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Revision as of 11:27, 25 January 2007 editStevepaget (talk | contribs)230 edits See also: As far as I know, Icke does not claim to be a medium. Not all "New Agey" stuff is relevant here.← Previous edit Revision as of 11:33, 25 January 2007 edit undoStevepaget (talk | contribs)230 edits Edited misleading title. Of course, belief in the afterlife is not censored in Great Britain.Next edit →
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Revision as of 11:33, 25 January 2007

It has been suggested that this article be merged into Mediumship and Talk:Mediumship#Merge with Medium (spirituality). (Discuss) Proposed since January 2007.

In spirituality, a medium or spirit medium (plural mediums) is an individual who has the ability to receive messages from spirits (discorporate entities), or the ability to channel such entities — that is, write or speak in the voice of these entities rather than in the medium's own voice.

Some popular and well known people who profess to be mediums are Gordon Mons Higginson, Jane Roberts, Derek Acorah, Tony Stockwell, Colin Fry, Lisa Williams, Allison DuBois, Esther Hicks, Sylvia Browne, John Edward, Betty Shine, Ailene Light, Joseph Kony, James Van Praagh, and JZ Knight.

Mediumistic automatism

Mediumistic automatism is the automatism associated with a medium receiving supernatural messages from ghosts, spirits or the like, the expression of such messages (in speech, writing or drawings) lacking conscious control or intervention by the medium.

Research and supporting arguments

In some cases, individuals have produced personal information (allegedly told to them by a spirit) to their clients well above guessing rates according to an article in The Journal of the Society for Psychical Research.

VERITAS Research Program of the Laboratory for Advances in Consciousness and Health in the Department of Psychology at the University of Arizona was created primarily to test the hypothesis that the consciousness (or identity) of a person survives physical death. Their studies are conducted within a University of Arizona laboratory and have been approved by the University of Arizona Human Subjects Protection Program and an academic advisory board.

Skeptical perspective

Skeptics dispute the existence of genuine mediums, arguing that individuals who claim to possess this ability are either self-deluded or charlatans who engage in cold or hot reading.

Practitioners of mediumship are eligible for the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) Paranormal Challenge through March 2007 and may be eligible after that date under certain conditions. The challenge offers a million US dollars to anyone who can provide proof of the paranormal as defined by JREF.

Harry Houdini was a famous magician who became a debunker of mediums later in life and, indeed, even in death, because he left a ten-word passphrase with his wife that a medium should say in order to prove they were channelling him. Although many people did claim to channel Houdini, no-one was able to reproduce the passphrase.

Critics contend that Director of the VERITAS Research Program Dr. Gary Schwartz past studies such as The Afterlife Experiments have not provided competent scientific evidence for survival of consciousness or that mediums can actually communicate with the dead. They charge that the research he presented is crucially flawed and deviated from accepted norms of scientific methodology.

Mediums in fiction

Medium is an American television series about a woman (played by Patricia Arquette) who acts as a research medium for the Phoenix, Arizona district attorney's office. The series is based on the life of Allison DuBois, who claims to use her psychic ability allowing her to contact the dead to help the local law enforcement agency.

In the 2004 video game Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, the player meets The Sorrow, a mysterious dead medium who battles and also assists the player.

References

  1. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research January, 2001 - Vol. 65.1, Num. 862
  2. The VERITAS Research Program of the Laboratory for Advances in Consciousness and Health in the Department of Psychology at the University of Arizona
  3. http://www.csicop.org/articles/19990608-vanpraagh/
  4. "One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge". James Randi Educational Foundation. Retrieved 2007-01-19.
  5. "Skeptic Revamps $1M Psychic Prize". Wired News. 2007-01-12. Retrieved 2007-01-19.
  6. http://www.apl.org/history/houdini/biography.html
  7. http://www.csicop.org/si/2003-01/medium.html

See also

External links

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