Mediums are people who claim to be able to contact the spirit world, communicate with deceased people and see into the future. There are two classifications of mediums: (1) Spiritualist Medium and (2) Physical Mediums. A spiritualist medium receives information while a physical medium produces a physical phenomenon. Although, physical mediums have declined in the 21st Century. The most researched topics in mediums are whether mediums can provide accurate readings.

There were claims of mediums/witches documented for thousands of years. It was only in the 1870s that the first systematic study of mediums took place. Since then there is a steady flow of investigations and experiments into mediums.

There is no getting away from the fact that the area of mediumship has been littered with allegations of fraud. There are two conventional fraud techniques: (1) Cold Calling and (2) Fishing. Cold Calling involves asking a sitter (a person who the medium is reading for) a very vague question and hoping the person gives the medium the answer. Fishing usually takes place in a group setting, with the fake medium asking generic questions if a person in the audience responds to the question the fraud can respond to their answers by using social cues, etc.

To counteract these fraud techniques, researchers in the 21st Century have developed several protocols to overcome these techniques. Researchers use a variety of methods to rule out fraudulent practices taking place, i.e., the medium can’t see the sitter, medium gives a reading without feedback from the sitter. Despite ruling out the possibility of fraud, researchers are still finding significant results, which supports the mediumship ability.

Modern research has taken mediumship into a new direction by examining the psychological and neurological profiles of mediums. Although these studies are in there infancy, they are demonstrating some psychological and physiological differences within the brain of mediums compared to the general population. These studies give better insight into the mechanics of brain, which could in the future distinguish between actual and fake mediums.

Despite these positive findings in mediumship research, there is still not a conclusive acceptance from parapsychologists of the cause of mediumship. Naturally, there is the theory that mediums are genuinely contacting the spirit world for information. However, some parapsychologists say the research can’t rule out some telepathy link if there is positive research for it. Also, skeptics will agree, that there are only a couple of laboratories in the world studying mediumship, and to reach the scientific level of evidence more research needs to be done.

There is always a warning that goes along with mediumship research. Although, there is some positive research indicating mediumship ability. Only a few mediums are tested to the level within this book. So likely mediums in your area might not have been verified by their peers. Therefore, if you are seeking a medium, ask your friends/family if they know someone, they had a good experience or try and find a reputable source. Although it doesn’t guarantee you won’t come across a fraud, it would reduce your chances.