As I settled into my seat in the auditorium, the lady in the seat next to me gestured at the words on my t-shirt: “MEDIUM RARE” – my sister, who was sitting next to me, was wearing a t-shirt that said “MEDIUM”. RARE” – and asked if this referred to the famous psychic medium John Edward, whom we had come to see. “No, I’m a medium,” I told him. Her gray eyes widened in surprise.
“My dear,” he said, “if you’re already doing this, why would you want to come here?”
“Because,” I replied, feeling like an art student who has been given the chance to see Picasso in his studio, “I want to see the master in action.”
Although I have been a psychic medium for over 30 years and have hosted dozens of message events in Toronto, I feel like I can always learn more about my intuitive abilities and the opportunity to see John Edward, one of the best mediums in the world, it was too good to pass up.
John took the stage to thunderous applause. Dressed casually in blue chinos and a beige button-down shirt, he warmly greeted the audience and for the next two hours, the sold-out crowd listened spellbound as he delivered a quick rap. But he did more than just deliver messages from the spirit. He sprinkled his work with snippets of insight, and I was glad he took the time to educate the audience on what messaging work is really about.
For example, when he said, “You can’t change someone’s beliefs,” I was reminded of people who come to me for readings and act like I have to convince them that the sun will rise tomorrow morning. Spirit is not looking to convert people – they want to help those who are grieving or connect with loved ones who have died.
“If you have an open mind, that’s fine,” he said. “But if you have a closed mind, why did you bother to come?”
Later, he said, “If you want to develop as a psychic, I recommend meditation, prayer, and protection.” I totally agree with that; in fact, before each reading, i always start with a prayer asking for the best and highest energies to help me deliver messages of love and hope.
What struck me most was when he said, “Interpretation can skew the message.” We receive information from the spirit in flashes, she continued, and sometimes, without realizing it, we say the wrong things, which confuses the person receiving the message. Sometimes the spirit overexpresses a symbol for the medium to capture, but that distortion ends up disconcerting the client. For example, in a recent message event, the spirit kept showing me a woman with a big hat. But the person I was bonding with kept denying that her mother wore big hats. “She was wearing hats, but not big hats,” the woman said. “Mom really loved wearing hats.”
John proved that point by turning to a woman in the audience and saying, “I’m going to look for someone who died in a fire. Was that your husband?”
She shook her head.
“I smell smoke,” he said. “Did she die in a fire?”
Not again.
John wouldn’t let go. “He is showing me a fire. And the cause of death was a fire.”
“No,” the woman repeated, “he died in a hospital. He had third-degree burns.”
John nodded, proving his point.
Afterward, my seatmate asked, “So, did you learn anything? Are you glad you came?”
“Absolutely” I said with a smile.