Spot the Difference?

Sunday February 23, 2014

Spirit? Entity or Energy? That is the question.  So it is a question I posed to Arty in the hope that once and for all he could clarify things, or at least point us in the right direction if it was to be another of those revelations that we aren't quite ready for yet.

We all know that a spirit is a spook in my world.  It is the soul if you like, the spirit of a human being who’s human biological form can no longer sustain them in the material world. As the mind and body part ways at the moment of death, this is what remains.  The unique change being that the spirit can now more freely exist on two different levels; the human and the everlasting. Biology tells us that the human brain creates electrical energy. We know that for sure. This energy is moulded into thought, emotion and feeling. The essence of us; our very spirit. Who we really are is what remains when our biological self is no longer viable. How many times have we heard the phrase that something "embodies the spirit" or "captures the spirit" because the word spirit in this sense means the true identity, who we really are and again the essence of us. We must also be clear that before the knowing and the evolution of our spirit we are who we are when we passed away. If we were a bitch in life we will be a bitch in the first stages of the afterlife and so it goes!

Entity. Spiritually speaking something completely different but  strangely also quite the same! An entity is a being that originated in the afterlife but has never been part of the human experience. Think of it like this; the universal energy is one huge great big piece of Play Doh and that big bright colourful lump of energy has to keep morphing to evolve and improve. As a small amount is pinched off to become part of a human life, it does just that. It learns and grows with the knowledge and wisdom it gathers along the way. An entity if you like, is almost an energetic leak! It shouldn’t be here and it rarely knows how to behave! It is neither male nor female as it has no human being and it just does what it does.

Such entities can attach themselves to other spiritual beings including human beings; so if that person has suffered trauma or abuse, two of the darkest and most miserable things that can happen to a living person, the door creaks open to allow a negative entity to fill the tank and hang around. Many people who think they are evil or can sense something bad or even have experiences where their personal interaction is physical with something malevolent, have suffered in some way; drug abuse; mental abuse; depression or loss and emotional damage. The reason for this is the mental trauma creates negative energy and the negative entity feeds off this. We cannot undo the past damage but we can manage and rid ourselves of it eventually. Deal with the trauma. Face it. Label it if you need to and then move forward. You can then file such experiences in the human mind (and thus the spirit) where it belongs rather than allow it to run amok and cause you further pain and hurt. The entity is then eventually starved of fuel and dissipates back into the greater universe.

Other ways that I have personally worked with malevolence with people is to identify it. Usually a malevolent energy will give itself some kind of form. I remember once doing battle with a mean entity and he decided to manifest himself grabbing my hand. It was grey, slim and bony with long fingernails. I looked down on it and thought, "aint no such beast" and therefore took it's credibility away. On another occasion the vision of Jack the Ripper was manifested and I actually believed it so it hung around for quite a few days after that until Arty told me it was false. So even when we are dealing with entities, we are still the ones that give them life or expiry with our own thoughts and feelings. Fear equals fatter for a negative entity.

A positive entity is quite different. They can manifest themselves as mischievous shapes and lights; children or even twinkly star like sprites. Again there is no such thing other than the raw positive energy and so the entities are just letting us know they are positive. People who see or feel these kinds of energies tend to feel momentarily happy or want to giggle and laugh. Same Play Doh  but from the pink section not the grey section. Never a human being just an entity that has slipped through and will slip back too.

Energy; Simple energy is attributable to both kinds of beings. It can be negative or positive but it is the force with which either exist as does everything. When we talk about energy and matter we now know that the source of human life had to be energy. It's all around us in different forms and frequencies both mad made (generated) or natural.

We have human energy that comes from eating, drinking and looking after ourselves; spiritual energy is created by our thought processes and patterns. Imagine each time you have a thought a little firework is shot out into the universe. If it’s a good thought the firework is blue if it is a bad thought the firework is green. We are creating this kind of energy all around us all the time. Arty gave me a really good example of how unseen energy can be proven. Rioting. Over the years there have been riots in England, France and Canada, fuelled by racism and above all the loss of an ice hockey game. Such riots were incited by a small group each time and then more and more people joined in once the actual event started. People can be seen on television footage looting and smashing, their destructive behaviour part of an energetic infection that has spread. When they got up that morning they had no intention of being angry, hateful and destroying property but somehow the energy; the mood, the energy spread, got under their skin and it happened.

Elementary!

Family in Spook

Monday February 17, 2014

So many people say to me..."Who can you see around me" I think my Aunty/Mum/Dad is around me all the time." I often roll my eyes and think how do I deliver this other than just saying "Are you sure?" We always assume so many things when it comes to spook. A common one being if we lose someone we love and there is spiritual activity around us it's always them. Seriously if you lose someone ask yourself was that person with you 24/7 when they were alive? Then WHY would he be there 24/7 now!

Ok that all sounds really sad, and a little harsh by me I am sure, but this is how Arty and I see it. When someone passes away yes they do spend a lot of time with those they love and this includes everyone they enjoyed a positive connection with; athough if they favoured one person in life they will probably favour them on the flip side. We have to realise that once we have passed over we are also spirits in the spirit worlds. We have finished the human experience and we have to do whatever it is to be a good spook. I have never quite been able to get the details out of Arty but I know there is the knowing like like reviewing your life;  the good and the bad. I am not sure what comes next maybe Arty will tell us one day when we are ready.

As time passes those we have loved and lost are less connected back into their own human world and more and more centered on their own spiritual evolution. It is quite difficult for a family spook to go on with their own soul evolution because of the grieving process by loved ones in the human world. The thought energy of both love, anger, grief and other emotions does tend to hold those who have passed over closer to the earth plane for longer.

So why the eye rolling? Well when we feel someone around us sometimes it can be other family members who passed over earlier, friends, hijackers and even just energies. We also tend to exclude listening to our intuition,  gatekeepers and guides because we are focussed on the miracle of contacting our loved ones and assume they are on hand to answer our prayers, questions and just about everything else. We become one sided spiritually if you like. We also slow the process of our loved ones into the spirit realm by constantly "calling them back.". By assuming it is family all the time we are opening our spook door to  anyone. I'm not saying don't connect with your loved ones but if you do; protect yourself and close your spook door afterwards. It's just another part of learning and exercising caution in a world we don't truly understand.

Mediums are people too!

It’s not that I am unhappy about something so much as frustrated.  The reason I have decided to write this is because I have found it is not only me, it’s common to many mediums, psychics and readers and someone needs to say something.

Mediums are people and we do a job. Mediumship is like learning another language but trying to teach someone else at the same time. Interpretation can sometimes be an issue. We aren’t in your life-space or your reality so sometimes we don’t know where the message should be placed. So when we get it wrong can I ask you oh so very nicely not to beat us up!  Usually when a medium gets their working wings it’s because they have enough referrals – word of mouth says “She/He is ok” and it goes from there. Like any business it’s by reputation. I personally don’t ask for public feedback , if it comes it comes and if it doesn’t it doesn’t. Readings are private. Your Doctor or your Lawyer doesn’t post on his or her facebook page “Oooooh Mitzi Smith has a sore throat and I cured it!” 

Many mediums, me included will open their facebook pages for interaction. I have never met a medium who doesn’t get a substantial amount of inbox messages expecting a freebie reading. I give them when I can but only if it’s just a question but when you ask me for a full free reading I often wonder – Do you shoplift as well? This is our time and for many of us we do what we do as a full time or part time job. Me personally it just happened and I actually had a spook come to me and tell me I should be doing it. Reading that is. When I am doing a full reading for someone the entire process is over two hours. 

What I do wonder is – why are we then abused, unliked and berated for not giving freebies!  To do a reading it takes more than one person for me. I need my spooks, Arty, P and sometimes Matt. I might not have my spooky head on, I might not want to answer a question if I feel it will do damage and I NEVER answer questions about other people when they are not asked by that person; for example; is my boyfriend cheating on me! I am happy to answer questions for concerned parents and the like though. If you ask me if you are going to marry the man you are with; what happens if the answer is no! Are you going to go home and dump him? Are you going to be miserable because you are going to wait for him to drop you? What would you DO with that information? I don’t want to be responsible for that. Similarly if the answer is yes; what happens if your guy or girl isn’t there yet and thinking of marriage and you ruin the relationship by TELLING them something they don’t feel yet and they feel pressured? 

The other issue is we all do freebie question time. For me I make sure I have Arty and P around and its rapid fire. One question – short answer.  Usually I will get 30 or 40 questions and try and plough through them. I love giving people good things or steering them in the right direction – that’s what spook is for, guidance and love. Help and support. Yesterday  I missed a few as I was busy, getting ready for Darwin, Bali and a weekend away not necessarily in that order. I also have a life and went for drinks with friends. I was abused for missing some free questions!  What the heckers?  Reverends and Vicars receive a salary for the work they do and yet somehow there is a perception that mediums are b*tches or b*stards if they don’t work for nothing! it's weird as there is no other profession in the world that I know of where the practitioners are expected to work for nothing. Please if you disagree comment on my facebook page.

So all of that said and done; do you go to a Doctor, a Therapist or a Lawyer and take their advice and then refuse to pay? Do you complain that they didn’t give their service for free? The notion that mediums should do what they do because they are simply good people is wrong! We ARE good people and many of us do a large volume of work for free that isn’t publicised. Many of us have other work or other jobs or families that we have to attend to.

All I am saying is be kind to us and it is more likely we will be kind to you. Probably not good PR having a vent but it certainly shows a motza of self respect on my part and unbending support for my colleagues out there!

In the words of some sporting guy; "I love youze all.."  I do - so don't be mean!

Are all Mediums Mad?

Tuesday February 4, 2014

Well I know I am! Just a little...maybe...in a good way! 

Something I have found and has been noticed by others is that many mediums have encountered some kind of trauma or traumatic event in their lives before they realised they were mediumistic. Another angle is that many mediums have or do suffer from depressive illnesses. That's not to say that all mediums are mental, crazy or slightly deranged but it is true it is a common thread amongst mediums. The question has to be asked why?

From personal experience I went through a really hard time for a few years, I won't go into the nitty gritty but as is mentioned in my book at one stage I just thought I would be better off dead. Thankfully I fought my way back to mental health and here I am today. What I did find during that period was that I could see and hear spook so easily that it also made me think I was mental! As we all know Arty was a doctor when he was in the human world; he was also an avid researcher into the afterlife both as a doctor and as a layman. So obviously when I get tricky questions like this I turn to him. The first thing we have to mention is that mediumistic skills are a exchange of energy. A coming together of two wavelengths that "fit" so the communication can happen. The spiritual and the human-spiritual. So maybe the answer is simple; when we are in a depressed state or the chemical changes that come with suffering trauma do something that affects the way we create our own electrical energy. The brain produces electrical energy, you know the snapping sinapses and all that stuff. It's electrical. This is another reason why there HAS to be life after death because we can't destroy energy we can only reform it; so it follows that when we die the electrical energy that is our mind. Anyway I have said that a million times so I won't harp on.

What I will say, oops correction what 'we' will say...sorry Arty..is this; when we are depressed and that can cover a lot of things such as PTSD, psychological depression (I find that those who are clinically depressed aren't as mediumistic) or we have suffered severe trauma either as a one off or repeatedly, something happens to the way our brain processes that changes the electrical frequency and conductivity. What we have to remember here though is that any kind of mental illness is illness of the mind. The way we think and the way we process is affected and not the physical organ known as the brain. This sychological chanis not the same as a physical or chemical disorder such as schizophrenia or physical brain injury. 

Let's try and simplify this (thanks Arty I think I need that!).  In the case of me; I had cruel parents so throughout my childhood I was regularly traumatised. The person that should have grown up a happy go lucky reasonably intelligent woman was shaped by trauma. Had I grown up happier and more stable (can't believe I admitted that!) I probably would not have "noticed" spook around me let alone allowed them in, because my brain waves would have been "happier and zappier" and thus not at the frequency to allow spook in. We all know spook needs a constant and slightly slower brainwave to communicate well, it's why we meditate to connect. I am talking about "normal spook" not the fast moving high fizzing malevolence which is a completely different energy and needs fear to repeatedly manifest itself and is a stronger energy straight away. Yes, bad energy is stronger than good energy it's a fact, (insert sad face icon here  :( ).

How many people lose someone close to them and then find they know they are around, can sense them or even uncover their own mediumistic skills? I know quite a few and more than three quarters of them had no idea or inkling before that they were sensitive to spook! So whatever it is Arty explains it as a change in the physiology of the brain following trauma or psychological changes that allows us in! It is NOT a reward for going through any kind of hell. It is not a gift because we got through the tough time and it does not make us special, more deserving or elevated above others.

Feel free to post any comments or questions on my facebook page!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Medium-Author-Alexandra-Shankland/425789407507595

Life is for the Living!

Friday January 24, 2014

I was having dinner with Jimmy the other night, we always update on what's happening in spook and we got on to the subject of readings. My friend Jimmy is a straight shooter, you can love him or hate him for it but you always know where you stand. He said, quite matter of factly; "Happy people don't have readings!"  It came back to me today and I began to wonder about that statement and then came today's Daily Spook.

It's true you know, if you are happy with your lot you tend not to think about what's coming in the future because the now is pretty darned good. If things aren't good I guess you are looking for reassurance that they are going to get better, or how to deal with it if they aren't. But seriously, why would you let someone like me (a medium) run your life? Get a hold of it yourself! I know that sounds like I am ungrateful for the opportunity and the revenue from readings, I'm not. As well as contributing to the household budget it really help me keep my radar pointy and along the way I believe I have done some good. 

Some readings I do just fill my heart, there is one special lady who P had something for her that I hope made the outlook more positive, there was even one woman who was so insistent she couldn't have children and yet my spooks said over and over that she would. Delivering that kind of message is special, giving someone hope and faith when they don't have much left in the tank. But have we become a little too reliant on spook instead of running our lives ourselves?

I know if I say "you are going to win lotto" (I never say that, it's just an example) there are those who will buy their ticket, sit back and relax and wait for it to happen. Nothing more needs to be done, the money is coming so just chill and plan how you will spend it. There are others who if I say, "Yes I feel there is a marriage around you" do the same. Sit back relax because they think it is preordained and so stop putting the effort into their relationship...which can be a foolish approach to take.

I guess the point that P raised this afternoon whilst we were chilling together is just because you have a reading, don't opt out. Don't sit in your recliner just waiting for things to happen because they say it will. Your spooks give you what is there for you now, but YOU still have to play a part in it. YOU still have to make it happen in the human world.

The other thing that sometimes concerns me are the "psychic junkies" as P calls them (because she was one God bless her!). Those who can't chose their sock colour without seeing a medium or asking for ethereal advice. This to me suggests there is more of an underlying issue. A fear of making our own decisions? Lack of self confidence. A fear that if we do things will go wrong or a general mistrust in others? Whatever it is, it's a human condition and NOT a spiritual one. I don't know because it varies on an individual basis, the reasons for such a driving need for someone else to run your life.  People, be brave and spook will be there for you but remember the human experience is yours to have and you have to have it. There is no back door for you to shimmy out of when things get tough and to be honest sometimes mediums do get it wrong; misinterpret; miss the point or not read the true meaning of the signs given to them.

I love reading. I love my spooks but we also have to have the same measure of faith and confidence in ourselves. If life deals you a bum steer, find it within you to get up again, dust yourself off and give it another go. Spook will reassure you when you need it but not every time because you are human and they are not. Don't wallow, it is what it is no matter how sad or traumatic. Go forward not backwards or stagnant. That is YOUR choice and spook can't help you if it is the choice YOU make. If you want to marry someone accept that if they don't love you it's not a healthy relationship and if they do, give it all you got! If you want a baby, try for one and be positive. Do you really want to know that you are NEVER going to have children? Would you be so traumatised hearing that you'd stop trying or become deeply depressed? Or would you think "Screw you, I'm still giving it my best effort"? Some people DO make decisions based on readings and I believe you can be "guided but not decided" by spook. 

Life! Go out and get it and your spooks will be there for you. Dump your laundry on their doorstep and wait for them to wash it for you and they will bin it and go onto someone else. Trust me. I'm telling it like it is!

Deja Spook!

January 23, 2014

I've been a bit tired lately, things are getting busier by the day. That's a good thing because I always find when I am tired I can connect better. I think it's because my fizzy brain can't overrule my spooky brain so easily! 

I like to interact on my facebook page and an interesting question came up the other day about deja vu. Deja vu is quite simply french for "already seen" but I am not sure if it was "discovered" by a Frenchman or whether "haven't I been here before at some point?" is just too much of a wordy mouthful! 

Anyway so as I always do I go off to find Arty and have a bit of a chat about it and I was quite surprised about the outcome of our discussions. Many people think deja vu is a remnant from a past life. I mused with Arty if that is the case if you, for example, go into someone's house and hang up your coat and think "Wow I feel like I have already done this!" how can it be a past life thing because the house and the friend, and probably the coat too weren't there in your last life?Past life theories are so hard to nail down because there is no proof. I don't do past life readings although there is part of a chapter in my book about how I asked my spooks about my past life and got more than I bargained for!

Anyway we definitely are not talking about past lives. Take it or leave it. What we are talking about is the disconnection of the spiritual and the human, albeit momentarily. Everyone loves to use the spiritual for the predictive. So what if your human self and your spooky self split for a second and you have an accidental peek into a future situation? Albeit really mundane, only seconds away? Probably the most boring explanation possible, but that's it.

Being drawn to places and feeling like you have been there is a totally different and more complex thing. That is about a sense from the spiritual self, the shards of a memory perhaps or just a familiarity. I know that I have lived in certain houses and towns and never really felt any sense of belonging or being "at home." Yes there are other places that I immediately feel at ease with. It's generally not a feeling of "I've been here before" though more like a feeling of familiarity and comfort, and as I said totally different to deja vu.

Sorry the explanation wasn't more complex but for once I get what Arty is talking about straight up! Not everything about spook is scientifically impossible to understand, sometimes it really is that straight forward! 

Glad You Came...

Saturday January 18, 2014

Some days it's a good time to just reflect. You know stop the whirring of the human life engine and think a little. I did that today it started early this morning and my pensive mood continued on the two hour drive home. Always when I drive I talk with my spooks, they are an integral part of my life. Tracey and I can be talking and a spook will interject, or I will get something and I will bring it into the conversation naturally. It's how I live and my life would not be the same without them. They aren't just "over there" so I can drag them out when the need arises, they are part of who I am.

Arty is my mentor, but also a father figure (my mother wasn't that crash hot on picking Daddy's for me!) sometimes when I meditate or I feel him I will let my spiritual self wander off and sit with him. I love the smell of brandy, tweed, his pipe and bay rum. I will just sit and be with him. Can you love a spook? Yes. Can you have a relationship with a spook? Yes. Without Arty I don't (won't) read. He is a spook and I am doing the human thing but he is as important to me as those I love who are doing the human journey with me. He influences my life by being there for me no matter what, giving me advice and like I said sometimes he is my father figure and we just sit. He wrote most of my book, tiaught me most of what I know to be true and is the person I turn to when I want to know about life in his world, our world.

P and I are alike. Enthusiastic, impulsive, high maintenance, passionate about those we love and dismissive of those who bring nothing to the emotional table. As she is the mother of one child and did a lot of the parenting by herself the similarity and familiarity of the hurdles we faced are there. We get each other and she is always there when I am wondering what is cooking with my travelling bilberry only child. As I sit here, he is in the USA P says "He's having a ball darling, but very tired." All is well. She is my mother influence, my bestie spook gal pal. She drives me nuts sometimes but I am sure that is only so she can illustrate how I drive others crazy too! She is my wardrobe mistress, my personal trainer (not very good at it at the moment) and the person that sits with me when I am going crazy about nothing in particular.

Matthew has only been with me a short while. He knew what he was up to from the start and he is living proof of the joiner between spirit and human. He makes me laugh, he annoys me and helps me with readings when he is interested in the client. Usually a single attractive woman! Last night my car crapped out, seriously ..heap of junk! Matt is very mechanically minded so driving home Tracey and I heard this weird noise from the engine and said, "Just get us home Matt"...although it was a mechanical impossibility that we made it (something came loose and then fell off) we made it home. I accept he was primarily looking after his Mum who I work with, but still he did it. I KNOW that. We made the final few feet into the driveway and this morning the old jallopy had nothing. I probably go on too much about Matt because his mum and sister work with me, so naturally he is in and out a lot. Today I realised something, it just hit me like an emotional tidal wave. How much he too has done for ME. Not just his family, but for me too. I was having coffee with La Mola (Diva Princess sister of Matt!) this morning. For some reason today as we were sitting there I was looking at her tattoo that is dedicated to her brother. A line of it says "I'm glad you came" and I realised with as much love as sadness, that I am too. He completed the picture and I had to wait for him for that to happen.

If you accept your spooks into your life and treat them with respect and love they will be there for you. A word, a whisper, a feeling or a fan belt! Last night at a party (Me, Tracey, Arty and P, Matthew left saying "this is not for me!") we got our spook on and most of what came through were validations of who was there and with whom. No earth shattering predictions just a little information  to prove they were indeed present and a short message. People say "Alexandra you were amazing," which I truly appreciate but remember the spooks. I just sat there and had a few drinks and a hoot with a great group of people, my spooks were the ones who had to find the will and the energy to do what they did. They make me who I am. They complete the person I want to be. I want to make them proud of me because I owe them that for their faith in me. So many mediums are wrapped up in "look what I can do" rather than realising no matter how they get the message across, they aren't the Bobby Dazzlers who can do tricks. THEY are the lucky ones.

Arty, P, Matt (and those your brought with you...Tracey, Mole, Chucky, Tay and Doofus)...I'm truly glad you came. Today I feel like I am the luckiest person alive.