I am a natural clairvoyant medium although I have never been a religious person, only attending church for the usual family functions, e.g. weddings, christenings and funerals. To me the church had a somewhat staid feeling about it and I was fortunate enough to have parents that did not insist that I belong to one denomination or another. My father was a Catholic but he was also a free thinker and allowed me to develop my own ideas.

Mediumship was a faculty that was present within my family and involved my grandmother, and all her three daughters. Therefore we did not tend to make a secret of it nor a big deal, it just happened that our dead returned to contact us and we could pass messages on to the grieving relatives of others if and when the situation arose.

My initial encounter with Spiritualism came as a process of personal enlightenment really, I was seeking something that filled a void within me, something that could give me a sense of belonging yet without demanding that I praise God, Jesus, Buddha or the Immaculate Lady or any number of other idols from religious persuasions at regular intervals.

After attending several services I joined a Spiritualist church and was surprised not to be given a bible or expected to absolve my sins. I was told Just treat others as you would be treated yourself and accept the responsibility for that which you do to others, do not expect to be forgiven for your sins. If you carry out something which is unkind, hurtful or downright harmful then accept the Personal Responsibility of what you have done.

This was very welcome to me as I had always essentially felt that a person should be responsible for their wrong doings, that it was not for Jesus to forgive us so that we could carry on doing rotten things until the next time our conscious got the better of us.

But of course the crux of Spiritualism is the belief that we continue to live after our earthly body dies and as a Spiritualist and life-long natural medium I do not feel that when the dead freely make themselves known to us it can be considered as being bothersome to them.

I work professionally as a medium now and recently had a client who was obviously tense when she arrived. It took a while for her to unwind and tell me her reasons for being agitated. She said that whilst discussing her forthcoming visit to me, a friend had told her that she should Leave the dead alone and stop bothering them, let them be dead. This of course had raised many questions in her mind as to the ethics of mediumship and indeed her personal desires and what should or should not be achievable when having a sitting for Spirit.

I advised her that my belief is this, during my younger years, listening to my family and having my own experiences of Spirit I knew that the dead were very forthcoming if they wanted to make contact. This was not a case of chanting ritualistic songs, casting spells or even using the (talking) Ouija board, it was simply a person wanting to make it known that their Spirit continued to exist past their physical death.

There is a belief within Occultism which although vastly different from Spiritualism has been frequently compared because of its use of Spirits through rituals and magic - that a deceased person should be left to their own device to make that ultimate transition from this existence to the next, unhindered by grieving relatives that are hanging on to the comfort blanket of a message from their dead. Whilst I am open to many theories and ideas within Occultism, this one does not sit well with me and the reason is this. If mediumship is a natural facility to a person and they are initially unaware of what process is actually taking place and not consciously requesting contact from the dead, it is surely then the deceased person with whom the onus is resting.

I think in short, when we die we shed this body our overcoat if you will, for our time here on earth. We are then still Personally Responsible for our actions, thoughts and deeds and if we choose to want to be a part of the life of our loved ones, friends or relatives beyond our physical death then it is our choice to do so. It is simply one Spirit contacting another.