PAUL ENO ON MEDIUMS AND PSYCHICS

Mediums are people who believe they can carry messages between the living and the "dead," usually loved ones who have passed. They are not the same as psychics. Mediums have come out of the closet and the storefront and are now big draws in many parts of the "developed" world, especially America, where they are the latest darlings in Hollywood. Even locally known mediums draw huge crowds at up to $100 a head. Once relegated to the Victorian drawing room, where they would awe rich widows in the dark, mediums now reach out to the masses, doing "readings" for the bereaved, the frightened or the curious.

Even yours truly, who has, both in print and on the air, called most mediums "absolutely ridiculous," finds himself in the planning stages of several national conferences that will involve mediums, albeit ones who are among the handful I trust.

Nevertheless, I'm concerned, even alarmed, over several issues that arise with most mediums, even assuming they're honest.

1) Most mediums I've run into know very little (and sometimes nothing whatever) about the paranormal. This is analogous to a surgeon who's an expert in using a scalpel but who knows little or nothing about medicine!

2) As a result, they are like well-meaning children. When they receive information from whatever they've tapped into, they don't question where it's coming from. They don't question whether it's true, even when they "connect" with an entity that's downright nasty. The people they're doing readings for almost always want to believe they're receiving messages from some loved one, so they themselves nudge things along.

I don't believe half the people I meet on the street, never mind some entity out of the quantum labyrinths who may claim to be an ancestor or friend!

3) What really sets me shivering is the idea that parasites could very easily nail these want-to-believes and create serious problems, whether short term or long term, because of some medium's ignorance.

4) I get endlessly annoyed that most mediums, out of simple ignorance or lack of reading, are still married to the 19th century seance room. They still believe that people "pass over" some "veil" to a "spirit world." Their sappy interpretation of what goes on in this ideal spirit world would send Plato himself into paroxysms of laughter.

5) Mediums seldom seem to recognize three things: First, not all loved ones are going to -- or can -- hang around and take care of their people, simply because they have other tasks to do in their myriad other lives. Second, not all of them should, and their loved ones in our reality may not necessarily want them to. Now and then, it may just be time to say "good-bye." Third, loved ones who have passed may need help themselves! I've run into plenty of "tortured souls" who need lots of TLC.

I really do find most mediums ludicrous and dangerously uneducated, but I don't mean to be negative about all of them. The more I meet, the more good ones I find -- and there's plenty I need to learn too! I know several mediums who are cautious and wise, and who really know what they're doing. I've seen many grieving people moved, touched and helped. These mediums are the ones who'll tell you that the best and safest way to carry on your relationships with loved ones who have passed is on your own.

All I can do is hope that the questionable mediums now gaining such influence in the media get with it, get educated, and realize not only what they're dealing with but the damage -- or good -- they can do.

This site was last updated 09/06/07