As I’m winding down my long week at Lily Dale and getting ready to head home, I’m filled with the mixed feelings that normally accompany my last day at Lily Dale for the year. For those unfamiliar with this hot spot on the western tip of New York State, it is the oldest and largest Spiritualist community on the planet and is the absolute Mecca for people in my profession. Between the Native Americans, who once inhabited this peninsula on Cassadega Lake to the Spiritualists of old, it has a very high vibration and has been attracting Spiritual practices for centuries.
To begin this journey I got to witness 3 amazing mediums working together: Sandra Taylor, Colette Baron-Reid, and my primary teacher Sharon Klingler. To finish things off, I got to witness one of mediumship’s brightest up and coming stars last night, the amazing Joseph Tittel. Sandwiched in between was my weeklong advanced mediumship class with Sharon.
The early part of this trip proved to be both an ego boost and a validation that I’m on the right path. I received so much kind and positive feedback for my work from those who saw me deliver spirit messages at the public services. But the class was hard. I felt tired, irritable, and didn’t feel my mediumship was clicking on all cylinders during the entire time. There were some great professional mediums in this class, and the energy in the room was almost unbearable at times. My sleep patterns were off, and in spite of doing lots of Yoga during the breaks I felt increasingly drained as the week wore on. Tues. night I did a great sweat lodge on the grounds, and still participated in some the public message services as well I gave readings to guests during the Monday Night Circle (to give you an idea of the pace I was keeping). Add to that five full days of class spanning from 9:30 AM-7 PM. There were periods I wanted to cry, times I wanted to get up and leave and when it was break time I chose more often than not to go off on my own instead of hanging out with my peers.
Mediumship, like spirituality in general is a matter of decrease however, not increase. We are all born with the capacity to be great mediums, or psychics or what have you but it tends to be our own beliefs or insecurities that hold us back. I learned some fabulous new techniques but for the most part this class became more of a purging process for me than anything. When the class finally ended on Friday a veil seemed to be lifted and I decided to give messages at the evening service and once again, as it was before the class started I delivered my messages with a high degree of precision and confidence that I pride myself on. Learning, as life in general is often not easy but I feel like my mission is complete and I will be returning home today as a better psychic and medium than when I arrived here one week ago. I miss my beautiful home in the Catskills, but still I am sad to leave Lily Dale at the same time.
