Chapter 2.2 - The mediums

- 28 - the interest of their friends among the living. The chief feature of these church assemblies is the delivery of spirit messages relating almost exclusively to the worldly fortunes, concerns, and material progress of the participants. They look upon such churches as information bureaus, where, on payment of a certain admission fee, they can learn something about their own worldly futures from the spirits of departed friends or relatives, through the clairvoyants working with the church. Because of this, the leaders of churches of this type are careful to see to it that no visitor leaves the service without having received such a ‘message’. Inasmuch as God’s spirits keep away from meetings of this type and, hence, exercise no control over them, the low spirit world is left free to do as it pleases. Even if the spirits that come and go are not necessarily evil, it is a type of spirit communication that is of little benefit to a person’s soul. If it should happen further that the ‘clairvoyants’ who perform at these churches are also ‘part-trance mediums’, they are like open windows through which the low spirit world can enter at will, since there is no controlling spirit on hand to keep them out or to maintain order. Hence the spirit messages are jumbled together in a fashion that cannot fail to put people off. This is bound to reflect most unfavourable in regards to good, divinely sanctioned spirit communication in the judgment of people who are often complete novices in this domain. Because of the ‘religious cast’ given to the services at these churches, the impression is created that the spiritism practiced there is of the kind that is pleasing to God. • The leaders of these churches therefore have a great responsibility before God for anything that happens at their meetings. • It is the leaders’ duty to devote their gifts entirely to the service of God, unselfishly and regardless of worldly considerations. They must pray for ‘spirit control’, which will gladly be granted them. Having received it, they must obey it fully.. If they do this, their meetings will become real divine services and will serve the enlightenment and the spiritual welfare of the participants, for then the high spirit world will become active and the low spirits will be denied access. If the meetings are held as I have just instructed you, they will bring you great blessings, much joy and true peace of the heart. • Every meeting is to be closed with a brief prayer of thanksgiving spoken by the presiding member and, where possible, with a song. The development of a medium and other communication with the good spirit world may, however, also take place in other ways than at ‘communal séances’. Any individual may, alone, devote a specific time, such as half an hour or even less, to inner composure every day, or several times a week. He (or she) proceeds in the same manner as what I have described for group séances: • He begins with a brief prayer, reads a passage from the Holy Writ and reflects upon it. • Thereupon he takes a pencil and lays his hand on a sheet of paper lying before him, and waits patiently, completely relaxed. If he is pressed to write down thoughts that are very insistently

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