What’s it like to join a circle?

If you are joining a circle for the first time you are probably curious about what to expect. It may have taken you a long time to find one and obviously your hopes will be high that you will be part of a good group, in a circle with an excellent teacher or medium who will guide you through the beginnings of the many ways we can, and do, communicate and work with spirit.

 

How to choose a circle.

Find a teacher, tutor, or medium whose style of mediumship you enjoy.Your ideal teacher should be humble and respectful of spirit and of the sitters in his or her circle, for in spiritual work there should be no ego. Ego must be left at the front door before you enter the circle room.  A circle means all are equal.

Your teacher should have had many years experience of working with spirit and should arrive in plenty of time to greet the circle members as they arrive for the session. They should make sure their circle members arrive early. Latecomers must not be allowed to enter the room as this will disrupt the energy of the circle once the session has begun.

All sitters should arrive in plenty of time to settle their energy down after their journey and ground themselves in preparation for a light meditation with the group.

A meditation can last for a few minutes or for much longer. Have water with you as there is nothing worse when you are trying to be silent than having a dry, tickly throat and wanting to cough, fearful of disturbing everyone in the room when they are trying to meditate. Obviously, if you have to cough, cough!

 

How long does a circle session last?

Nowadays, most circles in this commercial and financially-based world are one hour long. Fees are variable. If you are lucky enough to find a circle at a local spiritualist church, or with a local spiritual worker of excellent reputation then your circle may be longer than one hour and yet cost less than a one hour one at a spiritual-based or psychic-centre business. Personally I have found the most expensive circles to be associated with the commercial establishments I refer to as more ‘ka-ching’ than i-ching, which, to me, detracts from the spiritual vibration. They tend to attract a different clientele. I mean this in no way as criticism but just aim to express to you that you should have a good idea of what you are looking for before you pay in advance for a whole term of something, somewhere, that may not be what you really want. I am sure however, they are not all the same and I know that there are some wonderful, spiritual people running wonderful, independent circles and centres too.

 

How many people are there in a circle?

At the beginning of a new term or intake, there can be around 20 people in the group. There is quite a high drop-out rate and after a few weeks the circle is generally down to a core membership of ten or even eight people. The ideal number in a circle is eight, as due to illness etc not everyone will attend every class and it means there will, hopefully, always be at least six in the group. If you are joining a circle which is based in tiny premises, then obviously the group will have to be smaller.

 

Commitment.

If you join a circle do please remember that you have made a commitment not just to spirit and to your circle leader, but also to the other members of the circle.  When we join a circle we must always try to be there when we’re supposed to be. Not going because you don’t feel like it is not fair and breaks the balance of the circle. Not going because you are ill or have an appointment you cannot break is understandable. However breaking a circle to attend a workshop or circle run by another teacher or centre is extremely inconsiderate and bad manners.  I have been in circles where some members have done this, thus leaving their original circle with extremely low numbers and ‘breaking the circle’. In this instance, breaking the circle means breaking the trust and the respect, thus it is no longer a spiritual circle, no longer equal. A circle does not recover after this and degenerates due to the introduction of disrespect.

 

Open circles, the good the bad and the ugly.

There are other circles called open circles.This means that you don’t have to be a circle member to attend. You can go to as many as you want to and just pay on the day.

The good. They can be a wonderful place to practice your mediumship with people who will understand exactly how it works.

The bad. There are sometimes people who try to use the circle to show off or who make-up messages for attention (there’s always one!), thus wasting everyone’s time.

The ugly. Some circle leaders on hearing the messages, purportedly from spirit and  vocalised by a circle attendee, say after each and every message, ‘how wonderful’ rather than be truthful, or helpful, when the information is not accurate. Obviously if someone is coming out with complete nonsense or having difficulty interpreting a message from spirit, there is no need to embarrass them by saying in front of the circle, ‘rubbish’, but the circle leader should certainly not encourage poor interpretation. We are paying, after all, for their guidance and help. Circles run by unhelpful leaders tend not to last many weeks.

  

Can anybody join an already up and running circle?

Ideally, if you are paying for a term in advance, as most businesses will ask you to, then during each week of term, the circle members should be the same. No one new should be allowed to join until the new term begins as this is disruptive to the present sitters and to the energy they have built around themselves as a group whilst in that particular circle.

Most businesses – spiritual or otherwise – are about making money and if someone comes and offers money to join a circle, then the money is taken and they are allowed to, with neither thought nor care of how this affects the group.

 

Mediums as teachers.

I have been doing spiritual work for more than thirty years. Over the years I have been in lots of circles and lots of classes and I’ve taken part in numerous workshops and training sessions. I have also offered training, encouragement and help to would-be spiritual workers. During this time I have met some inspiring teachers who work with the highest integrity and also, sadly, with some who are really not up to the job and leave me wondering how on earth they get away with what they do. Or more to the point, what they don’t do.

 

Here are a few examples

I was attending 3 circles, on different evenings, with the same teacher. This teacher was very pleasant and friendly with her groups but unfortunately was late for almost every single class. Each of her circles should have been one hour long and yet she was, most evenings, twenty minutes late. No one complained and no one reported her to the management because no one wanted to get her into trouble. Then things got worse and she was arriving half an hour late, for a one hour class. There would always be an excuse about the traffic, yet everyone in the group had the same traffic conditions to contend with and just made sure they set out for class in plenty of time.

One hour is not really long enough and half an hour for a circle of twelve to twenty people who have paid for a one hour class is not acceptable. Gradually everyone left her classes and went to alternative teaching centres, as a result, losing a lot of business for the spiritual centre which employed her. Management of the centres like to think their teachers are excellent, but most never do an inspection or a survey to find out whether or not they are. This isn’t wise as their reputation is at stake and in this line of work, reputation and integrity are everything.

Another teacher I must mention was always on time, always calm, always patient, extremely knowledgeable, experienced and 100% spiritual in his behaviour, treating all with the utmost of respect at all times. His teaching was and is always consistent and thorough and as a platform medium he is outstanding, working with the greatest of consideration and professionalism at all times.

 

Inconsistent

There are also teachers who at first appear to be good yet are inconsistent from week to week, in what they teach people. One week they will tell circle members one thing and then the next week tell them the complete opposite. A good example of this is the teacher saying, ‘Be careful you don’t take a spirit home with you because it can happen’ and then the following week saying ‘of course you can’t take a spirit home with you, that doesn’t happen.’

  

Circle members

It can be nice to be in a circle with like-minded people who are there because they genuinely want to develop their spiritual knowledge and if you find a circle like this then do stick with it because not all circles are the same.

The most expensive circle I ever attended (and will never return to) was run by a very charming lady medium who was very much of a spiritual vibration and everybody’s friend. Her circle started well but sadly, gradually degenerated into some sort of therapy group for the attention seekers who had joined. I am a healer and extremely understanding but the rest of us were paying £20+ per session, just to listen to one circle member talking about herself non-stop and informing us how many sleeping pills and glasses of wine she had every night. This is not acceptable.

Ideally, the pleasant lady who was running the circle should have taken control, politely ended the ‘din’ and begun the circle session but sadly, several in this particular group always just talked over her and ignored anything she tried to teach them. So, as lovely, well-intentioned and spiritual as this lady was, she allowed this poor behaviour to continue, to the detriment of the group.

 All circles unfortunately, and I don’t mean to be disrespectful,  usually have at least one person who thinks they are ‘special’, or especially gifted, or tells a story of how they were royalty in a previous life and somehow believe this gives them some sort of kudos with the group. The group tend to have only one message in mind for this person and it’s generally, ‘go sort yourself out dear.’

 

Circle Leaders.

Wise circle leaders remember that in a circle all should be equal. When circle members are all paying the same fee, they should each be given an equal amount of time and consideration. A circle is not to be used as a therapy session or ego-trip for one needy person. If it’s to be treated as such then the other members should be refunded because this is certainly not what they signed-up and paid for. Being supportive of one another in the group is a good thing, but there must be respect and fairness at all times within the group.

 

Workshops run by well-known mediums

These workshops can be for anything from twenty to several hundred people. Whilst the workshops can sometimes be fun and a good place to start, it really is just playtime for you and pocket-money time for the mediums. There is no harm in this as long as you don’t expect otherwise. These mediums generally are not interested in whether or not you learn anything during the workshops but if you enjoy them and don’t mind paying for a play-day then all well and good. There are worse things you can do with your money for entertainment. It has to be said too, that most mediums don’t get paid much, so running workshops allows them to keep doing the work they love.

Smaller workshops with numbers of up to 20 are, in my experience, of much greater benefit to the students.

 

In a good circle

In a good circle we meditate. Meditation has many rewards and health benefits. It will also enhance your link with spirit.

We learn awareness of spirit be it seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling and sensing or a combination of all.

We can meet our spirit guides and learn to recognise when they are present

We may communicate with our loved ones who are in spirit

We can receive, interpret and learn to give messages from spirit

We have the opportunity to develop or improve our intuition.

We have the opportunity to learn about spiritual healing.

We learn how to send healing remotely.

We can receive healing for ourselves.

As we develop we may gain peace within ourselves.

There are many more things we can learn to do but this depends on the circle and on the stage of development of the group and of the people in the group.

Development is personal, within one’s inner self. It is about the relationship you have with spirit and how you live your life.

I hope I have given you a little insight into what it can be like to join a circle. The only thing I haven’t told you, for it goes without saying, is how utterly brilliant and mind-expanding it can be to join a good circle with dedicated sitters. You will meet some like-minded spiritual people and get to know your spirit guide. You will experience powerful healing energy and learn that spiritual healing is the most powerful form of mediumship. You will, without doubt, grow as a person. You will feel the closeness of spirit and your intuition will develop. You may develop serenity. How far you go is up to you. You may become a master of meditation or a powerful spiritual healer. You may do readings for friends or become a platform medium.

For the spiritually-based who are without ego, many doors will open.

I wish you well on your spiritual adventure.

Spiritual / Energy Healing

You asked what Spiritual (Energy) Healing is and what it would be good to know before you try it.                                                                                 It simply involves sitting in a chair for 15 or so minutes, perhaps sometimes for an hour. There is no removal of clothes except heavy outdoor garments such as coats. You must switch off or silence your phone. The healer may place their hands on your shoulders but they will always ask you first and if you prefer non-contact i.e that the healer doesn’t touch you at all, then that’s fine. You just close your eyes and relax for the duration of the ‘energy’ work, which means the healer’s hands will be near you, or gently touching your shoulders, arms or whichever part of you that you may have asked the healer to concentrate on. It will never be without your permission and a healer will never touch any private part of your body. If you don’t have anything specific you want the healer to concentrate on, or prefer not to say what it is, then just ask for general healing.

Qualified, working spiritual healers are bound by the same code of conduct as other health professionals. You probably didn’t know that and I don’t think many other health professionals know it. Did you know that qualified spiritual healers can be allowed to work in some hospitals as complementary therapists? We are indeed but we are not medically qualified and therefore not able to diagnose, only doctors can do that. What we do, when given the opportunity, is try to give some ‘good energy’ to you which we hope will help you feel better.

To see a few examples of what people who’ve had Spiritual Healing by Ann have to say, please read Testimonials.

I will be happy to share with you what I believe to be true. I believe each person is unique and each develops differently, depending on experience, circumstances, outlook and confidence. We each have our personal experiences which help shape who we are and what we believe. I very much believe that those whose creativity has been stifled may find it difficult to express themselves. Creativity is free expression. Those who have been told what to believe e.g. ghosts don’t exist may find it difficult to think outside the box, being confused and fearing admonishment.

If something frightens us e.g. seeing something someone else can’t see, we may try to shut it out. We may be told we are seeing things that are not there. This can affect people differently. It may frighten and worry people who have been conditioned to believe that what the eye can’t see does not exist. This is ridiculous because we can’t see gas but it can kill us, so we can’t see it but it’s definitely there. In my opinion, many of those referred to as non-believers are actually those unfortunate not to have had the experience of seeing a spirit or orb of light yet. Perhaps they have had an experience of a spiritual nature but refused to accept it, doubting their eyesight or their mind. It’s possible to close our minds to something. We can also close our energy system. If we are not open and receptive, we are unlikely to see anything of an etheric nature. I take photographs of energy orbs, The photographs are my evidence. If I see something etheric I try to capture it on camera, and very often do. I even have a friend who is now, now that she knows it exists, starting to see light phenomena herself. I believe we see when we allow ourselves to see, without worrying what others think of us. There is also another very obvious reason some people do not see anything. Spiritual light phenomena – orbs – appear when there is a happy and uplifting atmosphere. They are drawn to joy, laughter and fun. We all know that one negative person in a room can spoil the atmosphere for everyone else. It makes complete sense that a spirit person as much as anyone else, does not want to make an appearance at a dull party!

We can tune-into, and see, spirit in many different ways. This can happen very naturally as a person develops spiritually. It has nothing to do with Ouija boards and everything to do with care, caution and respect. Meditation is a good way to start but first we should learn to spiritually protect ourselves by surrounding ourselves with protective light. Meditation is about learning to just ‘be’, to shut out the mental chatter that is always there and make your mind a peaceful place  When we clear the mind and feel at peace we are creating the right conditions for communication of a telepathic nature. We are clearing the screen in our mind’s eye, which is the screen onto which a loved one who is in spirit can send a thought picture. Another method is to join a class or circle, led by an experienced, competent and responsible, spiritual medium. If you are interested in healing then I’d suggest a spiritual healing class where you will be working directly with energy, rather than restricting yourself to receiving messages. It’s up to you and how dedicated you are. Slow and patient development is far better that trying to develop too quickly and having experiences you may not be ready for. Please don’t attempt anything of a spiritual or energy nature when alcohol or drugs are involved, because they attract what we call lower energies. Keep it simple, keep it pure.

How do you deal with people who are in complete and obstinate denial about anything of a spiritual or psychic nature that they cannot see, or grasp, for themselves?

I have the greatest respect for the healthy sceptic. I am one myself until presented with solid evidence. As for the ones I call the unhealthy sceptics, the ones who refuse to accept unquestionable proof, I don’t really think about them much at all but for the benefit of this article I will share the few thoughts of them that I do have. I do not wish to offend and apologise if I do so but to me they are people with their minds and eyes squeezed tightly shut with basins over their heads and their fingers in their ears whilst they loudly sing lalalalala to avoid hearing something they are in complete denial about, or fearful of. We are all sceptics until we have a life-changing realisation, an awakening. They just haven’t had theirs yet. To them I say, “We all used to be like you and I am sorry you have a limited awareness. When you are ready to cope with the knowledge and open enough to receive it, it will come to you. I understand that it must be very uncomfortable to be you, but please don’t take your frustration out on us. That is not good for anyone, especially you.” A whole different story is the inexperienced, open-minded person who embraces new knowledge and a broadening of their horizons. Understanding there is more to life than what is solid and visible is wondrous, joyful and completely changes a person for the better. It is an expansion of the self and a positive, life-changing-for-the-better, awakening. It’s like setting your consciousness free from self-imposed limitations – truly a brightly glowing lightbulb moment!

What evidence would you give to the inexperienced, but open-minded seeker of knowledge?

Were they to ask me, ‘How can there be something there if I can’t see it?’ I’d say,’ When a helicopter is in the air you can’t see the rotors. They are solid, heavy and moving so fast they are almost invisible, yet you are in no doubt they are there.’

How can a person survive death and be around, as a spirit?

We have a solid body for our earthly life but inside and around us we have our spirit body. It’s pure energy.  It’s a very important part of us, our personality, our soul, our love.  When the body dies the spirit doesn’t. The reason the spirit doesn’t die is because the spirit is energy and energy does not die. It can transform in many ways, but it does not die.

How can I believe a medium telling me they are in contact with one of my loved ones who has passed-away? Is this possible?

This is entirely possible but first one should try to be a healthy sceptic. Don’t give any information to the medium. Listen to what the medium is telling you and make up your own mind. A good medium will give you information that no one else could possibly have known, except you and your loved one (the one who is in spirit). That is what we call evidence and evidence is what you must be given. I have seen and worked with a lot of mediums and whilst some are excellent and remarkable in their communication with spirit, the same can’t be said for all of them. There are those who give messages so general they could apply to anyone, which is unacceptable. Do try to be fair in your judgement of them, for the good ones are doing a remarkable message delivery service under very difficult circumstances.

Can spirits affect electrical appliances?

Indeed they can.

What makes me believe they can?

To give but one example, a few years ago I encountered a very small ball of energy, suspended in mid-air, in my home. It was red and it was in my laundry-room at eye-level. It was beside the gas meter, the tumble dryer and the washing machine. It was just a few inches away from my face. I have encountered these entities and their actions before and immediately knew the intention of mischief from this little light and knew I couldn’t let it remain in my home. I didn’t want to let it out of my sight, free to interfere with the electric appliances. I wanted to take it by surprise and remove it from my home before it had the chance to cause damage. Fortunately there was no one around and I was able to give it the non electric shock of its afterlife!  It didn’t take much, just a loud, direct and forceful, ‘I see you!’ after which it immediately vanished. When I see something like this – I think I scare them rather than them scare me. They do not expect to be seen and depart with the proverbial flea in the ear when confronted. Had I allowed it to remain, this ‘bug’ could, and would have, caused chaos, interfering with electrics and costing me a fortune in call-out charges to have things fixed! I believe this was the spirit of a badly behaved, adolescent male. The next day, my lovely friend and neighbour across the road had a series of maintenance company engineers at her home to fix several electrical appliances that had suddenly, one after the other, malfunctioned. Did the cheeky spirit whose intention was mischief or mayhem, go into the next available house after I chased it from mine? Be in no doubt that spirit, being energy, can indeed interfere with anything powered by electricity!

As a healer who sees energy, do you ever see anything unusual, energy-wise, in a patient?

Yes, I do. I volunteer as a healer at a clinic in London. It’s a free clinic, so we see patients from many walks of life and from all over the world. I’d say that sixty to seventy percent of the patients we see come seeking help with pain in backs, hips, shoulders, necks and knees as well as conditions like migraine and fibromyalgia. We see a lot of people who are suffering great trauma and stress and some who are suffering what I’d describe as spiritual intrusion.

Whilst respecting the privacy of your patients, can you share an example of what you might describe as spiritual intrusion?

Sometimes an unusual cause of a person’s pain is shown to me psychically. At other times, as I am an empath, I can feel what someone else feels. I can at times, physically feel their pain and exactly where it is as if the pain is my own. This can also be useful when I’m trying to help someone. Not all healers are the same and I don’t claim to be able to see everything but I believe I see, or am shown, something I will be able to help with. Fairly recently, when one of the other healers arrived I could see and sense that her energy, her aura, contained what I described at the time as something angry. She is a lovely lady, we get on very well. I felt that this anger was something that had attached itself to her energy field and that it wasn’t something she had self-generated. She was aware of this anger around her but couldn’t shake it off. I offered her healing to try to clear it, which I felt fairly sure I’d be able to do. For her to receive the healing energy, she sat on a chair and I stood behind her. Healers can allow healing energy to flow though their hands, so I placed my hands gently on her shoulders, which is where I felt attention was needed. Very soon after I started I could see, clairvoyantly, a spirit man with his hands gripping her shoulders tightly as if he wanted to hurt her.  As he held her shoulders he was bringing his knee up and knee-kicking her with all the strength he could muster, in the neck. He did this over and over again whilst in a rage, as if he truly hated her. His feet did not touch the ground, he was floating. This was quite a sight! I did indeed manage to move him well away from her! I continued administering the healing energy to her for a bit longer until I felt her energy, her aura, clear and recover. As qualified healers we are not allowed to tell patients if we see something of a spiritual nature, lest we frighten them. In this case the lady was another healer but I still chose not to tell her what I’d seen as I’m supposed to be helping people feel better, not giving them nightmares! I told her that I’d managed to clear the anger and asked her if she felt any change. She told me that I had most definitely cleared whatever it was. She said, “It was weird but I’d had that pain for days. It felt like something gripping my shoulders very, very tightly, but that feeling has gone now. And do you know what else? I’ve had this awful pain at the back of my neck for days and it’s gone now too. That’s amazing – thank you so much!” As she was another healer and not a patient from outside I then told her about the angry man I’d seen knee-kicking her. This made complete sense to her. The question is, was that really an angry spirit man there, kicking my friend and fellow-healer? Or is that the way my mind, or brain, was somehow informing me with picture-messaging, where the pain was and how it felt to the patient?