In much of the research conducted into mediumship practices and as indicated in my recent book "Deadly Departed," the reality of spiritual gifts within the Catholic Church has been in existence all along. They are just too ignorant to admit it. As a consequence of the ignorance of real knowledge from the hierarchy to the lower levels of the church, and of its lay ministry; there is a complete disregard of the gifts of the spirit and how they are bestowed, employed and developed within an individual.
Searching the Internet can uncover some clear distinctions and lack of understanding within the church system and its holy orders. Perhaps the worst aspect of its teaching is the complete misunderstanding of the reality of the gifts of the spirit. Compounding matters is the understanding the reality of what the occult is and how it operates.
Occult
One of the greatest misconceptions of the Catholic church, and most other religions that are based in dogma, is the clarity of what the Occult seems to be and how it is labeled. The Occult comes from the Latin 'Occultus,' which means hidden knowledge it is "knowledge of the hidden" or "knowledge of the paranormal". There is, of course, a stark contrast to spiritual gifts as you will see, and although there are crossed links, you will recognize the almost two faces of the church.
My child, regard not omens, for this leads to idolatry; neither be an enchanter, nor an astrologer, nor a magician, neither wish to see these things, for from them all is idolatry engendered. [Didache]
The reality of the above statement is quite clear, but looking deeper, one can deduct that the practices mentioned above are not those of mediumship. In fact, they are quite the opposite. The practices are tantamount to occult practices of which mediumship has no real place. As mentioned before, mediums use spiritual faculties and do not conjure, using oracles, divination or ritualistic magic such as witchcraft.
Church Teachings
The church teaches that anything that is out of its remit is tantamount to a mortal sin or evil. According to early teachings found in various texts, it was forbidden to seek seers, divine information, visit oracles and so much more. However, this is really from a place of ignorance and control rather than the reality of the dangers of hidden knowledge. Church laws and teachings change over time and one only needs to refer to the "Didache" to get the unabridged meaning of the gifts of spirit and the warnings according to the disciples of Jesus that was before the church. The Didache was the teachings of the apostles, the rules, if you like, of early christianity.
Divination and Conjuring
What is abundantly clear is that divination and conjuring according to the belief's of religious text are considered the opposite to spiritual gifts because of the methodology behind these practices. Perhaps this has some merit and one has to seriously look toward occult practices such as magic to realize there is a clear division between these practices and what the gifts of the spirit are considered to be and how they are employed in spirit communication and discernment.
Practices frowned upon in the search within the afterlife
The gifts of the spirit are basis of all life and as such every man and woman has a facet of these gifts dormant within. However, one may be more imbued within than another and so the gifts are stronger in some individuals.
Practices of afterlife research may be the aspects that a church or dogmatic faith may frown upon and include;
- ITC
- EVP
- SCRYING
- SEANCES
- AUTOMATIC WRITING
- PRECIPITATION
- DIVINATION TOOLS
Mediumship Practices Misunderstood - Not Only By The Church.
Anyone who understands the mechanics of mediumship recognizes that no conjuring actually takes place whatsoever. As mediums we do not conjure, we do not call upon spirits and we certainly do not divine spirits. In this respect there is a clear misrepresentation of who and what real mediums are, and how we attune our craft. The reality is there is no pomp and circumstance. One who has developed gifts of the spirit merely uses these spiritual faculties to open up to the real vibratory spiritual nature of those on the other side.
A look into the new testament of the Holy Bible can deduct these spiritual gifts being used in service to humanity throughout its text and of course not restricted to Jesus Christ, but to others in service.
Apostolate
The Holy See, for many years, has condemned mediumship practices. Those who visit mediums and mediums themselves are labeled as being lured by evil nefarious forces. However, there is a bit of conjecture here in that the church, the pope, has actually gone so far as to accept those with spiritual gifts, but only if they are catholics. A bit two faced there I feel! Nevertheless, in the following church document that was released in 2017, and only for Bishops - lay's out the urge for the Catholic leaders to accept those with spiritual gifts who are in service to the church, the people and of course - Catholic.
Vatican News Is Quietly Held
Whilst, the document is very substantial; it does, in certain parts, urge the church leaders to accept those whom have developed these gifts.
Gifts given “for the good of all” and the primacy of charity
5. In 1 Cor 12:7 Paul declares that “To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is givenfor some benefit”. Many translations add “for the benefit of all” because the majority of charisms mentioned by the Apostle, even if not all, are directly for the benefit of all. This orientation toward the edification of all has been well understood, for example, by St. Basil the Great, when he says: “These gifts are received by each one more for others than for themselves […]. In the common life it is necessary that the power of the Holy Spirit, given to one, be transmitted to all. The one who lives for oneself, may have a charism, but it remains useless, hidden away inactive, because it remains buried within the self”.[15] Paul, nevertheless, does not deny that a charism may be useful solely for the person who has received it. Such is the case with speaking in tongues, which, in this respect, is different from the gift of prophecy.[16] The charisms that have a common usefulness, be they charisms of the word (of wisdom, of knowledge, of prophecy, of exhortation) or of action (of powers, of ministry, of governance); they also have a personal usefulness, because their service of the common good favors the growth of charity in those who possess them. Paul observes, regarding this, that, if one lacks charity, even the highest charisms do not help their recipient (cf. 1 Cor 13:1-3). A stern passage from the Gospel of Matthew (Mt 7:22-23) expresses the same reality: the exercise of the more visible charisms (prophecy, exorcisms, miracles) can unfortunately coexist with the absence of an authentic relationship with the Savior. Consequently, Peter as much as Paul insists on the necessity of directing all of the charisms towards charity. Peter offers a general rule: “As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace” (1 Pt 4:10). Paul is concerned in particular about the use of the charisms in gatherings of the Christian community and says: “Everything should be done for building up” (1 Cor 14:26).
Vatican Turnaround
We can deduce from the above excerpt that a clear division exists and that division is an accepted facet of those spiritual gifts as bestowed upon all, but perhaps stronger in one than another. No where, does it mention, divination, conjuring or oracles. Looking between the lines, you can clearly discern the reality of mediumship with all its faculties.
Is this a small step forward or do we still stand in a stalemate position according to the church? who knows, however, in my mind, it means that a small glimmer of light is shining somewhere with dogmatic practices and the need for education between spiritual gifts, its mechanics and understanding of spiritual practices is needed more than ever.