language, the way that they communicate is not in a verbal language, the way you are hearing me right now, or reading the captions right now, it is more of an emotional communication using the psychic senses. So they don't communicate with language is really the way to say it. So even if someone for example, if there were 10 of us right here on this podcast, and we all spoke totally different languages, and I showed an apple, everyone would understand if they have that fruit, where they're from or where they grew up. They know what that is, without a word without us, each giving our own linguistic word for it. We all know what that is. So similarly, I mean, that's a very quieted down version of it, but similarly for the way they communicate from the spirit world. It's not in a language like that. So it doesn't matter if they spoke a language that's different from mine. It doesn't matter if it's a dialect that I even never ever heard of before. It doesn't matter if they couldn't speak or communicate at all. It doesn't matter if they weren't here long enough to have language or have understanding. I also often have people come in that have either lost a pregnancy or a baby that's pretty immediate F Under delivery or even sometimes just before delivery, and it is so beautiful and amazing how those souls can communicate, they almost always also show up with an adult on the other side, or someone that is recognizable on the other side as well. I'm thinking of one in particular, and they are able to give specific details about the family and how they're memorialized, and what happened right after their passing, and so much information. So, yes, they absolutely can still communicate, even if, for whatever the reason they didn't have language or couldn't communicate or communicated differently or not at all, when they were here. So I hope that makes sense. Let me take another sip, and we'll move on to the next question. Okay, this is from Michelle, our. And their question is, what if someone shows up in my reading that I don't want to hear from or that was abusive to me? Can that happen? Okay, this is a really good question too, because I know a lot of people, part of their fear about receiving a reading or, you know, having a communication from the spirit world is if someone wants to communicate that, like they don't want to hear from that they have, that they're mad out, or that hurt them, or that was abusive in some way. So it can happen where I will become aware of someone in a session that my sister my client doesn't want to hear from, or that was abusive to them. So that can happen. Here's kind of the rules and the way it works, quote, unquote, rules. So if my client says they absolutely don't want to hear from that person, I believe it is the ethical responsibility of the medium to honor that request those wishes, the session is, is about the loved one on the other side, and my client in the room. So if you, for example, were to tell me, I know who that is, I'm not okay to hear from them, I would immediately stop communicating with them and ask them to allow another spirit person, another soul to come forward. So that's the first part. That being said, the reason that they would be entering into a session would be because it's what their soul needs to heal from or what your soul needs to hear heal from. So in my personal experience, they are never coming in or making me aware of them, so that they can do more harm, we have a pretty hard and fast rule as mediums do no harm. So they are never coming in to further hurt the client or to cause more pain or anguish in any way. More often than not, they're coming in to take responsibility to give apologies sometimes to acknowledge the truth of a situation depending on you know, everyone has their own personal situations. Sometimes it can even be someone that was very close family relation to that person. I'm thinking of someone that I had recently, and they had a very challenged relationship with a paternal figure that they would articulate was abusive in their life and really damaging and their life and I became aware of that person. My client wasn't comfortable to hear from them. So we moved on. I was aware of a more of like a grandmother in their life. I think it actually wasn't a biologic grandmother, but grandmother nonetheless. And that grandma gave a beautiful information and shared memories. And then after hearing from grandma, my client said, Okay, I'm ready to hear from that, that dad figure I'm ready, you can, you can hear from them. And so then we did. And in that instance, that paternal figure, I just can't quite remember if it was Dad or stepdad. But it was a male figure that had lived in the home as a as a fatherly figure was physically abusive to my client and made me aware that they were, there were several things that happened, I'm not going to go into them, and nor did I in my reading. So that's my point is what I'm wanting to say is, even if I understand specific minut details of abuse, I'm always considering my client, and what is best for them what they need and what they don't need. So they might need to hear some details so that they know that actually this person is taking responsibility in the correct way and that I do understand, but they don't need to hear all the details because they don't need to relive that rehash bits of it, they don't need. The specific details are not necessary. They lived it. They know what happened. It's enough detail that they know that this person is communicating and take and responsibility in the way they need. So that's just something else to know is, like I said, I can only speak for the way I work in the way I've trained. But a medium should not be rehashing painful details just for the sake of knowing the information. Really, there should be a level of it's a safe space for the client really is what I'm trying to say here. So even if I became aware of very difficult graphic details, I would say it in a way that was more gentle. And there's been times where I've had clients want me to say specific details, but I don't go right there I go in in a more gentle way. And then if they want more specificity, if I have it, I can give it but also, if I feel like it'd be more damaging to them, I will not. So just know that yes, you absolutely have the right to not hear from someone if you don't want but also often when they are coming it is to take responsibility, acknowledge something, acknowledge your feelings, perhaps apologize. Maybe answer a question just depending on the situation. And also your medium should have an awareness of protecting you and I don't mean production and like the way they use it in the movies like scary protection, I mean, considering your highest and greatest good and what would be healing versus painful for you as a as an individual. So I hope that makes sense. The way I'm explaining it. Onto our next question from Tanya M. How does it work? Like, what do you see them standing there next to you? And they talk to you? Or what do you see? Okay, so the gist of this question I understand here to be
kind of what she starts with, how does it work? So, like I said, I can only speak for myself, I know that this is true of many mediums that I know but I'm speaking from my own perspective, for me, I can gently feel the soul of the spirit person, the loved one standing beside me, I typically feel them on my right side, I've heard most mediums say they feel them slightly behind, I feel mine kind of slightly in front or like directly to the side, but it's in this to the right of my shoulder general vicinity. So that's where I move my awareness when I'm wanting to work to become aware of them to communicate with them. That's often where I feel them from. And I would say, you know, I used to expect every spirit person to communicate exactly the same. One of the things that I learned from the lovely Mavis patella in working with her is that just like people on this side, the loved ones on the spirit side all communicate a little bit differently, as well. And that's okay, so there is no cookie cutter. This is the formula every single time answer, but I'm gonna try to answer it as best as I can. That being said, so for me, it is mostly largely through the emotions, I feel the the emotion and the nature of the relationships. So I might mistake dad for stepdad, for example, if that was the father figure that raised you, I might feel the emotion of dad and think like, oh, this is dad. I have had some other like slight ways to misunderstand relationship is like, I had a mom who didn't raise the person, the grandma raised the person. And so the mom and the grandma were there, but the grandma felt like the mom, because had mothered and played the mom role and raised this person. And the mom and spirit felt like a sibling, because that was kind of the nature of their relationship. You know, the mom had them young and they did grow up more like siblings. So I'll often feel the nature of the relationship. And then I am just available for whatever they want to share. Some will communicate details about their personality, and I'll get the sense or the feeling of even in my physical body. Sometimes if it's someone that was like quite serious and buttoned up, I find myself often wanting to like sit up a little straighter. So I sometimes will know details about their personality that they're sharing. And then depending on the person, some want to communicate details about their passing or about the last parts of their life. Some want to communicate memories of their life. Some want to communicate things that they spent their time doing, which I guess is also memories. Some really want to talk about how they were in the world, their personality, how they were in the different relationships that they had, how different people experience them, but whatever it is, they're trying to communicate. I'm feeling the emotions of the story that we're wanting to share. I often am getting quick flashes Is of pictures and okay. You have probably heard me say this all the time is for as long as you will know me, I will complain about the fact that we're still working on having good languaging around this, none of the language fits exactly. So when I'm saying I'm seeing quick flashes of pictures, the first time someone said that to me, I thought that they were seeing it like in the movies where time stands still and quick flashes of photographs were popping out in front of them, like a hologram or something that is not at all how it works for me, nor really for any of the mediums that I that I know. It's more of like if I tell you a story about my day, and I say, oh, yeah, I went to the gas station. And then I put, you know, the the nozzle into my car. And then I went inside and I was looking at some lemon lime soda. And you can imagine the pictures in your mind's eye of me going into a gas station and looking at soda. It's kind of like that, where it's not a picture like you see on a television, but it's it's almost the memory of something or you're imagining what something looks like that's kind of how it feels. Most of the time these pictures are of references for my life. Now when I say references, I don't mean like symbols. I learned from my main mentor Andy being who I think is a fantastic teacher and highly recommend him to anyone and everyone who asks. So shout out d&d, lots of love. I have learned that I totally forgot where I was going without. I'll come back to it. So anyway, the way that picture's worked for me, okay. It's almost always my own references. What I learned from Andy was that it's never helpful to create a symbol library. Because, for example, in this, this might be his example, it might not be I just don't remember, but it's I did learn it from him. If you have in your mind, if you say like, okay, the red rose symbolizes anniversary, and anytime I see a red rose, it only means anniversary. Well, for me as the medium, what if that person is trying to communicate that their name was rose, or that they had these award winning beautiful red roses that they grew, or that they lived on Rose lane, whatever it is, so no symbols, just references. Sometimes it'll be something they're trying to show me about their house, and I'll see a specific house that I know that just happens to have that same layout, sometimes I'll have the memory of like a specific person, like a picture of that popped into my mind. And I know, okay, they're trying to tell me something about the nature of the relationship, or you know, depending on what it is. So, they can't implant new memories in there. But they can give, they can have access to help me understand through any thing that I've ever seen or experienced in the world, even if it's something I don't remember seeing. So it could be a picture that I saw in a movie or like a setting that I saw by watching a TV show, but I never was there. And I can see that sometimes I hope this makes sense, the way I'm explaining it, I know it's a little bit elusive. So I'll get the quick flashes of pictures while I'm having the emotions. Sometimes I will hear actual words inside my mind, it's not in a voice, it's not in a different voice than mine. It's not really in any voice. Sometimes I'll just become aware of a song. And that will be important. And then the math of it kind of is for me like Song plus emotion. Plus, if there's a picture, all of it working together lets me know what they're trying to say. And it's something that keeps going as we're communicating. The mechanics of it really is I am moving my awareness to the spirit world kind of moving my mind my souls energy there, I am expanding my auric field to blend with the energy or the power of their soul. So my soul is blending with their soul. And that's how they are able to exchange information with me. That's a very kind of like mechanical nuts and bolts, example or explanation of it. But it is why we cannot communicate with someone unintentionally, it's like they have to agree to communicate with me just as much as I have to be agreeing to communicate with them. And then that's where in that blended soul area where the communication happens. So I know it's a really long winded explanation. But I it's so hard without giving long examples. It's why we have these like misconceptions about like, Oh, do you see someone standing next to you? No, I don't see them like that. Some people do but it's more rare to see it like that. So I don't see them in physical form standing next to me because they don't have that physical form anymore. So I might understand something in my mind's eye and then there's also most often an element of just like knowing something or If I'm really well blended with them, and really the energy is moving in the best possible way, a lot of times I just find myself either just knowing, or just saying something the way they would have said it, my body language often changes, my posture often changes.
So, it's not totally uncommon for me to say something, and then my clients say, oh, my gosh, that's exactly the way that they said it, or that's exactly the phrase they use, or they used to always say that. And it's not typically something I would say, just in my normal conversation. So there's, there's a lot going on, basically, is what I'm saying. And I'm constantly working with your loved one on the other side to make sure I'm understanding and expressing what they want in the way they want. It's why it's so important for my clients to validate and to be able to say yes, no, or I don't know, as I'm giving details, because if, if they're saying no, it just means I'm misunderstanding something. And there's lots of little ways to misunderstand something I might understand, misunderstand the relationship, or I might think I'm thinking of one that's popping into my mind that I recently had where it was the persons it was there. How are they related? It was someone that they were close to it was a male in their life, I think it was their brother. And my client was in front of me and I was seeing and feeling experiences of incarceration, like just those type of scenes, I maybe wasn't as in the emotion as I could have been. But I said, oh, did your brother spend some time in prison? And the way I said it, they said, No, not the way you're saying it? The answer actually was yes, their brother did spend time in prison, but he worked in the prison as an officer rather than being incarcerated in the prison. So I understood that brother, I knew he was there. I knew he spent a lot of time there. I knew that he was inside the building. I just was slightly misunderstanding the reason that he was there. But the way I worded it was correct. So I said, did they spend time in prison? Which, yeah, they did. They just got to go home every day. So sometimes, as mediums, we can just slightly misunderstand details, or we're placing them in the wrong time in the timeline, for example, where maybe we think they're talking about an old memory, but they're talking about something that just happened. And even when I'm saying it right now talking about it, that's not really the right way to say it, because like I said, it's not them. Talking to me next to me kinda wish it was, I wish they would just stand next to me and talk in my ear, and, but the mystical experience of it is so powerful, and so beautiful, and which shows that their soul continues on. So while sometimes I do get words or phrases or songs that actually feel like language, it's not necessarily in a speaking way, the way I'm speaking to you. So I don't know if that's going to make sense to you. I don't know if it would have made sense to me, before I really understood more about mediumship. To be quite honest, when I first started experiencing mediumship, I didn't even realize it was like the whole world, that it is with lots of different people and information and different classes and different theories and all of that. So different types of ways of working. So now I do so hopefully that makes sense to you. The other thing I want to just quickly highlight about that is when we speak about what happens in mediumship. It sounds like the things, the feelings, the quick visuals that I have the songs or whatever. The way we say it, it sounds like it's a very strong feeling. And it's not it's so so, so subtle. So that's part of why having discernment and training and being focused is so helpful because it comes in so subtly, that it's easy to miss things. It's easy to misunderstand things. It's not. When I say like I'm feeling an emotion, it's not like I'm feeling it, like it's my own emotion in that moment. Like if I was living and experiencing something and feeling an emotion, it's the memory of their emotion. So it's so so subtle. So I just like to highlight that because I think the way we talk about it and the way it's shown in media is really misleading. I know it was definitely misleading for me. And usually there's layers and layers but for us to even more deeply understand just how subtle it is and what's happening. So I hope that makes sense. Okay, we have time for a few more. The next question I'm going to come to is Audrey a let me take a quick sip of water. If mediumship is a gift, why do mediums study or need to take classes? This is a great question Audrey. So the way I use Explain this is if you think of someone if you're old enough to know what this is, I hope you I hope you all know this is but someone like Michael Jordan, one of the greatest basketball players that ever lived, phenomenal athlete didn't make his high school basketball team the first time you try it out. So someone like that, who was naturally sure has an inclination is gifted, has some of the capacity and ability just naturally, that would be talented at basketball, but also put in time and practice and dedication and was so structured in his training and disciplined in his practice that he honed his skill, and used those natural gifts, but also was able to focus them and increase them to a capacity well beyond what he would have had had he just been like, oh, yeah, I'm decent at basketball, I'm naturally gifted. So even though Michael Jordan is a one of a kind world, great. It's just an easy example to understand, yes, mediumship is a natural gift, it's something it's one of the gifts of the Spirit, right. So it's, it's something that is natural to many people who it comes to. The reason that we take classes and study and work with a mentor and fine tune it is because a lot of times, particularly when it first starts coming to us, we don't really know how to use it, or what to do with it, or how to understand what we're receiving. It's why sometimes some people feel like it's a little bit scary, even though it's not, it's just something we're not experiencing with our five physical senses. And we're trained from the time were young, but like, we see it to believe it, right. So it can feel a little unnerving sometimes if it's something that we know that is there that we cannot see, for example. So it's not actually that it's scary, it's just that it feels different or strange, or we don't fully understand it. So for all of those reasons, and to be able to work in the best way. So the truth is, when we are mediums, we work for the spirit world, we we work for them, we are here to serve and help them to help heal those that are still here and help heal areas of their soul or things that they need to express, right. So we want to do the best job that we can for them, we don't want to I definitely don't want to say things that is not what they're intending to communicate, or say that they are communicating something that they're not kind of putting words in their proverbial mouth, so to speak. So the training and the experience and the practice is all part of that. The truth is, for me, there is no field that I've ever seen, except maybe someone who's like an artist to a certain degree. But there's there's no field where someone doesn't need to practice and fine tune and hone and more deeply understand their craft. What is it that we say 10,000 hours is what makes an expert I don't even know whose quote that is. But just like anything, the more we do it, the more practiced we are, the more experiences we have, we really have a deeper understanding of how to use any tool, any gift, any natural ability. So while the ability is natural and natural gift, the practice and the use of it is all can be a little clunky, when we first get started. So that's why studying, having an understanding of of what's actually happening, the way it's happening, how to work with it, it just really helps us be able to exercise that gift and use it to a higher level or to a greater extent of our ability than we probably could just fiddling around with it on our own. So I hope that makes sense as to why we study and take classes. The other thing to know is even if you are a medium, even if you're having mediumistic experiences, or maybe you had, I often hear it as like people who had some stuff when they were young.
It doesn't mean you ever have to use it. So just because you have a gift doesn't mean you ever have to use it. I knew someone who had a real gift for languages and people used to always tell them they should be a translator or language teacher and it was not at all the work they wanted to do. So just because we have a gift doesn't mean we have to use it in the capacity that anyone else sees fit for us and you're not like obligated to, to like use this gift in any kind of a way. So you can just have it just for yourself. You can totally ignore it. And you can ignore it for years and years and it's still a part of you. So even if right now you feel Like, okay, maybe I have some sensitivities, but I don't, I don't want anything to do with it or I don't have time to develop it. For example, you could decide when you're 80, that it's time for you to explore these gifts. So I just like to throw that in there as well. It's not something that you need to feel pressure to do or to not do or to do it on any timeline. So I hope that helps. We've got room for just a couple more. Okay, the next question is a combination of questions from so many people. So I didn't put a name on this one. This is how do I know if I am a medium? So a while back, I did a deep dive full breakdown of this question in Episode 31, which I called Unveiling the Mysteries of mediumship. Can anyone become a medium to communicate with the spirit world? It's kind of a long title, but I think it tells you what it is. So I will link that episode in the show notes. That is a really full like expanded answer of this, but I'm gonna give kind of the short answer here. And if you really want me to break down all of the aspects and elements of it, that is the place to look, because that's a full episode just on that question. So I really deep dive into all the areas not only like how to know, but like what to do. So the short answer is a question for you. Are you experiencing people from the spirit world beyond your own loved ones sensing, feeling, knowing, smelling, etc, while you're awake, and not in an altered state. So, you know, sometimes people feel a little more open, if they have some altered state going on some sort of medicine or intoxicants, or something like that, it really is best to hone these skills and to evaluate and decide when you are fully clear and sober. Now, that being said, if there's a medication you need to take for like a medical condition or something that's prescribed to you by your doctor, and you're taking it as directed. That's fine, that won't affect your ability to understand if you're a medium or not. So that's not what I'm talking about. But I think you all know what I am talking about. So not maybe not when you're intoxicated, or under the influence of any substance. But are you experiencing people from the spirit world beyond your own loved ones. So we all have the ability to experience our own loved ones, whether we're a medium or not, whether you feel like in this moment, you know how to do it or not, we all can sense and receive hellos from our own loved ones in the spirit world. But to be able to communicate sense feel articulate from someone else's loved ones that you don't know what all they have, technically no connection to you, is a different thing. So if that's happening, then probably your medium but just like I said above, and the question above, you don't need to use it, you don't have to explore it or develop it, it's available to you. It doesn't have to be right now it could be you know, 10 2050 years from now. So there's no timeline for it. But if you are sensing, feeling knowing, and you're aware of like someone, even if you can't identify who it is, and having those types of experiences, probably you have some mediumistic abilities, but definitely visit that deep dive Episode Episode 31, Unveiling the Mysteries of mediumship Can anyone become a medium to communicate with the spirit world? Because that is where I really go into every aspect of that question. That's a big question. So I tell you all the ways to know all the things to consider all the ways to start exploring if you so choose, so definitely check out that episode. Okay, we have time for one more. So let me get to it. And this is a kind of an advanced advancement of the next question, I guess I want to say. And I also didn't put a name on this one because I received this question from a handful of you too. So let me take a sip and we'll dive in. Okay, this is I've been trying to become a medium or work on my mediumship How do I strengthen or intensify my abilities? All right, buckle up. So first, I would just like to invite you to consider your intention. Why? Why are you trying to become a medium? Why are you trying to work on your mediumship Why are you trying to develop your gifts as a medium? Why? What's your intention? And there's not like a necessarily like a right or wrong answer to this. It's not like a say that. See the secret word to get past the the gate and it's not like that. It's Just there are different reasons and ways to practice mediumship. If it's something you're just wanting to explore for your own personal development, I feel like that's one intention versus this is a need that I feel impressed on my heart and soul. And I really need to explore and expand this and work with people, that's a totally different intention, and maybe you don't know, and maybe it shifts along the way. For me, I would say it's shifted along the way a little bit. So there, there can be some of that, but just kind of getting a little bit more clear on why you want to explore this. And it's just for you to have a more clear understanding of your why of your intention. So that's the first thing to know. The second thing that I just kind of want to highlight in here quickly, I won't beat this drum for too long, but the word strengthen and intensify and there were different submissions of different variations of those words, but they all kind of meant those words. And a couple of you didn't use those words. So strengthen and intensify think about when I was just talking a few minutes ago about what the experience as a medium is, like, when we're communicating with someone that's on the other side. It's not a strong feeling. It's not an intense feeling. There's nothing we can do to like, turn up the heat or turn up the dial to make them be able to like, talk louder, like, I can't hear you from the other side, can you speak up, it's not like that, we can't turn it up to where we're more intensely receiving the visuals or more intensely, or strongly receiving the emotions. So I just want to set your expectations appropriately, we can more fine tune our ability to understand, but we can't turn up the volume. So the reason I like to say that is because I feel like I believed that for many years that like surely if I get good enough at this, it's just going to be stronger, it's just going to be louder I'm in it's, it's not like that. And it's been many years for me and all the mediums I know say the same thing. So think about honing your abilities, getting more, there is a way to get more precise to get more expanded, but it's not going to be necessarily more intense, it's still going to be very subtle. And in fact, the more we develop, often the more subtle things become. So I just want to throw that out there. But how do we strengthen our discernment? How do we become more clear on when we're feeling someone in our space, and when we're feeling seven people in our space, for example, that is something you can practice and do. So I just like to make that distinction. And maybe I'm being a little bit persnickety in here, which is a fun word that came up in one of my recent readings that I don't normally get to use. So now I was like, I like that word. I'm gonna use it some more. So persnickety, maybe I'm just being a little particular. But what you can do to hone your abilities or to work on your abilities is a couple things. regularly doing your own personal development and feeling your feelings is what I'm saying. As part of this, it's not the sexy part of this work. It's not the part that we think we're gonna have to continue to do once we dive in. But we do all have stuff. We're humans with human lives and human relationships and emotions and pasts. So continuously working on our own personal personal development, personal growth, whether that is working with a licensed mental health professional as part of this, whether it's more self help, whether it's whatever it is for you, journaling, processing, but working on our own emotions, our own personal development, feeling our own feelings is a key to continuing to develop and
deepen our mediumship. So make a note of that. The second thing to do here is time and practice, especially your meditation practice. So for me, and for most mediums, I know we do a version of a meditation called sitting in the power or sitting in the presence, which is essentially part sitting with our own soul and part just sitting with the spirit world as a world not in a working capacity of becoming aware of one person just sitting with the spirit world. The way I understand it was taught by Andy and others. The spirit world is just a world within our world. So it's here right around us all the time. We just don't see it or experience it with our physical senses. So that practice of sitting the meditation can continue to hone refine To deepen our focus, our ability, all of the things. So that's part of what I do for my own practice, I do it. That's the meditation, that you often hear me talk about that I do. more days than not of the week, I try to do it every day. But inevitably I miss a day or so. So that and practice. And what do I mean by practice, you could be in a class, you could be in a practice group. It's different than working with the way we say it is the general public meaning you don't want to practice and fumble around with someone's loved ones. Who doesn't know that you're in a practice session, because you can break their heart, you can do more damage than good. And remember, it's always do no harm. So we don't want to hurt anyone or damage anyone. So there are people that will let you practice with them who know, okay, if you make a mistake, it's not a big deal. They're not hanging on every word you say. They're not taking everything you say, as gospel, they know you're still learning still working. The best way to do that is through a trusted teacher. But I will tell you the meditation, Andy says this too, so we'll have him on before too long. we've chatted about it. And we're just working out some scheduling. But one of the things he says is most people think, and I'm paraphrasing his quote, but most people think that it's practice mediumship 90%, meditate 10% But it's actually the opposite meditate 90% Practice 10% to be the strongest medium. And if you've ever seen him work, if you've never seen him work, I highly recommend it. He is an incredibly detailed, specific, beautifully gifted but also well practiced and disciplined medium. So that brings me to my next point of this, which is getting a trusted teacher. And if you find a trustworthy teacher, they will be putting you in practice groups, they will often have their own practice groups set up of people that you can practice with or people from your classes for example, I highly recommend Andy Bing which you can check out his website Andy bing.com. But I also highly recommend the school in the UK and Stansted, which is called Arthur Findlay College. And there are many, many teachers and he's one of them that work there and they offer courses there if you are so inclined and able to go to Stansted to the UK it's an incredible experience. But if you can't many of these teachers offer either their own private mentorship courses, their own classes, I would say evaluate the teacher look for work that they've done, hear them talk, see their theory, see their philosophy see their work as a medium. Because if you don't like the type of medium they are or the way they work, that's probably what they're going to be training you to do. So you have to have a respect for them, you have to like the way that they work, it's best to see or hear them in some capacity. So sometimes that could be taking one off like a you know, a few weeks course with them a short course or like a pre recorded course or hearing them talk or do speeches or hearing them teach in another capacity. Like I guess like a talk or lecture, hearing them on a podcast. So really research your teachers, I can tell you most of the teachers that Arthur Findlay College are trustworthy. Andy Bing is definitely trustworthy and have the highest integrity. So I highly recommend them but there are others just do your research, check them out, see their work, explore hear what other people have to say about them as a teacher and as a medium. But having someone that you trust to help you along with your development is so important and has been completely like invaluable to me in my development. And the best thing to do is once you find the teacher that you feel or know is the right one for you that you like the way they teach they resonate with you you feel comfortable with them, it doesn't mean they're never going to push you out of their comfort zone because of course, that's what a good teacher does. But they create this nurturing environment for you. And then it's best if possible to try to develop with one teacher over a long period of time, several years, whatever that ends up being for you. Because each teacher has their own different method, their own different way of teaching their own different like, quote unquote rules of the way they like people to work. It's very hard. I learned the hard way to go between teachers, because they all like it done a certain way just like any teacher of anything really. So once you find someone that you really love their work, you respect them, their teachings resonate with you, you feel good about them as a person. It's best to try to stick with them until you're pretty, you know well into your development. So that Just a just a little advice for me, I think Andy actually gave me that advice too at some point. And probably Mavis did as well. But it's just something good to know. So those are really the ways that if you're if you're trying to become a medium or work on your mediumship, and you're wanting to deepen it, really getting your intention of why regularly doing your personal development and feeling your feelings, time and practice, especially your meditation, and finding a trusted teacher and or mentor. So that is my recommendation for those of you that are mediumistic. And you know, I'm one who believes the more the merrier. I think we need all different types of mediums, from all walks of life, all cultures, because there are spirit people who I can understand and work with, and they can help me communicate with their loved ones. But I'm not for everybody, I wouldn't understand certain references or certain life experiences, perhaps in a way that someone else much better could or that their people who are still here in the world would feel comfortable being with and sitting with. So there is more than enough to go around. And if you're feeling called to explore, I think you should start watching mediumship start seeing some good demonstrations, start seeing some good mediumship. And as you start to learn what good mediumship is, you also kind of see the mediumship that maybe doesn't resonate with you as well or that feels like are they making that up or that is that really like they really, they're not really giving any details that type of a thing so, but see what resonates with you and how you like to work. And again, I know I've said this a couple times already, but remembering that there's no timeline, I foolishly thought when I first started developing this type of mediumship that I would train for like a year and then it would be fine. And I could start seeing clients. For me it was several years before I was ready to start working with people outside of a practice setting just because that's the level and standard that I wanted to hold myself to. But we're all different. So really just know that even though there are a lot of people walking with you on this journey, it is a very personal journey. So I hope that helps. Well, we've gotten through so many questions. I hope this really kind of filled you up with information if you guys have more questions, I would love them if you continue to send them to, to me joy at joyful medium.com and I will continue to put them in a file and we will do one of these. Ask a medium anything sessions again. Did you guys like this session? Did this resonate with you? Was it good to hear lots of answers all at once, please let me know. You can email me your thoughts and feelings. You can also like and rate and review this podcast that would really help me if you are enjoying it to know that you guys are still liking what I'm putting down. So thanks for being here. Again, if you haven't already gotten my free mini course sign magnet, go to my website joyful medium.com It's right on the homepage. You can get it totally free. It is three days small sessions each day sent right into your email inbox teaching you how to get signs from the universe, how to get numbers as signs and what all the numbers mean, and how to get signs from your own loved ones in the spirit world. So sign magnet totally free, joyful medium.com Make sure you get it and then you will also be on my VIP insiders email list. And you will get links to free community healings every month and so much more. So I am so grateful for you being here with me if this episode really resonated with you and you want to share this information of course I'd be grateful if you would share it with a friend who is also woowoo or woowoo adjacent.
Again, I appreciate you so much. Big hugs, lots of love. Bye for now from inside Spirit Speakeasy