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.