Today's Topic: Tarot Cards.

( You fell into my trap card! A costly mistake... )

Through my research the importance of "time of exposure" is growing. The meaning and power of these widely used practices and abilities all seem to be scaled by when they're discovered.

Whether it's a pop-culture joke on TV, or being raised in a spiritual household, when you see these practices could make all the difference.

Do you believe?

Would the cards work for you?

This week we'll be chatting about special abilities. You know, all those nifty little spells and tricks spirit-based beliefs use to be what they are.

Today's topic: The Aura

( Let's have a look )

Any other questions?

Psychics and Mediums. There is a difference between the two. But psychic mediums exist.

WTF?

( Super sensitive )

Quick and dirty. But now you know, and now I know.

My goal today was to define the true nature, and owners, of the various 'abilities' spiritualists are assumed to have.

Instead, I wish to discuss a trend I've noticed among the mediums, psychics, and wiccans I've studied and/or interviewed.

( What holds em together? )

And the stories continue like this.

So, I'm on a manhunt for a group of spiritualists/wiccans/psychics/whatevers who came to their beliefs without the need to misdirect or avoid historical wrongs. The closest case I've come to is a child of two, caring, spiritualist parents who passed the beliefs onto the offspring. That's it.

And where's normal in all of this?

My money is on Miss Cleo. She looks like she could rip some faces off if she needed to. Potter would curl up and wait for some miracle/spell to save his butt...again.

Anywho, that's not the point of this post.

When I started this project I originally intended to call it Wiccans Made Easy. Why? Because I thought mediums/spiritualists were the same as Wiccans.

( Are they? )

Are you a Bear Shaman interested in Spiritualism? If you have a heaping helping of curiosity concerning the great intelligence beyond, then go for it! Contact those ancestors and be on the fast track to doing drugs and going on vision quests.

An atheist? Well, we have room for you too. Just leave the God and "great beyond" labels out of whatever you're doing. Just act like you're realigning those who've ceased to exist. Or the thoughts and emotions they left behind.

Anything works so long as you believe you can do it!

Sadly, my sarcasm is right on target. There is no definite doctrine for Spiritualism. There are no hard-wired requirements for becoming a Spiritualist either.

I've been trying to compile a how-to list concerning speaking to the dead - mediumship. It's impossible. There are so many different styles and schools of thought that I could spend the semester studying and dissecting each one. Some beliefs use crystals to channel their spiritual power. Some mediums claim to have an innate well of spiritual power allowing them to see and hear the other side.

One similarity I've noticed between all the mediums I've studied is their manner of delivery. Whether they're draped in robes, using a crystal ball, or wearing sweatpants and sitting among their 27 cats...mediums always have the same manner of delivery in their service.

"I'm sensing a woman in your life. Mar...mary...margaret...marg..."

"Oh yes! Margo. My gramma Margo... *sniffle* I miss her."

A little sarcastic, but it's not far from the truth of how mediums operate. No matter what gravity surrounds - or is missing from - the ceremony, this bait-and-hook method is always present.

This method is called Cold Reading. I hate to link a wikipedia article, but it fleshes out the details of cold reading better than I can...since I'm only on 3 hours of sleep. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_reading

HOWEVER. Some mediums give specific details in individual readings that are too accurate to be passed as cold reading. This is the mysticism behind mediumship which has had it going for centuries.

So, I offer you a video for each view of speaking to the dead.

( So cold )

Yeah. South Park is a poor example, but they really seem to nail the concept of cold reading in a user-friendly format.

So, what do you think? Is it all bunk and lucky guesses? Or are the predictions and details a little too on-target to be phony?

By the way, I love British journalists. Their questions are so matter-of-fact.

This entry is a collection of definitions for Spiritualism that will be studied and dissected in a future entry.

Soooo...what is spiritualism?

( We've got spirit, how about you? )

I'm starting to see some trends. I'm starting to understand.

Till later.

I realize I haven't explained what Spiritualism is, or set any research to the ancient origins of these beliefs. I'm just writing what I have substantial research for. Also, bear in mind that these summaries aren't drafts for the actual project. They're just compounded results to keep my findings straight, and to show I'm building an understanding of the subject.

( The Modern Approach )

But mediumship and spiritualism certainly didn't begin in America and Europe through these instances. Tribal beliefs such as animism and shamanism were well into the act of working with "the other side" before the Fox sisters and Swedenborg made it all popular.

But that's the reason they are honored. Just as the iPod took the torch as the head mp3 player because of solid marketing, the sisters and Swedenborg bannered spiritualism by lore and status.