My Spiritual Journey.
Every man is a creature of the age in which he lives; very few are able to raise themselves above the ideas of the time. Voltaire.
“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God.” I. John Ch4, 1-2.
While there have been recordings of mystical events over all the centuries, it seems that there was an upsurge in the mid 1800’s. Why this should be so is not known, although reasons are alluded to much further on in our journey, but the first event to capture the imagination of the English speaking world took place in the U.S.A in Hydesville, New York in late 1847. Read the story that started the search for the meanings of these communications. Unfortunately it did start in the U.S.A with deception, and that mindset continues. There are always fakers and jokers in every area where proof is difficult.
Almost all the major Christian churches warn against any involvement in these spirit manifestations. However this has not lead the Catholic Church to ban visits to Lourdes, far from it. The apparitions seen by Bernadette Soubirous in 1858 are accepted by the Catholic Church to have been a manifestation of Mary, the Mother of Jesus. It is interesting to observe that even the untutored Bernadette was aware of the possibility of psychic manifestations being evil, only 11 years after Hydesville. Bernadette was eventually canonised, and to this day Lourdes is a place of pilgrimage. If an innocent, simple and uneducated teenager can receive such divine guidance, why is it none of us should seek guidance?
In France, a distinguished scientist who eventually was known as Allan Kardec, set about investigating the various paranormal events, and in the fullness of time, was responsible for collating a number of major works, particularly the Medium’s Book and the Spirit’s Book. He was not a medium, and had to rely on others for mediumship, whom he studied like the true scientist that he was. If you are totally comfortable with how paranormal events take place, and have no problem believing that the spirit world can and does communicate with us, I suggest moving on in the journey, rather than reading these two large works. But both are in the suggested reading section of this site.
If however you are a bit uncertain of this area of spirit communication, and you have any experience of paranormal events, either personally or through feedback from close friends or family, I would suggest starting with The Medium’s book. If you do not have such experience, it may be more productive to read the Spirit’s book. However I found the former an excellent explanation of what goes on, how it happens, the dangers and the opportunities. The latter is an interesting explanation of much of the spirit world. Some of this will be refuted later, but no matter.