Spirit board - Ouija Video

[John G]

Well, I can't read Russian, but since it is about thermodynamics, is he talking about using phase spaces when representing "densities"? If consciousness is energy, couldn't it be used to model a given consciousness's "free will", e.g. Seventh density, all that exists, may be modeled as an infinite-dimensional phase space? If not, what field of mathematics is Veynik using?

One would still have to say what the states in the phase space look like. Also does the concept of a phase space still make sense for all that is, as in say energies above the Planck energy?

 

[blindpsychic]

Another question I have about channelling 'dead dudes' (and I know this is not the aim, but I guess somewhat part of the process?), do we only channel those who couldn't make it to 5D for some reason (those who missed the boat), or do we channel those in 5D as well?

Happy coincidence here, I was flipping through the C's transcripts before and reading your post reminded me of them answering this exact question:

Q: Next question: How does one determine if they are channeling a
3rd density dead dude, or a higher density being?
A: Corrections and clarifications needed: "Dead Dudes" are 5th
density beings. Either they are stuck in 3rd density, or they are
communicating from 5th density, not 3rd density!! They are not 3rd
density! 1st density includes all physical matter below the level of
consciousness. 6th density is uniform in the level pattern of
lightness, as there is complete balance on this density level, and the
lightness is represented as knowledge. 7th density is union with the
one... it is timeless in every sense of the word, as its "essence"
radiates through all that exists in all possible awareness realms.
The light one sees at the termination of each conscious physical
manifestation is the union, itself. Remember, 4th density is the first
that includes variable physicality!! Ponder this carefully!!! And,
remember, there is only one "God," and that the creator includes all
that is created and vice versa!

 

[Rabelais]

Plus, there's this:

1) The object is NOT to "channel" other entities. The object is to use the method as a self-development tool so that, if possible, one can communicate directly with one's OWN higher mind. That's a long, drawn out process. It won't happen in a week-end, probably not even in a year of regular sitting. In the meantime, one will learn a lot about the self, run through many thought loops, deal with all kinds of detached and attached entities, etc. It is a purification process. You must assume that, for a long time, the ONLY thing you will get is nonsense, lies, gibberish, cling-ons, parasites, etc. That's natural. They are there anyway, you just don't know about them. Part of the process is to cleanse yourself and your environment of such and that is a technique that can be easily learned if you are attentive and work on your BS meter. Remember, nearly everything you communicate with for a LOOOONG time will do nothing but lie. That's the truth.

Given the above, we shouldn't really be trying to "channel" or "contact" anything or anyone. And we have no way of knowing exactly what we'll get once we pick up that phone, but if it will be anything, we should already understand that it WILL be a variety of nonsense. Not useless nonsense though, since it's nonsense that's a reflection of ourselves and it looks like it will be very helpful in our understanding of ourselves and as a result self development. So just cuz we get only lies doesn't mean it's a bad thing or that we're "wasting time" etc, since it's our own lies. Perhaps if our intent is just to probe (and by doing that, clean) our subconscious minds, then that would eliminate anticipation as we have no way to know what the heck we'll find.

I once experimented with channeling using a pendulum over an alphabet wheel. I was "anticipating" contacting the Cs. I got a few gibberish connections the first few times I tried this, but one day a very strong connection was made. The answers were clear and lucid, but I noted immediately, that even though the contact claimed to be the Cs, the nature of the communications were very un-C like. Proclamations were made, without questions being asked, that when investigated were false, but this entity knew much about my mother, which held me in sway for a while. Once I confronted "it" with my findings that their previous messages were un-truths and that they were agents of deception, they "hung up" on me.

I can surmise from this that I was in communication with an attached entity, or something that had access to my thoughts/mind. I finally devised a method of test questions, to which I did not know the answers, but were easily verifiable, e.g. a good friend's middle name. This worked well. I was surprised that one entity admitted STS alignment when asked. It also admitted no problem in lying to me.

My anticipation was the biggest gaffe, I think. I have since given up solo channeling attempts, since STO channeling seems to involve more participants than just oneself. It was however a learning experience. Had I not been familiar with Laura and the C's material, I could have easily been duped into credulousness.

 

[Bernhard]

My anticipation was the biggest gaffe, I think. I have since given up solo channeling attempts, since STO channeling seems to involve more participants than just oneself. It was however a learning experience. Had I not been familiar with Laura and the C's material, I could have easily been duped into credulousness.

Yes, I had similar experiences with my pendulum, which I have been using for a number of years, however, it is hard at times to get "me" out of the way and have no anticipation. Sometimes I'm too emotionally attached to the question asked.

Laura, I was also wondering, how is the video production going along? Can we expect a release within this year or is it "on hold"?

 

[mugatea]

The thought of doing a Ouija board creeped me out, but I would like to try it. Any idea of when this will be published?

J

 

[Laura]

Just hang on. We are collecting video of various sessions and teaching/experimental sessions with a number of people.

 

[Lucius]

Still waiting , go faster 2009.06/09 is coming

 

[herondancer]

Still waiting , go faster 2009.06/09 is coming

Uhhh, Lucas, a little faith in the universe here?

Please try to remember that Laura is an extremely busy woman with many other equally important projects on the go. The video will come out when it is ready, and at the perfect time.

Why is the date you quoted so important?

Herondancer

 

[Beorn]

OK, I have another question.

You(or the C's rather) mention the dangers of using one's mind to channel directly as opposed to using the board. My question is where is the line between one's own mind and channeling. Wouldn't one interact with attachments and other parts of oneself through meditation or dream work?

I have been practicing dream work(trying to) based on:
Seth Dreams and Projections Of Consciousness - Jane Roberts
Conscious Dreaming - Robert Moss
because it is more of a solitary activity. I won't bore you with personal details but it would 'appear' that we do interact with other entities/parts of ourselves in meditative states and dreams.

I mention dreams here because I am talking about dreams where one is conscious during the dream, and I guess one could reach such a state through meditation. How is this different from channeling?

This is what Robert Moss has to say on 'Soul Retrieval'
“While therapists speak of the need to reclaim the “inner child” or to surface repressed memories, shamans see soul-loss as a quite literal phenomenon. Part of the victim is missing because a part of her soul, which may be perceived as an image of the victim at the time of the loss, has been lost or stolen. The shaman’s task is to journey into the hidden dimensions of reality where that soul part has strayed and bring it back.

We need to be whole. But bringing back lost soul parts before we are ready to handle the painful memories they carry with them is risky. Dreams show us what we may have lost when we are ready to bring it back and deal with those memories. [...]

In my own dream, I discovered a younger self who had gone missing during my boyhood crises of illness. I saw him as a cherubic young boy, complete with wings, perched on a cloudbank quite close to me. It seemed he was waiting for a signal to return. Becoming conscious inside the dream, I conjured up the image of a glowing crystal. The light brought him back to me at once. I asked why he had gone away. “You were always sick,” he reminded me. “I wanted to run and play.”

After this experience, I found myself wanting to run and sport in the woods for hours at a stretch. I even started kicking a ball around for the first time in decades.” - Conscious Dreaming - Robert Moss

One's own spiritual growth and increased awareness are the goals of course. My thinking is that the quality of the information must be assessed as well as the intention to go inwards rather then grasping outwards for some kind of external help. Apart from all this I have the words of Ouspensky ringing in my ears:

"Mr. A: I suppose also you can give no guarantee as to whether people will suffer from some delusion as regards personal experience? One may take illusion for fact?
Mr. Ouspensky: Yes, very easy, but if one remembers all that one was told, one learns to discriminate."

 

[Pierre]

Still waiting , go faster 2009.06/09 is coming

Hi Lucas,

I guess you're referring here to Ark's simulation model that stops in June 2009.

From what I understand Ark's model ending in June 2009 doesn't necessarily mean that the world will stop at this time.

I guess that future is open so maybe we should simply consider the possibility of one major event in June 2009 as one working hypothesis amongst others.

 

[fabric]

You(or the C's rather) mention the dangers of using one's mind to channel directly as opposed to using the board. My question is where is the line between one's own mind and channeling. Wouldn't one interact with attachments and other parts of oneself through meditation or dream work?

I'm not too sure on the answer for that. From what I've read, it seems possible to do so. I think the problem comes down to that we most likely would contaminate the 'channel' with our subjective ideas and various states that we happen to be in that particular moment. Hence using the board as a tool, to remain conscious while tapping into the subconscious. Or so I think.

I mention dreams here because I am talking about dreams where one is conscious during the dream, and I guess one could reach such a state through meditation. How is this different from channeling?

To me the difference is that maybe we are just simply being 'conscious' while in a dream state. Doesn't necessarily mean one would start receiving information or that speaking to other entities (how would one know they are not just parts of the psyche? We are already dissociated enough as it is!) would mean that we will. I once became lucid in a dream, and I was so fascinated by it at and my surroundings, I ended waking rather quickly. Didn't get to explore much or 'talk' to anything, FWIW. I'm sure there are others here that can better answer your question.

This is from a recent session:

Session Date: September 3rd 2008

(List of those present deleted for privacy)

(planchette begins to move... )

A: USA heading for destruction!

Q: (L) Hello. Can we say hello first?

A: Hello

Q: (L) And who do we have with us this evening?

A: Yeaionnia of Cassiopaea.

Q: (L) Do you transmit through Cassiopaea?

A: Yes

[...]

Q: (L) Okay, now we've got a few odds and ends questions for various people.... (personal questions and answers deleted.) .... I'd like to know exactly what is lucid dreaming?

A: Partly conscious awareness while other systems are still switched off and subconscious bleeds through. Can be hypnogogic or hypnopompic or "other" states.

Q: (L) Well, is it a useful state for finding out what's going on in your subconscious, or changing your reality or anything like that?

A: It can be useful for entertainment mainly.

Q: (L) So there are no outstanding benefits to be obtained from practicing so-called lucid dreaming?

A: Not really.

Q: (L) Anything else about lucid dreaming? (DD) I had one yesterday! (Ark) Cheap movies! (laughter)
(L) Next question: As you know, we've been having (a discussion about MPD /DID in reference to a particular individual). My question is, what makes a person susceptible to MPD? Let me rephrase that: Are some people more susceptible to splitting than others?

A: Yes

Q: (L) What would make a person more susceptible?

A: Being an organic portal.

 

[Beorn]

Hi Gunslinger, I would say that we could contaminate the channel with our subjective ideas using the board as well. But I think I know what you mean, there is an added emotional aspect that is not present when using the board.

I am a bit confused as to the C's comments on lucid dreaming. It may just be a matter of definitions but Ra seem to indicate that dreaming can be beneficial in moving one towards a chosen polarity.
[quote author=Law of One]
Questioner: You have stated that dreaming, if made available to the conscious mind, will aid greatly in polarization. Could you define dreaming or tell us what it is and how it aids polarization?

Ra: I am Ra. Dreaming is an activity of communication through the veil of the unconscious mind and the conscious mind. The nature of this activity is wholly dependent upon the situation regarding the energy center blockages, activations, and crystallizations of a given mind/body/spirit complex...

As a mind/body/spirit complex consciously chooses the path of the adept and, with each energy balanced to a minimal degree, begins to open the indigo-ray energy center the so-called dreaming becomes the most efficient tool for polarization, for, if it is known by the adept that work may be done in consciousness while the so-called conscious mind rests, this adept may call upon those which guide it, those presences which surround it, and, most of all, the magical personality which is the Higher Self in space/time analog as it moves into the sleeping mode of consciousness. With these affirmations attended to, the activity of dreaming reaches that potential of learn/teaching which is most helpful to increasing the distortions of the adept towards its chosen polarity.[/quote]

Anyway, I've got an exam tomorrow so I don't have time to gather together info and put it down here in a readable format except to say that I guess the C's were talking about full trance channeling and 'going in blind' so to speak, which I certainly have no desire to do, so it may be a non-issue.

Where 'Channeling' meets the mind is an interesting topic though. Could we not always be channeling in thoughts, dreams and inspirations without a conscious awareness of it?

Jeff. :)

 

[Mountain Crown]

Jeff, just an observation fwiw-

It appears that RA isn't speaking of lucid dreaming in the above quote:

for, if it is known by the adept that work may be done in consciousness while the so-called conscious mind rests

I propose this depends on what precisely was meant by:

Questioner: You have stated that dreaming, if made available to the conscious mind

 

[thorbiorn]

Introduction
Reading The Medium’s Book by Allan Kardec, listed by Laura in the reading list, was what inspired me to take a look at more of his books. These were generously given to me by a leading member of the Spiritist movement in Mozambique, who coming from Brazil has very good contacts there.

Next follows a 'short' tour of the Spiritist movement founded by Allan Kardec with an emphasis on information relevant for mediumship and the Ouija board.

The Main Points of Spiritism

For a general introduction to Spiritism and its history see the Wikipedia mirror article at _http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Spiritism where one also encounters:

Talking boards

Just after the news of the Fox affair came to France, people became even more interested in what was sometimes termed the "Spiritual Telegraph". In the beginning, a table spun with the "energy" from the spirits present by means of human channeling (hence the term medium). But, as the process was too slow and cumbersome, a new one was devised, supposedly from a suggestion by the spirits themselves: the talking board.

Early examples of talking boards were baskets attached to a pointy object that spun under the hands of the mediums, to point at letters printed on cards scattered around, or engraved on, the table. Such devices were called corbeille à bec ("basket with a beak"). The pointy object was usually a pencil.

Talking boards were tricky to set up and to operate. A typical séance using a talking board saw people sitting at a round table, feet resting on the chairs' supports and hands on the table top or, later, on the talking board itself. The energy channeled from the spirits through their hands made the board spin around and find letters which, once written down by a scribe, would form intelligible words, phrases, and sentences. The system was an early, and less effective, precursor of the Ouija boards that later became so popular.

Allan Kardec first became interested in Spiritism when he learned of the Fox sisters, but his first contact with what would become the doctrine was by means of talking boards. Some of the earlier parts of his Spirits' Book were channeled this way.

[…]

Doctrine

The five chief points of the doctrine are:

1. There is a God, defined as "The Supreme Intelligence and Primary Cause of everything";
2 .There are Spirits, all of whom are created simple and ignorant, but owning the power to gradually perfect themselves;
3. The natural method of this perfection process is reincarnation, through which the Spirit faces countless different situations, problems and obstacles, and needs to learn how to deal with them;
4. As part of Nature, Spirits can naturally communicate with living people, as well as interfere in their lives;
5. Many planets in the universe are inhabited.


The central tenet of Spiritist doctrine is the belief in spiritual life. The spirit is eternal, and evolves through a series of incarnations in the material world. The true life is the spiritual one; life in the material world is just a short-termed stage, where the spirit has the opportunity to learn and develop its potentials. Reincarnation is the process where the spirit, once free in the spiritual world, comes back to the world for further learning.

Note: For more about Allan Kardec and the Ouija board please see the Appendix.

_http://www.spiritist.org/joomla/ has a translation of the key points of Spiritism, translated into a several languages. The English pages are: _http://www.spiritist.org/english/Get%20To%20Know%20Spiritism.htm _http://www.spiritist.org/english/Divulgue%20o%20Espiritismo.htm these end with three phrases including:

"Unshakable faith is only that which can meet reason face to face in every Human epoch."

Grupo de Estudos Avancados Espiritas has a site: _http://www.geae.inf.br/ with pages in English, Portuguese and Spanish.

On _http://www.geae.inf.br/en/links.html there is introduction in English followed by links to other sites belonging to Spiritist groups. It begins:

Dear Visitor,

According to the advice that Allan Kardec gave to all those who wanted to follow the Spiritist Doctrine, one should only accept any message from the physical or from the spiritual dimensions once it was submitted to reason and to judiciousness and approved.

Such an advice is very wise because it keeps Spiritism from becoming a dogmatic doctrine within an unchangeable framework. As the advance of science makes us more capable of understanding the events that happen around us, Spirits will evolve and adapt.

More Resources, Links and Books
On _http://www.geae.inf.br/en/books/ page they have books in English for download, including all five major works of Allan Kardec in English.

Two of the works on this page have been prepared by the Spiritist Alliance for Books (SAB): _http://www.sgny.org/about sab.html founded by members of Spiritist Group of New York: _http://www.sgny.org/about_sgny.html . On this page it explains, why so many Portuguese speaking people are involved in Spiritism:

Tell us about how well known and accepted Spiritism is in Brazil, even in government and laws.

In spite of the official numbers presented by the Brazil's Census (Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística - IBGE) of the year 2000 that show a number of 2.3 million spiritists, it is estimated that in actuality there are 20 million people that follow Spiritism in that country. Spiritism is the third greatest 'religious' group in the country. It is estimated that the number of Spiritist organizations in Brazil are about 12,000 (Veja Magazine of April 26, 2000) with around 9,000 people enrolled in the courses offered by those groups.

An example of the scope that Spiritism reaches can be seen in its literary market, estimated in more than 80 thousand titles published in Brazil. The spiritist books are reaching even those who did not have the habit of reading books. The Brazilian Spiritist Federation alone has already published more than 400 titles that have sold 38.6 million copies (source: Brazilian Spiritist Federation and Wikipedia).

It is also explained, why they got into book translation and how they deal the related issues.

On their bookpage, one finds the books of Allan Kardec and others: _http://www.sgny.org/books.htm some also available as ebooks: _http://www.sgny.org/ebooks.html Here most interestingly they have mentioned three books (one book in three parts) by Camille Flammarion of which two are available already. It is called Death And Its Mystery, (La Mort Et Son Mystere) consisting of so far: Volume I (Before Death) - _http://www.sgny.org/Books/Death_Mystery_SAB02.pdf and Volume II (At The Moment of Death) _http://www.sgny.org/Books/Death%20&%20Mystery%20II_SAB_March2004.pdf.

Apparently Allan Kardec and Camille Flammarion were known to each other:

Because of his scientific background, he approached spiritualism and reincarnation from the viewpoint of the scientific method, writing, "It is by the scientific method alone that we may make progress in the search for truth. Religious belief must not take the place of impartial analysis. We must be constantly on our guard against illusions.". He was chosen to speak at the funerals of Allan Kardec, founder of Spiritism, on April 2, 1869, when he re-affirmed that "spiritism is not a religion but a science" (op. cit.).

His spiritualism studies also influenced some of his science fiction. Other than that, his writing about other worlds adhered fairly closely to then current ideas in evolutionary theory and astronomy.
[...]
Works
[...]
La Fin du Monde (The End of the World), 1893, is a science fiction novel about a comet colliding with the Earth, followed by several million years leading up to the gradual death of the planet. It has recently been brought back into print as . It was adapted into a film in 1931 by Abel Gance.

_http://www.sgny.org/links.html has got a few links not mentioned on the previous sites. I clicked on one and found their motto to be:

Love one another. This is the first precept. Educate yourselves. That is the second.
- The Sprit of Truth

The Spirit of Truth is sometimes mentioned as a source in the books of Allan Kardec. I did try to find the exact origin, but was not successful so far. Although the above organization is located in Great Britain, lectures are, as frequently seen some other countries of the world, in Portuguese as presumably they have been founded by Portuguese speaking immigrants.

The journal "Revue Spirite" which Allan Kardec published from 1858 to 1869, and which is often referred to in the notes of his major works, are available for download in French at _http://www.espirito.org.br/portal/download/pdf/fr/index.html where one also finds lesser known works.
The"Revue Spirite" translated in Portuguese is with many other works on Spiritism to found on _http://www.espirito.org.br/portal/download/pdf/index.html
For books in Spanish see: _http://www.espirito.org.br/portal/download/pdf/es/index.html Here one also encounters a Spanish translation of 'The History of Spiritualism' by Arthur Conan Doyle, which is on the reading list.
And if somebody speaks Esperanto, then one can download four books of Allan Kardec on _http://www.espirito.org.br/portal/download/pdf/esperanto/index.html

On page _http://www.ceilivraria.com.br/ one can buy books in Brazilian Reais, which might be cheaper, (check the rate on _http://www.ex.com) However I had some difficulty with the java script on the book page and could not see the Ingles/(=English) page

How A Detour Led To More Ouija Board History.
There is a newsletter from one of the Spiritist organizations, see the list of old issues: _http://www.geae.inf.br/en/boletins/colecao.php Finding the latest "101" a bit constrained, I clicked on four others and found: _http://www.geae.inf.br/en/boletins/sm087.html which has an account of Pearl Curran, a woman who began with a Ouija board and ended up producing about 4.000.000 words of communication from a spirit called Patience Worth. See Wikipedia: _http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patience_Worth

Wishing to know a bit more I downloaded her "Sorry Tale: "_http://www.spiritwritings.com/SorryTale.pdf where it is explained in the preface pages iii and iv:

Mrs. Curran, through whom all of this matter has come, is a young woman of normal disposition and temperament, intelligent and vivacious. She receives the communications with the aid of the mechanical device known as the ouija board as a recording instrument. There is no trance or any abnormal mental state. She sits down with the ouija board as she might sit down to a typewriter, and the receipt of the communications begins with no more ceremony than a typist would observe. Mrs. Curran has had no experience in literary composition and has made no study of literature, ancient or modern. Nor, it may be added, has she made any study of the history, the religions, or the social customs of the period of this story, nor of the geography or topography of the regions in which it is laid. Her knowledge of Palestine and of the beginnings of the Christian religion is no greater, and probably no less, than that of the average communicant.

Patience Worth began the writing of this story on the evening of the fourteenth of July, 1915, and some time was given to its transmission on two or three evenings of every week until its completion. In the early months she proceeded leisurely with the task, usually writing 300 to 1,000 words of the story in an evening, and, in addition, poems, parables, or didactic or humorous conversation, as the mood or the circumstances prompted. As a relief to the sorrows of The Sorry Tale she started another story which she called The Merry Tale, and for months the composition of the two stories continued alternately. Often she would work at both on the same evening. But as The Sorry Tale progressed she gave more and more time to it, producing on many evenings from 2,500 to 3,500 words of the tale in a sitting of an hour and a half or two hours. In one evening 5,000 words were dictated, covering the account of the Crucifixion. At all times, however, it came with great rapidity, taxing the chirographic speed of Mr. Curran to the utmost to put it down in abbreviated longhand.

This story is well worth remembering as later one argument is raised by the Spiritists that the board method is impractical, slow etc, however the above case demonstrates a very high productivity nonetheless.

Education of Mediums
Education and tranining of Mediums is part of the work in the Spiritist movement. The following page has some course material prepared by Federação Espírita Brasileira: _http://www.febnet.org.br/trabalhador/content,0,0,1634,0,0.html Although most is in Portuguese, there is one document in English which sum op some of the presentations in the Portuguese versions: _http://www.febnet.org.br/file/12/814.doc It is called "Preparation Course for the Spiritist Worker" and is published by; ACTIVITIES DEPARTMENT, BRASILIA, JULY 2005. It includes Part I: STUDY AND PRACTICE OF MEDIUMSHIP: Part II, MEDIUMSHIP MEETINGS. This document is translated by Jussara Korngold, the initiator of the Spiritists Group of New York, mentioned previously, so I went back there and found by looking closer that there is a Mediumship Guide: _http://www.sgny.org/about_mediumship with many articles. A few excerpts follow to give an idea:

Why a medium?:

Mediumship as an aspect of every persons evolution has a variety of important reasons for being:

Learning- it is an important tool for learning, amplifying the mediums virtues and vices. Giving the medium an opportunity to learn from this new awareness of God, the Spirit and the spirit world. And to learn from all that comes with developing, and practicing the gift.

Expiation- it gives the medium a unique opportunity to pay off past debts. If the medium chooses to use their ability to do good then the expiation is two fold. First because of the self sacrifice and overcoming of temptation needed to make such a choice, and second from the constant works of charity performed when the gift is used to help others.

Revelation- the gift is a precious instrument for revealing to people the truths about God, the immortality of the soul, God's laws, the existence of the spirit world and the after life.

Information- mediumship can and has provided a conduit for thousands of books on all aspects of life in the physical and spirit world. It also provides information directly from Spirits to individuals who need this guidance.

Healing- through a medium Spirits can provide healing energy and cures to countless needy individuals.

WE ARE ALL MEDIUMS?

As said before, this 6th sense is more developed in some individuals than others. Nonetheless, the sense exists naturally within all incarnated spirits in different states of development. It is for this reason that Spiritism teaches that 'we are all mediums' since our capacity to become aware of and communicate with these other dimensions is in the process of development.

THE EVOLUTION OF THE MEDIUM

Once mediumship of any type has shown itself, it begins a life long commitment that requires deep personal growth and modification, not just learning about Spiritism through books or a Spiritist Center.

Because of the Law of Affinity mentioned earlier, the spirits attracted to a medium will reflect and provoke the very best and the very worst of that medium. This will force the medium to make a profound personal choice.

The Law of Free Will assures every person the right to choose whatever path they wish. So a medium has every right to neglect their ability, to use it for personal economic benefit, or to attract lower spirits that will encourage and share in the mediums worst vices. Though they need never forget that the Law of Cause and Effect assures that everyone has to deal with the consequences of their choices and the effects those choices have on others.

Based on the above reflections it could be an exercise to ask oneself, at what moments one functioned as medium of sorts, and for what quality of influence.

Realizing that one may already be a medium of some kind, what do they suggest that might improve ones talent? There are several points. Below is one section which reminded me about Gurdjieffs idea to acknowledge one’s faults, feel remorse and work to improve.

Self-evaluation: In every life there comes a moment(s) in which we find ourselves forced to confront our faults and ethical limitations. For most this moment is met initially with anger, then contemplation, doubt and finally resignation that self-improvement is beyond their reach.

What we do not realize is the immense importance of these moments. As we continue through the long path of intellectual and ethical evolution we all reach many moments of impasse. These evolutionary impasses come when we are unable to recognize our personal faults and/or lack the clarity, willingness, or method for changing these faults. As humans and as spirits we live in an ironic paradox, every aspect of our existence is based on change yet we seem to instinctively despise change.

In order for us to be spurred on to deal with these impasses we repeatedly choose trials and obstacles in our reincarnations so that we are forced to again face these faults and again strive to the needed change. So when a person reaches one of these moments and chooses to remain unchanged they become the authors of their own tragedy. Placing themselves once again in the cycle of trial, mistake, contemplation, stagnation and then choosing to try again with even tougher trials in the next reincarnation.

Through self evaluation we provide ourselves a tool that we can use every day to help gain clarity as to our faults and virtues, failures and successes and as what we need to concentrate on to improve. An excellent exercise in evaluation is to take a half hour every evening, find a quiet secluded space, meditate and start to ask yourself a series of questions like the ones below.

"Have I learned anything today?"

"Have I harmed anyone today?"

"Have I helped anyone today?"

"Have I done anything unselfish today?"

"Have I made a friend today?"

"Have I made an enemy today?"

"Have I tried to make amends to someone I wronged today?"

"Have I shown compassion today?"

"How did I treat my family today?"

"How did I treat my friends and coworkers today?"

"How did I treat strangers today?"

"What mistakes have I made today?".

It's important to be honest in answering these questions and let the answers be your guide for the next day. In addition it might be useful to keep a daily or weekly journal to write down your thoughts, ideas, questions and to record your progress.

For a reference to the above idea about self improvement, there is this:

Pantheism
14. Is God a being distinct from the universe, or is He, according to the opinion of some, the result of all the forces and intelligences of the universe?
"If the latter were the case, God would not be God, for He would be effect and not cause; He cannot be both cause and effect."
“God exists. You cannot doubt His existence, and that is one essential point. Do not seek to go beyond it; do not lose yourselves in a labyrinth which, for you, is without an issue Such inquiries would not make you better; they would rather tend to add to your pride, by causing you to imagine that you knew something, while, in reality, you would know nothing. Put aside systems. You have things enough to think about that concern you much more nearly, beginning with yourselves. ]Study your own imperfections, that you may get rid of them; this will be far more useful to you than the vain attempt to penetrate the impenetrable."

Under further reading _http://www.sgny.org/spiritist_materials.html there is "SGNY's Mediumship Course PDFs", in four files having the subtitle: "Safe Guidelines for the Development of Mediumship", which are translations of Portuguese course materials from Brazil:

Each of the four files begins with a "Presentation" page which I include to give the angle that is taken to the subject:

This Course offers instructions on the Mechanisms of Mediumship according to Spiritism, and will also slowly begin preparation for practical mediumship. The study of the mechanisms of mediumship is a much more serious part of Spiritism. It is also of greater responsibility, not just for those of us who are giving the course, but also for you who are participating. So, we would like to mention some relevant points:
1) To create a serious and discerning ambient for the balanced and disciplined exercise of mediumship.
2) To offer orientation to all those interested as to the superior purpose of mediumship and that, according to the Spiritist Doctrine, mediumship should always be developed ‘together with the moral standards provided by Jesus’.
3) The need for a medium to be a very disciplined, punctual, assiduous and studious person. Who also does his/her best towards constant effort at inner reform.
4) The disciplined medium must achieve equilibrium and be able to work as a member of a Team within a friendly and loving atmosphere, and not in isolation.
5) Spiritism offers guidance as to the practice of SAFE MEDIUMSHIP.
6) Through this gradual process, in a correct and adequate ambient, it offers each person the possibility of developing their maximum potentials in this field of work, as a servant of Jesus.

One question I have wondered about, is why Spiritism does not generally arrive, as seen from book titles, writings and topics at something similar to what is found in the Cassiopaean transcripts, including the ideas of STS, STO, Densities etc. etc. Well, first of all maybe someone here and there actually have, and secondly several in the Spiritist movement may have a hard time, moving out of the idea that the works of Allan Kardec are not absolutes, thirdly it may be because they do not expose themselves enough to new science or new discoveries, as it seems Allan Kardec did in his time, fourthly moral self improvement is considered much more essential than wondering about whether the world out there is like this or like that, or fifthly an excuse may be that the mediums of the Spiritist movement having dropped the Ouija board method, at the same time reduced the possibility of getting information that is totally unexpected and outside the knowledge of the medium. This last consideration leads to the topic of the Appendix.

APPENDIX
Spiritism and the Ouija Board
Why did Allan Kardec, as indicated in the quote from Wikipedia, leave the Ouija board aside. This is an interesting subject but a long story.

To get started on this problem, I tried to look up Ouija board in the four mediumship course files mentioned previously and found the word mentioned only in the first PDF file:

Alphabetical typtology, consists in designating the letters of the alphabet by tilts; words, sentences, and even long communications are thus obtained. (5) This mode of proceeding is extremely tedious, and requires an enormous amount of time for obtaining spiritist communications. It is practically not utilized nowadays. One example of this kind of communication is the ouija board, but it is only employed by people who have no knowledge of Spiritism.

(Note 5 is from. KARDEC, Allan. The Mediums’ Book. Translation – Anna Blackwell - Question 141, p. 159.)

Below I have included the whole of the section from which the above is taken as well as others where the subject is mentioned or alluded to. From these one can see more clearly the development, advantages and limitations of a Ouija board type instrument, as well as why the groups of Allan Kardec moved away from it.

From the mediums book there is:

68. By means of the raps of which we have spoken, manifestations still more clearly indicative of intelligence were obtained. Sounds were produced like the beat of
the drum, like file and platoon firing, like a cannonade; now the grating of a saw would be heard, and anon, the blows of a hammer; or the raps would imitate the movement of well-known airs, or beat time to tunes sung, or played, by the experimenters. Peoplethen began to see that, as some occult intelligence was evidently at work, it ought to be able to reply to questions susceptible of being answered by a given number of raps or tiltings, previously agreed upon, as meaning yes, or "no." * This was accordingly done; and, from the rudimentary attempts at conversation which were all that could be made through those monosyllabic signs, people soon went on to the use of the alphabet, recited by one of the sitters, the unseen intelligence indicating, by a rap or tilt, the letter of the word or phrase to be communicated. Messages and statements, often of considerable length and of most interesting character, were thus obtained.
__________
* The honour of this discovery, made in the year 1848, is entirely due, like that already alluded to (p.40), to the little American girl, Kate Fox, now the wife of Mr H. D. Jencken, of London. - TR.

69. The experience of tens of thousands of persons, in every country, left no doubt as to the reality and intelligence of these communications; but this intelligence
was generally supposed to be that of the medium, the questioner, or the persons composing the circle in which they were obtained. When it was ascertained that the
raps were not made by the medium, it was suggested that they must be made by his thought; but the idea of intelligence reflecting itself; so to say, in a piece of wood, of thought producing raps and motions in a table, was felt to be an explanation even more astounding than the phenomena themselves, and the latter speedily showed it to be inadmissible. For, as previously stated, the communications were often directly opposed to the opinions and sympathies of the medium, or beyond the grasp of his intellectual faculties, and were sometimes conveyed in a language of which the medium was ignorant, or referred to matters unknown to the whole party. Such instances have now become so numerous that almost all of those who have had even a slight experience of spirit-communications could probably adduce a great number of them.

We will cite, in this place, only one instance of the character now alluded to; a fact that was related to us by one of the persons who witnessed its occurrence.

70. On board a ship of the Imperial French Navy, stationed in Chinese waters, every soul, from the officers to the cabin boys, had taken up the amusement of "talking with tables." One day, it occurred to some of them to address the spirit of a former lieutenant of the same vessel, who had died two years before. He responded, and, after several communications which struck them all with astonishment, he gave the following message by raps "I beseech you to pay at once, to the Captain, the sum of- (mention mg the amount), that I owe to him. I am sorry that it was not in my power to repay it before I died." No one on board knew anything of the matter; the Captain himself had forgotten the debt thus alluded to, and which was a very trifling one ; but, on searching his account-book, he found a mention of a loan made by him to this lieutenant, the amount being exactly as stated by the table. Of whose "thought," we would ask, was
the knowledge thus displayed a "reflexion ?

71. The employment of the letters of the alphabet, though a very important step in advance, was still but a slow and roundabout method of communication; but it
nevertheless soon came into general use, and many highly interesting revelations concerning the invisible world were thus obtained. But the spirits themselves speedily suggested other means of communication, and, by their directions, the practice of writing was next brought into use. The first written communications were obtained by attaching a pencil to the foot of a toy-table, placed upon a sheet of paper. The table, set in motion by the influence of a medium, began by tracing letters, then words and phrases. This method was successively simplified, first, by making use of light baskets, boxes made of cardboard, and planchettes; and next, by finding that these objects were mere pencil-holders, and might all be dispensed with, and the pencil held the usual way, in the hand, which, moved and guided by an involuntary impulsion, was made to write, without the concurrence either of the will or of the thought of the medium. Thenceforth, communication was held as freely with the world of spirits as with people in the flesh. We shall discuss the different methods of communication, explaining them in detail, in another part of the present work; we have only wished, in this rapid sketch, to record the succession of facts which have gradually led up to a recognition of the intervention of unseen intelligences, otherwise called "spirits," in the production of the phenomena we are considering.

140. We would remark that, in the employment of this method of communication, the spirit frequently has recourse to a sort of mimicry; that is to say, he
expresses the energy of affirmation or negation by the force and character of the tilts or raps. He often expresses, in the same way, the nature of the sentiments which animate him: violence, by abruptness of movement; anger and impatience, by striking hard and repeated blows, like some one who stamps angrily on the ground; occasionally he upsets the table. A polite and kindly spirit, at the beginning and the end of a séance, moves the table as though making a bow; if desirous of addressing himself directly to one of the persons present, he pushes the table towards him, gently or roughly, according to the sentiment by which he is animated. This is, properly speaking, sematology, or the language of signs, as typtology is the language of raps.

Here is a remarkable example of spontaneous sematology: - A gentleman of our acquaintance, being one day in his drawing-room, where
several persons were holding a séance, received a letter from us. While he was readingit, the little table, used by him for spiritist experimentation, suddenly moved up to him.

Having finished reading our letter, he went towards another table at the farther end of the room, and laid the letter upon it. The little table followed him, and went up to the table upon which he had laid the letter. Surprised at this occurrence, our friend bethought him that there must be some connexion between the movements of the little table and the letter; he inquired the name of the spirit who had moved the table, and a name was given which is that of our familiar spirit. The gentleman having informed us of this circumstance, we, in our turn, begged the spirit to tell us the motive of the visit he had made to our friend ; whereupon, this reply was given -"It is natural that I should go and see those with whom you are in communication, in order that I may, if necessary, give to them, as well as to you, such advice as may be useful."

It is evident that the spirit wished to attract the attention of the gentleman in question, and sought for some means of manifesting his presence. A dumb man would hardly have managed better.

141. Typtology was speedily improved by the adoption of a more extended method of communication, which we may designate as alphabetical typtology. This
consists in designating the letters of the alphabet by tilts; words, sentences, and even long communications are thus obtained. According to one method, the table makes as many tilts as are needed to indicate each letter ; that is to say, one tilt for a, two for b, and so on; meanwhile, some one of the party writes down each letter as indicated by the number of tilts. When the spirit has finished, he makes some sign, previously agreed upon, to indicate the fact.

This mode of proceeding, as will be readily understood, is extremely tedious, and requires an enormous amount of time for obtaining communications of any length ;
but practice soon suggested various abbreviative methods more rapid than the above. That which is generally employed, consists in having the letters of the alphabet, and the numerals, written on a sheet of paper or card-board. The medium being seated at the table, some member of the circle runs a pencil or other pointer along the letters, when words are wanted ; along the ciphers, when numbers are wanted. When the pencil reaches the desired letter or cipher, the table gives a tilt, and the letter or cipher thus indicated is written down; the person who holds the pencil going through the same operation for the next letter, and so on. If a mistake occurs in regard to a letter, the spirit gives notice of the fact by several tilts; and the pencil is again taken through the alphabet. In this way, by dint of practice, it is possible to get on with tolerable quickness.

142. The other application of typtology is by raps produced in the wood of the table, without any movement occurring in the latter; and all that we have just described, in reference to the tilting of the table, is equally applicable to the obtaining of communications by raps. All mediums are not equally successful in obtaining both kinds of typtology, for some can only obtain tilts, while others can only obtain raps. Most mediums, however, by perseverance, can eventually succeed in obtaining raps, which have the double advantage of being not only more rapid, but also less open to suspicion, than the tiltings, which may be attributed to voluntary or involuntary pressure. It is true that the raps also can be imitated by untruthful mediums, for the best things may be counterfeited; a fact which proves nothing against their reality. But however improved, this way of proceeding can never attain the ease and rapidity of writing; and, consequently, the old methods of tilting and rapping are now less frequently employed. The old way is nevertheless very interesting as a phenomenon, especially for beginners; and it has the special advantage of being independent of the medium's mind. By the old method, too, answers are often obtained, so unexpected, so apt and pertinent, that one must be prejudiced indeed to reject the evidence thus afforded, and which is often an effectual means of conviction. But neither by this method, nor by any other, can spirits be made to yield to the caprices of mere curiosity, or forced to answer misplaced or indiscreet questions.

143. In order to render spirit-communications independent of the medium's mind, various instruments have been devised. One of these is a sort of dial-plate, on
which the letters of the alphabet are ranged like those on the dial of the electric telegraph; a moveable needle, set in motion through the medium’s influence, with the aid of a conducting thread and pulley, points out the letters. We cannot help thinking, however, that independence of the medium’s thought is insured as well by the raps, and that this independence is proved more conclusively by the unexpectedness and pertinence of the answers, than by all the mechanical contrivances yet invented for this purpose. Moreover, the incredulous, always on the lookout for wires and machinery, are more inclined to suspect deception in connexion with any special mechanical arrangements than with a bare table, devoid of all accessories.

144. A more simple contrivance, but one open to abuse, as we shall see in the chapter on Frauds, is the one devised by Madame Emile de Girardin, and by which she obtained numerous and interesting communications; for that lady, accomplished and clever as she was, had the weakness to believe in spirits and their manifestations. The instrument alluded to, consists of a little table with a moveable top, eighteen inches in diameter, turning freely on an axle, like a wheel. On its edge are traced, as upon a dialplate, the letters of the alphabet, the numerals, and the words "yes" and "no." In the centre is a fixed needle. The medium places his fingers on this table, which turns and stops when the desired letter is brought under the needle. The letters thus indicated being written down one after the other words and phrases are obtained, often with great rapidity. It is to be remarked that the top of the little table does not turn round under the fingers, but that the fingers remain in their place and follow the movement of the table. A powerful medium might probably obtain an independent movement; in which case the experiment would be more conclusive, because less open to the possibility of
trickery.

145. Let us here correct the wide-spread error which confounds all spirits who communicate by tilts or raps with "rapping-spirits". Typtology is a means of
communication like any other; and is no more unworthy of elevated spirits than writing or speaking. All spirits, good or bad, may employ this method as well as any other. What characterises superior spirits is the elevation of their thought, and not the instrument they may use for its transmission; they no doubt prefer the more convenient and rapid methods, but, in the absence of these, they willingly employ the table, as is shown by the fact that some of the grandest communications yet received have been made in this way. If we do not usually employ the table, it is not because we despise it, but merely because, as a phenomenon, it has given us all that it was capable of giving, so that it can add nothing to our convictions, while the length of the communications we receive has compelled us to have recourse to more expeditious methods. All spirits who rap are not, then, what are commonly called "rapping-spirits;" which designation should be reserved for those who may be styled professional rappers, and who take pleasure in going their rounds, amusing some, and boring others. Smart things are sometimes said by them, but never anything really profound. It would be a loss of time to ask scientific or philosophical questions of ignorant pretenders, who are classed by higher spirits as the quacks and mountebanks of the spirit-world. They are, nevertheless, often employed by superior spirits as their instruments for the
production of physical manifestations. *
__________
For which reason, doctrical truth is rarely transmitted through the mediums, and in the centres, must successful in obtaining physical manifestations. - TR.

The next short excerpts suggest the atmosphere most condusive.

177. […] Concentration and harmoniousness of thought being necessary conditions of success, it would be difficult to obtain anything of the kind when the sitters have met together with no serious views, or when they are not animated by sympathetic and kindly sentiments.

The reason why the Spiritist movement considers itself above something like a Ouija board might be further explained by the following excerpt.

We, spirits, are like musicians who wish to play an air of our
composing, and who may have, at hand, either a piano a harp, a violin, a bassoon, or a flute. It is evident that we might execute our air on either of these instruments, and that it would be understood by our auditors, no matter on which instrument we played it although the various instruments differ greatly in the quality of the sound they emit, our composition, on whichever instrument we played it, would be identically tile same, except in the special quality of the tone derived from the nature of the instrument employed. But if we had at our disposal only a penny whistle, we should find it very much more difficult to execute our air so that our audience could comprehend it. "In the same way, when we are obliged to make use of unadvanced mediums, our work is much more complicated, difficult, and tedious, because, in such a case, we are forced to employ inadequate means; and because we are then compelled, so to say, to set up our thoughts, as though putting them into type, communicating them, not only word by word, but letter by letter, which is tiresome and fatiguing for us, and constitutes a restraint on the rapidity and completeness of our manifestations.

"We therefore rejoice when we find mediums who are already prepared, well furnished with the requisite tools, and provided with materials ready for use; in a word,
good instruments, for then our perispirit, acting instantaneously on the perispirit of him whom we medianimise, has only to give an impulsion to the hand which serves us for holding the pen or the pencil; while with inferior mediums, we are obliged to perform a task similar to that which we perform when we communicate by raps, that is to say, by pointing out, letter by letter, each word of the sentences which constitute the translation, into human language, of the thought we desire to impress upon you. "This is why we have preferred to address ourselves, for the promulgation of spiritism and the development of medianimity, mainly to the educated classes, although it is in those classes that we find the greatest number of the incredulous, the recalcitrant, the immoral.
[…]
"ERASTES AND TIMOTHY."
Remark. - This analysis of the part performed by mediums, and of the processes by the aid of which spirits communicate, is as clear as it is logical. It shows us that spirits derive, not their ideas, but the material necessary for expressing their ideas, from the medium's brain; and that, consequently, the richer this brain is in materials, the easier is it for them to communicate through its possessor. When a spirit expresses himself in the language familiar to the medium, he finds, already formed, in the medium's brain, the words with which to clothe his ideas; if he would express himself in a language which the medium does not understand, he does not find the needed words, but simply letters, and he is therefore obliged to dictate his message, letter by letter, exactly as we should have to do, if we tried to make a man, who does not know a word of German, write in that language. If the medium can neither write nor read, he does not possess even the letters required for the formation of words; and the communicating spirits are then obliged to guide his hand, as we do with a child who is
learning to write. In such cases, there is evidently a greater amount of physical difficulty, and difficulty of another order, to be overcome. Phenomena of the kind we
are considering, are possible, and, as we know, often occur; but such a mode of procedure is ill adapted for the giving of lengthened communications, and spirits
naturally prefer instruments more manageable, or to employ their own expression, mediums "provided with good tools and materials" for their special purposes. If those who ask for such phenomena, as proofs of spirit-action, had studied the subject theoretically beforehand, they would understand the exceptional character of the conditions required for obtaining them.

All in all the Spiritist groups have a lot of material on and experience with mediumship, and even though they do not work with the Ouija board as is intended here in this thread, they have a lot of records. By now I have read most of the major works of Allan Kardec. It has been very helpful. Although I can not agree with everything, still I find it almost unbelievable that his books have been lying around for 150 years and not more response has happened, except in Brazil and among its Portuguese speaking people, or so it seems.

 

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Introduction
Reading The Medium’s Book by Allan Kardec, listed by Laura in the reading list, was what inspired me to take a look at more of his books. These were generously given to me by a leading member of the Spiritist movement in Mozambique, who coming from Brazil has very good contacts there.

The Spirits' Book and The Medium's Book where the first books I read that 'piqued' my curiosity on channeling. If it weren't for those books, I would not have ever ventured into something like RA or the Cassiopaean Experiment. When I started reading the Wave and Adventures, I could see many similarities between what Kardec was attempting and Laura's work, except that Laura's work was much more detailed and easier to relate to what was/is happening now.

The thing that really attracted me to this though was the application of some type of scientific or standard process used in order to try to obtain some meaningful communication rather than just chatting to 'dead dudes' all day.